My sister, Mel and I stayed at Capella Hotel's Marigot Bay (CMB) in St. Lucia for four amazing nights. Here's the low-down and our favorite aspects of the hotel! Note: This is not a sponsored post, we just excel at picking good travel destinations 👌
GETTING THERE
There are two airport options in St. Lucia: Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) and George F.L. Charles Airport (SLU). My impression is that UVF is the airport most flights from the US fly into. This is because we flew Delta direct from Atlanta and didn't have a choice. Pro tip: make sure to plan your flight BEFORE booking the hotel because there are only 2-3 flights a week direct from ATL to UVF.
One of my good friends stayed near Rodney Bay a couple weeks before our travel date (and is well versed in traveling the Caribbean). She mentioned that booking transportation to the hotel ahead of time would be wise, but if not, a cab was about $80 USD. CMB had an 'add on' option during booking to book private transportation to the hotel for $100 USD each way for up to 3 people. This hands down is the way to go. Yes, it's $20 more, but our driver took care of our bags and we rolled out of the airport in a baller Land Rover with a retractable sunroof and waved 'too-da-loo' to all the people clambering in the shuttle bus on their way to Sandals.
The ride from UVF to CMB is about an hour. It was an enjoyable ride up and and down lush mountains, through banana farms and winding roads overlooking St. Lucia's beautiful bays. Our driver gave us a mini tour during our time with him which we appreciated. Unfortunately Mel, who is prone to car sickness nearly tossed her Biscoff cookies - just a heads up in case you're the same.
Bikini Bottom: J.Crew // Bikini Top: J.Crew // Hat: South Moon Under (old), but similar (and cheaper!) here.
BEFORE WE GOT THERE
Once I booked our reservation on their website, I received a confirmation on the site but not an email confirmation. I was a little worried, but a few weeks later closer to our arrival date, I received a confirmation email and a note from one of the personal assistants mentioning some of the surrounding activities and if we would like to book anything ahead of time. A few emails back and forth confirmed our flight times and transport and our bed type preference. As someone on their cell phone constantly I found this to be much easier than having to speak with someone over the phone. The personal assistants were pleasant and efficient.
Three days prior to our arrival, I received a call from one of the Personal Assistants at the Resort who confirmed our itinerary and also asked if we were celebrating anything special or had any special requests. I mentioned my blog and asked if there were any good photo op spots on the property. I thought she was lying when she said 'everywhere on the resort', but this turned out to be completely
true - I mean, have you seen the photos on this post?!
THE RESORT
The resort is tucked into a mountain side on the south side of Marigot Bay. There is only one other resort in the area across the bay, but CMB is definitely the more luxurious of the two.
Upon arrival our car pulled up in a drive way with an open pavilion for check in. We were instantly greeted by name and a glass of rum-spiked spiced iced tea (which was AMAZING) - regular spiced iced tea was also available. We then were greeted by one of the personal assistants and given a brief tour of the resort while the bell hops put our luggage in our room.
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| Super refreshing rum-spiked spiced iced tea! |
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| This is the smaller pool - my personal fave! |
Dining
There are three restaurants on the property: a sportsbar on the Marina called the "Hurricane Hole", a rum bar called the "Rum Cave", a casual restaurant called the "Bayside Cafe", and a fine dining restaurant called "The Grill at 14°61°".
Hands down, the The Grill at 14°61° was the BEST. The food was absolutely amazing and while it was pricier than the other restaurants, I personally didn't think it was outrageous (appetizers were $10-$18, entrees were $16-$30, and steaks started at $40). I also recommend getting the Chocolate Experience for Two - so worth it if you have a sweet tooth.
We did have breakfast and dinner at The Hurricane Hole and a lunch and a dinner at the Bayside Cafe, both were just OK, not very note worthy in terms of food, but not bad. I do have to say that the service at the Hurricane Hole was great - the waitress was familiar with us on the second day and asked us if we wanted "The Usual" - a nice touch that made us seem like locals, even just for a few days.
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| View from our table at the Hurricane Hole in the marina. This man was our favorite local and made us seriously fantasize about quitting our jobs and selling bananas on paddle board. |
The rooms were a good size and had hard wood flooring throughout. We stayed in a King Guestroom and the room had a nice little balcony overlooking the bay and a large bathroom with double sinks. The website description said they were 900 Sq Ft., but that is innacurate - I would say they are closer to 550-600 Sq.Ft. No tub 😒 (I'm a huge bath person), but the bathroom had a walk in shower, European toilet and separate bidae (which I still don't know how to work). The bathroom also came with an amenity kit (like business class and above on airplanes) that had all sorts of goodies (tooth brush, tooth paste, razor, brush, etc.).
If you wanted to upgrade, some rooms came with a FOMO inducing hot tub in the balcony.
AMENITIES
The resort has an all-inclusve option, but even if you don't opt-in for that, I felt there were still a lot of great amenities offerred by the hotel. Here is a list of some of them:
- Complimentary food & drink samples at the Pool. These things were typically brought around every hour to guests and included:
- Young coconuts
- Fresh Sushi
- Rum Punch
- Fruit Punch
- Sashimi
- The Afternoon Amenity that was left in the room each day which typically included a couple of Piton Beers and:
- Chips & Gaucamole
- Spiced Popcorn
- Toasted Coconut Strips
- The Evening Amenity provided during Turn Down Service included sweets such as:
- A white chocolate lizard (super yummy)
- Meringue Cookies
- Ginger Snaps
- Candied Orange Segments
- Upon arrival at the airport we were given water bottles, a cold towel, and some ginger cookies.
- A rum cake was also in our room when we first checked in (but it wasn't that tasty IMO).
- Complimentary ferry to the beach. At the beach there was a rep from Capella (although at times hard to track down) who provided us with chairs, towels, and bottled water). I was a little fearful that I would have to wait around a while for the ferry, but the ferry operated on an as needed basis. When the driver saw us waiting on the dock, he'd come right over to pick us up.
- Complimentary activities such as hikes in the mountains surrounding the bay and yoga in the gym.
THINGS TO DO
Although the resort is small, there is a ton of stuff to do on the property. A spa village has an array of spa treatments and hot pools for relaxing. Pro Tip: book early because we tried to book a same-day massage and they had no availability. You can also jet across the bay to the beach which had a literal shack where you could rent a kayak or a catamaran. The marina also had a shop for watersports including paddle board rentals.
Outside Marigot, Rodney Bay is a popular place for bar hopping. We also heard a lot of great things about Pigeon Point. In reality, the bar scene wasn't that great (but note it poured rain when we went) and Pigeon Point seemed pretty mediocre in person. So unless you have a strong desire to visit either, I would stay in Marigot Bay.
One thing I wished we had time to do was to visit the Pitons, which are the only volcanoes you can drive into. I'm not exactly sure what they mean by that, but if you do please educate me in the comments!
Another popular excursion is the Sulphur Springs which have mineral rich mud that you're supposed to cake on your body for medicinal purposes. The reviews on this activity are mixed - some say it was lame and the smell was bad, while others mentioned the smell was not that bad and that it was a great excision. Have you been to the Sulphur Springs? Tell me how you liked it in the comments!
That's the roundup from our trip! Have you been to St. Lucia? Make sure to tell me about your experience in the comments!
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Here are some video highlights from our trip that I couldn't resist from posting (they're mostly of Mel goofing off). I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
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