This resort was JUST right

Kelly and Brian just returned from a romantic honeymoon in St Lucia, and I love that they took the time to send me their thoughts/feedback about the three Sandals resorts on the island and which one might appeal to which couples. The properties really do have different personalities. It reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears –  one property might be too big for you, one might be too quiet, but one will feel JUST right.  Kelly and Brian were thrilled that they had chosen intimate little Sandals Halcyon Beach.

Hi Ann,

I’m sorry this took so long! We had a fabulous time in St. Lucia.  The weather was beautiful all week and only rained the last night we were there for a little bit.  The resort [Sandals Halcyon Beach] was very nice and quaint.  Our room had a beautiful view and we are glad we decided to go with it. I’m attaching a bunch of pictures, some from the view of our room and some from our excursion to the volcano and the candlelight dinner we had on the beach.

Kelly and BRian 1

Kelly and Brian 7 

There are three Sandals resorts on the island and guests are able to go to all for dinner or whatever else you want, and they have a free shuttle that travels to them all throughout the day.  However, we didn’t even feel the need to. Even though Halcyon was the smallest, it still had enough restaurants to eat at, the Italian restaurant was delicious. We did find out a few things about all the resorts though, if you have people that want to party more then the Sandals Grand Resort (the beach there had clearer water). Also, if someone wants of a spa experience or wants to go golfing then Sandals La Toc is the place to go, however we did hear the golfing was on the expensive side when you add everything up.

Kelly and Brian 2

Kelly and Brian 4 

The excursions we went on were nice, the views there are excellent.  Seeing the volcano was interesting, it made you realize that you were actually on one. However a lot of people went on the “Joe Knows” tour and it seemed to be a big hit.  If you have anyone else going to the island and want to see a little of everything, that is the one to go on. It has snorkeling, mud bath and volcano springs and an authentic local lunch.

Kelly and Brian 5

Kelly and Brian 6 

The food and drinks were all very good.  The dinner on the beach we had was excellent and very romantic. We definitely would recommend St. Lucia to other people.

Happy Holidays!

Kelly

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.

Collins 1Collins 3

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!

Collins 7Collins 12

Collins 8

Collins 14

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.

Collins 11Collins 10Collins 2

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.

Collins 5

Collins 6

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

A Fantastic “Family-Moon”

What do you do when you’re getting married, and want to enjoy a romantic honeymoon afterwards, but you already have a family, and you don’t want to leave your kid(s) behind? Why not plan a two-part getaway, like my clients Brian and Pam!  Part one (the “familymoon”) was a kid-friendly trip to Walt Disney World. Part two (the adults-only “honeymoon”) involved leaving their daughter behind with Grandma and heading off to St. Lucia for a more private celebration. The result?  The whole family was happy!

Hi Ann,

Happy New Year! How are you? I hope this is better (very) late than never:

Our thoughts on Disney:

  • We had a really great time. Isabel loved Disney (no surprise)! We can’t thank you enough for setting us up with the meal plan – HUGE savings! We saved about $90/day in snacks and meals. We made reservations for a Disney Princess Lunch at Cinderella’s Castle and I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone with children who love Disney Princesses. We had to pre-pay and the menu is limited (and expensive – approx. $150 for the three of us including gratuity), but the food was very good and the experience for Isabel was priceless! Additionally, early October is a great time to visit Disney – we hardly waited for any rides (especially at Magic Kingdom). The All Star Movies resort was very nice – I thought we had selected the Toy Story section but we ended up in the 101 Dalmatians section (I don’t know what the difference is). We spent most of our first day at their beautiful pool. We were really pleased with the food court at the hotel as well. The Disney Transportation was very convenient and reliable – until the last day. Our bus back to the airport never came so they hotel had to scramble and find another bus for us (and a few other parties) to ride. It didn’t affect us as we were still more than early enough for our flight to Miami. Overall Disney was an amazing experience!

Our thoughts on St. Lucia and Sandals La Toc:

  • We thought the Island and the resort were beautiful! I definitely recommend a Sandals vacation for any couple as the resort has the right mix of relaxation and fun. We took advantage of the ‘stay at one; play at three’ by spending a beach day at The Grand. The food at all the resorts was very good and our favorite restaurants were La Toc and Kimonos (Japanese hibachi – we ate there twice!), and The Pavilion had a great breakfast buffet every day. We scheduled three excursions; our first was a Sunset Cruise. This was okay – I think Pam liked it more than I did. It was very nice to take a boat ride at sunset, but I thought it was a bit long and not really worth the money ($144 for the two of us). We totally loved our other two excursions! We went zip-lining and took the Soufriere Jeep Discovery Tour (all three through Island Routes). Zip-lining through the rainforest was such a fun experience – neither of us had ever done it before and we can’t wait to do it again! The Jeep Tour was probably my favorite. It was the right mix of fun and education about the Island. We toured the Island’s volcano, stopped for a hot mud bath, and washed off at the Toraille Water Fall. We had lunch at a local eatery with a wonderful view of the Pitons and a banana plantation. We loved Sandals La Toc and St. Lucia and thought it was the perfect choice for our honeymoon!

I’ve attached a few pictures that you can feel free to use on your website. Thanks again for all your help with our trip! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Brian and Pam

Big Names offering Big Promotions

As I have been saying for a few months now, 2009 is going the be the year of the travel deal!

We always expect to see fantastic cruise deals at this time of year — it’s “Wave Season”, after all, when the cruise lines hope to bolster their bottom lines with some advance bookings for the year. But I have been seeing some not-to-be-missed promotions from major land-based resorts as well.

Family visit with Minnie Mouse

Visiting Minnie Mouse

For families, you can’t beat the “Buy Four Get Three Free” deal that Walt Disney World is offering:  from now through the end of March, purchase a four-night package and receive three additional nights (with park passes) for free. It’s good for travel through June, but space is limited and restrictions apply.

Atlantis Resort

Atlantis Resort

Not interested in Orlando? How about Atlantis Resort’s “Stay Four Nights for the Price of Three” offer? Visit this popular Paradise Island resort from now through April 1st, and your special package can include: four nights for the price of three, kids (under 12) stay and play for free, plus two free dolphin experiences and free admission to the Aura nightclub. Again, space is limited and restrictions apply, but this is a very family-friendly deal!

Looking for a more romantic experience? All five Almond Resorts, in Barbados and St. Lucia, are offering up to 50% off their room rates for bookings made from now through February 9th (for travel any time in 2009).

Or, if you’re leaving the kids at home, check out Couples Resorts special promotional rates of up to 50% off for their adults-only resorts in Jamaica. Must be booked by 2/28 for travel through the end of 2009.

The list could go on and on, but the point is that even the “biggies” who normally would not have to be discounting at this time of year are coming out with all sorts of special deals and promotions to entice you to travel again. So why not give in? You know you need an escape!

If these sales don’t necessarily do it for you, what WOULD get you to travel this year? Post your comment below.

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)