Sandals La Toc

was PHENOMENAL in every way.



Any questions?

Im so glad!!! We are leaving for our honeymoon there on Monday.

What did you guys do after dinner, was there a nightlife or any entertainment? What excursions did you do?

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Posted by SimHawk8

where is La Toc?

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St. Lucia

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Posted by merelynn10

Im so glad!!! We are leaving for our honeymoon there on Monday.

What did you guys do after dinner, was there a nightlife or any entertainment? What excursions did you do?

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There is tons of nightlife. They have a lot of activiites like the newlywed game and they always have a band every night. The bands are REALLY good, but LOUD. I was very glad to be up on the bluff away from the noise.

Honestly, DH and I had full days and late dinners and headed back to the room afterward most nights. There were activities ALL day, but we didn't really participate. But almost every night there is a themed night. On Fridays there's a street party with lots of authentic food, and a band. The food didn't appeal to me (oxtail soup, and hte pig on a spit kind of sealed the deal for me to leave..I'm a vegetarian), but it was a fun party atmosphere. They were cutting open jelly coconuts, having you drinks some of the water and filling the rest with rum. YUM, and they had dancers, etc. I forget which night was the 'Beach party' . I want to say Wednesday. I caught part of that, too. It was better than the street party. They had fire dancers and fire eaters, lots of great music, and again lots of food and drinks. I think if you are looking for nightlife, you won't be disappointed, but we didn't spend a lot of time there. They also just have dance parties into the night at the main areas, karaoke, talent shows, etc. One night we were at the Grande to eat at Gordon's and afterward, waiting for the 11pm shuttle we were there for a whole dance party and the band was great. Also, it's carnival now, so they'll have carnival dancers, etc.

YAYYYYY!!! We are going!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!

Happy you had a great HM!

As for excursions...I wish we had done fewer and just enjoyed the resort more. I wish we had had more time to do more scuba diving, which is FREE after you pay for the course, instead of wasting money on excursions.

We did the 'Lover's Rock Sunset Sail' - It was supposed to be a romantic sunset cruise, but there was music BLASTING (the same songs over and over, btw), the obnoxious staff had guests walking above my head for pictures and spilling drinks on me, and interrupted us kissing to offer us drinks. Also, our room had a sunset view, so I was like 'why are we here?' Also, we NEVER once, not on that cruise, or from our balcony actually saww the sun set over the horizon because there was ALWAYS a wall of clouds. It's rainy season. I wish we had spent the night on our patio with a glass of wine watching the sun set from there.

We did the 'Dolphin and Whale Watching Adventure'..well, it was an ALL day thing, starting at 7am. We're on a boat with really uncomfortable seating, virtually no shelter from the sun, and we saw ZERO whales and dolphins. The day before, having complained about the sunset cruise (the tour desk didn't care BTW), DH asked 'What is the tour like? What if we don't see dolphins, are we just sitting on a boat all day?' The lady said 'You will definite;y see dolphins'. When we got on the boat the guy said there's an 85% success rate of BOTH whales and dolphins. We say NOTHING. We took the boat all the way down to the pitons, no dolphins. It was then a kind of depressing ride back. The guy on the boat kept saying how he saw 6 sperm whales yesterday and what a great day it was yesterday, which made me want to throw him over the edge of the boat. Later on in the week I spoke with this couple who had been to sandals a million times and they said it's not really dolphin season. UGH. On the way back, we did stop at Anse Couchon, jump off the back of the boat and swim for 30 minutes. In that time, guys came up to our boat in rowboats trying to sell us stuff. It was at least refreshing to swim. We then had a buffet lunch at the Mygo Bay Restaurant in Marigot Bay, which was nice, BUT, we were all sitting there for over an hour doing NOTHING while the crew of the boat hung out. DH took a video of all of the people falling asleep at their tables. I was just depressed and wanted to get back to the resort and sad we missed our opportunity to dive for it. It's also depressing since every bpat you go on goes right past the resort, so you're like 'let me off this boat, I'll swim'...Also, some people got seasick.
I don't mean to sound like a complainer, but these 2 tours left a bad taste in my mouth, esp since they were SO expensive, and NOT what was advertised. The tour desk did not care at all. Guest services actually gave me a refund on one of them. I just felt so sad because both of those tours were gifts and I wanted to tell people how great they were and send pics and now when people ask I have to say they spent all that money and we saw no dolphins.

