St. Lucia all inclusive

We stayed at a condo in Anse La Raye. Definitely a working class community with no street signs, found through booking. com. Very nice hosts, very friendly people, walking distance to a slightly trashy beach with small reef and colorful fish. 10 minute walk downhill to village. Longer walk but not terrible back uphill to condo. No sidewalks so walk on the right, cars drive on left side.
Much less expensive than typical resorts and more interesting. But definitely not a Sandals type experience.

Not a recent year, but we liked Anse Chastenet. I'm not sure all alcohol was included. The food was good, and I remember that St. Lucia has some of the best tasting drinking water in the Caribbean. The beach (and a few villa/rooms) were down a long staircase from the main buildings of the resort. They have a higher-luxury product higher on the hillside.

I should note that this is (was?) The Old Caribbean, with no children in high season, no TV, quiet hours, and so on. I think beaches in St. Lucia are nominally public. Distances are large on St. Lucia, and I remember feeling a little carsick going back to the airport in a cab, which is absolutely unheard of for me! But the water transfer is reported to be much rougher!

We've decided to go to St. Martin. Thanks for the info!
Lisa

Hello Igalen, we are in Boston too and were thinking about Barbados but not all flights are non-stop--only a few. I started looking at Saint Lucia because it is non-stop but then came across your post and now curious how you liked Saint Martin? I am a frequent European traveler but island travel is unfamiliar territory. Curious to hear your thoughts if you see this.

Thanks so much, Tricia

Hi Tricia!
We were in the same situation--this was my first experience in the Caribbean (except for a week in Puerto Rico,) after a lot of European travel, most often in France). We chose Saint Martin (French side) because of nonstop, AND because we thought the food would be good (it was). The trip was complicated by the fact that I had broken my arm 2 days before, and one of the the other travelers (2 couples) had developed a bad cold. We all enjoyed the warmth and beautiful ocean views. We stayed in Orient Bay, which is on the windier side of the Island. We had two days of heavy rain (unusual for this time of year, we'd heard) and this made the ocean very rough. We spent more time at the pool.

Here's what else we found: There was a LOT of traffic (bumper to bumper) and road conditions were not good, making driving unpleasant (especially for me, with my broken arm hurting with every bump). What looked like a 20 minute drive to the airport was more like an hour. Apparently traffic is almost always bad, but it was particularly bad because it was Mardi Gras. Fortunately, there were plenty of good restaurants very close to our hotel (La Playa).

If I was going to go again, I'd probably try to find a good beach hotel near Marigot, which has good restaurants, is much closer to the airport, and may be less windy. And avoid Mardi Gras time.

Write again if you're going, and I'll let you know about good restaurants.

Lisa

Thank you so much for your reply Lisa! The pieces never quite came together for us for either Barbados or Saint Lucia--not the right flights, no standout airbnbs (I like to have a kitchen) etc. So we kind of gave up and out of no where our friend asked us to take his condo for a week in Marco Island, FL. We are headed off at the beginning of April. In any case, I really appreciated your reply with very helpful details. I am so sorry about your arm and hope you are feeling better and better. I hope when you were in Saint Martin you were able to get into the ocean a bit!
I hear you on the European travel, that is my normal go to for travel. My parents immigrated to the US from Dublin, Ireland in the late 50's so we had a childhood full of trips back and forth which set the tone for my travels going forward. Visit family and do some roaming! Speaking of traffic, it has gotten worse and worse in Dublin over the years fyi.
Thanks again, and Happy Spring, Tricia

Hi again, Tricia,

Good luck with Marco Island.

I agree 100% Lisa, if this didn't fall into our laps we wouldn't be going. We will likely just relax and slip in and out of the water and hang out with our friends!

Happy Spring, Tricia

Looks like our posts were modified Lisa--I guess writing about travel thoughts--where it is we will and won't travel--related to political feelings is not allowed in the forum :(

Suffice it to say we fully agree! Best, Tricia

Oh well!
Lisa