Anse Chastanet

Anse Chastanet is a beautiful resort. We were amazed by the dedication and positivity of the staff. Everyone is kind and genuinely interested in talking with you. Gifter helped us make reservations at the spa and change our dinner reservation time at Jade Mountain, We were welcomed at the airport with a mint scented cold towel and a bottle of water. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with a welcome drink and another mint scented cold towel. We appreciated the kind gestures at the beginning of the trip. We stayed in a beachside deluxe room, which was a perfect choice for us. The rooms are spacious and the outdoor sitting area is covered and surrounded by beautiful plants. We enjoyed the excursions. I recommend the half day sailing, jazzy sunset cruise, and chocolate class that includes a visit to Emerald Farm. Teron did an outstanding job explaining the chocolate making process. He is friendly and knowledgeable and has a bright future ahead of him. Martin gave us a tour of Emerald Farms. You can tell he is passionate about the farm and the items grown there. Kerwin, Captain, and Kwame, first mate, made our half-day selling a memorable and educational experience. Kerwin is kind and patient and he made all of the sailors feel at ease on the sailboat and while snorkeling. You can tell that Kerwin is passionate and wants to share this beautiful island with his sailors. We especially loved the jazzy Sunset cruise. Garfield and the crew treated us like royalty. Both beaches are beautiful, but Anse Mamin is more private and less crowded. Please take time to snorkel near Anse Chastanet beach. Thank you to the entire staff for making our trip memorable. We can’t wait to return to Anse Chastanet.

I wanted to share some thoughts with you about the staff. After all, it is the employees that really make things happen. We were so impressed with the quality of the people and will never forget their warmth and caring. More than that though, it appears that the personal commitment they all possessed was indeed a rare thing. From Peter to Ricardo, from Michelina to Daniel, and so many others, it is hard to imagine a more dedicated group of people. You can have all the great food, scenery, and romantic atmosphere, but “nothing” is more important than the employees. Cherish them all, as they are the reason Anse Chastanet is the fabulous place that it is. I guess you can tell we enjoyed ourselves.

From the moment we were greeted t the airport by an Anse Chastanet representative with cooling towels to refresh us after our flight we felt very welcomed. The entire experience was first class. Every employee at the resort from the manager to maintenance consistently expressed a genuine desire to make sure we were enjoying our stay and a desire to improve our experience. Food was excellent. Service in all areas exceeded our expectations from room cleaning to the dive operation.

The entire experience was magical -- the property, the food, the service, and especially the staff! The food was beautifully plated and offered an exceptional variety, with a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options. The dive guides took extra care to ensure our safety and to find the special creatures on our wish-to-see list - and more! The dive boats were the best I have ever experienced. The entire team went the extra mile, providing services like serving hot chocolate after a night dive, ensuring our group could sit together at meals, attending to our every need, and sending us off with a lunch on the trip back to the airport.