The third excursion we went on was Joe Knows. We originally had the Land and Sea booked, but we switched it for Joe Knows, since I'd read good things about it and L&S is run by the same people as the sunset cruise. There's also Son of Man, being sold by a guy on the beach, but I wasn't sure if/when we'd see him, so I booked with the resort because I wanted the sure thing. Also, DH was more comfortable booking tours through the resort.

Joe Knows was the BEST tour we did. We took a speedboat, went into Marigot Bay, they pointed out the celebrity homes (which I'd already seen on the dolphin cruise), they told us a lot about the island. One thing to know about this tour is it's a PARTY tour. The sped boat is going FAST and there is LOUD music and the crew is really pedrsonable and funny and they have some crude humor, but we loved it. The main attraction was getting off the boat and going to the Soufriere drive -in volcano. We got to go in the mud bath, and our guide took pictures of all of us with out cameras. We then took a wlk through the botanic gardens (LOTS of steps on this tour), and rinsed off in a waterfall). Afterward, we had lunch at The Still, and then we stopped at Anse Chastanet for 30 minutes of snorkeling. Only downside was that unlike the other tour, life jackets were mandatory and that was annoying, but we had a great time. After the snorkleing, the rum punch was really flowing. They showed us some interesting sights along the coastline, including a little place that was in the pirates of the caribbean movies and took us back. Had it not been a 'red flag' day, they would have let us off the boat on the beach at our resort, but alas, we had to go back to Castries for the bus.

We also did the Rainforest Skyride. I didn't want to do ziplining because I have back problems, plus I was really interested in the nature of the rainforest. We had to drive a really long way (with several stops at other resorts) to get to the rainforest for our one hour tram tour. The rainforest in St. Lucia doesn't have any monkeys of huge flowers like you might see in Costa Rica I guess, but it's pretty and has some interesting history. We saw 2 hummingbirds and a swarm of bees and we heard other birds and tree frogs. We were the only ones from our group who elected to take the hike., which was short and interesting, but involved a lot of steps. Afterward there was free juice or rum punch (EVERY tour has free rum punch) and the BEST, cheapest souvenir shop we saw on the entire island. They were cheaper than the local vendors and had nicer stuff than our resort shop.

AT The resort we did the 'Scents of Love Couples Massage' the Candlelight Dinner and the Scuba lesson.. I told you we had full days.

We did the couples massage on DH's birthday. We got breakfast at the pavillion, which is close to the spa (our room on the bluffs is at the other end of the resort), and headed over. They took our info and we waited. We then went to separate areas to change into robes and then met in the waiting area. We met a couple from LI in the waiting area and saw them several other times on the trip. Martine, are you here???

We then were led into a private room with candlelight and two massage tables with soft music playing. The massage was VERY nice and relaxing. At the end they had us hold hands and then brought us water. We could use the sauna if we wanted to, but we left. We bought a yummy smelling salt scrub on the way out. One caveat. There's a 12.5% service fee on sp services which they don't tell you about AND you're expected to tip the massage therapists. Just FYI. We loved it and would do it again and I am not a massage person. I've only done it before medically, not for fun.

