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deirdreIn most places in the world, I want to visit something scenic or something historic.
Ladera is more scenic than historic, but it became my pet favorite Caribbean hotel when I was training for the Caribbean desk back when I worked at Classic Vacations.
St. Lucia's one of the many Caribbean islands I've never visited. I love islands anywhere in the world. There's two common types: volcanic and coral atoll. The former are lusher and have steeper terrain (think Bora Bora), where the latter tend to be flat and dry (think Aruba).
You get some cool effects on volcanic islands, like the black sand beaches of Tahiti, Martinique, Hawaii (the big island). But there's also green sand beaches, like the olivine beaches on the big island and Guam. Also red sand beaches.
But mostly, you get hills and mountains, and St. Lucia has 'em. The most famous are the Pitons:
So, nestled up in the Pitons is the Ladera resort. They bill it as "a view with a room," and that's pretty much it.
What's not really obvious from this photo is what's not there: there is no glass between the room and the outdoors. Every room is open (thus the netting over the bed), and each has its own private patio with a small dip pool. People who've stayed there have raved about the place and the concept. The cloth used for upholstery and bed coverings is madras cloth made on the island.
It's a small place: 32 rooms on land that used to be a cocoa plantation. It is decidedly not inexpensive; room rates begin at $380 per night for low season, but they do include a lot more than most places, including breakfast and afternoon tea as well as free shuttles around the island. For a hotel with a similar concept, but different implementation (and slightly less expensive), there's always Anse Chastanet, a competing hotel.
I'd want to spend time walking around the Pitons, but also go and see the rest of the island and play in the water and all that kind of fun stuff.
Ladera is more scenic than historic, but it became my pet favorite Caribbean hotel when I was training for the Caribbean desk back when I worked at Classic Vacations.
St. Lucia's one of the many Caribbean islands I've never visited. I love islands anywhere in the world. There's two common types: volcanic and coral atoll. The former are lusher and have steeper terrain (think Bora Bora), where the latter tend to be flat and dry (think Aruba).
You get some cool effects on volcanic islands, like the black sand beaches of Tahiti, Martinique, Hawaii (the big island). But there's also green sand beaches, like the olivine beaches on the big island and Guam. Also red sand beaches.
But mostly, you get hills and mountains, and St. Lucia has 'em. The most famous are the Pitons:
So, nestled up in the Pitons is the Ladera resort. They bill it as "a view with a room," and that's pretty much it.
What's not really obvious from this photo is what's not there: there is no glass between the room and the outdoors. Every room is open (thus the netting over the bed), and each has its own private patio with a small dip pool. People who've stayed there have raved about the place and the concept. The cloth used for upholstery and bed coverings is madras cloth made on the island.
It's a small place: 32 rooms on land that used to be a cocoa plantation. It is decidedly not inexpensive; room rates begin at $380 per night for low season, but they do include a lot more than most places, including breakfast and afternoon tea as well as free shuttles around the island. For a hotel with a similar concept, but different implementation (and slightly less expensive), there's always Anse Chastanet, a competing hotel.
I'd want to spend time walking around the Pitons, but also go and see the rest of the island and play in the water and all that kind of fun stuff.