It’s been two weeks since my spouse and I have been back from St. Lucia. This was our second time to St. Lucia and first time at Asne Chastanet. For the first six magical days of our trip, we were at Anse Chastanet. Our review reflects when, why, and how my spouse and I travel. Both of us love to travel during very low season. For us, the benefits in this strategy are extraordinary. Yes, late August has high heat, high humidity, occasional intense rain, but it also has no crowds, greater interaction with the truly extraordinary Anse Chastanet staff, and the special possibility of intensely learning new things in a one-on-one setting. Not-to-mention, the Costco travel deals particularly during this time are truly spectacular. Our story actually begins on the way to Anse Chastanet from Hewanorra International airport where we met with our designated driver Lionel from Soufriere. Lionel would become our go to driver for most of the adventures that we had while at Anse Chastanet and then when again we left for Castries on the seventh day. We very much enjoyed our conservations with Lionel on all sorts of topics and got a better understanding of daily life in St. Lucia. Before arriving at Anse Chastanet, we spoke at length about St. Lucia’s flora and fauna, teaching chemistry to elementary school children, and challenges in growing bananas. Time went by quickly as we arrived to Soufriere in less than an hour and then made our way up a very rustic unpaved bumpy path to Anse Chastanet. At Anse Chastanet, we were warmly greeted with soothing cool wet peppermint-scented towels and a relaxing beverage. We noted the impressive dark wood carving depicting the story of Samson and Delilah before descending to the concierge desk. After an introduction and paperwork, we settled in our premium air-conditioned deluxe beach-side room, well appointed with Madras accents. Our travel package included the all-inclusive meal plan. We were initially a bit confused that even with an all-inclusive meal plan, a bill for signature and room number was presented at the end of each meal for any expense; but we quickly found out that this practice was purely for resort accounting purposes. That first evening, we quickly fell asleep to the symphony offered free of charge by the Antillean coqui frogs. Early the next morning, we met wood carver Sunshine Biscuit on our way to breakfast. Sunshine has a warm welcoming personality, carves well, and greeted us every morning. (A trio of Sunshine’s carved Mahi Mahi and an Angel fish now swim up the wall of our staircase.) We climbed the scenic staircase, what would become a daily good morning workout to the Treehouse restaurant, which has an evocative detailed wood carved ensemble evoking the story of Adam and Eve. At the Treehouse restaurant, we had a delightful breakfast- the cocoa tea and green fig and salt fish were so good. The misty tree-top view at the Treehouse restaurant was accentuated by the occasion rain shower which with the rising sun would often summon a rainbow. We quickly made friends with a Lesser Antillean bullfinch pair and a gangly Carib grackle. Although, we all enjoyed the cassava bread, it was the gray kingbird that truly showed its prowess in the ability to repeated catch a morsel while in flight. On our way to the concierge to schedule adventures for the coming days, we encountered resort cat Ginger that clearly demonstrated his unspoken title of resort hill and forest ambassador. We discovered during lunch and dinner at the Aspara restaurant that the beach side resort cat ambassadors were named Mary, Ryan, and Tiger. If you like superb spicy dinner dishes go for Aspara’s goat vindaloo and you can’t go wrong with ceviche and catch of the day for lunch. My spouse and I have traveled throughout the Caribbean and have noted the stray cats and dogs frequently cross our paths. We now always travel with packaged dog and cat food to provide some relief and help out four-legged friends. We were pleasantly surprised that at the reception and concierge desk information regarding Anse Chastanet partnership with the animal rescue and adoption program HelpAWS was readily on display. At the concierge desk we met, Gifter, the most exceptional concierge that I’ve ever met in all my travels. Her name Gifter is as unique as she is and completely suits her. She is truly a gift to Anse Chastanet with genie abilities! My spouse discussed with Gifter our overall plan for the coming days: Sulfur baths, botanical garden tour, Emerald farm tour and the Local Brewery tour, bird-watching and Anse Mamin plantation tour with Meno, aka Father Nature, and chocolate making at the Chocolate Lab. All readily, planned, and scheduled to perfection. And then, I made the first of two off-the-beaten-path requests of what would be a triad of wishes, fully expecting that they would be more aspirational than fulfillable. The previous year I had read Jolien Harmsen, “A history of St. Lucia” and became intrigued by the economics of “Green gold” and how until the 1950s, a completely different banana than what we eat today was mass produced and exported world-wide. That banana was the Gros Michel (Big Mike), a sweeter, creamier, better tasting banana compared to the Cavendish bananas we eat today. A fungus disease known as Panama disease almost complete