We also did the candlelight dinner on DH's birthday. We got to pick our menu ahead of time. On the night of, our butler brought us all the way down to where we met with our server, Brenda, who walked us to our private table on the beach. It had full place settings, tiki torches, and chairs with nice covers, along with personalized menus (which had Mr. and Mrs> MyMaidenname' written on them, but they fixed it for us before we left). There were other couples on the beach, but they were so far away that it would be impossible to make out their faces or even hear if they were talking so it was very private. We booked the 6:30 appointment so we got to watch the sun set. The food was excellent. It must have been made at La Toc, because it was similar to the food there and just about as good (La Toc is to DIE FOR...get several reservations there, or if you have a butler, you can also get it delivered to your room). The dessert for two was a tiny portion even for one, but we still have DH's birthday cake anyway in the room

The SCUBA lesson was also awesome. We went for our lesson and we were the only ones. We watched a video, then got to practice the skills in the pool. I was nervous at first, breathing through the regulator so we took it very slowly, and our instructor actually took us for a private dive right off the beach instead of having us go on the boat. It was AMAZING.

really thats where we are staying...now im so excited...

YAY!!!!!! We leave TOMORROW MORNING for La Toc - I am SOOOO EXCITED!!!

DH is all about the massage now and we have the dinner on the beach booked so that is exciting.

Thanks for all the info I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted by merelynn10

Im so glad!!! We are leaving for our honeymoon there on Monday.

What did you guys do after dinner, was there a nightlife or any entertainment? What excursions did you do?

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We will be there tomorrow through the 14th Maybe we will see you!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely LOVED it.

Where are your rooms? We were up on the bluff which I loved. so quiet and a breathtaking view.

I'll run down the restaurants for you. In general, yes the portions for apps and desserts are small, but entree portions are big and you CAN order multiples of anything. DH liked to order multiple entrees and we met othet couples who ordered one of each dessert at every meal.

Pavillion; this is the 'main'restaurant. Buffet for breakfast and lunch. At breakfast they have fruit, cereals, fresh tropical juices, french toast, and various stuff like bakes, potatos, fish, plus a station where you can get omelettes, eggs, and pancakes. Millions of toppings for everything. We read complaint reviews but we never had to wait and service was great. The restaurant overlooks the main pool and the beach. One day we sat right at the edge of the pool. It was so pretty. Lunch has fruit and juice again, various meats and cheeses for sandwiches and paninis and hot stuff. They also have chips and salsas. We never ate dinner there, but it was closed a lot for events anyway.

Neptunes. This is the restaurant cloest to the beach. We had lunch here a lot, coming in off the beach or from excursion because they serve lunch until 5 (other places only until 2:30). The food here was very good. The calimari was overcooked, but everything else we had here was really good. Pizza, the fish reuben was awesome as was the vegetable wrap. DH had chicken sandwiches he really likesThe pizzas are made in a brick oven right there. It's cool. They're quick with drinks, too and of course you're right above the beach, so it's beautiful. Like Pavillion, this required no reservation and we never had to wait.

Armando's. - A lot of reviews bragged about Armando's and I thought since it's on the bluff , we'd spend a lot of time there, but we only ate there twice. I think I'm spoiled by all of the great Italian food in NY. For dinner I had scampi and DH had a steak. Both were kind of heavily sauced like you might get at a chain restaurant. The antipasto bar is cool, but their idea of fresh mozzerella is...ick. but it was a nice environment and we liked it. I also enjoyed breakfast there. They had omelettes and varius specialty dishes along with a fruit, pastry and antipasti bar.

Kimono's - requires reservation -
Kimono's was kind of uninspiring. It's set into the bluff in a breathtaking location, but by the time they start serving, it's dark out, so you don't appreciate it as much, until you go out onto the patio for dessert. The food was more imaginative than typical hibachi food and rather than choosing, everyone gets all of it, but the 'show' was really uninspiring. I've seen much better hibachi displays at disney and even at local restaurants. There were no onion volcanos or anything too impressive. It was fun having the group meal though. I wouldn't go too crazy trying to get a reservation here overall. DH enjoyed it though.

