Friday, August 16th
For this trip, I somehow convinced my dad to come along with me. I imagine the fact that this was in the Caribbean greatly helped my case. Our flight was 10am from Atlanta to St Lucia. My dad has arrived home from Manchester the day before since he was spending time with his parents, so it was quite a quick turnaround for him.
We tried calling a Lyft around 7am, but we couldn’t find anyone (not unusual in the outer suburbs of Atlanta), so I called an Uber and got one to come. We were looking at about $50-$60 down to Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport.
Award Flight Shenanigans Tangent
We had booked our award flights on Delta through Air France which didn’t carry over TSA pre check. My dad also didn’t have his Delta frequent flyer number since he left it as Air France. We ended up realizing this was quite unfortunate, as it meant he had to pay for Delta bags each way. In the Lyft, I contacted Twitter to have them check me out and add my TSA precheck number after reading that might cause the TSA number to kick in. I also updated my delta profile to have it (well, my global entry number since my tsa pre number expired). Well – these things didn’t seem to have immediate effect on the boarding pass, but after printing the boarding pass at the airport, it did show up. There was also a place for my dad to enter his number at the terminal. Booking award flights across different airlines is always an adventure.
End Award Flight Shenanigans Tangent
We went to the Delta sky club in F since we were both flying Delta and could get in with our Amex platinums which was nice enough. We then made our way to the flight. We decided against the new ATL centurion lounge in fear of it being very crowded.
I had gotten upgraded to delta comfort which was also another slap in the face in the frequent flyer shenanigans since my dad is gold and I’m only silver. I slept a bit on the plane and it was otherwise uneventful. Just a short period of time playing tears of the kingdom on my switch.
We waited for about 40 minutes in the immigration line then went through the customs line before entering the outside airport area. We needed to get cash from an ATM. And a random dude approached us to chat in a friendly way, as is usual for these types of countries (typically they are looking to be hired as a driver or taxi). Interestingly, dad said he noticed the guy eating with more tourists a few days later in the buffet restaurant, presumably getting hired as a driver. We tried the ATM – we chose US debit which didn’t work. Turned out we needed to use Visa Debit option which my dad found out later – you’d think I’d have figured out ATMs by now.
Dad traded some pounds for Eastern Caribbean dollars at a terrible rate, and I had enough money lying around to pay the taxi. It was $100 USD (!!) to our boutique hotel in Soufriere.
It was a 1.5 hour trek. Notably the roads were not as bad as I expected. No traffic lights yet. Some roundabouts. But definitely quite hilly, with some narrow streets. The guy also stopped by an ATM in the colorful building town of Soufriere where dad figured out how to get the money out. In the meantime, a guy came up to me begging for money. Again, unfortunately not an uncommon experience in the Caribbean.
The taxi driver was a mix between friendly and bothered – a bit confusing to me. He zipped away in the car before I could even close my door.
The hotel was up a hill, and also up a rough gravel road. At first it seemed crazy, but it must not be for this country as it didn’t seem to faze the driver. We arrived around 4:45pm just before the reception apparently closes around 5pm. They had an onsite little shop where we bought some snacks, like Ritz crackers. They also had a sort of hotel driver and they suggested we go to Seashells on the beach for some dinner since we were starving. We also scheduled for taxi pickup at 7am in the morning to do the Gros Piton hike the next day.
We made it to Seashells which was only a 5 minutes drive, and it was nice seeing the sunset and the view of the pitons. The food was a lot of fish and chicken options. Notably bone in chicken which is not my favorite. But still enjoyed a normal chicken meal and tried the Pitons beer which was basically a Heineken.
We let the taxi driver know we were heading back (Toyan and employee Ryahiem). He took 30min to arrive and took us back. (30 USD round trip). Toyan was a bit more chill and Ryaheim was a bit more serious. For example, he mentioned that his dad didn’t spend time with him, so he was pushing us a lot to “bond” more, especially when he had stopped to take a photo for us on the road.
The hotel was clean and up to date and we also had a balcony with a great view of the pitons. The hotel room had a single bed, but was not a problem. But wow, there were types of bugs which sounded like smoke detectors going off constantly.
Saturday August 17th
We got up early and we’re ready for our ride to Gros Piton. (60 USD round trip). It was a long single lane road to the little village entrance where a guide welcomed us (you needed a guide to hike). That was $50 USD PP and my dad also rented a hiking pole for 5 USD. The young guy guide did not seem thrilled to do the hike. He said he lived in the village and had been doing it for 10 years. I cannot imagine having to do this hike multiple times, let alone so many times over the years.
He also made us buy another water bottle as each person had to have 1.5L. This was annoying, as it was more for me to carry and I knew that we weren’t going to drink that much water, knowing this from doing so many hikes in Seattle. Although indeed it was quite humid here, I routinely hike for 4-5 hours without needing water.
The hike was good. About 2 hours each way. Weirdly my phone set itself an hour back (which is something that another person later mentioned in the airport when I was waiting for my food to be ready). There were a few stopping points. We met a couple from Nashville, one from New York, solo woman from New York, another couple from the Dominican Republic (Loud DR guy and woman who said she didn’t know to expect such a difficult hike). By the last steep part, I was questioning if it was worth it. In the end, it was clear that at least the last half of the hike was definitely not worth it, especially with the view in the clouds at the top.
