BodyHoliday St. Lucia

We thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to BodyHoliday and would definitely return if the prices stay in line. It's definitely not cheap, but we felt we got good value. As one fellow guest put it, it's relaxed but very civilized. Indeed, relaxed is the key word -- we felt super relaxed the whole time and never found the need to leave! The resort is set on a beautiful, private cove, with a gorgeous sandy beach and with a good water sports department and equipment. The public areas seem well kept and the landscaping is very beautiful for the most part. Guest rooms are comfortable, certainly not luxurious, but to be honest we didn't spend much time in our room. Daily included spa treatments were generally very high quality, although some of the attendants were less enthusiastic. We loved having the variety of classes, especially yoga, tai chi, archery, stretch, and aqua fit. The instructors were peppy and friendly. Food was generally of a high quality, although we found the dinners at Cariblue a bit lackluster. The evening meal at reservation-only Windows was very good, at Asian-themed Tao about a B+/ A-. A few pluses and minuses: POSITIVES +A friendly atmosphere in a smallish resort meant we met some other guests and made some new friends, which was great. +Very good food overall. Some repeat guests said it had improved in the last few years. +Most of the staff were very friendly. We detected an undercurrent of unhappiness, which I hope management can address ASAP. +Room cleaning was very thorough and cleaners always cheerful. +Included wine was drinkable and the bar drinks were very good, not at all watered down (despite what some commenters have said.) NEGATIVES +Oddly most of the classes are in the morning, focused on the early to mid-morning. Why not have more in the afternoon? +Gym is very small and popular classes filled up +Some of the yoga classes could be better structured for different (less advanced) levels. +Could use more beach chairs. Also if other guests didn't rush to reserve chairs and then leave them empty most of the day, there would be more availability. Not sure if management could encourage a change in behavior? +Online webroom to book treatments etc wasn't working, so you had to email back and forth with the staff ahead of time +A small walkway from the main resort to the hillside treatment area, with a golf cart shuttle, would help guests with disabilities. +Not the resort's fault, but the snorkeling area is a bit sad with little real coral. Worth about a 20 minute snorkel. Overall, we had a really great stay! A few adjustments could make this place almost perfect.

Before going here you need to understand a few important issues: 1. It's a long full 2 hour ride by taxi to the hotel. Tiring after a long flight. 2. The rooms are terrible. They are clean but totally devoid of any charm or elegance or comfort. When we arrives and saw our rooms we were extremely disappointed. The furnishings are bare minimum awful. The bathrooms are clean but small. Bed is very comfortable. 3. The clientelle is about 60% British, 20% Canadian, and 20% US. That's my personal estimate. Generally nice people. Not a young crowd, lots of mature women who go for the spa atmosphere. We are very active - mature couple. 4. The staff is great. Everyone is very helpful, pleasant, efficient. 5. The Spa is excellent. Every guest gets a treatment every day (exceot arrival/departure days). The spa staff is excellent and totally professional. 6. The activities are remarkable. All are lots of fun with competent organization. You can stay busy all day and still miss most. Best we've ever seen 7. The food is really very good. I'd say it's the best I've ever had and any Caribbean all-inclusive. 8. The resstaurants are attractive and comfortable. There are 2 that need booking but we liked the other equally. 9. It's not really a spa but you can easily approach it as such with all the massage, exercise, yoga, healthy food options. 10. The beack is OK for a caribbean beach. It's a small beach, no long walks possible (something we missed). The shade is achieved with umbrellas, not huts (which we prefer). There is no shotage of chairs so running out at 7 AM to claim a chair is not necessary. Water can be rough on days and steep incline to enter water. Other days its calmer and easier to navigate. 11. The water activities are outstanding. The staff at the beach is great and extremely helpful. 12. We stayed 7 days, hated our room, loved the spa, the activities, the food. 13. Important - this property has A LOT, really a lot, of steps. If steps are a problem then definiately stay away. Getting to the Spa is 80 steep steps. Getting to rooms is also steps (once you get to building there is an elevator to floors). 14. There is tennis and a pro ($100 per hour). We played every day with the pro. The tennis courts are very nice. There are 2 courts. 15. Will we go back? Likely yes ......

Body Holiday is easily my favorite place on Earth! Exceptional service, a gorgeous setting, incredible spa treatments, awesome exercise classes, and the best staff on the planet overseen by Yazmin!!! We especially love the Wellness Cafe Manager and Darren too!! They remember you year to year and there are so many repeat guests which speaks volumes more than any review could!! See you in 2027!!!

I sent this email below to the reservations department as I couldn't find another way to contact them after my vacation stay. Never heard back, so I'm posting here for all of you. I wouldn't go back...but I do post positive aspects of the trip too to help others...here's why I wouldn't return: Great things - ferry was a great transport idea, I'd definitely do that again. However, would be nice to have benches at the front of the boat to sit on and enjoy the open air instead of having to stand 1 1/2 hours or go inside the cabin.  - Tessa, one of the massage therapists, was great!  - Cold water bottle and champagne in the fridge upon arrival was a nice touch.  - Beds were really comfy, pillows not so much. Had to ask for a few feather pillows as the ones I had were completely flat and useless.  - food overall was very good. The staff, service, food at the Wellness Cafe was the best.  Not so great things - the cushions at the beach are filthy. They need a good scrub down or be replaced. - the pool cushions look new, but are not very comfortable - they need to be thicker like the ones at the beach.  - when I arrived, they thought I was there on my honeymoon, even though I booked for one person and was traveling solo - VERY awkward.  - The male bartenders at the clubhouse bar during the day were not very friendly - pretty grumpy, poured watered down, half drinks. Piano bar bartenders were great! - I spoke with many other guests there, several returning ones for several years. They all said the resort has changed - employees not as friendly, not as well kept up, etc. They also said they probably would find an alternative vacation spot in the future.

Excellent large breakfast and lunch buffets. Dinners were fine. Lots of active classes like stretch, aqua fit, beach HITT, and more. I enjoyed them all but some guests would leave the classes - even stretch - when the instructors were not teaching to all levels (ie to the non flexible). The trainers were all nice and enthusiastic but it would be fair to say could use better training. Experience of Included daily massages varied greatly and was entirely dependent on which person gave you the service. Some were heavenly and some were pretty mediocre (at best — some seemed to purposely make you wait a while and then usher you out early). Cleaning staff and grounds staff were constantly at work, and friendly. My room and the grounds were impeccable. Beach was clean — fun easy snorkelling right at the beach with good variety of colorful and numerous fish and other sea life (reef at one edge). Vibe of place was active but casual — not a party place. Guests were friendly. Many travel solo here — easy to meet people or not. There is a communal table arranged at every meal and trainers were there with usually a handful of other guests. The rooms and facilities and service are not ultra lux standard so don’t go expecting that — I was very happy with my ocean facing room. Most servers were friendly. My favourite place to eat was the beachside cafe where all the servers were friendly and served efficiently. Many people return year after year — I could see going back and with a few modest improvements to dinner quality and timing - and activity training and renovating gym (which is small and gets crowded quickly) I would give 5 stars. If it was possible to give 4.5 that’s what I would do this time.