Shari Finkel

My fiance and I are planning to honeymoon in St. Lucia. We are vascillating between Anse Chastenet and Ladera. I get the (possible) impression that facilities are more varied at Anse Chast. but the rooms may be prettier at Ladera. Everyone who posts seems happy with wherever they went. Any advice?

lisa

A couple of considerations you may want to think about: Ladera has a pool plus plunge pools in the rooms (some rooms have their own regular pools). Anse Chastanet has no pool. Anse Chastanet is on the beach, while Ladera is not. Ladera is a smaller resort than Anse Chastanet (I think it has roughly half as many rooms). Ladera is accessible by car while Anse Chastanet is less so (the road to it is bad and it is more accessible by water taxi). We thought Ladera had better views in general than did Anse Chastanet, although I admit we did not see the views from any of the rooms at AC and I'm sure that some of them have very nice ones (we walked around the resort when we went to the beach and restaurant at AC though). AC has many stairs which did not seem like a big deal to me but some people have commented on it. Ladera is at a higher elevation which may mean better breezes (maybe cooler, maybe fewer bugs?). We found that the closer we were to the beach, the hotter we were, so for that reason I'm not sure I would want to be in one of the rooms at AC close to the beach. Also, at least at the time we went, Ladera was less expensive per night than AC and the rates included breakfast. <BR> <BR>I think it just depends on what you're looking for. If you want to constantly be able to walk down to the beach whenever you want, then you should probably choose AC. If that is not as important to you then consider Ladera -- we loved it!

Kay

Shari: <BR> <BR>I agree with what Lisa say s but do have a few things to add. I just got back from spending my honeymoon at Ladera. While there we did go over to AC one afternoon because I wanted to see the resort and beach there. I was NOT impressed with Ac at all. They have a black sand beach which is native to the island. But I hought the beach rater small and crowded. There were numerous cigeratte buts and other small trash all over the beach. There was no are roped off in the water to swim where boats could not come up to shore. Boats kept coming up to shore the whole time we were there making it dangerous to swim in my opinion. There is also a dive shop there and lots of diving equipment and boats. I think AC really is geared to diving. I did want up the stairs to see the restuarnt up above the beach and a couple of the rooms. Again I was not impressed. The views are not nearly as stunning from teh room s as they are from Ladera. Again this is all my personal opinion but I would not recommend AC except to divers. If you do want to stay in the south I would recommend either Ladera or the Jalouiuse HIlton.

Steve

Lisa has it pegged really well. I was at AC June 5th for a week and went to Ladera for dinner on monday night. While at Ladera they showed us a room and the room was incredible. It was their 3 bedroom with a full pool and the only one they have there like that. It was nicer than any of the rooms I saw at AC. We stayed in a standard hillside room (12C)at AC and loved it. They told us it was there smallest room but we could lie in bed at night and watch the sunset. By the way the sun sets at 7PM there. We actually liked our room more than some of the other ones we saw. <BR>I would not want the hassle of getting to the beach from Ladera. You had to take a shuttle. The beach at AC is 102 steps down from the reception area at AC. At Ladera you can't walk the beach at night or go back to your room when you want to. If you go to the right side of the beach there are very few people there. the left side is where the scuba operation is and is always more crowded. Crowded is not the correct word to use because there are only 49 rooms there and the only other people who come are day snorkelers and divers. Not really people just to lie on the beach. It is too hard to get there. The food is very good at AC but better at Ladera. Ladera is very small and there is nowhere to go at night but the bar. At AC you have the beach bar and the restaurant bar. <BR>If you dive or snorkel and want to hop in the water any time go to AC. The snorkeling off the beach is excellent The dive shop is top notch too. They also have a mountain bike operation that you take a small boat to get to and that is definitely worth the trip.If <BR>you have other specific questions, leave me an email. <BR>I would choose AC over Ladera but you could not go wrong with either. Both are beautiful and so different from your typical american type resort.

keith

Shari, <BR> We stayed at Ladera for our honeymoon in early May. Agree with the comments above. Both places are very nice, but different (we spent a day on the AC beach). <BR> One story, though. When we were waiting in line at the airport to leave, we talked with the couple behind us who had stayed at AC. The husband was griping about the price at AC, but the most telling comment was when they complained how hot it was in their room and how many mosquitoes they had the night the fan quit. *Fan?* There wasn't even a fan in our room at Ladara, and we didn't need it. Mmmmm.