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 Anse Chastanet - Soufriere —  Location: Beachfront - 75 minutes from Castries - 60 minute from Hewanorra International Airport All-inclusive Option - 49 rooms Description from resort website: Anse Chastanet offers 49 individually designed rooms, 37 of which are scattered about a lush hillside, and 12 which are nestled within a tropical garden at beach level. Please note that there are approximately 100 stairs leading from beach level to mid-hillside level 2 restaurants and bars - Snorkeling - Windsurfing - Ocean Kayaking - Sunfish Sailing - Mountain Biking and Kayaking with professional guides $$ - Professionally trained terapists offer a wide range of treatments, including Swedish massage, aromatherapy, and reflexology. Newly added services include shiatsu and ANSE CHASTANET'S own version of La Stone therapy, called Wosh Cho, patois for hot stone. Hair treatments include a tantalizing scalp and neck massage, based on Indian massage principles and reflexology.  ~ Reviews posted on this page — 5  ~ St. Lucia Resort Reviews Index ~ The St. Lucia Travel Forum 
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| Anse Chastanet | Paul |
We have been to St Lucia over 20 times over the last 9 years, always staying in the Soufriere area, staying at Anse Chastenet 3 times, including our very first trip to the island. Reading Carl's review, we might be able to add some light on the issues he had with the trip.
There are many positives about Anse Chastenet, most of which Carl covered: incredible beach, fabulous food, wonderful rooms, and a very friendly local staff.
Unfortunately, that is where the positives end. Most, if not all of the negatives, stem from the owner's desire to relieve you of all of your money. At you initial arrival, you are immediately told not to leave the resort, that it is too dangerous to do so, and to only use their "approved" vendors (water taxi, scuba, etc). These are not approved vendors, they are employees, and the profit goes to the owner's.
Being a bit more adventurous than most, and in need of a water taxi to take us to the nearby town of Soufriere, we soon found how deceptive the owner's really are about the people of St Lucia. A wonderful independent taxi driver named Joseph took us, charging 1/2 of what the resort taxi charged. Sure, they have the same issues as any tourist area set in a location where most of the local population is very poor, and whose main source of income is money from tourists. If this bothers you, a simple "no" works fine. If a local were to continue to bother you once you have said "no", most likely another local will yell at him to leave you alone.
After three trips, all staying at Anse Chastenet, but getting to know more locals each time, we were called by one of the local families we had befriended (the father was the Joseph, our taxi boat guy) asking if we were going to be coming down for Christmas, as we had before. We informed them that, unfortunately, we could not afford it this year. They called back a few minutes later and said we could stay at their home free of charge. They gave us their master bedroom in their little 2 bedroom home to use, they slept on the floor of their second bedroom where their 2 children slept.
Since then, we have been back many times and have become friends with many of the locals. We no longer stay at Anse Chastenet, and have found many other accommodations that are much less money, and much less restricting. There are a few other high end, expensive resorts in the area, much like Anse Chastenet, but there are many many alternatives, hard to find unless you know someone who has been there alot. From a $50/night 2 bedroom apt in a local's home, to a $200/night 4 bedroom villa. You can get wonderful, incredible meals at local restaurants for $5 - $20 per person.
We are now so enamored of the area that we are looking into building our own small, affordable resort which would take advantage of our knowledge and provide a reasonably priced alternative to the expensive resorts. In the meantime, we would be happy to provide anyone with information about the places we have discovered. For a change, your flight cost will be the largest cost of your trip!
Anse Chastenet, as Carl stated, is for those who want to stay at the resort, lay on what appears to be a private beach (it is not, though the owner's would like you to think it is), and leave every penny you have, and then some, in the owner's pocket.
If you would like a much less expensive, much more fun and interesting time, stay away from these high end resorts, and get to know the locals. You will be very happy with what you can find.
| Anse Chastanet | Carl |
After reading no end of reviews about the Anse Chastanet resort I booked a stay there in late July. After my visit I found that the reviews did not cover issues which became important to me. As such, I thought I should write my own review, which follows.
