This is my island in the sun... St. Lucia

[Guest]

Pre trip:

So I won a week to St. Lucia with the Sunday Times Travel magazine. You can read about our initial delight at https://DIBB.in/12066830
The all - inclusive holiday is being organised for us by a company called Destinology who deal in luxury holidays. The prize included Economy seats on the plane but we asked if we could upgrade to Club World (British Airways) and they consequently quoted a price which we initially accepted. I say initially because I was browsing through the British Airways site whilst one of their sales were on and discovered I could get the flight for £1300 cheaper! The travel agents were happy to honour that price.

So flights are sorted apart from our seat allocation which we’ll arrange a week before.
The journey takes about the same as it would to Florida (9 hours) and we will land at the far south of the island at Hewanorra airport. The nearest town is Vieux Fort. We then have a 75 minute drive to get to the resort. The distance is 37 miles so you can imagine what some of the terrain will be like. Also, there are many villages along the way and dogs wander freely on the main road so you have to exercise care around the twisting bends. Two things about the driving. You require an International Driving Permit and you have to get it stamped at Immigration. The second – they drive on the left like we do here in the U.K. They have all the major car rental companies and as we are Avis regulars we have organised our vehicle with them – a mid size 4X4.

The resort itself is the Rendezvous which is located at Malabar beach in the Castries area – northwest on the island. It gets great reviews and we have a beach front room. It has a fabulous pool and its restaurants are well rated.

Our week is 20th to 27th May 2017. The day before we will need to get our Westie, Blair to his groomer who will look after him. He loves going there as the house is always full of dogs in it of all varieties and sizes so he is never bored. We are happier that he is there than in a boarding kennel.
We then head to Gatwick so we can do Twilight check in and get settled in for the night at our hotel – Sandman Signature.
So it’s all a case of crossing off the days until it’s time to get our show on the road.


INDEX: https://DIBB.in/12246155

[P&S]

Sounds like a super holiday although the driving would bother me with the dogs

Hopefully you will be able to relax and enjoy

[Gryff]

So looking forward to your report love them

[3family]

We got married in St Lucia in 2008. Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did!

[jocat]

Sounds lovely Geoff.

We visited St Lucia for 9 nights last Easter and loved it. One of the highlights was a private island tour we booked with a local company, but if you have a car you'll be able to explore by yourself.

The journey from the airport was interesting to say the least, but some of the views along the way were simply spectacular.

[tigger48]

We stayed in a beachfront room with a hammock at the rendezvous before we had kids so quite a few years ago now but still have happy memories. The small airport (Indiana Jones sized planes) nearby provides entertainment and was handy for taking a day trip to the Grenadine Islands. DH still has very fond memories of the hotel supplied flag he took to the beach and planted in the sand whenever he needed a drink. Service was great and the grounds very attractive I'm sure you and Darrin will have a lovely time.

[Guest]

The driving map has arrived:

Had a look at and it is reasonably detailed, more so than the guide book one:

I'm not a car driver - motorcycles were my thing. Driving falls to Darrin. I'm the navigator. I plan days out and I get us there with my directions.

St. Lucia doesn't seem to have any Sat Nav programme but then again, with only two main roads, would it be worth it?

The more I read, the more appealling this holiday is becoming. I'm not a beach worshipper though so I'm more likely to be found in the lazy river and out on an excursion.

Back to the guide book...

[grumpymum]

We were married at rendezvous it's a wonderful place and the staff were so friendly. Hope you have a brilliant holiday

[Guest]

So, come 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning we fly with BA to Hewanorra airport. We will have had a night at Gatwick - (Sandmans Signature) so should be pretty fresh for the flight. We are finally packed apart from toiletries so it's just a waiting game now. They did a feature on St. Lucia just today on This Morning. It appeals more and more.

[Gryff]

Oh it's so close now