wiped out the more susceptible Gros Michel, causing the switch to the more resilient Cavendish banana that we consume today. The Gros Michel, the better tasting banana, can still be found although with considerable difficulty. My first wish to Gifter was to find a Gros Michel banana! The second wish was simply two paper bags and 100 small paper clips. In conversation with Lionel, we spoke about our families, and he mentioned that he had a daughter that was very much into science. I had told Lionel that I frequently give science classes to children and with 100 individual paper clips in a two-ply paper bag could demonstrate the basic principle of a reaction. Lionel was intrigued so I was determined to provide him the materials to show his daughter the demonstration. Gifter took on this challenge of granting these two unusual wishes within just two day! Our first excursion was to the Chocolate Lab. Daniel an experienced chocolatier gave for just my spouse and I an awesome educational and fun course on making chocolate and then tempering it to create our very own chocolate bars. Who knew chocolate production had a fermentation step! The next day Sunday, it was cloudy in the morning with more than a chance of rain. This is the very best to go to the Sulfur baths, less waiting more rejuvenative bathing, soo relaxing. Yes, it’s messy and stinks but so comforting and coupled with a very informative tour of the volcanic area it’s a veritable feast for the senses. Being immersed in a landscape of hot bubbling multi-colored stone volcanic cauldrons framed by a lush tropical forest where crested hummingbirds zipped from hanging flowers was just awesome. From the volcano, Lionel then brought us to the Diamond falls botanical gardens where we passed by mahogany, nutmeg, and the Richeria grandis tree. The Bois Bandé is the bark of Richeria grandis tree and used in making Anse Chastanet famous “Stairway to Heaven” drink; our go-to and highly recommended . From the botanical gardens we went to the Emerald farm, where we saw so many of the produce and herbs that went into Anse Chastanet’s spectacular menus and talked shop with the farmers. The Emerald farm tour ended with the seeing a fresh batch of passion fruit beer brewing from the Local Brewery which is in the Emerald Farms, such a sweet smell followed by a pint of their newest whiskey barrel beer. What a spectacular Sunday! The following rainy morning, my spouse and I woke up early and suited up with hiking shoes and gear to trek into Anse Mamim with Meno, “Father Nature”, for morning bird watching and an exploration of the 18th century sugar processing building ruins. It was just the three of us equipped with resort provide binoculars. We walked from Anse Chastanet along the rocky cliff side to Anse Mamim. Along the way Meno pointed out brown boobies, brown pelicans and, frigates flying over the calm bay. The occasional head of a leather back turtle was also noted as it periodically broke through the water. On the beach, Meno pointed out the location were the turtle had laid and covered its eggs. We trekked into the wet Anse Mamim forest and surprising noted the absence of any mosquitoes in flight, an advantage of the recent rain. Meno quizzed us on different spontaneous fruiting trees such as mangos, guava, and breadfruit. Prior to picking a fruit for use to savor or leaves to split and smell, Meno would courteously ask permission from the tree. Meno was at home in the forest; and my spouse and I felt we were welcome guests in Father Nature’s home. We then went through the ruins of the 18th century sugar mill where stone walls cemented with calcium from shells, rusted cauldrons, and secret hidden niches fulfilled our explorer yearning. We even approached a bat cave full of sleeping bats and observed invasive large African snails devouring foliage. We passed by the deep sugar mill reservoir filled to the brim with collected water where White Peacock butterflies fluttered peacefully and then exited the forest with freshly picked citrus in hand. We were back on Anse Mamim beach, a highly picturesque beach with unusual umbrella-like rock formations. Meno called for the diving boat to pick us up in order to view closely the nesting brown boobies and brown pelicans along the cliff jutting from Anse Chastanet south side. It was just past noon when we ended this excursion with Meno. Another unexpected one quickly sprung up when we stopped and greeted Gifter at the concierge desk. The day before we surveyed the row of boutiques in front of Aspara restaurant and had noted the hope-filled and serene art work of St Lucia school children at play. We found out the artist was Jonathan Guy-Gladding (JAG) and wished we could visit his studio on the island without knowing where or if he was even on the island during our stay. We mentioned this last wish to Gifter just before the bird watching excursion began. Not only had Gifter located the artist, she had called him and we able to quickly arrange a visit to his home studio –an hour’s drive away. One of his original paintings now serves as a reminder of the youthful hope and serenity that we associate with St. Lucia. Thank you Anse Chastanet, Lionel, Daniel, Meno, Sunshine Biscuit, and Jonathan. And a very special thank you to Gifter, Anse Chastanet’s wish granter!!!