At the top (and part of the way up) there was a family of cats which was pitiful but also cute. They must rely on the food from humans.
The way down was long. We tipped the guy 50EC (~18USD) and I bought my dad a 5 USD Gatorade. He seemed more than thrilled to get the tip, which felt great. Our driver was waiting for us as they had called when we were on our way down.
Rayheim had brought us a cocoa fruit which was really nice. We tried the sweet fruit around the beans which was a unique experience.
He then drove us back to our place, with a stop at the town ATM again. I pulled out 300 USD to have for the rest of the trip. He asked if we wanted street chicken or food at his gfs restaurant. My dad wasn’t hungry but I was. We decided to just go back to the hotel anyways.
My dad noticed a restaurant was in walking distance and I noticed another which was a walk up the hill. We cleaned up and made our way there.
It was a buffet that was unexpectedly nice! Only 20 USD per person. Their fish fingers were really good. We also bought 4 bottles of water from there to bring back to the hotel.
After some chilling and naps, we prepared for our 7pm dinner in the nearby treetop restaurant. It was a $70pp 3 course meal which was very nice. Looks like lots of couples. The place was quite popping, and they also had a live singer. The bartender was full of energy and even took shots with us. The end price was about $100pp.
Sunday August 18th
For breakfast we walked over to that nearby restaurant down the road. They offered eggs, sausage, and bacon. It was fantastic. They also had cocoa tea which was very interesting. Bunch of spices and milk. I had a few cups of it (it was served in a big thing). I really liked that it wasn’t sweet at all.
Again breakfast was quite cheap and a good choice. We had asked the driver to take us to the next hotel in Gros Islet area for 110USD. We checked out and made sure they charged us for the snacks and for the rides to our room. I also tipped him a bit extra.
Royalton St Lucia Marriott All-Inclusive
Then it was a 1.5hr ride to our second hotel – this one an all inclusive Marriott Hotel booked with 2 Marriot 85k free night certificates. Ryahiem took us. He drove like a maniac once we got closer to the northern part of the island, speeding and snaking through the narrow and smaller uphill streets. He also stopped by this bread place made from a root. It was very interesting. We got cherry, pineapple, and cinnamon which were all good. Not too sweet although very carb heavy.
The northern part of the island opened up more with more space and buildings although it was even hotter. We then checked into the hotel. We were early, around 11:30am and our room wasn’t ready yet. They told us to come back around 2:45pm. So we went for the food buffet and chilled a bit. When we got back, the room still wasn’t ready and they wouldn’t tell us when it would be ready. My dad got really mad at the front desk guy given his disinterest in the situation. Cue us waiting an hour until the room was ready at 3:45pm. We asked to speak to the manager who called us later to assuage our concerns. It truly was one of the worst customer service experiences I have personally been through.
The resort was pretty spacious and somehow not too busy, even though there were a good number of people there. They had given us diamond club bracelets but didn’t really explain why or what it’s for. There were some refreshments in the check in area which they consider the diamond club lounge. They did a poor job of explaining this.
The buffet was mediocre and the property still somehow dated, especially the elevators which didn’t work some of the time. Funnily enough, we also never even made it into the water or the pools. Hopefully dad enjoyed the warm weather regardless!
We frequented the coffee and sweets shop for coffee. I tried Italiano and mocha although both were too sweet. There was also a dress code to the restaurants although obviously not enforced. We managed to walk into the tex mex restaurant. Unfortunately the Japanese restaurant was booked out for both days which would have been ideal. Oh, and the portions of the food were very small.
Monday, August 19th
Today I just worked, so not very eventful. But we did squeeze in breakfast and lunch, although lunch wasn’t open at 12 and instead opened at 12:30 which is when I had a meeting.
For dinner my dad had booked us at Calypso which was the local food restaurant. The appetizers were amazing and the coconut fish was amazing! This was an actually fantastic meal. Although my dad didn’t have much luck with the dessert, as the one he wanted was out of stock. But another thing that happens on these kinds of small islands.
Tuesday August 20th
We got breakfast and lazed around for 2 hours before 11:15am when we headed to the airport. We caught a taxi for $100. It took about 1hr 45min. There was a long line of buses ready to bring people at 12 to the airport a bit later. I wonder how much that would cost. I exchanged my east Caribbean dollars for USD. And we went to the airport’s Priority Pass lounge. The food option was awful so I just got food at the food court which was a 40min wait. So much for lounging around and getting some work done!
I didn’t check my bag because it was expensive and I had carry on allowance on my ticket (it was booked as a Jet Blue award flight). They eventually made an announcement about being full and offering to check bags for free, so of course, I did it. They also paged my name to come to the gate since they hadn’t verified my docs earlier.
My dad and I’s flights both left at 4pm (as well as an American flight). My dad was flying Delta back home, and I was flying Jet Blue back home to New York.
Reflection
I did prefer the first part of the trip. It felt more local. I would have liked to see the city more. However I can see with the open space of the second half why they call it the Hawaii of the Caribbean. Regardless, it would have been nice not to have worked Monday and the half days as it made it much more difficult to relax and enjoy the island. And it would have been nice to have an activity for Monday. While it seems like it would have been nice to take advantage of the pool or beach at the resort, it does sound extremely boring, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out too much there.
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