Escape from the Caribbean? Yes

St. Lucia is one beautiful tropical paradise, hilly even slightly mountainous with of course the two iconic Pitons on the west coast. I’d never been in a place with lush jungle. The temperatures were great – mid-80s but “feeling like” low 90s. But not insufferable, as trade winds blue in and comfortably cut the heat. The problem was our accommodation. It’s a well-known resort in the northwest corner of the island which has four facilities within a mile or two of each other. We stayed in town, mainly because one of us is disabled and we wanted close access to stores and restaurants. The resort was smaller than expected though it did provide the most convenient first floor suite for someone in a wheelchair. Service was so-so. Breakfast was particularly bad. There seemed to be adequate staff but they didn’t circulate, meaning tables weren’t promptly cleared nor coffee or tea readily brought. The buffet was within a cramped room through doors and guests had to be served by hotel staff, not self-serve which is more common. Often staff were unsmiling and impersonal, giving the impression they had to get up and go to work in the morning. A few staff were courteous, including those at the pool bar which made fantastic and relatively cheap rum-filled drinks. And our maid was unfailingly polite and smiling even when we had an emergency. But service overall was middling. We had paid for “half board” covering breakfast but no other meals. We dined one evening and the bill with one Coke and one beer came to $171.63 CAD. From then on it was into town to grab take out at the only two outlets which seemed to be open – KFC (often crowded) and Subway though we did hit a ramshackle outdoor café that served a superb stuffed chicken dish, our trip highlight! The resort’s wi-fi worked literally off and on. Every second night brought loud bombastic music from karaoke or a guest singer/DJ. After asking five times over three days a shower chair was finally brought for my disabled partner but there was no way to get into the bathtub due to a partial solid shower wall. The resort seemed to still be operating on 1970s principles and required an audit by a hotel expert, overhauled top to bottom, from physical facilities to personal service, top of list have employees smile. And...we hated to have to wear “resort” bracelets (photo) - prisoner-like and so touristy! The adjoining town – more like village – was so-so, with a large grocery store (often packed with 15–20-minute checkout lineups), some boutiques and a few standalone restos. But the infrastructure was poor and the surroundings dirty. The beach was packed and while framed nicely by hilly outcrops the tide was in and there wasn’t a lot of space. The see-through teal colored water of travel brochures was non-existent. So, were we happy with our first Caribbean experience? We counted down the days.

Moving through Toronto’s Pearson Intl., CATSA (the government agency that oversees security) seems to never have got the memo about mobility chair batteries. The airlines require lithium batteries (photo left)  to be removed from checked wheelchairs. But we almost were not let through because a CATSA agent was highly suspicious of the black rectangular object! 

Finally, beware Canadian hotel telephone reservation charges. Twice now I have unwittingly been charged for calling a hotel and making a reservation, the latest being $17.99 and not being told there’s an additional fee. That’s opposed to booking through a third-party travel site at no extra charge. 

And yes, complaints have been made to all three organizations above.

 - Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller