St. Lucia, Turks, Martinique, Anguilla - Feb 2013 Honeymoon
 

My fiancé & I are getting married in 10 days & we’ve just had a death in the family so we are desperately looking for help & advice in choosing a magical honeymoon resort vacation for under $10k inclusive of flight from Toronto, accommodations, food, drinks & taxes. Good food & different options are important as I am a vegetarian & my soon to be husband is a carnivore & we both love food. My heart was set on Jade Mountain is St. Lucia but it is over our price. Here is a list of the places we are seriously considering. If anyone has been to any of these resorts & can give me their opinion or if you have any other recommendations, I would love to hear them.
Saint Lucia

1. Ladera Resort – has a plunge as part of our room & I love this idea but only has 1 restaurant & rooms seem a little rustic for my taste
2.The Landings
3.Cap Maison

Turks and Caicos Islands
4.Windsong on the Reef
5.Calabash Cove
6.Seven Star Resort
7.Regent Palms

Martinique
8.Cap Est Lagoon

Anguilla
9.Viceroy
Thanks so much!

St. Lucia is absolutely gorgeous, but we found the food, beaches and snorkeling to be lacking. Sightseeing is a major plus. I really like the look of Ladera, but the 3 wall rooms scare some people away.

Turks & Cacios has one the most fabulous beaches in the Caribbean, but not a lot else. Mainly beach and water activites.

If you go with St. Lucia, you can do a day trip over to Martinique on a power boat and/or take a flight to St. Vincent and the Grenadines for sailing. You can get 3 Islands for one trip.

Anguilla never made it to my 'to-go" list. Not enough there to keep us entertained.

I stayed at Regent Palms in Turks last May for a friends 4-0.
Beautiful hotel right on Grace Bay. We were upgraded since it was an occasion so wherever you stay be sure and tell them. Even got some island flowers.
Are you going this month? Jan may be a little chilly in Turks.
Regent Palms Has #1 spa on carribbean and it was spectacular.
It's in a great location and you can walk to some restaurants that are super close- Mango Reef, Bay Bistro, etc. Thought food was great and concierge was so helpful with all our arrangements.
The pool and beach super relaxing.

We are considering Anguilla next fall so you'll have to report back if you go.

My husband and I traveled to Nevis and USVI and BVI this past year. Lots of great properties.
Do you prefer the flat islands or mountains?

Good luck.

Thanks so much for both responses.
We're planning to travel in mid February & tropical weather is a must. I originally had my heart set on Hawaii but was told that the weather is not guaranteed, that is why we chose the Carribean. We ideally wanted an all inclusive resort but I found that was really limiting our options. Although Sandals resorts are nice, that's definitely not what we're looking for for our honeymoon. We haven't looked into Nevis or either Virgin Islands & are open to other islands, so if you have suggestions, please pass them on. We would prefer an adult only resort but that's not a deal breaker. We really want a luxurious, relaxing, fabulous honeymoon.

St Lucia is a good option as it has alot of choices of non AI hotels, I have written info about it on other threads. The food in non AI places and local restaurants can be very good.

Personally I would not risk anything as north as T&C during February, I went to Negril during early March and found the sea quite cold and the air temps could have been a degree or 2 warmer.

Anguilla has fab beaches and hotels and if you need something else to do than be on the beach, St Martin is 15mins away on a ferry and this opens up a whole new island to explore.

Martinique deserves more than a day trip, it's probably the best Caribbean island I have been to, along with Guadeloupe. To the north of the island it is volcanic, dark sand and sightseeing around the old capital St Pierre is a must. To the south are beautiful beaches such as Les Salines. There are no AIs here, its not necessary since restaurants are all around (eg Trois Ilets). If you are an independent traveller, you can reach Martinique from St Lucia on Express des Iles which is a scheduled catamaran service. Its much cheaper and we just picked up a car rental from the arrival port at Fort de France.

I haven't been to Cap Est Lagoon, but I know it's on the Atlantic side. In Martinique this does not seem to prevent swimming as it does on other islands such as Barbados.

Have you thought about Antigua, there are some very nice hotels inc AIs, or Barbados or Grenada, for instance Spice Island Resort (this is AI but on another level to the usual AIs) or Calabash Hotel?

Mid Feb I would leave off Turks but do keep it on the "bucket" list bc Grace Bay is spectacular.
Have you ever looked at Conde de Nast Traveler? Check out the 2013 Gold List for the Carribean online. Tons of honeymoon properties.

We went to Hawaii for ours but I have no idea about weather in Feb.
Last year we went to virgin islands for ten year. Stayed Ritz St Thomas but did go over to St John and some of the Bristish islands- Tortola, Jost, etc. If you want to see a few islands in one trip this may be a good fit. Great resorts......
Ritz, Caneel Bay, Little Dix and a few others on Virgin Gorda to name a few.
Check out Four Seasons Nevis!!!!! Its a quiet island but beautiful and the people are so friendly. The
Four Seasons staff will make anything happen. Most relaxing vacation ever. Great food too at hotel
and off property. There is an adult only pool and beach area. Kids were there but property is spread out that I was so busy relaxing I hardly noticed.

Have fun planning.

West Jet flies direct from Toronto to SXM, then you would take the ferry or a shuttle over to Anguilla.
Viceroy is ok - but their beach comes and goes, and it is modern, could be anywhere. I think you should look at Frangipani, it is a lovely small hotel on Meads Bay - terrific restaurant on site Straw Hat, they grow their own produce, wonderful chef. Anguilla is all about the beaches and restaurants, if you are looking for something to "do", then Anguilla is not for you.
There is a very active Anguilla forum on Trip Advisor.

If you want to avoid kids on your honeymoon (don't blame you!), stay away from the week of Feb. 18th. It's President's Day in the US and a school vacation week for much of the Northeast.

I've been to the Hawaiian Islands several times in both January and February and have always had nice weather. I would say mostly mid to upper 70's. To me, that's perfect.

We also liked Aruba a lot. Very safe, gorgeous beaches and great food. Very hot there though. Mostly high 80's.

I would also like to mention that the cost of going to Turks and Caicos and staying at a nice resort is just plain ridiculous. We have been to Hawaii for 2 weeks at a 4 star resort for less than what it costs for 10 days in T&C. I'm sure it's lovely, but everyone is not rich.