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The Royal St Lucia holds pride of position right at the heart of Reduit Beach, the finest strip of sand in the north of St Lucia. It is a large and lively hotel, set in two and three storey modern buildings topped with red roofs in traditional Caribbean style. Leading off a central atrium, they enclose a free-form pool, bar and restaurant and from there give onto the excellent beach and the very attractive bay beyond, where Pigeon Point stands in the distance. There are 96 suites in all, which are extremely comfortable and nicely done, in fine Caribbean style, but equipped to international standard. The Royal St Lucia is an upbeat resort hotel with good facilities including watersports, a salon and a spa, and also conference rooms. But it is also right at the thick of the island action, within a short walk of Rodney Bay Village (with all its night-time activity), so it makes an excellent choice for a smart but lively, beach-based holiday.
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KEY FEATURES
| Caribbean beach hotel with stunning location, good St Lucia family resort, 96 suites, each with sitting area and a balcony or terrace, well equipped with TV, some with DVD player. Three restaurants, Chic (elegant dining), L’Epicure & Terrace and The Beach Tent for lunch, and two bars, Le Mistral Lounge and La Mirage at the pool. Room service. Free-form pool surrounded by deck, watersports on the beach, including small sailing boats, windsurfers, water-skiing and tennis. Royal Spa with three treatment rooms (one for hydrotherapy), beauty salon, gym. Disabled access, some suites can join for families, children’s club, toddlers’ equipment (high chairs etc), baby-sitting. |
STYLE
| Modern buildings with typically St Lucian double-pitched red tin roofs and grand styling inside. The suites have some strong Caribbean features including louvers and gingerbread trim |
CLIENT PROFILE
| A mix of nationalities, families and some conference business, many British |
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You get an impression of the Royal’s modern sense of grandeur as you draw up under the porte cochere. You walk into the large and open foyer which rises three storeys around you, in a combination of traditional features and the standards of modern luxury. The floor is cream and pink marble and the pattern repeats itself on the walls, which are cream inlaid with pink marble. At the centre of the room stands a small waterfall surrounded by greenery. There are clusters of armchairs and then a huge sweeping staircase leading to the upper floors. On your left as you enter you will find the Concierge desk and the Reception, and on the right, beyond the stairs, is the boutique. Beyond here, the foyer opens out into the gardens.
From this point you can see the layout of the hotel clearly. The 96 rooms, actually all suites, are laid out in a U shape enclosing the pool and restaurants (you are standing inside the bottom of the U). They stand in two and three storey blocks with a double pitched red tin roof in reflection of traditional St Lucian style. Ahead of you, down a small alley of royal palms that crosses a lawn, you come to the huge meandering pool. To the right of it are the dining rooms and bar, which sit close to the beach. Over on the left, the spa is on the ground floor and above it the Presidential suite. On the beach in front of them is the watersports building. The Royal St Lucia sees quite considerable conference business and there are a number of conference rooms in the large main building under which you are standing.
The pool is large and free-form, set in a meandering coral-stone surround on which there are loungers under palms and other tropical trees for shade. At one end, in a sunken island, is a swim-up bar, La Mirage. From the pool it is a short walk forward to the white balustrade at the front of the resort, where gates give onto the beach. Here you will also find loungers, the watersports building and the thatched Beach Tent, which serves light meals during the day.
The main restaurants are to the right of the pool. Le Chic is the Royal’s smart à la carte restaurant, which has a classic, elegant feel, with a wooden parquet floor and walls decorated with glass bricks and works of art. The cuisine is fusion, which you eat in armchairs at tables with candles on cloths in subdued colours. The main dining room is L’Epicure, which is set at the front of the resort and has a view over Pigeon Island. You enter via the piano bar, Le Mistral, and then come into the main dining room. This is large and has a vaulted ceiling with awnings. There are tables both inside and on a deck outside set under parasols. Some of the bedrooms, the west beachfront suites, are set above here and so they have a lovely view over the beach.
In fact all the bedrooms, wherever they are positioned in the resort, have a sea view, and they all have some outside space from which to enjoy it. Inside, they are fitted to an international standard, but in character they follow a similar theme to the rest of the resort, taking some traditional Caribbean features – say touches of gingerbread decoration - to add to a classic international style. In the main, they are decorated with light tones and carpeted (or laid with marble on the ground floor), and the furniture is elegant and traditional. All rooms are air-conditioned.
