Curated by: Lucas Santos & Ben Dumas
Travel Period: March 2017
Traveled With: Just Us
Typical Weather: 80 degree days and 70 degree nights, passing showers in the morning.
Getting There: NYC - St. Lucia direct on Jet Blue - 4.5 hours - Approx. $400 each round trip
Getting Around: Taxi's and Water Taxi

St. Lucia is an island of unspoiled beauty in the Eastern Caribbean.  We were lucky enough to visit two of the most beautiful hotels on our long weekend in St. Lucia.  Both were in the Soufrière area, on the west side of island sandwiched in between the iconic Pitons.  After a long winter in NYC, St. Lucia was the perfect way to spend the end of March.  The first part of our trip was spent at Jade Mountain, which is one of the most impressive and special places we've ever been - paradise.  Then we made our way over via a short water taxi to Sugar Beach Viceroy which also proved to be amazing.  This trip was all about treating ourselves, getting some sun, and truly relaxing.  

JADE MOUNTAIN

STAY

Jade Mountain - One of the few trips we've been on where the hotel really is the destination.  Jade Mountain is a 29 room hotel built right into the cliff side, with breathtaking and unobstructed views of the Pitons everywhere you look.  They call each of the rooms sanctuaries, each containing their own private infinity pool and at least one open air wall looking out to the ocean.  There are no electronics in any of the rooms except for the old-school mini cell phone they give you to contact your butler 24/7 for literally anything you need.  With expansive rooms, mostly full of honeymooners who don't leave, we felt complete privacy and seclusion. We would recommend Jade Mountain every single day of our lives to anyone who is looking to treat themselves for a few days in a magical, unspoiled, and entirely off-the-grid relaxing experience.  

Hotel Details

  • The Galaxy level rooms are the top category at Jade Mountain, most with 180 degree views of the ocean and Pitons. Room JD1 is the biggest on the property, with JE1 containing the largest private pool. We stayed in the Moon level room (JA5) and had incredible views of both Pitons (see pictures below).

  • The ride from Hewanorra airport to Jade Mountain is just over an hour. It gets extremely bumpy and windy towards the end, which we thought made our arrival to Jade even sweeter. But if you wanted to be really bougie and ridiculous, there is a helipad on the property that gets you there in under 10 minutes.

SEE & DO

Beaches

  • Anse Chastanet Beach - Just a 5 minute walk down the hill, past Jade's sister hotel Anse Chastanet, you'll find a beautiful stretch of sand with a beach bar and restaurant, plenty of lounge chairs, water sports, great snorkeling, hammocks, and very few people around (they're all in their private pool rooms). We'd recommend chairs 6 & 8 which is right in front of the water, within WiFi range, and most importantly, close to the beach bar.

  • Anse Mamin Beach - A 10 minute walk through the rock path on the far right-hand-side of the beach you'll find an even more secluded and remote stretch of beach. This was our favorite beach in St Lucia. Nice sand, jungle backdrop, complete with a few loungers and one little rustic beach shack, but not much else. This is also where you'll find the best burger on the island as told to us by every local - see below.

Island Activities 

  • Snorkeling - This was our favorite beach activity by far. The huge cliff to the left-hand side of the beach has some pretty impressive reefs and there, you'll find a huge variety of fish, sting rays, and sea urchins. We don't normally take a break from our beach drinks, but this was entirely worth it.

  • Sailing - Lots of options if you want a bit of an excursion, our favorite being the sunset 'jazzy' cruise. This is 2-3 hour long catamaran sailing trip leaves right from Anse Chastanet Beach around 3:30 or 4PM and includes drinks, light bites, and some island jazz. This Jazzy Cruise only happens once a week on Thursday's so don't miss out.

  • Sulfer Springs - Close to the volcano and full of warm springs which are said to have healing properties. But be warned, it smells!

Spa

  • Kai en Cial Spa - The Spa at Jade Mountain is top notch. We both got one of the best deep tissue massages we've ever had. They have private treatment rooms, couples rooms, or they will even bring the massage to your private room!

  • They have yoga every morning on the top terrace level of the hotel, so you can start your day off right with 360 degree views even when downward dogging.

EAT & DRINK

  • Jade Mountain Club - Modern fusion menu which is based around local fresh ingredients from Jade's organic farm, Emerald's. You dine at the main restaurant or have your butler bring everything to your room, which is perfect for breakfast and lunch while lounging by the pool. For breakfast, try the '60 minute egg' which is a tasty combo of egg, truffle, and pancetta.

  • Trou au Diable - Restaurant down on Anse Chastanet Beach with a more casual vibe, and great dirty martini's! All the fresh seafood and ceviche was amazing!

  • Jungle Grill - Laid back beach bar on Anse Mamin Beach with one of the best burgers ever, made from local beef and fresh organic bread.

  • We also loved the traditional West Indies inspired Caribbean dish called Roti - delicious grilled flour pancake filled with various foods, including curried chicken, goat, shrimp, and chickpeas.

  • Beach Bar - Our favorite drink was called The Bentley, but we also really liked one called Camila's Voodoo (which was pretty deadly, in a good way). And don't forget the local beer, appropriately called Piton, which Jade keeps fully stocked in your fridge. The bottles are a little smaller so don't be alarmed if you've had 8 by the end of the day.

  • They also have a large variety of culinary activities like cooking lessons, chocolate tastings, rum mixology class - and much more. Again, your butler can set these up!