Sugar Beach, St. Lucia
After our recent trip to Grenada, Hassan and I had a couple days to explore another Caribbean island so we picked St. Lucia due to its close proximity and the easy flight over. Since we only had two days we decided to pick a resort that would include several activities without us having to leave to explore too far. Using the AmEx Fine Hotels & Resorts I found Sugar Beach, that fit exactly what I was looking for.
There are two airports in St. Lucia and since we were flying in from Grenada we landed at SLU which services the inter-island flights, but flew out from the international airport UVF. The hotel sent a driver who entertained us (ok, really me) with all the celebrities the island had hosted recently including those that came to Sugar Beach for Matt Damon’s vow renewals! We stopped for some incredible views along the way and about an hour and a half later we arrived at the resort.
We immediately went to the beach and had the most incredible views of the Pitons. The resort is made up of several cottages, villas and bungalows each with their own butler. Anytime we needed to get back to our room, go to the pool, restaurant etc. we could use a mobile phone they provided and a shuttle would take us around. Our first night we visited the Cane Bar and indulged on beautiful platters of sushi and sashimi. The next morning, we planned to trek the Pitons and on our return to the room there was a mini sack packed with water and bananas for our hike- it was small gestures like that that really made our stay special.
The morning breakfast at Sugar Beach was quite the display and the open air Terrace restaurant was the perfect setting. By booking with AmEx we received free breakfasts every morning and a $100 property credit we used towards our hike. The Pitons are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and our plan was to hike up Grand Piton. Every time we mentioned the hike, staff at the hotel would be shocked, asking us why we wanted to exert ourselves, explaining that it was very difficult, and were we sure we didn’t want to just relax on the beach. Hassan and I had no idea why they kept deterring us and decided to go forward anyway.
Well, they weren’t kidding. The hike was hard. Very steep. Then it rained on us. But we still had fun and at the end our guides told us they had never had a group of 6 complete the hike without one person tapping out, so it felt great to exert ourselves that way! The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging in the main pool and our own mini jacuzzi. At night we decided to get dressed up and dined in the Great Room, an old world experience that was a perfect end to a relaxing stay. Thank you to everyone at Sugar Beach for helping us unwind completely.
