Inside Anse Chastanet In St. Lucia: Oh, To Be A Snowbird

November 2, 2009 at 9:24 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Forget Disney World—when you wish upon a star, this is where you hope you are. Following our visit to the uber-luxe Jade Mountain resort on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia last week, we headed down the hill a bit to peek behind the doors at Anse Chastanet, owned by the same folks and with the same impressive views of the Pitons, but a tad older a property with thankfully less expensive nightly rates.

Just outside the town of Soufri�re on the southwest coast of the island, Anse Chastanet is a tribute to the indigenous charm and pride of the island, since much of the staff and property itself is of St. Lucian origin, and it's been hopping since it opened its doors in the late 1960s—don't worry, it was freshly renovated in 2004. It's now known as the premier St. Lucian resort for scuba diving (with the first scuba center on the island), bird watching, and jungle mountain biking (they have their own 12 miles of trails).

And of course, it's quite the honeymoon and destination wedding hotspot, having been voted one of the "Top 25 Resorts: Americas & The Caribbean" for 2009 in CN Traveler, and #1 of the Top Five Places To See In Your Lifetime by good old Oprah.

It's been on our personal must-see list since we were young and travel-obsessed, reading vacation and exotic hotel pamphlets in lieu of our homework.

With a cove and beach, unparalleled views of the Piton mountains, a world-class scuba program and a vegetarian as well as Indian fusion restaurant, Anse Chastanet might sound like a vacationer's island dream come true, but there are few warnings for those with their finger on the booking button: you won't find TVs in the room, and you'll have to get on your knees and beg for WiFi. This goes the same way up at Jade Mountain; these are not resorts for working holidays, especially when your room only has three walls and you're showering with nature.

We stepped into room 7F, a premium hillside, that not only had a view to make us near forget about ever returning to New York, but also had a desk right near that open wall that simply screamed our name; it whispered right into our thoughts, "come live with me and be my love and we will all the pleasures prove." The dreamy mosquito netting around the bed, mini-fridge and open-air shower just added to the island allure.

If you give into the temptation and find yourself staying at Anse Chastanet, with room rates beginning at $300 (or $635 for what we saw), then you'll be dining at restaurants that use the resort's private farm for much of the food and hopefully it'll be after the time when they get their private label chocolate going. That's what we're waiting for, right? The private label chocolate...not a sugar daddy.

Disclosure: HotelChatter traveled to St. Lucia as a guest of Jetblue and the St. Lucia Tourism Board

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