All the right ingredients

Choosing the right honeymoon destination can be difficult…especially when you have to take into account special needs, like a serious food allergy. When I met with these lovebirds, we quickly focused in on all-inclusive resorts, in  English-speaking destinations (no risk of mis-translating a menu), with lots of restaurants to choose from, and plenty of hand-holding from attentive staff (can’t get much better than a dedicated butler!)  From the post-trip email I just received, it sounds like we made the right choice. Sandals La Toc in Saint Lucia had all the right ingredients for the perfect honeymoon 🙂

Ann,

We are SO sorry we have taken so long to get back to you – it’s been quite the whirlwind getting back to the real world! But, we’d love to share our thoughts about the honeymoon.

First of all, thank you so much for all your help. We absolutely loved our honeymoon. Sandals Regency La Toc ended up being the perfect place for us in every way. Our room was wonderful – very spacious and comfortable, and remarkably quiet. We were so impressed by the lack of noise from neighbors, which led to us feeling like we had a much more private bungalow, rather than a room in a block. Also, we were indeed upgraded to a room with a sunset view, and WOW was it amazing! Every night, we had the most spectacular sunset view from any window in our room, as well as the balcony.

sunset over the ocean at Sandals Regency La Toc resort

The resort itself ended up being a perfect fit for us. We spent most of our time in the Sunset Bluff area. We loved the pool up there and preferred it to the main pool (much quieter and less crowded). We also rented cabanas twice on the beach, which was such a special, wonderful treat. We thought the landscaping was beautiful, and we loved the hilly nature of the property. It made it feel quite spacious and quaint all at the same time. We also liked that there were a variety of ages, from newlyweds in their 20s to older couples in their 60s and up. We weren’t really sure what to expect in that arena, but we felt very comfortable right in the mix with everyone else. We did notice that the Sunset Bluff area skewed a bit older, which we liked, whereas the main resort area had many more young couples.

firepit and couches look out over the ocean in st. lucia

As for the food at La Toc, our favorite restaurant far and away was Armando’s. We found the food to be phenomenal and on par with some of the best Italian food we’ve had elsewhere. We really enjoyed the rest of the restaurants as well, but none of them compared to Armando’s in our opinion. The main buffet was spectacular for breakfast, though we didn’t visit it for any other meal. Also, I felt like my food allergies were handled as well as, if not better than, they would have been in the US, which made me very happy!

We were really glad we chose to have butler service, though we did experience a little bit of nervousness about how to best handle tipping. We ended up having 4 different butlers throughout the week, and we never were sure when we would see someone for the last time, or when it would be appropriate to tip them. We saw other guests tipping per service (as in, cash in hand for a ride down the hill), but we weren’t really prepared to do that nor did we want to carry cash around all week. We ended up giving envelopes for all our butlers to our final butler at the end of the week (some advice we received from another couple who were Sandals pros), but it left us wondering if we would have received more attentive service had we been tipping throughout. We had one stellar butler (Tana), and the rest were pretty mediocre, and we weren’t sure if we would have had more responsive service had we been tipping throughout the week. I think, should we go back to a Sandals, we would probably come better equipped to tip throughout if needed.

a view down the sandy beach with beach-side cabanas in St. Lucia

While we were there, we did visit both Halcyon and the Grande and were really glad we did! We totally understood what you said about Halcyon having the more traditional Caribbean vibe. It was so relaxed, and everyone was congregating in the middle at night, even swimming at night in the middle of a torrential downpour. We loved eating at Kelly’s and visiting, though we were glad we stayed at La Toc in the end (we enjoyed having a little more space from the main entertainment area than would have been possible at Halcyon). The Grande was amazing – we had no idea how glitzy it would feel in comparison to La Toc! We didn’t spend too much time there, but we really loved eating at Gordon’s, and we definitely would consider returning to the Grande at some point for a visit. That said, we still really felt great about our decision to stay at La Toc. It felt more secluded and quiet than the other two, which really was the perfect speed for us.

breakfast from a balcony that looks out over the ocean Sandals La Toc St. Lucia

We didn’t do any excursions because we were so tired, but we would consider them on a return trip. We just stayed by the pool and beach and were very happy. It really was a wonderful honeymoon, and we would love to have the chance to go back to the Caribbean sometime. If we were to go back to St. Lucia (which was stunning and beautiful!), we would probably try to split our time between La Toc and the Grande in terms of a stay. We’d be curious to try out the Grande, but would definitely want to go back to the Sunset Bluff area of La Toc.