First, let me say that the resort was elegant. When you read other reviews which state that the resort caters to couples – believe it! The staff was without exception friendly and accommodating. I say that up front because the next part of my review is less than complimentary.
The first step upon arriving in St. Lucia is, of course, getting to the resort. Pick-ups from the airports were an issue. When I spoke upon making my reservations I was told that I would be picked up at the airport. There was a mini-van waiting and the ride was fine. What I was not told that the ride would be another $60 on top of an already expensive trip. This, of course, does not come out until check-out at the end of the trip. Very deceptive. The ride to the northern airport was $85. Now, in fairness, I was able to book a similar ride back from the northern airport for $60. The additional $15 was no big deal. It was the lack of disclosure of the costs which upset me. Note that the resort is fairly isolated which impacts the trips in and out.
Continuing in the same vein, my reservation confirmation e-mail showed clearly that scuba was included. It seems to be common sense that “included” implies the rate of stay would include the scuba. Not so. I ended up paying an additional $324 for scuba. Again, this does not come out until check-out at the end of the trip.
Again, the meal plan is very deceptive. Breakfast and dinners were included. It seemed to be clear. Not so. Half of breakfast and dinners were included based on some apparently unrelated fine print. Very, VERY deceptive.
Then there are the meals themselves. Upon check-out there was a dinner charge of $129.50. Most of it was wine. I tried to show that I didn’t have any alcohol whatsoever during my trip. How did I suddenly consume $129.50 worth of wine in one sitting? The moral of this story is to check your meal tickets BEFORE you sign, every time.
My final challenge is that the resort is activity challenged. because it is so isolated it become difficult to get to other activities away from the resort. The resort discourages any activities away from the resort boundaries, yet there are not many activities within the boundaries. I managed to take some hikes away from the resort but had to find some staff willing to talk with me outside of the accepted activities to give me some basic help. on the other hand, I was apparently the only guest in some time who wanted to do some of the things I did so it might be me.
That said, Anse Chastanet is a great resort if your primary goal is relaxing. The beach is well suited to that as long as the weather holds out. I am not so good at laying on lounge chairs and looked for more which was not to be found. Realistically, I could have kept myself occupied with available activities for three days before cabin fever set in. There were some decent, though overly groomed, trails off the Anse Mamin beach which I hiked, including Tinker’s Trail. The hike I did up to the town of Bouton was exceptional, although off the property. Note that it is a crime to hike the jungles without a guide. Just don’t get caught.
Then there is the scuba diving. The dive facility was fine, much like many island dive shops I have visited. I listened in on some of the certification classes which seemed fairly well presented. The staff was great. They were very friendly. They filled my pony bottle without question. The first dive is always a check-out shore dive. to their credit, the staff requires all divers to demonstrate a mask clear and a regulator recovery. I ended up diving with the same few people every dive. They were good divers so I never got to see the true test of a dive facility, handling unskilled divers. The dive sites were decent, not great but still interesting. We saw a fair number of smallish eels and a few turtles but not much else. The coral was is decent condition. Note that like hiking the jungles, it is against the law to dive in St. Lucia without a local divemaster. The claim is that the currents are too strong so it is unsafe. Sorry. there was not a single dive with a current coming even close to many other popular places I have been. This makes it a bit of a challenge because it eliminates the open shore diving which I love so in Bonaire. Also, I dive alone a fair amount (yeah, I know). That was not possible in St. Lucia. Still, the divemasters allowed me to roam fairly freely once under water. Again, I want to commend the dive staff for being so friendly.
The rooms were clean and spacious for the islands. The staff was courteous and friendly. I tend to talk a fair amount to the staff. I like getting the local flavor. All of the staff were quite open and seemed to like talking about their island, especially the evening security staff.
The food was quite good. Note that outside of formal meals you won’t be getting anything in the way of snacks, so eat hearty!
I guess that one other thing to mention is the up and down. There is a whole bunch of elevation change from the beach to the upper cottages, so much that many guests call for a car to take them up and down. I personally found this to be one of the better parts of the stay. Walking up and down was quite enjoyable and allowed meeting people and talking, etc.