Piton's - required reservation -

Another awesome view that would be so nice in daylight. Very close to the ocean. The food here is supposed to be authentic island food. It's a little bit dumbed down I think, but it was very good. The service in this small restaurant was EXCELLENT. The desserts...omg..there was a coconut flan thing...mmmm

La Toc- was our absolute favorite. REservation required. try to get 2, or get your butler to bring it. The food was phenomenal, One of the best meals I've ever had in my life. It's a small french restaurant with beautiful furnishings and impeccable service. The food was SOOOOOO good. I am dreaming about it right now. I can't even describe it to you, it was so good. Run, don't walk.

Room Service- the breakfasts were awesome. Lunch was ok. At concierge level, you can order from the room service menu. At Butler level, you can order from any open restaurant, which is AWESOME.

Gordon's- Since we were Butler level, we got to eat at Gordon's at the Grande. It was nice to go to another resort an get some variet,y but I would NOT have paid the extra $170 to eat here. The food was good, but it was better at la toc. The restaurant is just a pier. They make you get dressed up, but the restaurant itself is not fancy. it was romantic though the service was excellent. The only problem was we finsihed dinner at 9:45 and the next shuttle wasn't until 11, and having gone down at 7:30 for the 8pm shuttle, dinner was a 4 hours+ ordeal. The food was ALMOST as good as at La Toc. I would rather have stayed at our resort, had another dinner at La Toc and saved the time travelling for other things. I was also cranky since it was out last night and we had to pack.

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Posted by HSsweethearts

was PHENOMENAL in every way.



Any questions?

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Told you!! YAY!!! So glad you had a nice HM!!

SOO EXCITED SOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank thank thank you for all the info!!!! Im getting so excited!!!!

FH wanted to do the dolphin thing and I said to him, what happens if we dont see any? I think this confirms that we are only going to do the Joe Know Best tour and then the zip lining. I think 2 excursions would be good and then just relaxing at the resort!!!

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Posted by merelynn10

Thank thank thank you for all the info!!!! Im getting so excited!!!!

FH wanted to do the dolphin thing and I said to him, what happens if we dont see any? I think this confirms that we are only going to do the Joe Know Best tour and then the zip lining. I think 2 excursions would be good and then just relaxing at the resort!!!

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Yeah, it was also a REALLY noisy boat, we never really stopped and watched so I think we probably scared everything away, though they said that they contacted other whae watchers and said they hadn't seen anything either.

The resort is so nice and there's so much to do there. I wish we had spent more time at the resort or diving. Next time we plan to dive almost every day if we can

AIRPORT TIP:

When you get through customs, there will be guys with handtrucks saying 'Sandals, Sandals' just politely decline their offer to take your bags. i don't even think they work for Sandals. They will caqrry your bags literally 50 feet and then rudely demand a tip. I avoided this because I read reviews, but I saw it happen to other people. Right behind the customs desk si a door that says Sandals, you walk through, you go down a hallway, they take your name and tag your luggage and you wait in a comfy lounge with rum punch for your transfer.

We got upgraded to a private car transfer both ways, so I can't speak for the busses, but we found the drive to'/from the airport nice and didn't get carsick

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Posted by Jennielee15

Did you visit halcyon at all?

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I only saw it from the bus picking someone up for an excursion. It looked nice. A lot smaller. One good thing is Halcyon has a bus stop right outside the resort so you don't have to rely on the overpriced taxis the resort contracts with. They wanted $20 each way into the city which was 10 minutes away. A bus would have been under $2.

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Posted by HSsweethearts

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Posted by Jennielee15

Did you visit halcyon at all?

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I only saw it from the bus picking someone up for an excursion. It looked nice. A lot smaller. One good thing is Halcyon has a bus stop right outside the resort so you don't have to rely on the overpriced taxis the resort contracts with. They wanted $20 each way into the city which was 10 minutes away. A bus would have been under $2.

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Thanks