Our family spent a week at the Club Med in St. Lucia the third week of April, 1995. These are our observations on Club Med and the island in general.
The Club Med is only five minutes from Hewanorra Airport, which is at least an hour closer than other resorts on the island. The Club is located on the breezy southeast shore, facing the Atlantic. This makes it sunnier and drier than the resorts on the northwest side, but ocean swimming is more treacherous, there╒s no decent snorkeling and you╒re really isolated from the most scenic parts of the island.
The Club here is very family oriented. If you╒re traveling as a couple or single, this is NOT the best place for you. There were well over 150 kids there from newborns to teens.
Club Med St. Lucia is over 15 years old and shows it. They have worked very hard to repair substantial damage from last September╒s tropical storm, but the village will be closed for much needed renovations starting May 1. They plan to reopen in November.
Like most Club Meds, the emphasis is on activities and food, not luxurious accommodations. People who have been to many other Club Meds reported that this was the worst as far as room quality. The rooms are very small, with stucco walls, furnished with garage sale beds and dressers and truck stop bathrooms. Tap water quality was poor and the air conditioning was very hit or miss. They could really use ceiling fans. However, the grounds are attractive, the main dining room is large and airy and the pool is large enough to accommodate lots of kids, water aerobics enthusiasts and swimmers.
This Club has many activities for kids--Mini Clubs for kids up to seven, Kid╒s Club for eight to 12 year olds and a Teen╒s Club. Activities include circus. go carts. scuba, archery, roller blading, soccer, tennis, golf and many more. The staff will keep the kids busy from 9:00 AM to 10:30 PM. Some parents never see their kids all week. Children can pick and choose activities each day, but there is no pressure to do anything. Our 10-year old twin boys found they liked to do one or two activities each morning and afternoon and spent the rest of the time at the pool or beach with us. It was a good opportunity for them to make new friends.
For adults, there╒s tennis, pitch-and-putt golf, circus, aerobics, weight room, roller blading, basketball, scuba, expert windsurfing, horseback riding and other sports. Like the kids, you can do as much or as little as you like. There are several levels of scuba instruction, including full PADI certification. The dive staff is excellent.
On the downside, the beach at the Club is not very good--narrow, rough surf, lots of seaweed and debris. Cows often wander along the beach and leave little presents in the sand. The ╥windsurfing╙ beach is about a mile away and is much longer and wider. There is no snorkeling here--the reef is too far out and the surf stirs up sand to reduce visibility. Usually the wind is so strong that only experts can handle a board here. All beaches on St. Lucia are public, although near the Club Med property security guards keep local higglers from harassing the guests.
Because of the strong French influence there is a good deal of toplessness at the beaches. Apparently these women have no regard for local sensibilities, the fact that this is a family resort or even laws that prohibit topless bathing. Fortunately, there was little of this at the pool where most of the people stayed.
Very aggressive mosquitoes were a problem for most guests. It was impossible to enjoy the evenings without taking a bath in bug repellent. The swarms attacked even during the day in shady areas.
As with all Club Meds, the focus is on fine dining. Guests are seated at tables for eight which usually generated interesting conversation and useful information. The odd mixing of French and American guests sometimes limited conversation. You can reserve private ╥adults only╙ dining at the Club House restaurant or private family dining at Cadi╒s Club restaurant. Bottles of white, rosÄ and red wine are placed at each table. There is also a tapper for Heineken beer in the dining room. The food is very good for buffet style but it╒s best to get there early since most of the food is left out for some time. We were leery of sea food, anything with mayonnaise, cream sauces and other ingredients that could go bad in the tropical heat. The bread, baked three times daily, was excellent. Each night╒s meal had a different theme. The variety, quality and quantity were first class. Desserts were works of art and tasted as great as they looked.
The only disappointment was breakfast. We wish they had more choices for food. Fresh omelets and fresh squeezed orange juice would have been nice. The milk was not fresh so the kids would not drink it. The breakfast fruit choices were limited to pineapple, grape fruit and bananas, which were all excellent. But it would have been nice to have more selection. Still, we never went hungry.