In the end, had I known the true cost of the stay would rise from $335 per night to $500+ per night I absolutely would NOT have stayed at this resort. It was not that good. The deceptive booking practices are unethical. Others who I met there had returned four and five times so they clearly had a different attitude. Note that in every case they were of the lay on the beach mindset. Anse Chastanet is NOT a place to go for adventure.
| Anse Chastanet | Chester ~ UK |
We stayed at the hotel from 30 September to 14 October 2005 and had a fanstastic time.
We booked via Kuoni, at arrival from the airport we saw the hotel rep who arranged a taxi for us to get to the hotel. It was about 60 min drive first 45 mins was smooth on the roads and they drive on the same side as UK wahey. Last 15 mins was on a really really really bumpy road but is good cos not many people go down this route. Although the road is public the government doesn't carry out repairs to it, instead the hotel funds this.
St Lucia the south western side is very pretty and luscious and green, very good scenery en route to the hotel passing the Pitons. And also its not too built up and not too touristy either
Upon arrival at reception we were greeted with a welcome alchoholic free drink and a ice cold face towel. We were all inclusive option which definately is a must, we were then escorted to our rooms ;) we were only in the standard rooms. We walked up some steps ;) to our room, there was double bed, mosquito net, two chairs, fridge with bottle of water and some fruit in, desk & chair, chest of drawers. then there was the shower, with toilet and sink.
There were a few mosquitos in the shower and I got bit on while using the toilet but thats ok I can live with that. The room was basic windows was wooden slated and had mesh grill to keep the mossies and bugs out. We got an extra fan in the end cos I found it quite hot, infact it was the humidity which did the most damage.
Staff were extremely friendly in all areas, from reception, waiters/waitresses, bar staff etc. They knew us by our names and made us relaxed and were very hospitable.
On the way to the beach we had to negotiate some steps but was good fun, in total i think it was about 168 steps from our room to the beach, much less if you live closer to the beach and obviously more if you live higher up on the hills.
The beach was fantastic generally clean, plenty of sunloungers an cous cous beach huts. You get free beach towels on daily basis by the beach attendants. Also there is a chap that gets your drinks for you when you want from the beach bar so you dont have to get it yourself. Water activities include sailing, kayaking, windsurfing.
Other water activites included snorkelling, diving. there's a couple of coral reeds literally right of the beach and water was very clear and could see tonnes of fish. the snorkelling and diving gear was of very high quality.
There was also a complimentary water taxi to the other beach that belonged to the hotel where the hotel has their own plantation where excursions include hiking trails and jungle biking etc, we done both, some trails were shielded from the sun, if you do this take mossie repellent.
Food was of high standard, you could eat in the piton restaurant where in the mornings they serve breakfast, in the evening they have their a la carte menu, at the beach restuarant you could have lunch there as well as some evenings eat at the buffet restuarant. We didnt suffer from food poisoning once and there was great variety and selection of food which we thoroughly enjoyed. If you wanted romantic setting you could book to eat for dinner for two in the beach.
The hotel had a list of excursions which you can either book through them or you can arrange yourself, we went on the microreflector rain forest hike which took 2-3 hours and was very rewarding. We also did the sunset cruise which was fantastic on the sailing boat Serenity. and we did complimentary hikes with the hotel with Meno the tour guide they used. These are a must, and very rewarding as Meno knows his onions and great entertainment too. We also did the drive through volcano and botanical gardens excursion which were quite good but I didnt like the way at the guides at these two locations pitching for tips because they were independant etc..
It didnt rain much, about 5-10 mins each day we were there, on our departure day it rained lots literally the whole day so i guess we went at the right time. The beach is very pretty, the sand is black due to the volcanic sand. Its also safe too, we left our belongings at the beach hut often unoccupied and still there on our return
While we were they they were building more huts, and still completing the infinity suites which are about US$700 US$900 a night, and also a potential helipad being built for the movie stars. We heard the odd banging here and there but it didnt spoil the holiday.
