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St. Lucia Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews Reviews
Ladera Resort 03/02/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
My wife and I returned from a 5-day stay at Ladera last week. We stayed at Anse
Chastanet (AC) for 5 days prior and I'll be making comparisons here and there. As much
as we loved AC I have to say we were floored when we arrived at Ladera because of the
higher level or services, beauty of the premises, and my God the room. We were in awe
when we arrived into our room and saw the view running down the hillside to the
Jalousie Hilton beach below, bounded by the Pitons on each side. The room was breezy
and sleeping was cooler and more comfortable than at AC because of cross breezes
coming though our deck doors in the back side of the room and blowing out toward the
sea. We were also cooler because we didn't need the mosquito netting at Ladera because
there really weren't any mosquitoes that I saw. There were lots at them at AC. I read a
lot of reviews in the time before our trip and saw where people complained of ice-cold
plunge pools. I can say that ours was the perfect temperature and was warmed by the sun
perfectly during the day. It wasn't cold at all and in fact it was lukewarm. This is
probably just due to the fact we traveled in the best season.
AC bragged that Ladera people all came there because of the beach. The beach at AC
was nice and the diving/snorkeling superb. What we and most other guests in fact did at
Ladera was to simply take the hotel shuttle for the 20-minute ride down to the Jalousie
Hilton beach. That beach is beautiful, quieter than AC, and with much better beach
service than AC. In face we and the other guest we got to know went down to that beach
each and every day of our stay. The snorkeling was good but not near as good as at AC
but the beauty of the beach and the view of the Pitons is what makes this the better beach
overall. The beach restaurant was very nice also and offered a buffet lunch with
barbeque.
We thoroughly enjoyed the bar and restaurant at Ladera and we ate all of our breakfasts
and dinners there with the exception of a Friday outing with the executive chef Orlando,
more on that in a minute. The view is incredible from both the bar and restaurant. We
took to spending a good hour on the sofas at the bar and socializing before heading down
to dinner. The food was a unique blend of spices, fruits, and sauces. We really enjoyed
all of our meals at Dasheene. The services as also great and we enjoyed getting our wine
before being served our meal, something that seemed very hard to get while at AC.
The highlight of our stay was the Friday night outing with Orlando and 15 other guests.
The resort transported us down to Soufriere where we all split into 2 motorboats. The
boat captains stop and pointed out interesting places along the coastline like a large bat
cave and small villages on the seaside while providing Piton beers for us to drink. Our
ultimate destination was Anse La Ray and the weekly fish fry held on the streets.
Orlando brought us to different booths and gave us various island seafoods to sample. In
the end we all sat down under a tent top for a lobster dinner. After dinner we all went off
for a while to shop the gift booths along the street. We met many new friends at Ladera
but never as many people as we met that night. We've never gone away anywhere else in
the world and met so many people, islanders and other tourists. By the end of the trip I
must have had to learn about 50 names.
As a result of the Friday outing some of us because friends with Orlando and we came
back for a late night at the bar that night. The next day Orlando invited us to a late
morning cooking class at the bar. I fancy myself a bit of a chef (which made me a target
for Orlando) and I thought ok let's see what this guys going to teach me. I figured I'd
maybe learn 1 or 2 new things. In fact each and every thing he showed us was new to me
and I added some things to my repertoire. Orlando was the best part of an already
amazing resort. When we left we were already scheming at way to get back soon.
Ladera is the best place we've stayed and we've stayed all over the Caribbean, France,
Italy, Monaco, and the best places in both the French and Italian rivieras.
Don't go expecting a marbled floor room such as you'd find in a mainland Ritz Carleton
hotel. If this is what you require you'll be disappointed. If what your looking for is a
place that fits perfectly and organically into the environment with the best views in the
world and just the right level of service, then this is your place.
Sean
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