PattyB

I'm planning our 25th anniversary and my husband's 50th birthday in June & am having a hard time deciding between a villa at the tryall club and Ladera in St. Lucia. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday

Both absolutely beautiful, but different set ups. Tryall is a huge golf resort with stunning views, very service oriented, plantation house, etc. Ladera is one of the most unique places I've ever seen, as some of the rooms have pools, etc. but one wall is missing and you overlook the pitons and sea. Breathtaking. Tryall is sprawling and Ladera is nestled on a hillside. If I remember correctly, the villas at Tryall are at the bottom of the hill on the ocean and rocks, they are little houses some with pools etc, just like a regular beach house, depending on how many people will be staying there. If you are golfers, it is perfect, if that is not a big factor, I would consider Ladera as it is really different and probably the most unique hotel I personally have ever seen.

PattyB

Thanks so much for the input. This has been the hardest thing to plan. We've been all over Mexico but never to the Caribbean. I think my husband is afraid there wouldn't be much to do at Ladera, but I think St. Lucia sounds beautiful. From the input I've seen, it is a lot prettier than Jamaica. I've found that most people's opinions are not favorable when it comes to Jamaica. You can get an incredible deal with a villa in Jamaica but I wonder if it would be worth it. The Tryall area has gotten great reviews, though. I'm glad I'm starting early on this because it's much harder than I thought. Thanks again.

liza

I've been to both, though I admit only once to St. Lucia and over 10x to Jamaica, obviously I prefer Jamaica.

Your accomodation picks aside as I don't know either one well (though I've passed Tryall many times and only heard good things about it), JA has more to see and do and more variety in landscape....mountains, desert-ish plains, beaches, farmland, waterfalls, big resort towns with shoping and small ones with hardly any tourists...I still have a lot I want to see there.

St. Lucia has some nice beaches (black sand on the calm ones, as I recall, and white on the windy ones), of course the volcanoes are neat too. It's a much smaller island.

If you don't plan to travel around much I guess it will come down to accomodations and ease of getting there from where you are?

Knowing

We found Jamaica to be an idyllic location. Loved the beachfront properties on this tropical island. I don't know that it would be the most secluded, but we would recommend it highly.
We found St. Lucia didn't offer a great choice in the cuisine in the restaurants. The airport doesn't have their act together and the taxi drivers pull over to talk to their friends. Not my type of shopping area, etc.
If it were my 25th anniversary, I would want to be sitting at a table overlooking the ocean and enjoying a great meal and a great glass of wine and I believe that the better opportunity is on Jamaica.

eringo00

I've been to both. And while St. Lucia is beautiful and villa at Tryall was the best trip we have ever been on and we hope to back again. There are villas right on the ocean and also spread throughout the mountains. Your villa comes with a golf cart so you can get around the extensive grounds. Each villa also comes with a maid, cook, laundress and a gardner. You are so pampered. When you get there you discuss with the cook what you would like to eat for the week and they will do anything you want. You also have access to everything the club offers like the restaurants, pool and spa. (Fabulous! We had massages by moon lite right on the beach at our villa!) I could go on and on so if you have any questions just ask!