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St. Lucia Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews Reviews
Club St Lucia by Splash All-Inclusive
06/09/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Great
My partner and I returned from a vacation on St. Lucia on 05/31/04. We had heard varying opinions about Club St. Lucia, and frankly, were a little apprehensive to go at first. The people who regularly visit CSL and post to Caribbean-On-Line, however, were extremely helpful in providing a good picture of the resort and the island in general. My thanks goes to them, and I hope the information in this review is also of assistance to those planning.
I'll admit, when we first arrived, we were sad, and disappointed. It was raining, and the whole island looked a little less than we expected. Of course, we were expecting Caribbean paradise. It's certainly there, and depending on how you look at your situation, you may, or may not, find it. The sun went up and our attitudes changed.
First things first: decide what experience you want to have. My partner and I are in our late twenties, are fit, adventurous, and had no intention of only lounging around a resort. We were on a budget for this trip, but wanted somewhere clean, with good service. We wanted to spend time and money on excursions and other things, so we wanted a modest resort. If you want luxury, then, by all means, dish out the cash and get it! CSL is a wonderful budget resort. It fit my criteria: clean, exceptional service, good location, good amenities.
Grounds - CSL is a large resort. We did a lot of walking on the premises, but were happy to do so. Being outdoors was wonderful. Perhaps if you are elderly, or ill, you may have difficulty with some of the walking, but there is a shuttle service, should you want to use it. If there is one thing that is utterly untrue about this resort, that some reviews have stated, is that it is not cleanly, or that it is untaken care of. In fact, when I got to the resort, I was angered by what I had read of people's comments online before arriving. There was not one minute of the day - literally - that I wasn't in perfect vision of several CSL staff cleaning pools, rooms, trimming trees, caring for the lawn, the beach, the bars, the restaurants, washing floors, etc. I can list all day the work that I saw the staff doing constantly! CSL is not a particularly "beautiful" resort in that it doesn't have anything particularly romantic, or cutting edge to look at. Its grounds are straightforward, but certainly CLEAN!
The resort does have an ant problem. Before developing ideas, consider that you are in a rainforest climate. Ants are the only critters I saw in my room, ever. I was forewarned by my travel agent that any resort on any Caribbean island usually has a problem with some type of insect or critter. My partner and I were given a room to stay in that, I think, must have had a unique problem, as there was a large gap under our front door. There were numerous ants, and the staff pleasantly tried to take care of the problem. When that didn't work, they immediately changed our room for us and placed us in the adults only Hummingbird Village. Our new room was wonderful, and we had absolutely no problems with it (there was an occasional ant , but they did us no harm, I swear!). If you approach a problem with your room with disgust and rudeness, I expect that you won't get much satisfaction. We courteously asked for help, and the staff gave us a beautiful new room without question.
In the Hummingbird village, there are a number of jacuzzis for people to use that are housed in open air gazebos with skylights. It was very pleasant to hop in the jacuzzi after a day at the beach. Our room also had a small patio with a really nice hammock that I used early morning to read before my partner woke up.
Food - The food at CSL is acceptable. I didn't think it was anything to write home about, but there was always plenty of choice, plenty of food, and I never went hungry anytime of day. Which, is exceptional considering I am a strict vegetarian. Certainly, I couldn't be as strict as I normally am at home (I'm usually vegan, but I accepted some cheese on occasion while away when choices were limited - at the resort or on excursion). Any of the restaurants onsite will craft a specific meal for vegetarians, you simply need to request it when making the dinner reservation.
Beach - I didn't care for the beach too much at CSL. The sand was fine, the amenities were fine, and the watersports were great. However, there was quite a bit of seaweed, and I personally have an aversion to it. The beach was clean though. The nice thing about CSL is that it is in a brilliant location, so even if you do not like the beach on the resort, there are options! Smuggler's Cove beach is no more than a 5 minute walk from the resort - it used to be part of the resort but is no longer. We did most of our snorkeling there as it has a good mix of sand and rocks, and plenty to see! We saw lots of fish, sea urchins, crab, and squid at this beach. It does have a strong current, but nothing we weren't comfortable with. Plus, at this beach, we were usually alone, or amidst only a few other people. You may have also heard about Pigeon Island National Park, or Reduit beach. Both of these areas are part of the same bay - a very long and large bay that is widely considered as St. Lucia's nicest beach. It is beautiful. For a volcanic island, this bay is as close to the stereotype of the long white sand Caribbean beach you will find on St. Lucia. It was very clear, clean, and once again, we were relatively alone, this time probably because the bay is so big. It takes 30 minutes to walk to this bay from CSL (we enjoyed our hikes and did this at least twice while there) or it would be about a 5 minute car ride. Definitely worth it. I would have been sad to have missed this.
Service - The service at CSL is phenomenal. It really is. I was extremely disappointed that some people have written reviews that indicate the resort has poor service. Everyone I encountered worked very hard, and treated me very well. Not one person wasn't smiling, and everyone was happy to assist with whatever it was we were looking for or needed.
The only service-related item I disliked was the necessity in wearing identity bracelets at the resort. While I can see the potential need for them, as the resort is so large, I think there might have been a better way. It was an annoyance to wear the bracelets, especially when venturing off resort, as we stuck out like a sore thumb. All things considered, it was a small annoyance. We actually ended up cutting off our bracelets and using a safety pin to wear them while on premises so that we could remove them while off the resort. I simply didn't want to stand out so much off the resort.
Island - As they say, "Simply Beautiful," and, it is. There are plenty of great excursions, many safe places to adventure by yourselves. The people overall are pleasant and happy (many people we met actually even invited us along, wherever they were going). The island is naturally beautiful. If you are the type that wants to have a specific kind of shampoo and bathrobe provided in a fancy hotel bathroom, then maybe CSL isn't for you (even though they did provide nice bathrobes!). If you want what is usual for you, perhaps you might consider not visiting a new place, but rather, spending a weekend in a local fancy hotel in which you know exactly what you are going to get. Get smart, have fun; you are going to visit St. Lucia, not a resort. The beauty is there, go find it!
Selena
Club St Lucia by Splash All Inclusive
Hotel Details |
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Village-themed family resort on protected cove
- This northwest-coast Caribbean Sea resort includes five pools, a calm-water beach, a nursery, and three age-group kids' clubs.
- Five bungalow "villages" provide air-conditioned guestrooms. Isolated bungalows for romantic couples feature four-poster beds.
- Attractions include a 90-foot spiral waterslide, a variety of water sports, bicycle treks, and day and night group activities.
- This all-inclusive resort includes various amenities in the room price.
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