At night its generally hot as I said above we got an extra fan which was sufficient in keeping us cool, the humidity was just too much but apart from that the mossies were kept at bay cos I slept in the net. We saw toads and lizards which were cool, and when it rained at night we saw lots of little frogs. i accidently trod on one the first couple of nights i was there. if you in hillside accomodation you prolly get great views, our view from our room we could see the sea and the pitons, we saw hawks, hummingbirds and finches. The hotel as no tvs or radios or newspapers which is great. My mobile fone did work tho ;)
Book this hotel if you want a romantic holiday resort with no kids, book if you want to relax, or book if you want activities. book this hotel if you want to live with nature. Dont book if you cant live without air conditioning, also you dont need it.
The only negatives I can say about the hotel is it would be luxury if they had air con, and also the prices of bottles of wine is a bit extortionate but thats normal prices you would pay for bottles of wine for five star hotel.
Advice - take mossie repellant, lots of suntan lotion, and from the hotel reception to the beach its about 100 odd steps (great work out for legs)
I will do a proper review with holiday photos on my website when i got time to do it. I would class the hotel as 4 stars and will provide a link when its done
| Anse Chastanet | Joshua |
“Almost Paradise” review of resort Anse Chastanet August 28 2003. Some of the most beautiful, open-planned rooms with private terraces offering jaw-dropping views. Dark sand beach. Overpriced average food. I came across the resort while searching for a Caribbean getaway before we had our second child. The resort looked particularly beautiful because it was not built up and the nature unspoiled.
When we arrived we saw the resort was far more beautiful than described with elegant open designed levels set in an exotic forest with colorful trees and flowers cascading down to a dramatic private beach. A paradise. Later we were shown to our room and our mouths dropped as we saw our room with open deck and bedroom with a stunning panorama of both the Piton Mountains and the Caribbean Sea.
My wife and I visited Anse Chastanet resort in August of 2003, low season, on the “Summer Delight” package giving you the 6th night free and $300 of free food and beverage.
To drive or not to drive? We chose to rent a Jeep during our stay, for a few reasons. The drive from the airport to Anse Chastanet is stunning and takes approx 1 1/2 hours. St Lucia is all steep mountains covered in dense trees and flowers. You must be a competent driver to handle the hundreds of hairpin turns. Do not do it at night as you miss out on the scenery and it is dangerous. Also the hotel charges US$190 for airport transfers by van, which online reviewers felt, was a rip off. Lastly, having a car allows you to eat out and see the sights independently. The jeep costs $350 a week from . We arrived at Castries airport at 11:00pm, so we stayed at the local “Friendship Inn” overnight and then did the drive AM.
The hotel suggests you do not drive for some of the above reasons but it also introduces a trap. There is a notorious stretch of road connecting the main road to the resort. It is a 2-mile stretch of unsealed road with potholes enough to shake you into submitting: “OK, now I am here, I will not leave the resort”. If you stay within the resort only, you are forced to eat their dinners, which are cost prohibitive at US$120 per couple. More about that pothole later. The hotel has it’s free water taxi service to the local town Soufriere, but daytime only. Without a car any sight seeing must be done through their tours at hotel rates. In considering the above, I am glad we had our jeep. We ate out a lot for approx US$40 per couple, saw all the local sights independently and avoided transfer fees. However for those who can’t be bothered, staying on the resort with their meal plan is still a great holiday but a more expensive one.
We have stayed in 5 stars around the world and this room holds it’s own with the best. Although in a very different way, we were reminded of Le Sirenuse in Positano. The St Lucian mountain curves and cliffs are even reminiscent of the Amalfi coast just without all the pomp. Here there is great attention to detail to create a unity between the guest and the abundant nature and dramatic scenery. Local woven basket lampshades, madras covered beds and sofas, hand painted ceilings, dark tropical wooden floors, grand bathrooms, terracotta tiles, white washed walls and local flowers. Our bedroom opens onto our deck with only a few mirrored pillars and wooden shutters in between. The deck opens onto the Pitons and sea panorama. We never wanted to spend so much time in a hotel room. The sounds of tree frogs, cicadas and birds lull you to sleep while the many fans and fly-screened shutters keep any bugs or mosquitoes out. Mosquito nets are supplied but we found unnecessary even in the “wet” season.