Thank you again for all your help – it was a magical, wonderful vacation!

– S&J

Mountains and mudbaths in the “Hawaii of the Caribbean”

Kristin and Greg just returned from a romantic honeymoon in St. Lucia, and it sounds like they took full advantage of the many adventurous activities available on the island, from ziplining and paddleboarding to soaking in volcanic mud. Check out their detailed review, with information about everything from their resort (Sandals Regency La Toc) to the specific tours/excursions that they enjoyed:

Hi Ann,

We LOVED St. Lucia.  It was a beautiful island and resort.  We had such a great experience and have talked about going back in a few years.  We loved Sandals La Toc.  The atmosphere was the perfect mix of partying and relaxation.  We met so many honeymooners, and people from all over the world from Canada, to Haiti to South Africa.  We really enjoyed just relaxing by the main pool, listening to the music, and stepping right onto the beach.  We also went to another one of the pools that did not have music and it was nice just to relax without that.  The beach was beautiful and the water was warm and clear.  We were able to try paddle boarding for the first time, and went kayaking.  The only thing I did not like about the people was the locals trying to sell us tours and Cuban cigars the minute we stepped onto the beach.  However, once we said no thanks, they left us alone.

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We did three excursions — the Pitons sunset Catamaran, zip lining and Joe Knows.  I would HIGHLY recommend all three! The catamaran was relaxing and it was beautiful being on the water at night.  We were also able to snorkel.  They took us by the Pitons where we took some great pictures, and a pod of dolphins went right by the front of the boat.  Zip lining was a blast.  I wanted to keep going once we were done.  Our guide “Simple”, was hysterical and made the van ride so much fun.  I would zip line again in a heartbeat.  Joe Knows St Lucia is a must! The best excursion of the trip. It was a party from the minute we stepped onto the boat, until the minute we got off.  We were able to do the mud bath, hot spring and waterfall.  We also had a great, authentic Creole lunch that was so good!

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The hotel room was nice, but the bathroom wasn’t very clean the first day.  I also kept finding long, dark hairs on my towels (ew!). We also had to go up to the lobby twice to remind the front desk that we were on our honeymoon.  We were never asked for our wedding invitations, and when we mentioned we had it, they said they did not need to see it.  We did end up getting a bottle of champagne and breakfast delivered to our room, though. We liked our location. We were on the first floor of the main hotel, really close to the pool, but far enough away that we could not hear the music.

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We were only able to get one reservation, and this was at 9 pm for Kimonos. Dinner there was really good, and I loved that it was hibachi. La Toc was completely booked until the day we left, so we were unable to try that.  We made the reservations the 2nd day we were there.  I would suggest doing that immediately! I was not a fan of the service and dinner at the Pavilion.  We once waited 45 minutes just for our soup.  Neptune’s had a great lunch and so did Armando’s. The Pitons had a really good dinner.  The Pavilion did have a good breakfast and lunch buffet that I recommend.

The bartenders at the swim up bar at the main pool were awesome.  Tasha especially! She makes a great “Tasha Special”.  All of the staff was extremely friendly and helpful.

If we do it again, we will book the helicopter tour.  I am glad we did the shuttle from the airport, but I wish we did the helicopter after hearing how awesome it was to see the island from that view.

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I hope this helps, and we want to thank you for all of your help in making our honeymoon a great trip!! If there is anything else I missed, just let me know and I will keep you in mind when we book another trip!!

-Kristin and Greg

You provided excellent guidance for us. I appreciated that you really had us think about what was most important to us when we were selecting the right cruise – and not to totally focus on what other people had to say. THANK YOU for helping to make this a memorable trip for our family! It really was a trip of a lifetime!

Clare and Mark (family cruise to Alaska)

The level of service we experienced was out of this world (and we did NOT make it easy on Ann). We weren’t quite sure where we wanted to go, when we would be able to go, or what “vibe” we were going for. After asking us some key questions (what we liked, didn’t like, why, etc.) Ann helped us narrow down our trip details and planned the honeymoon of our dreams. She helped book some of our excursions, answered some emergency questions while abroad and was always available/willing to help. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be using anyone else for future travel planning – Ann is a rockstar!

Carli (Italy and Spain)