Reviewers Rating: No rating left, but this is a long and detailed report, including some dining and activities.
You will find that the Wyndham is a nice hotel with standard services,
nothing more. If you don't have an ocean front room, be prepared to do a lot
of hill-climbing to and from your room many times a day. The employees are
pleasant, but no one goes out of their way for you.
CHECK IN: Very, very long after an already long day. An hour and a half, but
there were a lot of people staying there from our plane, and as usual, we
were the last to arrive at the hotel. Once at the front desk, it was
expedient.
CHECK OUT: Excellent and without pain. The biggest help was that we were
allowed to pay our room charges the night before.
CHAMBERMAID SERVICE: Was fair to adequate. Then never did anything extra for
you, such as leave extra towels, etc. Two days we never received facecloths.
Something I didn't expect at a Wyndham, but not a big deal. The chambermaid
said she ran out of them. Go figure!
POOL: As pretty as it looked, it had no appeal to me. None of us ever used
it. And, it is not a large as the brochures show. Quite the contrary.
BEACH: A HUGE disappointment! Not only tiny, but sub-Caribbean standards.
WATER SPORTS: We booked the Banana Boat float ride. They told us to come
back when we wanted to go. When we went to take the ride at 1 PM, the guys
at the water sports center said it was too late. They said they only run it
in the morning. It would have been nice if they had told us that in the
beginning, but they offered no explanation and were very indifferent.
RESTAURANTS: I found the food to be very, very good. Quite a surprise for an
all inclusive. We can't say that there was anything that we tried that
wasn't delicious.
BARS: The Sundowner is where you're going to spend a lot of time. It's their
main bar near the pool and where they also have their nightly shows. We
didn't catch all the shows, but the few that we had seen were OK. Service at
the bar was fairly good most of the time. Do understand that a few times a
day, for about a half hour, there will be a line but it doesn't last long.
We ALWAYS tipped our bartenders, waitresses, and servers. Our favorite
waitress, Annette, took very good care of us and would look for us every
night. By the way, if you don't like loud music and noise, go to a table
outside of the club. It is open on three sides so you won't have a problem
seeing the show, but even then, it was still too loud to talk or hear normal
conversation at our table.
INTERNET ACCESS: The hotel claims to have Internet access but don't count on
it. They do not have a cyber cafe for guests. An office employee has to
leave their desk for you to use their computer. Expecting access for a
maximum of 10 to 15 minutes a day and not getting it was disappointing and
frustrating. One day, I went to the front desk at 6:30 AM to use the
Internet. They told me to come back at 8. At 8 they told me to come back at
9 and at 9 they told me to come back after 5 PM. So, be prepared for a big
run-around. The charge is $5 per fifteen minutes.
SAFE DEPOSIT BOX: They're in the rooms, and it's $1.50 per day for the lock
and key. Lose it, and you're out $125. Doesn't that sound high?
ISLAND NOTES: This was our 14th different destination out of 22 trips in the Caribbean,
Mexico, Costa Rica, and Venezuela and we found St. Lucia very interesting
with a diverse topography and an island of wonderful people.
TAXIS: From the Wyndham to Rodney Bay or to Castries, it was $10 one way.
MARKETPLACE in CASTRIES: We found it very safe and the best place to shop for
your souvenirs. The vendors were very pleasant and not pushy at all. You
can also take the water taxi to Pointe Seraphine for $1.
DUTY FREE SHOPPING: Available at Pointe Seraphine. Highly overpriced and
bustling with cruise ship passengers. I wouldn't go there again.
CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE: $1US = $2.60 EC
STREET PARTY IN GROS ISLET: It was different and not what I expected. Not
knowing much about it, I expected some live bands but it was all CDs played
on mega amplifiers at mega sound levels. We did enjoy walking the streets
and looking around. We did buy some food from some of the vendors and it was
all excellent and reasonable. Also, the vendors were so nice to talk to. We
did stop at a bar for a drink. Four mixed drinks were $10. We did feel a
bit out of place there but never felt uncomfortable or unsafe. The later it
gets, the more crowed it gets. By 10 or 11 PM, you can hardly walk because
of the large crowds. All I can say is be very careful of your personal
belongings. Nothing happened to us, but I can see where this could be a
haven for pickpockets. While walking around, we got a little disorientated
and were trying to find where our cab was going to meet us. We were going to
walk down an alley off one of the side streets, and a local guy walking by
saw us and simply said to us, "Don't go down there, man." Needless to say,
we took his advice and stayed on the main drag. Also, talking with a guy at
the airport on the way home, he told me he and his girlfriend stayed there
until 2 or 3 in the morning. When he went to pay for his beer, a local
grabbed him money and ran. Other locals chased the guy, caught him, got the
money back, and also beat up the guy. It was an experience and I'm glad we
did it.
CAPONE'S RESTAURANT: Because we were at an all inclusive hotel, we
unfortunately only got to go to one restaurant and what a good choice we
made. Capone's, in Rodney Bay was excellent! We had dinner outside and the
check for four, including one drink each and a 10% service charge was only
$79.
Roland
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