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St. Lucia Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
St. James Club Morgan BAy 11/26/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
My fianc頡nd I just got back from a long weekend at St. James Club Morgan Bay St. Lucia where we were blessed with 4 days of perfect weather, blue skies and no rain. On our last day there was an afternoon shower for about 45 minutes, which did not stop us from enjoying the pool however. The hotel was about 50% filled when we were there, with new guests arriving daily. The guests were a mix of honeymooners, couples, families, wedding parties and a few children
We are both in our early thirties and this was our second vacation for the year, having been to Barbados in April. The following is our trip report, which I hope will be as helpful as those that I read before our trip to St. Lucia.
HOTEL:
St. James Club was a very good hotel for us in terms of location; it was just a short walk to the main road to catch a local bus into town or to Gros Islet for $1.25 EC. Taxis are also available at the hotel for the less adventurous and cost $10.00 EC to Rodney Bay and $16.00 EC to Pigeon Island.
The hotel is nicely laid out, with the main pool and Sundowner Bar being the focus of activity. The grounds are very well maintained, with employees always cleaning. The new additions to the hotel such as Pierre’s Hideaway and the Wedding Gazebo are very well maintained, so too are the buildings where the rooms are located and one can see they have benefited from a recent renovation.
However, you can tell that the hotel was once very “ grand” in it’s new stages and the areas that could benefit with a renovation and touch of paint are the wooden ceilings in reception and Tradewinds restaurant. Also, there is a lot of wood used in the restaurants and some have areas have to be replaced, as well as the wicker furniture in the main room near the Sundowner Bar and tablemats which have become a bit worn. Overall a well maintained property, just a little attention to the small details is needed but this did not spoil our holiday in the least.
ROOM:
We had a beachfront room in the 600 blocks, at first I was hoping for a second floor room with a balcony but the ground floor room was great. We could walk to the beach from our patio or just down a short path without using the steps to get to the beach, pool and bar. There are some rooms located on a hill behind the beachfront room, and some close to the wedding gazebo, which are a long, walk from the beach, the view is great but if you forget anything in your room it is a bit of a climb.
The room was very clean and looked just as they do on the website, we had a king sized bed. There is a TV with cable, mini fridge, coffee maker, iron and ironing board in all rooms. The bathroom is marble, be very careful getting in and out of the tub. If I were to be picky it would be to state that the wicker furniture is lovely to look at but hard to maintain I suppose, as the dresser top was filled with dust in between the wicker and I have no clue as to how they would clean that!
RESTAURANTS:
We ate at Tradewinds everyday for breakfast and found the menu consistent with eggs made to order, pancakes, bacon, sausages, muffins, danish, croissants, bagels, a variety of cereal, lots of fresh fruit, toast, baked beans, potatoes, fresh juices and a few other items that changed daily. Lunch at Tradewinds varied and I probably only ate there once, but had a lot of ice cream from the self-serve ice cream machine. Dinner was ok, we got there late and choices were limited but we were pretty full after lunch that day.
Lunch at Palm Grill was moved to a grill station located next to Palm Grill and was great! On Sunday we had an excellent lunch with ribs, grilled chicken, pasta, rice, mashed potatoes etc. and daily there are burgers, hot dogs, pasta and grilled chicken available. We had dinner at Palm Grill, had no trouble making reservations. The waitress mixed up our order, though they are very accommodating to menu requests. I found that the actual dish sometimes varied slightly from the menu, such as the missing shrimp from my steak! All in all, it was a good place for dinner.
Afternoon tea was really an indulgence as you are always full after lunch, there are savory sandwiches, cakes and cookies and of course, tea. This was a nice treat and we played a few board games such as dominoes and checkers while having tea.
We had no problem with birds or flies, even when we ate outside.
BARS:
Bar service at the Sundowner was good, but the hotel was not full and at full capacity you may have a bit of a wait. Drinks were well made and varied in taste depending on which bartender made it. There were some premium brands but not all, for instance you could get Absolut Vodka but no Baileys. My favourite bar was Pierre’s Hideaway, you got drinks in glasses, not plastic cups and there were more premium brands available as well.
BEACH:
The beach was everything I had expected. I knew from before hand it was small, the sand was not white and the water was cloudy but that did not stop us from swimming everyday and enjoying the beach. The water is in fact clear, however with the wave action on the beach it gets churned up with sand and appears cloudy. The water was warm, calm and great for water sports. The colour of the sand is pale golden colour with small traces of darker sand; it is very silky and smooth to walk on and did not get hot. The water looks light blue in all our photos but in reality looked more greenish blue to me.
We also visited Reduit Beach in Rodney Bay and this beach was fantastic. The water was crystal clear, turquoise and the sand was white (not blinding white as Antigua) with a gorgeous view of mountains and Pigeon Island. You have to pay for beach chairs and an umbrella and there was water sports going on, but they were limited to one area of the beach.
ACTIVITIES:
We had lots of fun trying out the different water sports available and had no wait for signing up any activity. We went kayaking, used the pedal boat, rode the banana boat and went hobie cat sailing several times.
There is organized activity daily, check the boards for more details. We only participated in the egg-throwing contest and did archery, as we were out of the hotel for a few hours everyday. The main pool was great fun, there are pool floats and activity there was well, but for quiet the adult pool was very peaceful and there is a bar there as well.
Entertainment at night was limited; there was a show one night with fire eating limbo dancers, live band and a local dance group, which provided us with lots of laughs. The next night a band played live music.
There seemed to be a wedding everyday, we even witnessed a very nice ceremony where the bride walked down the aisle to steel band music!
CLOSING REMARKS:
It was a great holiday and I was very sad to leave St. Lucia, we did some exploring outside of the hotel and saw the beauty of St. Lucia. The staff at St. James club was fantastic, nothing is too much trouble and all you have to do is ask. I hope Elite Island Resorts continues its work on upgrading the overall fabric of the hotel. Go with an open mind; research your destination before hand so you know what to expect and you will have a great time!
If you would like to see my photos or have any questions feel free to email me at jade_desire@excite.com.
Syndy
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