The Royal Spa has three treatment rooms including one hydrotherapy room. It offers a range of beauty and massage treatments including facials, body wraps and scrubs, several sorts of massage including aromatherapy, reflexology and Indian head massage. There is a relaxation area with a cold plunge pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam bath. Close by there is a small gym, which looks out onto the hotel. Lastly, the Royal does quite a bit of conference business and there are two fully-equipped conference rooms including the Royal Conference Room and the Hibiscus Meeting Room. The hotel can cater for meetings of as large as 200 people.
The Royal St Lucia has a combination of upbeat, beachfront resort and a more businesslike atmosphere, when local or foreign conferences are taking place. However, it is a large resort with plenty of facilities and it is set on St Lucia’s finest beach, so it is easy to escape to undisturbed inactivity. Or activity for that matter, with all the sports on offer. Finally, the hotel is also close to all the restaurants and bars of Rodney Bay, so it is ideally positioned for an active nightlife too. |
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Beach & Swimming
Reduit Beach is superb and of course it is right there, over the balustrade. You simply walk off the front of the resort onto the superb sand, which stretches for about a mile in either direction. On its section of sand, the hotel offers beach chairs under thatched parasols for you to use. The Beach Tent is available for drinks and light meals at lunchtimes.
There is a very large free-form swimming pool at the heart of the resort, with meandering sections that wind around shaded areas with loungers for sunbathing. There is also a swim-up bar in the pool, La Mirage, so you can cool off and get a drink at the same time. |
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Sports & Recreation
There is a watersports building on the beach which offers a number of non-motorized sports including snorkelling, windsurfing, dinghy sailing and some pedalos. These are free of charge to guests. There are also motorized sports including waterskiing, deep sea fishing and scuba diving (at extra cost).
There is a gym on property, close to the spa. The machines look out over the resort and so you get your exercise with a view. There is no tennis court at the Royal itself, but there is one at its sister hotel, the Rex, next door, which you can use. The court can be floodlit at night.
The hotel sees quite a few golfers. There is a championship golf course within a few minutes drive. The St Lucia Golf and Country Club is a par 71, 6829 yard course in the Cap Estate, the northern tip of the island. Other sports available nearby include mountain-biking and horse-riding. |
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The Rooms
All rooms at the Royal St Lucia are all suites. There are several different categories, of which the simplest is the deluxe suite, but all are equipped to modern international standard, with air-conditioning, TV, safety deposit box, tea and coffee maker, iron and hair-drier. The majority of suites fit into the Seaview category (all rooms have a sea view anyway), but a handful, the Beachfront Suites, set above dining room, overlook the beach from close up. Finally there are three Grand Deluxe Suites and a Presidential Suite, which are larger and are equipped with DVDs and a trouser press in addition. The latter categories also have adjoining rooms. |
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Dining
There are two principle dining rooms and a snack bar at the Royal. Chic is their fine dining a la carte restaurant. It has a subdued and elegant atmosphere, with armchairs in classic style and artwork decorating the walls. The cuisine is fusion and so it mixes Caribbean and international tastes and techniques. Chic is open for dinner only.
L’Epicure is the main dining room for breakfast and dinner (lunch is served out at the Beach Tent). It has two areas, one inside and the other outside on the deck right next to the beach, where the tables are set under awnings and parasols. The cuisine is international with Caribbean creole dishes.
The Beach Tent is open over lunch. Set under thatch on the beach itself, it offers lighter fare such as salads and plates of fish.
Room service is also available for all meals (hours 7am – 10pm). All the restaurants are non-smoking, though this is permissible at tables outside. |
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Weddings
With all its facilities for large gatherings, the Royal is happy to arrange a wedding reception for you and there are several locations around the grounds where they can stage the ceremony itself if you would like that too. There is a standard package for a wedding or renewal of vows, but they also have a dedicated wedding co-ordinator who can help to adapt it and tweak it for your needs.
