Jalouise Hilton-St. Lucia-Cost of Meals
 

Inexpensive Air and otel packages are currently being offered. Any suggestions for
a family to avoid the reported high cost of food here would be appreciatd.

Hi, It is not and easy thing to save on food when staying at the Jalousie. There is a mini frig. in each villa. A stop at the market for fruit,snacks, milk,pop/beer (Piton is excellent) would save a bundle. You can always bring snack type stuff from home, even cereal.
There are also other restuarants around town that are less costly, but you do have to figure the travel cost to and from, water taxi or taxi. It does take a bit of time also to get to town if driveing.
The Jalousie is a really great place!
Donna

Definitely pick up some sodas, beers, snacks, etc from the market in Soufriere and keep them in your room. When I travel on a budget with kids I bring crunchy granola bars and some energy bars from home so that we can save money by eating a late breakfast, eating just our snacks for lunch, and then having a nice dinner out.

The restaurant next door to Jalousie, Bang Between the Pitons, has moderately priced meals, especially on Wednesday nights for their 3-course prix fixe meal and entertainment--live music, dancing, fire-eating, acrobatics. I think kids would enjoy it, but be sure to make reservations.

I stayed at the Jalousie Hilton 2 summers ago and loved it. Food was extremely pricey. I recommend that 1st - you take a water taxi over to Soufriere (we had a great guide named Ice Cream (couldn't forget his name) - and we made an afternoon out of it. We had Ice Cream take us by water taxi to Soufriere and then we took his car up to the Botanical Gardens and the volcano. They were both pretty inexpensive and then we stopped at the grocery store in town before returning to the hotel. Stock up - buy beer - snacks and just pack your fridge!!! The Piton beer is pretty good - my husband brought some home. Make sure you do this little excursion at the very beginning of your trip!!! You will probably see Ice Cream around and I suppose since he does live in Soufriere you could ask him to pick a few things up for you if you ran out at the end of your trip - (He was a light skinned St. Lucian with freckles - very nice guy) I felt very safe with him and we went with another couple on a day trip to Castries in his boat as well towards the end of our stay.

2nd - Eat at the Bang - right on the edge of the property of the Hilton. The guy that owns the place is really excentric (he used to own all of the property almost 400 acres and had an elephant on it - he is british and was apparently sent to St. Lucia to cover up an affair he was having with Princess Margaret) You can't miss this guy - he walks around in a white Dashiki (sp?) and has snow white hair. Make sure you see him and make a reservation for his Wednesday night show - you won't be disappointed. The food there is good and less expensive than the Hilton's.

Also - go up to Dasheen on Monday night for the Manager's cocktail party. The Hilton also has their Manager's cocktail party on Monday night - skip it - Dasheene's is much better and the food and view is phenominal. Make sure you make a reservation and go about an hour before the sun goes down for the best views.

I am actually thinking about going back in July because of the great deals.

I don't know if you were aware - you might also want to consider taking the St. Lucia helicopter transport to and from the hotel. My husband and I did it and it was great. I think it was $300 for both roundtrip - but worth it. My friends went to the hotel a few months after us - and they were afraid of the helicopter - my friend go sooooo carsick driving to the resort - very hilley- bumpy - scary mountainous drive - also takes several hours. They opted for the helicopter return. Less than 10 minutes to and from the resort!!!

Any other questions - feel free to email me!!! Have a great time.

Happyfive-

First of all, get ready to really enjoy yourself and relax at the Jalousie--it is a wonderful getaway. The price issue really comes into play when you have the evening meal. Jalouise has a great breakfast buffet that runs about $17-$18 US-- not cheap, but certainly not outrageous for what you get and what you might pay at any high end resort. When we visited for our honeymoon last summer, we were either poolside or on the beach during lunch, so we ate a sandwich or salad at Jalousie's restaurant on the beach (I believe it is called Bayside, but I could be wrong). Prices from this menu were really reasonable $10-$15 US range). We ate dinner at the Jalousie a couple of evenings for their buffet nights which were Italian night (at the Pier Restaurant) and the Seafood Night (on the beach). These were pretty expensive, about $48 per person before you add in alcoholic beverages. Dinner is going to be expensive whether you stay at the resort or go to Dasheene or some other place nearby. I think the suggestions offered by those who posted before me should be helpful to you. Good luck!

I stayed there last year, I seem to recall there being a simple menu available in the bar next to the Plantation Club (can't remember the name of the bar). Anyone else remember this ? I think it was simple food at resonable prices.