Jalousie Plantation
 

we are thinking of going to st. lucia next february and are considering Jalousie Plantation. would anyone who has been there recommend it. we like small hotels, not all-inclusive that are right on the beach. we were in antigua this february at siboney beach whose location was ideal. thanks for any info. you can give me. also, how is the road in and out of there. we always rent a car to give us freedom.

My first trip to the Caribbean was staying at Jalousie back when it was a Hilton in 2001. I stepped off the small airplane in St. Lucia and it was love and first sight and I've been going back to the Caribbean as much as possible since then.

Jalousie is hands down the most fantastic location of any hotel I've ever seen. The setting is pure tropical romance, with the looming Pitons on either side, the cottages tucked into foliage so that they cannot be seen from the beach. The beach was beautiful, with the imported white sand contrasting magnificently with the deep blue of the water. The grounds were lush and gorgeous and well kept, without being overly fussy or manicured.

The rooms were spacious, well situated for wonderful views, and the plunge pools were a little slice of heaven--slipping into them first thing in the morning to wake up, or last thing at night for viewing the stars outside.

The snorkeling there was good, but there was not a large space for it. There's a marine reserve roped off around the base of one of the Pitons and everything I saw was extrememly colorful--it was my first snorkeling experience and I was smitten.

The staff was friendly, the service attentive, and since my husband had stayed there before, they upgraded us to their highest category of room. The spa is a nice facility and there are hiking trails all over for those who want to stay active but not use the gym.

The food was, unfortunately, not very good. It was nearly always acceptable, however.

We took a helicopted from the northern airport, and so I didn't see the roads at all until we went out on a daytrip. All I can say is that the line of demarcation between the resort and the way of life for the locals was the starkest I've ever seen, and to this day in my travels I've not seen the likes of it again. It was very much a case of conspicuous consumption.

One night when we were at dinner next door at Bang, we met a local and arranged for him to be our guide the next day for a sightseeing excurion. Well, we waited and waited for him and eventually figured he just had to cancel and there was no way for him to reach us. We then booked a trip through the hotel. When we got to the botanical gardens, we saw the guy, who rushed up to us and told us that he tried to get through the gate at the hotel but that security wouldn't let him through. That was the first thing that Hilton did directly that was very off-putting to me.

Now that the hotel is no longer managed by Hilton, I would go back in a heartbeat for the setting but I would do things a little differently. I would rent a car to go out and explore. I would venture off site for more meals and even stock up on some snacks at the local grocery store.

This place is a far cry from Siboney, and even Antigua in general, but it's the first island I visited and I long to return to it. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Jalousie maintains a certain level of obvious luxury that was very nice to experience. But I find that now overall I am more comfortable living not-so-high on the hog when I'm in the Caribbean.

ejcrowe-as usual, you haven't written a very "intelligent" and thorough overview.
the one thing my husband and i have a problem with is feeling like "ugly americans" when we go on vacation. in the caribbean, we know we are going to islands where the standard of living is a far cry from that in the u.s. but it is often not overwhelming or overt so we can "deal with it". the one island we went to where i felt the strongest resentment to us was grenada. your description of st. lucia makes me wonder if we would feel uncomfortable in the presence of so much poverty. we have been to barbados, turks and caicos, st. martin, aruba, curacao, ambergris caye, tortola...
any suggestions for us for our next trip in february. we'd been contemplating anguilla but don't know if we want to either arrive late at night by plane or take the ferry from marigot after flying into st. martin. also, it seems very expensive. we've thought of tobego and bonaire but with only a week it seems like a very long trip to get to either of those 2 places.

I should have added more information for clarification about Jalousie. It was my first time to the Caribbean and I was not prepared for leaving the resort for the first time and seeing St. Lucians whose standards of living were so far below the levels of luxury I had just been enjoying for the past several days (and it's not an especially luxurious hotel). I've certainly learned more since then, namely that most folks who live in the Caribbean, while lacking many of the material possessions we Americans are noted for, have a wealth of other things, such as the valuing of all families, children, and a connection with each other that most of us find lacking. There's a respect and courtesy there at large. Placing a higher value on personal integrity than bric-a-brac.

I believe that if I were to return to St. Lucia (and I very much want to), I would not feel that way. I would also travel differently, staying at smaller, local places and getting out and about more. That first trip, though we did get out a bit, was largely resort-bound. Now that Jalousie is no longer a Hilton, I would like to try it out again for a few days as a splurge.

ejcrowe-i have heard from a friend that st. lucia is not a place that you can feel comfortable exploring the island on your own. what we want is a vacation and not an adventure. i'm not sure where we go from here since we also want an island that is fairly accesible so it's back to the drawing board. my husband is interested in going to vieques since he once worked with somebody who owned a house there and praised the island. again, any other suggestions would be welcome.

Hi, we are going to Jalouise 3 May. I will write a trip report, but maybe you can't wait that long.

Also, I wrote a trip report on our December trip to Vieques, if you are interested. Just click on my name. Vieques is definitely a repeat island for us. Good luck, Owa