Their wedding package (cost US$500) includes a cake, wedding arch, bouquet and sparkling wine and hors d’oeuvres as well as all the legal requirements and of course a minister to officiate. Then there are a number of extras that you can chose as well, which include photographer, steel band and a hair-dresser. |
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Children
The Royal caters well for children. First the bedrooms, as suites, can sleep two adults and two children (aged up to 11). However, if you prefer to sleep in a separate room then several of the categories have adjoining rooms. The hotel can provide equipment for very young children including cots and high chairs and they can also provide baby-sitting for the moments you would like to go out in the evenings.
There is a children’s club during weekday mornings and afternoons (10-12am, 2-4pm), in the St Lucian hotel next door. A programme of activities is run for four to twelve year olds. There is also a playground next door. |
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Rates
| | 04 Jan-31 Mar 2007-08 | 01 Apr-22 Dec 2008 | | Meal Plan | EP | EP | | Deluxe Suite Single Double Triple | From 278 From 278 From 382 | From 197 From 197 From 271 | | Seaview Deluxe Single Double Triple | From 317 From 317 From 437 | From 235 From 235 From 323 | | Beachfront Deluxe Single Double Triple | From 538 From 538 From 740 | From 447 From 447 From 615 | | Grand Deluxe Single Double Triple | From 733 From 733 From 1,009 | From 635 From 635 From 873 | All rates are in US$ per room, per night, on a room only basis and include service charge and tax. All rates are subject to change without notice and are lead-in only. Please contact Royal St Lucia (Rex Resorts) directly for a quotation. Minimum stay 3 nights. |
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How to book
If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at the top of this page to make contact with the Royal St Lucia hotel, or if you wish to telephone them, their telephone number will be revealed if you click on CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER. |
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Locality
The Royal is within walking distance of all the activity of Rodney Bay, which includes a number of good restaurants and some extremely lively bars and cafes. The town itself is the largest in this area of the island and has now developed most of the way around the Rodney Bay lagoon and increasingly up onto the surrounding hills. In addition to all the restaurants and bars along the strip, which has latterly become known as Rodney Bay Village, you will also find anything you need in terms of supermarkets and other shops.
On the other side of the lagoon is the much more ‘local’ village of Gros Islet. This is laid out on a grid of mostly modern buildings around some nice old wooden West Indian houses at their centre. It is most famous for its weekly ‘jump up’, Friday Night at Gros Islet, when stereo systems are put up on the pavement and people dance in the street. To the north of Gros Islet you come to the Cap Estate, a wealthy area of private villas with a couple of hotels and a championship golf course.
Across the Bay from Reduit Beach you will find Pigeon Point (there are ferries to run you across). Previously called Pigeon Island, it was very heavily fortified in the 1700s during the wars for empire in the Caribbean. It is well worth a visit for this historical aspect – some of the buildings have been restored and there is a museum explaining it all – but there are also a couple of bars including an excellent beach bar called Jambe de Bois
Restaurants worth visiting in the area include the Great House in Cap Estate, The Edge on the shores of the lagoon in Rodney Bay, Buzz and the Charthouse. The Coal Pot in Vigie Marina in Castries is also excellent. |
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Meet & Greet
If you arrive on a long distance flight you will fly into Hewanorra International Airport in the far south of the island. The taxi ride (for two people) from Hewanorra to Rodney Bay costs US$70 and it takes over an hour (as long as ninety minutes depending on the traffic around Castries). The Royal would be happy to order a taxi to meet you on request.
If you have the choice (for instance if you are flying form within the Caribbean) it is far easier to fly into George Charles airport at Vigie just outside Castries, which is about 20 minutes away. The cab fare is US$25.
If you are travelling with a travel organiser then you should be met at the airport and your transfers arranged. Please check at the time of booking. If you are travelling independently and want to be met at the airport and have a knowledgeable representative to call upon during your stay, we recommend St Lucia Representatives, who can also fixed a helicopter transfer from Hewanorra |
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Getting Around
If you want to explore the island at your own pace then it is easiest to get yourself a hire car. We recommend you book in advance via your travel organiser or direct with Drive-a-Matic, who are based close by and will deliver to the property. They will also issue your St Lucian driving licence, price EC$54. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. Be aware that around Christmas and New Year, and at the Jazz Festival in May, there can be a shortage of cars in St Lucia, so you are advised to book well in advance. Also book early if you want a car for a week or more as pre-booked rates can be better. |
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