St lucia review
My wife surprised me with a trip to the Royalton Saint Lucia, and while I would never complain in front of her about a gift like this, it was clear that she was disappointed given the cost and expectations.
The resort is marketed as a luxury experience, which is of course subjective, but it did not feel luxurious to us. Upon arrival, we were dropped off at the so-called VIP check-in area, which was underwhelming. The drop-off itself felt more like a motel entrance than a luxury resort. Ironically, the main hotel reception area looked far more appropriate, so I’m not sure why VIP guests are directed to this separate space. The VIP check-in felt like a brightly lit waiting room with no real décor or atmosphere. There was no welcome drink, no sense of arrival, and no experience that made us feel like we had booked an adults-only luxury resort. Check-in was slow and inefficient, to the point that we didn’t even want to wait for the bellboy and carried our own luggage to the room.
My wife had booked an ocean-view room. In reality, most rooms at the resort appear to have some form of ocean view, as the buildings are laid out in a horseshoe shape facing the cove. Our room was fine and did have a partial ocean view, but it didn’t feel meaningfully different from what I imagine most other rooms would offer.
One of the biggest disappointments was the “adults-only” branding. While our building was adults-only, the resort itself is not. More than half of the buildings
