PEAK OF LUXURY

GO IN SEARCH OF PARADISE ON THE IDYLLIC CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF ST LUCIA

- MIA BOLTON

JEWEL IN THE CROWN

Home to lush rainforests, vast stretches of white sands and fabulous Creole cuisine, St Lucia deserves its reputation as one of the most dazzling jewels in the Caribbean crown.

In the north, the island’s capital, Castries, is cradled by emerald hillsides sprinkled with pops of ice-cream-coloured houses. Coconut stalls and tiny cafés in wooden huts line winding tracks through leafy villages, while in the south, near the town of Soufriere, two dormant volcanoes, the Pitons, rise from crystal waters.

US chat show host Oprah Winfrey has called the Pitons “one of the top five places to see before you leave this great place called Earth”. But that’s just the tip of the mountain, as it were, when it comes to the delights this gem of an island has to offer.

ADULTS ONLY 

StolenTime By Rendezvous, an all-inclusive adults-only resort on the beach in Castries, is the sister hotel to St Lucia’s famous BodyHoliday, where the late Amy Winehouse famously went for two weeks and ended up staying eight months.

We would happily have extended our stay in our spacious poolside suite, which brought the outdoors in with its beachhued palette – and the fact it had direct access to the pool and the Caribbean Sea beyond. The generously stocked REN toiletries complement the luxurious feel, while the huge freestanding bathtub was just the tonic after a day spent sampling the array of fitness classes on offer.