Ladera Resort

My husband and I went here for our honeymoon. We did the peak to beach package. When you walk into your room and see that amazing view of the pitons, it doesn’t even feel real! The whole stay, the view was just out of this world! We felt this was the perfect, romantic, intimate stay we needed for our honeymoon. This was our first time in an open air room and we enjoyed it! The hotel does offer insect repellent to use during your stay there. If you are a light sleeper, bring some ear plugs as some nights the tree frogs were very loud. Other nights it was just regular nature noises! The service was outstanding. Our butler would call and check on us to make sure we were doing okay. He was great at helping get excursions booked and very prompt! The restaurant was amazing as well and me and my husband enjoyed the food (he is a picky eater). We enjoyed the nature walk that the resort offers! We also loved our couple massage! The heated pool was perfect for us and we were in and out of it all day! All the staff was so friendly! I can’t say enough good things about our stay there! We would definitely come back!

We went for 5 days and stayed in room N. A Ladera employee met us at the airport and put us in our own nice new air conditioned cab for the 45 minute ride there. Ladera staff took our luggage and put it in our room while a host gave us a welcome drink then gave us a mini tour and told us about all the amenities: the pool, the restaurant, the studio with the in residence artist who has carved all the wood around the resort, the game room with ginormous TV, pool and ping pong tables, the hammocks, the gym, the trail around the property with the treehouse in a 300 year old mango tree, the rum bar. Then she took us to our room. I am not exaggerating when I say that when we walked in and saw the view of the valley in front of us and the Piton mountains looming above, we both teared up. I have traveled a fair bit and my husband has been to 72 countries and it is one of the most beautiful places we have seen. Each room has its own heated plunge pool and our had an opened walled bathroom so it’s basically an outdoor shower as well but totally private. The resort staff are genuinely friendly and helpful. The concierge Kaleen made some great suggestions for snorkeling places and a place to eat at that beach. Our butler Sanjay was sweet and always looking for ways to help us out, including giving us a second bottle of champagne after we finished the welcome bottle they gave us. The food at Dasheene was good. We come from a foodie city so it wasn’t Michelin star level but perfectly good. The best part is again- that view!! Also, we discovered late that most nights there is good live music in the lounge area next to the restaurant. We got a couples massage for 90 minutes at the beautiful spa. We went early to have a bite there. The smoothies came immediately but I think I waited 40 minutes for my salad which apparently had to be made at the main r restaurant and brought over to the spa a half mile away. The massage gets mixed reviews. My husband loved his masseuse, mine was rough and I had to repeatedly tell her to lightened the pressure. The treatment rooms were nice and there is a steam room and two types of saunas. The pool at the spa is really cool too with chairs sunk into the water and a waterfall. We also hiked the entire trail around the resort. It is only about 2.5 miles but the equivalent of 49 flights of stairs up and down. It was a lot for me but worth it! There is a viewing platform at the highest point which has a different view of the Pitons from the room and it is STUNNING! there is a meditation area with “pond” that is kind of lame but then you come to the outdoor workout area which is ingenious with monkey bars and resistance machines made out of wood with cement weights you can add to them. Right before that we came to the treehouse. So cool! It’s 4 floors and each door has a cabinet with books and games and a cool water dispenser. It all built in a mango tree. Breakfast is included every day and they have every kind of food and beverage you could want, including about a dozen flavors of smoothie. The rooms each have a tablet where you can check activity schedules and order food and a little cell phone you are encouraged to take with you so wherever you go you can call reception and they will send a can to get you and bill it to your room. Saves you from getting ripped off by cabs or having to negotiate prices. when they call you one from the resort, you wait comfortably in reception until the ford desk lets reception know the cab is there. No standing around waiting. We toured the gym which is spotless and beautiful and well equipped. The main pool looked nice but we never went in it because we had our own. By the way they will adjust the temperature of your pool to your preference. They have a regular shuttle to two different beaches. We went to one of them and it was easy 12 minute ride. Another day we took a cab to a slightly further beach that we liked even better called Anse Chatenet ( and the one next to it with a great bar/ restaurant) which was 20 minutes away on a horrible hair raising road I was glad I was not driving my own car on! The St Lucia drivers are good! Having the open wall in the room was a highlight. They do everything to prevent bugs. The bed is well swathed in mosquito netting, There are lots of fans in the room and they burn mosquito repellant at night for you. Bugs were no problem in the room. They also provided (non deet) repellant and some after bite lotion. I brought my own deep woods deet filled stuff which we used at the beach. They also provide earplugs (the birds start singing early) and eye masks (room faces west for great sunsets but the sunlight does come shine in the morning. I used both, my husband used neither. On my next visit I might bring a more comfortable eye mask. The only bummer about room N is the bed upstairs and bathroom downstairs. That was tough in the middle of the night by We did have a sweet but persistent stray cat show up with our room service breakfast. We would lure her out the door and she would climb to the roof and drop back into the upstairs bedroom and come down and beg again. Happened multiple times, then she just hung out with us a bit. We actually kind of loved it. Overall, I would say this was one of the best trips to any island I have had. Ladera doesn’t have the kind of ritzy luxury you might get elsewhere but it has any amenity you might want, and the absolute best views. It is classy and homey and cozy and friendly. I was genuinely sad to leave. Everyone should go there!

The location is great, right in between the pitons. The open air suites with the view take your breath away when you enter your room for the first time. The concierge and reception were helpful in making our reservations for activities and dinners. The spa was excellent. The nature trails within the property were surprisingly jungly and give you a challenge, but have a great view at the yoga platform. However we did notice a few things lacking that made me give a 4/5: one of the receptionists was deliberately cold to me whenever I had questions for her or asked help with something. I noticed that she was behaving cheerfully with other guests. When I’m paying thousands of dollars a night to stay here, I don’t expect anything less than a warm interaction every time. In addition, the room had a bright green glowing exit sign that prevented us from having a dark sleeping environment. The initial suggestion from reception to cover it with a towel is laughable, as thats not something that I should be expected to do as a paying guest at an expensive resort. They eventually rectified the situation and owned up to the cold demeanor, but unfortunately that doesn’t change my experience.

10/10 at Ladera—It was our 43rd year anniversary. We are a M/F couple who needed these 4 relaxing days to reconnect right after the busy holidays. Upon entering the resort, we had an immediate ‘White Lotus’ season 3 vibe. The reception/concierge team of Caroline, Abigail, Ariela took care of anything and everything! Views of the two Pitons and the Sugar Beach bay below with sailboats and yachts was our sunrise and sunset. We paid more for the Holiday Suite, but had a two level room with large private, heated pool. The open wall vibe was romantic, exciting and simply amazing! A bonus being a nonstop flight from ATL!

This is a lovely resort, and for couples looking for privacy and escape, its perfect. The rooms could benefit from being updated, but they are very spacious and more like a small apartment. Sadly I did not score it 5, as the food is below what you'd expect of such a resort. They really do need to address this.