Hotel Review: Windjammer

We split our time in St. Lucia by staying at two resorts in different cities. The first one we stayed at was the Windjammer Landing Beach Resort, which is located near the capital of Castries (on the northwest part of the island.)

Planning a trip to St. Lucia? Here's the scoop on our experience at Windjammer Landing...

We arrived in Castries after a loooooong day of travel (and a busy layover in San Juan.) It was late at night, and I was so thankful to have coordinated an airport taxi in advance through Windjammer Landing. We were greeted by a friendly face holding up a sign with our names, and whisked away to our resort. In just about twenty minutes, we arrived at Windjammer and were pleasantly surprised to hear live music out by the pool and see several staff members behind the front desk. So even though it was about eleven o'clock on a Tuesday night, the Windjammer was a lively place!

In a matter of minutes, we had chilled glasses of fresh fruit juice and were all situated in our villa. I like that kind of hospitality! Would you like a peek inside the pretty open-air lobby? 

One thing about the Windjammer – which I'd been prepared for, after extensively reading these reviews – is the mountaineous terrain. It wasn't a personal concern of mine, and didn't pose an issue during our stay at the resort. After all, St. Lucia is a volcanic island and the terrain is part of its unique beauty, but it may not be the best destination for all types of travelers. At the Windjammer, the lobby, beach, shops and most of restaurants are located on the beach while the villas are situated up along the hillside. But don't fret, you don't have to walk up if you don't want to. Shuttles run every fifteen minutes, 24-hours a day.

We were so happy with our accomodations here (and they're a serious deal during St. Lucia's off-season – starting at just around $130 bucks a night.) No joke, our villa was almost the same size as our Manhattan apartment. It also had a private rooftop terrace, which we really enjoyed on the cool mornings and nights (but it was much too hot up there during the daytime.) It was clean, private, quiet. All good things.

One of the best things about the Windjammer is the recreational activities. It's beachfront property, so you can choose to relax under a cabana or in the sun. But, for the restless traveler (ahem), there's a lot to do. You can snorkel, swim, waterski, play on the water equipment (there's even a water trampoline for you non-pregnant travelers!)

The resort has several pools...

If you're particularly social while on vacation, you can join up in a beach-side ping pong or horseshoe tournament or a water volleyball game. There's also a slew of off-site island excursions that can be coordinated through the tours desk, from sunset sails to sport-fishing. We opted for the rainforest experience.

For the majority of our stay at the Windjammer Landing Beach Resort, we swam, snorkeled, and read on the beach. During our snorkel trip, we saw a wild sea turtle, a snake eel, several octopus, and tons of tropical fish and sea urchins! The water was warm and clear. This was one of my favorite experiences from the whole trip, and I think my husband would agree!

A few cons from our stay at the Windjammer Landing: The food isn't anything to write home about, especially for what it costs (we ended up using the on-site grocery store a lot.) And, while I'm used to seeing stray animals when traveling abroad, there's a lot of stray cats in the open-air restaurants. I'm allergic to cats, so that was a little bothersome. But even that fact didn't make me disrupt this mama cat nursing her baby by my feet at dinner one night.

The pool area and beach cabanas near the outdoor bar can be really loud. There was usually music blaring, and I couldn't get this song out of my head for about five days. You may see this as a pro or a con. When I'm eating lunch, I love music in the background. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. But if I'm reading a book on the beach and prefer to only hear the waves, I find it distracting. It takes from the relaxation of an island vacation. So when we wanted peace and quiet, we hurdled this issue by choosing cabanas further out on the beach. 

Overall take? The Windjammer Landing Beach Resort a great resort at a great price and best suits active, social individuals and traveling families. We met several people during our stay that were returning guests, so that's always a good sign. The hospitality and service are excellent. It's close to the airport, Castries, and Rodney Bay. There's a unique, full offering of activities, so you're sure to be entertained for the length of your vacation. In our five-day experience at the resort, we enjoyed fabulous weather and kicked off the start of a great babymoon. We even celebrated this during our stay with a fun night out. I was all smiles, see?  

Interested in staying at Windjammer? Here's a few tips:

1. Fly into/out of SLU airport. It's on the northern part of the island and only a 20min taxi ride or so from the resort. You can coordinate a taxi in advance through Windjammer or just hire one at the airport (but make sure you agree to a fare in advance.)

2. Visit during off-season for the best rates. Check out Booking.com and Hotels.com, as I've found their rates to offer the most competitive pricing on recent trips.

3. Evaluate the all-inclusive meal plan to see if it makes sense for you and your family. You may not wish to  leave the resort for meals. Keep in mind that there's an on-site grocery store at the resort, and stock up on essentials in your villa (we loved having apples, cereal and coffee each morning on our rooftop patio.)

Read more Windjammer Landing resort reviews at TripAdvisor.

Learn more about Windjammer Landing.

Read more of my St. Lucia blog posts.

Comments

[Ghenet Myrthil]

Sounds heavenly! I'm glad you had a fun babymoon. :)

[Molly]

What a thorough review! I would love to visit St. Lucia one day and will keep this hotel in mind. You look beautiful – you're glowing!!!!