Not all rooms are the same. We got a “Superior” which was kindly upgraded to a “Hillside Deluxe”. Another possible benefit of coming “off-season”. Our room made our holiday. The Premium rooms are extraordinary. Hillside Deluxe are beautiful. From what I saw the standard rooms were smaller and uninteresting. The Superior octagonal rooms are the original rooms and are very nice with small wraparound balconies. The choice of all categories have views looking onto both the Pitons and the Ocean. The rooms facing north overlooking the forest have less light and are simply not as special. Although some feature trees within the rooms, which are very special, we preferred our panorama. If you do go for the Premiums these are their rank. #1: 7E, #2: 7F, #3: 7A then #4: 7B. Be prepared for long steep climbs between your room, the dining area and further to the beach area. Some older guests find this to be a real problem. I would have to say that 7E Passion Flower and 7F Royal Plum are amongst the most beautiful rooms I have ever seen. Anse Chastanet is expanding. We counted another 15 rooms under construction and another 2 areas being leveled for construction. I fear the resort may lose it’s charm and privacy if it has another 50+ guests.
The beach is dramatically beautiful set among steep tree covered hills and dense palms. It is a silver black sand beach which is typical for St Lucia. Only the northern and southern tips at Rodney Bay and Vieux Fort have white sand beaches. We would have preferred the splendor of a white and turquoise beach when on a Caribbean holiday (the Grenadines or south of Tulum, Mexico). The beach is smallish. It’s “volcanic silver” sand gets hot but has character and the water temperature is perfect. It doesn’t make you dream the day away the same as a white sand Caribbean beach does, however we had a very relaxing time at the beach. The snorkeling is OK, the hotel supplies free snorkel gear, kayaks and windsailing to guests. My wife loved the refreshing “peppermint” spray, insist on it from the beach staff. Alot of divers enjoy “Scuba St Lucia” but we are not divers.
We had a great afternoon sail which is decently priced at US$39 per person and had a lovely selection of local guava, mango, passionfruit, cheeseplate, cakes, sushi, chicken and drinks which they describe as “snacks”. The sail is 1pm-4pm, don’t have lunch, enjoy the sail and meal. My wife had a disappointing massage at the “Kai Belte” Spa, US$79 an hour and left with a headache. If you want a natural massage, visit the Piton waterfall on the road to Jalousie, about 2 miles from Soufriere (mentioned later).
The food is the let down of the resort. The breakfast is pleasant US$13 for continental with fruits, breads, cereals and tea/coffee or US$18 to add eggs+bacon. The setting is inspiring perched over the resort and ocean view. Lunch and Beach snacks are quite good but pricey. Sandwiches and Burgers for US$10-15. Fresh squeezed local limejuice & frozen mango daiquiris were great. The Big Clincher is dinner. It is the kind of food that makes you lose your appetite and is exorbitantly priced at US$120 per couple with drinks (incl 18% tax+service). Bland tasting food dressed with “International names”. We ate it one night then ate out every other night to escape the dinner trap. If you can’t be bothered leaving the resort and you can deal with the dinners, then the M.A.P meal plan at US$60 + 18% tax/service p/person p/day for breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner makes sense. I believe in High Season you have to get the meal plan, which is unfortunate. The dinner is a four-course fixed-price only menu. Our first suggestion to the resort was to offer an a la carte dinner menu and a new chef. I am unsure of the origin of the chef but many boutique resorts around the world have found the irreplaceable value of an Italian chef just using local fish, crabs, pasta and local produce to create some glorious simple meals.
We yearned for simple local cuisine and discovered a few good dinner spots. The Still Plantation had tasty local meals using only produce grown on their plantation and The Still Beach Resort is the same establishment but the Plantation is open for lunch while the Beach resort is both lunch and dinner and is located actually right at the entrance of the 2-mile road to the Anse Chastanet resort. Another good spot was Café Beau, formerly “Bang” owned by Lord Glenconner, known for it’s “Jerk” dishes. It is quite a lovely setting by the sea. It’s located on the adjacent land to the Hilton Jalousie resort, so if you drive you have to leave your car in the Hilton car park and their shuttle bus takes you there. It’s easier but pricey to get a water taxi. On Wednesday nights they have local music and dancing. Both these restaurants cost approx US$20 per person. The Hilton Jalousie itself is hideous beyond description, you might well stay on a golf course with a TV strapped to your forehead. They “imported” white sand to cover up the natural volcanic silver black sand, so the result is a strange looking fake beach. “The Old Court House” in town had bad food and “Camilla’s” wasn’t good and pricey. Good general local dishes and drinks to look out for are: “Pepperpot Stew”, “Akrat” fishballs, Local Juices: passionfruit, lime and mango and fresh coconuts which locals will crack open for you.
