Sandals or Rendevous on St Lucia?

Anyone been to both? And has anyone been to Anse Chastanet? We're looking into options. I've heard that the Sandals are wonderful, and I love the idea of not having to do anything, but I'd also like to stay somewhere a little less...slick. My initial thought was a few days at Ladera, followed by time at the Sandals Grande. Well, Ladera is booked. And our travel agent suggested these other options. They sound wonderful, but I'm not entirely sure why we'd bother moving--it was one thing to be in the mountains at Ladera and relax and then different at Sandals, but these other two don't sound that different that I'd want to waste a day moving in between resorts.

So. Opinions? We need to book this soon! Only three months away!

I just got back from Sandals Grande in St Lucia and it was one of the best places I have been to. We had a great time whether we wanted to be lazy one day or actually do things another day.

I definitely recommend going there.

just got back from Sandals Grande in St Lucia

Do they play music on the beach? I hate that. And is the beach crowded? I don't expect an empty beach, but I don't want to be stepped on or not be able to relax because couples are being loud.

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Posted by Pencils

just got back from Sandals Grande in St Lucia

Do they play music on the beach? I hate that. And is the beach crowded? I don't expect an empty beach, but I don't want to be stepped on or not be able to relax because couples are being loud.

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You will not have people stepping all over you, it can be extremely relaxing. THey play music by the pools but there are parts of the beach that you will not even hear it.

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Posted by Pencils

Got any recommendations for the flights?

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Yes.. DO NOT TAKE AIR JAMAICA!!

I just found the plane to be old and extremly uncomfortable!

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by Pencils

Got any recommendations for the flights?

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Yes.. DO NOT TAKE AIR JAMAICA!!

I just found the plane to be old and extremly uncomfortable!

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I totally agree......thats what we took because we ddnt know.....oh and also take the lay over flights and land in the closer airport....the drive from the other airport is about an hour and a half on curvy roads and its not all that much fun.

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Posted by Mdolph6

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by Pencils

Got any recommendations for the flights?

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Yes.. DO NOT TAKE AIR JAMAICA!!

I just found the plane to be old and extremly uncomfortable!

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I totally agree......thats what we took because we ddnt know.....oh and also take the lay over flights and land in the closer airport....the drive from the other airport is about an hour and a half on curvy roads and its not all that much fun.

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I know def one of the biggest draw backs to staying there.. that drive never came to an end

There is another option.. you can take the helicopter.. its like a 10 or 20 min flight!

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by Mdolph6

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by Pencils

Got any recommendations for the flights?

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Yes.. DO NOT TAKE AIR JAMAICA!!

I just found the plane to be old and extremly uncomfortable!

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I totally agree......thats what we took because we ddnt know.....oh and also take the lay over flights and land in the closer airport....the drive from the other airport is about an hour and a half on curvy roads and its not all that much fun.

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I know def one of the biggest draw backs to staying there.. that drive never came to an end

There is another option.. you can take the helicopter.. its like a 10 or 20 min flight!

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Yes you can def do that, its actually 12 mins, because we almost did it but its alittle more then we wanted to pay so we dealt with the ride...but I tell you if we every go back there (and we would love to) we would def fly into the closer airport.

Which airport is the closer one? I guess I could just look it up!

OMG, my travel agent recommended Anse Chastanet and it's sister resort (the BEYOND GORGEOUS Jade Mountain resort) for a honeymoon.

It is SICK!!! We are really considering this as an option because these resorts look gorgeous. They're also not as commercialized as the Sandals resorts. Travel agent said that for bang for your buck, quality, etc etc, he'd recommend Anse Chastanet any day over Sandals (not meant to be rude to those going to Sandals).

We honeymooned at Sandals Grande and completely loved it!!! They do play music by one of the pools, but I don't even remember hearing it on the beach. It's not crowded at all. There's always room!! In fact, the pool with the swim up bar had the most people while we were there, but we always had room to float. Some other pools had nobody. We wanted to go back sooooo bad, but now we need to wait until our kids grow up so we can be alone again!!

I've read some odd things about Anse Chastanet, that it's in the middle of nowhere, which is fine if there's nothing else you want to do or if you don't get bored. The Jade Mountain part is supposed to be amazing when you're inside, but incredibly ugly on the outside. There's a picture posted on Trip Advisor that almost boggles the mind, it's so ugly, of weird concrete spans up high in the air.

Our TA suggested it because at first we thought about spending a couple of days at Ladera, and then move to Sandals, so she suggested two resorts, one more rustic and one all-inclusive. The thing is, I don't think we reallly want to go to two resorts if we can't go to Ladera. And Anse Chastanet sounds like too much of a risk for our entire honeymoon.

I'm a pretty adventurous traveler, but I don't want to be on my honeymoon. I want to be pampered and not DO anything, not have to think about anything and I'm pretty sure my FH feels the same way. If we did, we would have gone to Europe instead (next year.)

So we're back to thinking Sandlas Grande. Might as well get our free gift.

I have never been to Rendevous in St. Lucia, but we stayed at the Sandals Grande and had a great time. It was so relaxing and you had so many options to do stuff or do Nothing!

You cannot hear the music from the pool on the beach. Occasionally there will be a wedding and there will be steel drum players that you hear, but that was kind of nice IMO. The beach is not crowded, we always found 2 chairs no problem.

We flew AA into the smaller airport, the drive was 15 minutes to the Grande. From what I hear about the other drive, try to fly into the smaller airport.

Check out the St. Lucia thread on the Honeymoon Board. Good luck with your decision!

We loved Sandals St. Lucia. We stayed at the Regency and it was great. We flew American into San Juan first. The lay over wasn't too bad and the drive from the airport was short.

My husband and I got married at Anse Chastenet. I can't say enough about the resort, from our private, open-air suite, to the attentive staff, to two private beaches and endless activities right there at the resort.

You should know before considering AC that it it not a hotel; it's a series of private beach villas and hillside suites that are literally built into the mountainside. The rooms are designed to blend into the gorgeous natural surroundings; most rooms have a missing fourth wall that overlooks the ocean. The rooms don't have air conditioning, but they do have ceiling fans which was plenty for us.

The resort offers sailing trips, snorkling, scuba, windsurfing, kayaking, etc. There are three restaurants, all of which were good. There isn't a nightclub or late-night bar - the atmosphere is more 'honeymoon privacy' than late-night partying. It all depends on what sort of resort you're looking for, but I would highly recommend AC. We also spend three days at Ladera. It was breathtaking, but a bit boring after three days (all activities are off-site there).

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Posted by MrsQ-in2007

OMG, my travel agent recommended Anse Chastanet and it's sister resort (the BEYOND GORGEOUS Jade Mountain resort) for a honeymoon.

It is SICK!!! We are really considering this as an option because these resorts look gorgeous. They're also not as commercialized as the Sandals resorts. Travel agent said that for bang for your buck, quality, etc etc, he'd recommend Anse Chastanet any day over Sandals (not meant to be rude to those going to Sandals).

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are you going to St. Lucia for your HM too? Cause then we'd really be twins

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Posted by LuvMyMichael

We loved Sandals St. Lucia. We stayed at the Regency and it was great. We flew American into San Juan first. The lay over wasn't too bad and the drive from the airport was short.

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We went there too and loved it! We also flew American Airways but we stoped in Miami Fl first and then St. Lucia.