Normally our Testimonial Tuesday posts are written after the trip. However, Megan (our Head Cyber Maid of Honour) called us yesterday from St. Lucia gushing over Jade Mountain and couldn’t wait to blog about it! Here’s an initial hotel review based on what I could catch of her breathless story (and what my pen could capture on my drool-soaked paper).
As we mentioned in our St. Lucia teaser post, I was excited to be travelling to the Caribbean to review the St. Lucia luxury resorts featured on last season’s The Bachelor. When we arrived, we got a BIG surprise…
We were already giddy about staying at the luscious, 600-acre Caribbean beach resort, Anse Chastanet. But imagine our unadulterated glee when we were told that we’d been upgraded to a suite (they call them `sanctuaries’ – and for good reason, as you’ll find out soon enough) in the mountain resort, Jade Mountain!
A Rare Architectural Delight
This resort is like no other we’ve ever experienced in all our globe-trotting.
Jade Mountain is built into Mount Chastanet, rising above its sister resort, Anse Chastanet. As you can guess, we’ve got a bird’s eye-view of St. Lucia’s tropical World Heritage Site highlighted with the majestic Piton mountains and the crystalline-blue Caribbean Sea.
The resort, made of individual bridges and rugged stone-faced pillars, was designed by the architect-owner, Nick Troubetzkoy, who obviously has an appreciation for nature…
Otherworldly Accommodations
The entire Jade Mountain resort, including each suite, is an open-concept design where it actually feels like you’re living IN and above the lush tropical island.
Our room, for instance, has three walls and the fourth is what other resorts would call a `balcony’ which includes our ensuite infinity pool.
Made from boldly-coloured Italian glass tile and about 3o feet wide, the water cascades over the side so it appears as if our room has its own private waterfall!
Elaborate Yet Humble Service
The `concierges’ are aptly named, `major domos,’ a 16th century Spanish-Italian word meaning, “in charge of the household.” Considering celebrities like Oprah have used Jade Mountain’s sanctuaries to unplug from their hectic lives, the service is startlingly unpretentious. It’s so genuine it actually feels like home!
Unusual & Exquisite Natural Wonders
And finally (at least until the follow-up review post), we experienced the most stupefying, rare natural wonder EVER here at Jade Mountain!
Did you know there are rainbows you can see at night? Also known as moonbows or lunar rainbows, they’re too light for our eyes to pick up the colour and only appear during a full moon and scattered showers.
Yes, we know, it’s hard to believe but we can vouch that they are in fact a very real phenomenon because we saw one on Sunday night as we were heading for dinner!
What’s Up for Today
Unfortunately (or fortunately – depending on how you look at it), this is a work trip and business comes first. So Megan, being the dedicated destination wedding specialist she is, pulled herself away from her lavish Jade Mountain sanctuary early this morning to get started on her very full itinerary.
Just today, she’ll be `familiarizing’ (this trip is called a `fam’ trip) herself with the following hotels:
- Body Holiday by Le Sport
- Rendezvous
- Bay Gardens
- Windjammer Landing
If you liked this post, stay tuned for more on Jade Mountain and other St. Lucia resorts in the weeks following Megan’s return! And if you can’t wait until then, check out Jade Mountain’s video.
Have you had the opportunity to experience Jade Mountain? What about any St. Lucia resorts or hotels? We’d love to hear your story.
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