After 6 nights the options were limited but 2 good restaurants worked out fine. My wife and I are passionate about food and I hope our narrowed choices are helpful. The Anse Chastanet breakfast and lunch snacks were fine but their dinners were not. Take advantage of nice local appetizers served before dinner on Tuesday “Manager’s Night” and Friday nights down in the beach bar.
Some good local attractions were the Piton waterfalls, also known as Malgretout, where you can bathe under a waterfall with hot volcanic spring water and afterwards have a fresh coconut from one of the dudes in the parking lot. Follow the road to Jalousie and you will see the sign. Diamond Falls are also worth a visit with nice hot spring water but you can’t bathe in the waterfall, only in outdoor and indoor tiled baths. The actual falls are not so special but it does have a stunning and well maintained Botanical Garden with a lot of French European history. Using the free Anse Chastanet water taxi to Soufriere and Anse Mamin (the adjacent beach to the resort) is always a nice quick trip and the afternoon sail was really enjoyable.
The driest and hottest part of the seasonal year is February-April “High-Season”. July-August is wet season which means shifting clouds with light rains (or stronger) which quickly clear to hot summer sun. Travels in the wet season gives you a balance of sun and rain. Off-season also means less people and lower prices. Note the Piton area including Soufriere and Anse Chastanet tend to be more cloudy than Northern and Southern St Lucia because of dense vegetation.
Overall the highlights of the holiday has been our glorious room, the relaxing swims and the venturing out to experience some of St Lucia and it’s people. We are well rested and replenished and would recommend a holiday here to anyone and I hope this has helped satisfy the curious.
| Anse Chastanet | Suzie Walsh ~ Ontario |
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September 2001 My husband Kevin and I took 6 months to research our winter holiday. Our last island vacation was on our honeymoon 22 years ago, so we wanted to make sure our trip was exactly what we wanted. After checking on the internet and going through travel books, we decided on Anse Chastanet in St. Lucia, W.I. We arrived in St. Lucia on April 9, 2001 at 3:30 p.m. to 28 celcius weather. Hot and hazy. From the airport, we were informed it takes about 45 minutes by mini van to our resort. The road trip to Anse Chastanet was quite an adventure. The twin pitons are spectacular. The roads are windy and bumpy with incredibly steep hills. Along the way we pass beautiful tall palms, flowering bougainvillea, goats and cows grazing, wandering chickens and colourful homes of the native people. Soufriere is a little fishing village we drive through and are informed we are about 15 minutes away from Anse Chastanet. Finally we are here and are absolutely amazed with the beautiful lush surroundings. We check in and are told our cottage is 8D and are helped with our luggage as we climb approximately 200 some odd stairs. The stairs are not steep, but, a gradual climb, nevertheless we are still winded when we get to our cottage. Inside we are welcomed by the bright island colours of the madras fabric in magenta , yellow, orange and green covering wicker furniture and our king size bed. We have no air-conditioning, which were both worried about, but the trade winds kept us quite cool through the evenings. We have a fridge stocked with a bottle of wine, beer, juice and pop. A beautiful display of flowers native to the island adorns our coffee table, as well as a basket of fresh fruit. Standing on the deck the view from our room is of the Caribbean Sea and lush green surroundings. I can see the pinks and purples of the bougainvilla, pink and red pointsettias. I think I’m in heaven. Kevin and I opted for the all inclusive and were happy we did so. We had breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. For example breakfast included a buffet of fruit, juice, cereal, danish, bagels etc. as well as our choice from the menu. From the menu a few of our choices for breakfast included salmon omelette, banana pancakes, strawberry French toast. Lunch every day was at the beach restaurant where a buffet with choices such as roast beef, roasted cloves of garlic, fruit, salads galore, veggies, etc. etc., as well again your choice from the menu. Lunch was not a big thing with us as we were always quite full from breakfast and quite often just ordered a sandwich from one of the employees on the beach, with of course a rum punch. One