St. James's Club, Morgan Bay, St. Lucia

Sister Sarah and I go on vacation together (leaving the husbands home) every year, usually the week of Victoria Day.  This year we stayed at St. James's Club in St. Lucia ... neither of us had been to St. Lucia before.  We arrived last Saturday and left today.

It is less than 90 minutes from the airport and there was a van waiting to pick us up when we landed.  It was quite an interesting drive with the windy roads.

When we arrived, check-in in the lobby was quick.  Surprisingly there are no wrist bands, which was nice.  There is security at the entrance and around the resort.

There are 12 buildings with 345 rooms.  We were in beachfront rooms (building 700), which was perfect for us because it was next to the beach and the pool, the towel hut, the Sunset Lounge (where the entertainment was at night and one of the spots for free WIFI) and most of the restaurants.

All rooms include air conditioning, private bathroom/shower, safety deposit box, hairdryer, direct dial telephone, tea/coffee maker, iron/board, satellite TV and beach towels. Complimentary WIFI was available in the lobby and Sunset Lounge ... I found it was either quick or non-existent (as a tip, try to be close to one of the routers).

Here's my room, which was bright and roomy ...

The bed was very comfy!

I didn't turn my TV on once!

We had booked through Air Canada Vacations
and they had left a welcome gift for us

The tub was the perfect size for me and I used it a lot
to soak before bedtime

I was on the ground floor ... here's the view from my patio:

Sister Sarah's room was right above mine

We arrived late in the afternoon ... here is our first sunset (it gets dark early).

There was always a full day of activities, which were updated on a board in the Sunset Lounge every day.

Usually we spent our mornings at the beach and our afternoons at the pool.  There was never a problem getting a lounger and they never an out of towels.

The beach is on the Caribbean and the water was nice

There were four pools.  The Lazy Lagoons pools were next to our building.

That's our building right there!

There was water aerobics every morning at 11am

One pool had a swim up bar.

The Hilltop Pool was up on the hill and had fabulous views.  It was adults-only and really quiet and serene.

There's our beach

The family pool was at the Plum Tree Bar & Grill.

There were six restaurants to choose from and we ate at them all except for Le Jardin, which was more upscale and cost extra ($35 a person).  Usually the food at resorts is mediocre ... the food here was excellent!  We never had a bad meal and were never hungry.  You can walk into the Palms Restaurant, which is the buffet, without reservations but you need them for the others.  You can book up to three nights and I'd suggest you do that right away as they do fill up.

• Bamboo - It offered Asian Fusion and contemporary Caribbean cuisine.  I had satay and beef pepperpot there for supper.
• Morgan's Pier - It offered fresh seafood and grilled classics.  I had chicken wings and a pork chop for supper.
• The Palms - Most sittings had a theme ... I had East Indian for lunch, seafood for supper, etc.
• Plum Tree - They have popcorn, burgers, fries, ice cream, etc. there.  I had a delicious chicken roti there for lunch two days and a cheeseburger another day for lunch.
• Tree Tops Pizza and Pasta - We went there twice for supper.  I had a pizza the first time and lasagna the second time.

In addition to the organized activities all day every day, there was nightly entertainment from 9pm to 11pm in the Sunset Lounge:

• Saturday - karaoke
• Sunday - Prodigy, a band that played pop hits
• Monday - a calypso band (my least favourite night as the band didn't seem to be engaged)
• Tuesday - L.M. Stone (he was really good) who played old country western songs
• Wednesday - a steel drum band, limbo dancers and fire eaters
• Thursday - Royal St. Lucia Police Band
• Friday - a band called Epic, mascarade dancers and fire eaters

Christine of Spice Travel was our Air Canada Vacations rep and she was great.  She gave us lots of info and was there even if we just wanted to chat.  She booked us on a fun Land and Sea Getaway day tour (Mathias was our fabulous guide).  She was there to say good-bye to us and make sure we got on our ride to the airport.

The weather was great ... hot and sunny (30C and higher every day).  It rained about five times on Sunday but it was over within minutes.

We had a great vacation and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the St. James's Club or St. Lucia again.  It cost more to go there than to Cuba or the Dominican but the quality in the food and friendliness and helpful of the staff was noticeable and worth it.

A couple suggestions ...

• There were no alarm clocks in the room.  I know we are on vacation but it's still nice to wake up and know what time it is without scrambling for a watch (not everyone has a cell phone).
• It would have been nice to open the windows and let fresh air come in but when I did, mosquitoes came in.  So screens on windows would be helpful.
• WIFI is available in the rooms on one side of the resort (apparently at a $50/week cost) but not in our side.  I would go to the lobby and the Sunset Lounge to catch up with the world.  Unfortunately there was no place to plug in my laptop so I ran on battery power (which doesn't last long).  The electrical outlets are different from ours in the public areas so I couldn't plug in.
• We got hassled on the beach and even at the towel hut to go on excursions.  The beaches in St. Lucia are all public so vendors are permitted.