Luxury and Romance on St. Lucia

ST. LUCIA – Was Jade Mountain the best hotel I have ever stayed at in the Caribbean? Well, there was an infinity pool in the bedroom of my three-wall room at this ultra-luxury resort in St. Lucia.

Enough said.

This room was just pure heaven. I can see why a guest here once stayed in the room for five consecutive days without stepping foot outside. There is quite simply no reason to leave. And you aren’t exactly inside, either.

Each room has only three walls.Without the fourth wall, you are basically outside while in your room. You can catch plenty of rays just by sitting in the lawn chairs in your living room. The pool begins from your bed, which is netted to protect you from mosquitoes, and extends to the front of your living room with perhaps the best view I’ve ever seen at a Caribbean hotel.

Looking out from the edge of your pool, you can see the pride of St. Lucia: the Pitons, two gigantic, gorgeous green twin mountains.

To your right is more ocean, which looks like a painting when the sun goes down. To make a long story short, I was in my room, in a pool, drinking a cold beer, overlooking a real-life mountain.

This was one of the first luxury properties I had seen in the Caribbean when it first opened roughly four years ago, right around the time I began covering the region. I never got to stay there until now, but the wait was well worth it — even if I only got to stay for one night.

Also, there is a Jacuzzi directly in front of the shower, which has no walls at all.

I stayed in room JA2, known as “Moon,” one of the 29 rooms of this resort, which is owned by Karolin and Nick Troubetzky, who also own the original Anse Chastanet. Anse Chastanet was built in the ‘70’s and Jade Mountain is its sister property, the newer of the two and practically a resort-within-a-resort.

Although situated near the same location, the difference is that Jade Mountain comes with access to the pools and a butler for every room. The lowest category rooms at Jade Mountain, however, only come with a Jacuzzi. Rooms are pretty pricey, ranging from $1,200 to about $2,300 a night.

The only drawback for someone like me was the room's lack of a television. That’s usually not a problem since the typical guests here are not lonely travel writers, but honeymooners, a variety of guest this property has consistently attracted since it was featured on “The Bachelor” last season. In fact, the terrace of Jade Mountain, where private dinners can be arranged, was the site where Jake proposed on the show. Or, so I’ve heard.

Butlers, upon request, can bring wireless devices to your room, so you have Internet service if you feel the desire to connect with the outside world or, in my case, brag to your friends about what an awesome job you have.

You simply can’t go wrong pitching this incredible resort. This is mainly for honeymooners and wedding destination-seekers, but Anse Chastanet is also a place for  families to stay.

Visit www.stlucianow.com and www.jademountainstlucia.com.

A Tour of St. Lucia’s First-Ever Casino

ST. LUCIA – So, I managed to go four straight days in Las Vegas without playing a single hand of Blackjack, keeping intact my New Year’s resolution to not gamble in a casino. And what happens?

The day I arrive for a four-day press trip to St. Lucia, the island opens its first casino since it was discovered by Columbus.

Now, I could have easily stayed away, but I had to get a first-hand look at something I thought I’d never see on this Caribbean island. The Treasure Bay Casino has 257 slot machines (90 percent of which are penny slots), nine Blackjack tables, one Craps table, one Roulette table, 31 televisions in the bar and three poker tables in a private area. The casino is located in the Bay Walk mall in the heart of Rodney Bay, the area of the island with the most vibrant nightlife.

The temptation to sit down at the brand new, green felt Blackjack table — that hadn't yet seen a single spilled drink or a frustrated gambler's pounding fist — subsided quickly for two reasons: The “How to Play Blackjack" pamphlet to the left of the table, which alerted me to the fact that most of the people I would play with here would not be experts of the game (something that has cost me money in the past), and … the dealer was not yet on duty.

But I must say, the place looked very clean, very professional and, unfortunately for me and the locals of St. Lucia who are inexperienced in table games, very inviting.

The casino also has a handful of $1 minimum Blackjack tables, meaning you can gamble for hours without losing too much dough. I spoke to Jeff Prusinowski, vice president of gaming operations for Treasure Bay Casino and Hotel, about the casino. Prusinowski's company is based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and owns and manages several casinos in the Caribbean, in locations such as The Bahamas, Aruba and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Thirty-six nationals and 10 to 15 ex-pats work at the casino, all of whom went through 10 weeks of training prior to the opening, according to Prusinowski. Locals are allowed to gamble. Locals, as well as tourists, need to become a member of the casino in order to wager. To become a member, all you have to do is present your I.D. and sign a form.

I’ve been hearing about the possibility of St. Lucia opening a casino for some time now, but I honestly never thought the government would allow it. Prusinowski said the plan to open this casino first sprouted in 2004.

“I always say the Ministry of Tourism should be called the Ministry of Experience,” said Sen. Allen Chastanet, minister of tourism and civil aviation in St. Lucia, “because tourism is really about your experiences and adding a casino is just another way we can tailor visitors’ experience of St. Lucia. It’s just one more thing we can give them.”

Visit www.stlucianow.com and www.treasurebay.com.
 

Looking Ahead to CHTA Marketplace

Whereas it’s unfortunate that St. Kitts is the first Caribbean tourism destination to host an event following the failed bill to bail out Wall Street, St. Lucia is hoping its old news by January. That’s when the destination will be hosting the annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's (CHTA) Marketplace. And so far the numbers indicate, like the Small Hotels Retreat, that the conference’s attendance won’t be affected.

We sat down with Angela Alphonse, project manager for the St. Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association, who told us about 1,500 delegates are already on board for the event. “Right now, September, is when this whole mess is really at its highest,” Alphonse told us. “We’re hoping it will be a dead issue by January. I think we can get our focus back on strengthening tourism in St. Lucia and the Caribbean and not worrying about losing tourism in St. Lucia and the Caribbean.”