lunch in particular I was quite hungry and Kevin was quite content to just lie on the beach, so I made my way to the beach restaurant where I ordered a creole soup with one of their famous rolls, it was awesome and just enough to carry me through to dinner. Afternoon tea as well was great if you just wanted to grab a sandwich, tea, tiny cakes, cookies. Dinner was a choice of perhaps 6 main entrees from the menu, including many fish choices, chicken, beef, pasta etc. Twice in the week a buffet was held at the beach restaurant for dinner, I think that was my most favourite. The blueberry and strawberry crepes were to die for. As well we got to meet the cooks. They were great fun and all had a sense of humour. I think of all though breakfast was our most favourite meal. From the restaurant the view is spectacular, overlooking both Caribbean Sea and the twin pitons. During breakfast we were joined by little birds hoping to pick up some scraps while we weren’t looking. Of course we were all provided with squirt guns to keep the persistent ones away. Every day we checked the news board for activities we would like to sign up for. We decided that we would sign up for the morning activities before it got too hot and get back to our resort for afternoon lunch, snorkelling, swimming, or just lazing on the beach. Some of the events we took in were a trip to the capital city Castries, the volcano, sulpher springs & botanical gardens tour, jungle biking and a trip to the fishing village of Soufriere. Some of the ones we missed and regretted were the tour with Meno (a local guide that knows everything about the island) incredibly interesting to talk to. Also a visit to a local islander that is pretty self sufficient. I can’t remember her name, but I think it may be twice a week that you can take a tour to her home and see the way she lives. As well there are jeep tours and a tour of the plantation. The scuba diving we heard from many was fabulous and although my husband and I don’t scuba dive, one of the other tourists we met did some diving for the first time and felt staff all were very professional and he felt quite at ease as a beginner. For those of you that like to shop, there is the capital Castries where it is pretty much geared to the tourist. This is where the cruise ships pull in to port as such the great number of merchants hoping to sell their wares to the great number of tourists. There were also many other shops such as jewellery, clothing, shoes, crafts etc. It is an interesting city, very busy. If you have a chance get a local to show you the Masav Tree (I’ve probably spelled it incorrectly), but, another name of it is the (I don’t know Tree). It is an absolutely immense tree and has a great story behind it. Back to the shopping, as well there were a few of the locals on the beach of Anse Chastanet selling beads, beach wraps, native carvings, the usual. The resort does not allow alot of these merchants on the beach, perhaps 3 or 4, no more and they were not pesky. There was also a couple of shops right at the resort selling much of the same, as well as sunglasses, suntan lotions, aspirin, candy bars. Towards the end of our stay my husband Kevin and I had decided on this particular day to stay at the resort, no day trips, just a day of total R & R. We had planned on taking in some snorkelling that day. After breakfast we both went to the dive shop to get our gear, but, Kevin wanted to make a pit stop at the Spa. I asked him why we were stopping here because I had no interest in having a massage. He said it’s too late, the girls will take care of you, this is my present to you. So he left me at the spa for a massage and manicure. Well, this was definitely the best present he could have given me. The day before we had been jungle biking and had done the trail 3 times. It was quite strenuous and my muscles were sore, so the spa was absolutely fantastic. Very soothing. My husband said the look on my face after my spa was worth every cent he paid. On our final day our return home was delayed 4 hours and Anse Chastanet provided a complimentary room, meals and drinks till our departure. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the management, staff, friends and local people we met at Anse Chastanet and St. Lucia. We had an incredible experience, everything we ever imagined. We highly recommend Anse Chastanet and the beautiful island of St. Lucia. Perhaps one day we will go back, though not right now. We are looking to go to St. Vincent the island just south of St. Lucia or St. Maartin to the north. |
Last updated: August 6, 2007