Plusses
Great staff
Super food
Nice, large pool
Plenty of activities for kids, adults
Free entertainment nightly
Friendly village ambiance
Close to airport
Minuses
Small, Spartan rooms
Poor beach
No local snorkeling
No access to newspapers, TV, radio
Very aggressive mosquitoes
Poor tap water quality
Far from other island attractions
St. Lucia impressions
St. Lucia is a paradox. It is one of the most beautiful Caribbean islands, yet it is one of the dirtiest. Many scenic lookouts also serve as impromptu garbage dumps. Some visitors blame poverty for the pollution, but we have seen other very poor countries with far less litter. Since bananas contribute to so much of the economy, a plantation mentality seems to linger here. Perhaps increased emphasis on tourism will generate more concern for the environment.
We rented a four wheel drive Suzuki to drive around the island. In retrospect, we would have been better to hire a cab. For about the same price we could have spent time seeing the sights rather than watching the road. The roads from Vieux Fort to Castries via Dennery were generally good--narrow but well paved. The drive over the central mountains (Barre de l╒ Isle Ridge) was beautiful. Castries was far more congested than we expected. There were frequent traffic jams, no parking spaces and poorly marked streets. Basically, it was a waste of time.
The roads from Castries to Soufriere offer some of the best views on the island. Unfortunately, the road goes to hell somewhere between Anse La Raye and Canaries. Here the asphalt gives way to huge potholes and loose gravel. The narrow roads and frequent hairpin turns are made even more difficult since a large section is under repair. Large trucks, bull dozers and workers block the path frequently. If this were not the only road on the west coast, we╒re sure it would have been closed. However, when this road is widened and paved, it will be a pleasure to drive.
There are great views of the Pitons just outside of town of Soufriere, which is French for ╥South Bronx╙. No one who visited this town felt comfortable with the people or the facilities here. Likewise, the ╥drive in volcano╙ was considered to be a worthless trip by most visitors. Unless you enjoy watching a bubbling mud pit spew noxious gas, I╒d skip it.
The road from Fond St. Jacques south improves considerably. The views of the southern coast around Choiseul and Laborie are beautiful. A neat little restaurant overlooks the town of Choiseul and its harbor. On a clear day you can see St. Vincent. It╒s a lovely place to take a break. There is a small lighthouse atop the large hill just outside the settlement of Vieux Fort, another open sewer posing as a town . From this point you can see St. Vincent 24 miles to the south and Maria Islands and Club Med to the north. The road is terrible but well worth the effort.
The rain forest tour offered by Club Med was considered by most to be a very strenuous hike. It╒s not an area you want to explore on your own.
A good alternative is a combination speed boat ride and snorkel trip that includes a short hike into the fringes of the rain forest. Here you╒ll find a waterfall heated by the nearby volcano. It gives you a good feel of the jungle without spending half a day on a tour bus to get there.
Snorkeling and scuba diving are excellent on St. Lucia. We have snorkeled at many Caribbean locations and we have never seen the variety of live corals and sponges so close to shore as we did at St. Lucia. The bay across from the Jalousie resort is a protected reserve with many great dive spots. Located between the two Pitons, it is one the most beautiful spots on the island. The bay across from Anse Chastenet resort is also very good for snorkeling and scuba diving. If you love to snorkel or scuba try St. Lucia before the crowds destroy the reefs as they╒ve done at other popular dive areas.
We found the people of St. Lucia to be friendly and helpful. Only in Soufriere did we encounter aggressive behavior. Although they speak an indecipherable patois to each other, they all learn English in school and have no problem communicating with visitors.
Plusses
Beautiful views
Friendly people
Great dive sites
Variety--rain forest, beaches, volcano
Minuses
Lots of litter
Unattractive towns
Limited shopping
Almost impassable roads
Overall impression
Comparing Club Med St. Lucia to other vacations where we stayed in a hotel or rented a luxury condo is an ╥apples and oranges╙ situation.
At Club Med you get a wide varietyof non-stop activities, nightly entertainment, large friendly staff and an incredible selection of unlimited food. The big question: is having an all inclusive ╥village╙ environment worth the extra cost?
If not, you╒d be get a better value at a place such as the Virgin Grand Villas or Hyatt Regency on St. John, where you have much nicer lodging, a larger pool , a better beach and a pristine setting with good roads and easy access to great diving. At a condo resort, your food is not included, but you have the option of sampling many of the fine local restaurants and eating where, when and with whom you want.
Bottom line: we would like to try other Club Meds--as a family and as a couple-- but one trip to Club Med St. Lucia was enough for us. ###
