lms0244

I am going to St. Lucia the first week in June on my honeymoon. We are staying the Hilton Jalousie. I was wondering what the weather was like in June. Any other tips or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

ejcrowe

For typical weather in June you can expect brief showers suring the afternoon, maybe 1-3 per day, lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. More rain at night. Sunshine for most of the day. I enjoyed the intermittent showers that provided a brief respite from the sun, personally.

There's always a chance that you'll have atypical weather and have long rain showers lasting days, but at least you would be in a good location for that--lots of large, covered public areas at the Jalousie for retreating with a good book if that should happen. You can also try to book spa treatments in the afternoon to take advantage of morning sun.

Though it may have changed since I was there, I'd recommend checking out the carnival-like night on Wednesdays at the next door restaurant called Bang. It's a lively atmophere and after the drudgery of eating at the Jalousie for most meals, it was a welcome change--not nouvelle cuisine, but hearty and prepared from fresh ingredients. Definitely go to Dasheene at Ladera for dinner one night and get there before sunset if possible to enjoy the view.
The botanical gardens are lovely to wander through, though I could've skipped the drive-in volcano.

If you're not already a member, sign up for frequent flyer miles and join the Hilton membership so you can get miles for your very pricey stay there.

If you have dinner at the Pier restaurant, take home with you any leftover rolls. Go out on the pier and toss up small pieces in the air to feed the bats that swoop down and get it before it falls in the water.

COnsider taking a day trip to the Grenadines for snorkeling and a daysail. if not, find a smaller snorkel group to go out with. Several fellows keep their water taxis at Jalousie if you want to take a ride up the coast to town for supplies in Soufriere, but be forewarned that it's pricy.

Order a bottle of champagne from room service and take it up to the spa/fitness area before sunset and drink it up there--very romantic view from the jacuzzi.

Above all, enjoy yourselves. It's a beautiful property whose sheer loveliness and romance factors make up for most of its shortcomings.

lms0244

Ejcrowe - Thank you so much for your response. It sounds wonderful - I can't wait to go. Is there anything that we should be warned about?

ejcrowe

Just be prepared for how expensive everything will be. Nearly everything has to be imported and paid duty on, so that gets passed on to the tourist.

If you want to sample local cuisine, you'll have to pretty much leave the resort for that. They incorporate some local produce into the breakfast buffet each morning, but there's not a lot of fresh veggies, fruit, or seafood served at the Jalousie--go figure. There are roadside stands with fruits that I'd encourage you to try--if you're taking a taxi, just ask the driver to stop off along the way to the hotel.

Breakfast was outrageously expensive, but it was my favorite meal of the day. Hot and cold buffets, eggs & waffles cooked to order, selection of pastries and juices--the usual. I remember that the coffee was unusually good. We were disappointed in our one meal in the Plantation restaurnt--it was trying to be too European in its presentation and overall it failed, we thought. We thought the Pier was decent, but wish we had stayed away on their Italian Buffet night--again, very heavy food such as osso bucco that was just too much for dining al fresco in the Caribbean. Other posters, however, have raved about the food there, particularly about Italian night, so take my criticism with a grain of salt. Based on my one meal at Ladera, their Dasheene restaurant was superior to anything at Jalousie--fresher tasing food that incorporated more local flavors while still providing a fine dining experience.

The Jalousie Hilton is certainly the most gorgeous location I've ever visited--so if you're prepared to take in the occasional pitfalls that accompany a large corporation like the HIlton, you will be in for a very romantic honeymoon.

lms0244

Thanks. I am in Wisconsin - can you tell me what the time difference would be in St. Lucia.

ejcrowe

I believe in June St. Lucia is the same as eastern time, so one hour ahead. Once daylight savings time ends, they should be two hours ahead of Wisconsin. I spent my earliest childhood years growing up in Wisconsin Rapids. Where are you?

lms0244

I am in southern Wisconsin, between Janesville and Madison. We have a cabin up north in Adams/Friendship so I have been to Wisconsin Rapids several times. Small world! Where do you live now? Thanks for all of your tips - sounds like you travel a lot!

fluffnfold

I'm sure that you already know this, but Jalousie is severing ties with Hilton on June 1, 2005. The hotel will continue to operate, but will be called Jalousie Plantation. Too bad for those of us who were saving our Hilton points for free stays!

lms0244

Yeah, I went onto the website for the Jalousie and all it said was that it would be run by someone else - it didn't give too much information. Hopefully this doesn't effect our reservations. Do you know if there is a new website for the "new" Jalousie?

Curt

It will be taken over by the same company that runs/owns the le Sport Body Holiday resort in St Lucia.

fluffnfold

I think the website will be www.thejalousieplantation.com, but it isn't working yet. Maybe it will start on June 1.

Best wishes for a wonderful honeymoon! The hotel looks fabulous!

I have plane tickets to St. Lucia in March of 2006, but Jalousie is out of my price range, I'm afraid (and so are many of the other top hotels). I'm really surprised at how expensive the hotels are. We usually do a Caribbean/beach trip every March, and St. Lucia is turning out to be the most expensive one thus far (we've been to Barbados, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St. Maarten, Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico). All those other locations ran about $200 per night, versus $400 on St Lucia (but I will admit that I worked REALLY hard to get $200 rates). Does anyone have any trips/tips for St Lucia?

lms0244

I agree, the price is very high. We figured it was our honeymoon and we were only going to do it once so we just picked where we wanted to go and aren't worrying about it. If you look at the other posts, it seems like ejcrowe had a lot of helpful information. I will post as soon as I get back. I hope the new ownership takeover goes smoothly as our stay will be from May 30-June 4. Could be interesting!!

ejcrowe

fluffnfold: I'm not exactly sure how much either is, but take a look at Ti Kaye Village, located about halfway between Castries and Soufriere on the west coast, or Stonefield Estate Villas, located on the mountainside near Ladera & Jalousie. They might be a little bit more than $200/night, but they're much closer to that than to $400/night in the offseason. Ti Kaye in particular gets universally positive reviews, but it's a little more isolated than the "Big 3" near the Pitons. SkyAuction.com often has offered discount packages to Stonefield in the past, and that auction site is less expensive than LuxuryLink.com, which also features both properties from time to time.