This is the trip that literally saved my mental wellbeing.  When the pandemic began in America in March of 2020, all travel was halted.  Our trip to Paris in the summer was cancelled, and there was no hope of rebooking it any time soon.  For someone who needs travel to keep their head space in check while living a mostly ordinary life with a stressful day job, the toll of not being able to plan a trip for so long was extraordinarily detrimental to my mental health.  Honestly, I was crying on an almost daily basis.  However, when we finally booked this trip to St. Lucia in September of 2020 for our anniversary, still five months away, I literally stopped crying.  

We chose St. Lucia for a lot of reasons.  First, there were direct flights from O’Hare to St. Lucia, so we didn’t have to deal with possible COVID exposures at multiple airports.  Plus, you had to get tested with a PCR test to go to St. Lucia, so everyone on our flight would have been tested, which seemed safer.  Next, we figured we would be outside there most of the time, so the likelihood of catching COVID while there was pretty low, and the stress of having to test to come back into the United States was a bit lower than if we were going to be doing a more sight-seeing type of trip.  Finally, the COVID rates in St. Lucia were very low, and the whole island as far as tourism goes was pretty much shut down.  You were made to stay at your resort the whole time you were in St. Lucia.  Not too horrible of a rule when you are at one of the most beautiful resorts in the world.  We stayed at Anse Chastanet from February 20-27, 2021.

When I booked our room, I booked a standard room. The description of the standard rooms noted that we could end up beachside or hillside, based on a “run of house” principle. Luckily, when we arrived, we found out that we were upgraded to a room on the beach at the resort, called a “Beach Deluxe” room.  These rooms are totally closed in and have A/C, as you don’t get the breezes and cooler air like you do higher up on the hill. The room was literally right on the beach, which was great, because that was where we planned to spend most of our time.  It was also a few steps away from the only restaurant that was open at the resort at the time – right on the beach as well.  Our room was spacious and pretty, and had a nice, large bathroom.  There was gorgeous St. Lucian art on the walls, complementing the rainbow plaid cushions, brightening up the otherwise neutral space. Welcome drinks were provided on check in, and we had little treats including banana bread in the room as well.  We loved the beach rooms for their proximity to everything that was going on at the resort.  

The package I booked was all inclusive, so all of our meals and beverages were included.  Even though there was only the beachfront restaurant (Trou Au Diable) open at the time that we were there, the menu was an amalgam of all four of the restaurants that are typically open at Anse Chastanet during normal times.  We particularly enjoyed the Indian food on offer, and ordered the Chicken Masala multiple times. There were several meals where we placed several orders for the fresh naan bread as well.  It was incredibly delicious. It was so perfectly puffy, slightly oily and had a nice chew to it without being gummy. It was light, and super fresh, and you could tell it was made to order. I would’ve been fine just eating the naan the whole time!  There was seafood, grilled meats and chicken, and vegetarian items as well, but the best really was the Indian food.  My husband had never even liked Indian food before coming here.  He was a convert!  The highlight regarding food, however, was eating at the Jade Mountain Club.  You can read about that experience here!  Note that Anse Chastanet is the sister resort to Jade Mountain, so it was nice to be able to go eat at the top of the hill a few times for a reasonable upcharge.  

The fruity drinks are all excellent, and I was glad they were included with the all-inclusive package because they were also pricey!  Some of the uber-specialty drinks were not included with the package, but that was fine, because the standard drinks like pina coladas, margaritas and daiquiris were freshly made and delicious.  I would definitely recommend going all-inclusive when booking at Anse Chastanet.

There was a gift and sundries shop on the property which had a LOT of stuff.  My husband actually had forgotten to pack a swimsuit for the trip, but they had good quality swim trunks there, and not ridiculously priced!    

The spa at Anse Chastanet was closed when we were there, but it was no problem!  We were able to use the facilities at the Spa at Jade Mountain, which were beautiful and very luxe.  I chose the Bindi Herbal Body Treatment which included exfoliation, massage and a botanical body mask. My husband experienced a deep tissue massage, which he said was excellent.  We loved our experience at the Jade Mountain Spa!

The beach at Anse Chastanet was excellent.  It is a black sand beach, and the waters were warm-ish and extremely calm.  There are loungers with really great, thick cushions underneath palm-thatched umbrellas scattered along the beach.  When you arrive at the beach, there is an attendant who grabs a cushion cover, towels and menus and arranges the loungers for you, which was a nice touch.  It was extremely comfortable at the beach.  They also have these little yellow flags, where, if you every need anything, you just put the flag up behind your lounger and someone will come to assist you pretty darn quickly.  The service at the beach at Anse Chastanet was easily the best I have ever experienced in the Caribbean and Central America combined.  

This is a trip where we did almost nothing. We were completely exhausted from the stresses of the pandemic, and usually, while we get antsy after a few days of doing nothing on the beach, we were fine just sitting around most of the week we were there.  We did do two activities, which were bird watching as well as a sunset jazzy cruise.  The bird watching was excellent.  Our guide, who called himself Father Nature, was animated and extremely knowledgable about the flora and fauna around the property.  We walked to Anse Mamin, another beach near the property, which usually has a restaurant and bar open, but had no facilities open while we were there.  Behind Anse Mamin is the old Mamin sugar cane plantation.  Father Nature told us about the nasty history of the place, while showing us some of the more beautiful parts, now in ruins.  We saw a lot of really cool birds including multiple different types of hummingbirds and several heron species despite the fact that for about a half hour in the middle of our walk it was pouring rain.  I would highly recommend this outing for anyone staying at Anse Chastanet or Jade Mountain, whether you are into birds or not.  We counted a total of 18 species of birds just from a short outing with Father Nature, and sitting around the resort.

The jazzy sunset cruise was also super fun.  We saw a ton of dolphins playing and had some different views of the Pitons from the water.  The Jazz Saxophone player serenaded each couple on the boat.  The drinks were served early and often, and there were also fancy snacks served on the boat as well.  The sunset was absolutely stunning from the boat, and we also got to see a massive cave of bats which was pretty gross, but cool at the same time.  All in all a fun experience that I would also recommend.

Our trip to Anse Chastanet was peppered with rain, but the last few days of our stay promised to be 100% rainy.  So rather than be holed up in our beachfront room with no view, we were able to upgrade to a Piton view room towards the top of the hill for a very reasonable price – about a $150.00 upcharge per night. I am not sure if it was a Hill Deluxe room or a Premium room, but my best guess is that it was a Premium room due to its location almost at the top of the hill, perfect Piton view, and very large space. It was completely worth every penny.  The room was massive, and had the signature open fourth wall, with stunning views of the pitons.  There was a large balcony with lounger chairs, the same ones as at the beach, and you can soak in the view from there.  Considering that it did rain almost the entire time of our last few days, we were happy to sit on the balcony admiring the view.  We had breakfast delivered to us, and walked down to the beach for other meals.  There was also a shuttle that would take you up and down if you wanted because it was a pretty steep climb.  

Even though not all of the facilities were open, and the rest of the island was definitely not open to tourists while we were there, we had an amazing time at Anse Chastanet.  It was the exact respite we needed from the pandemic, and we arrived back home in Chicago recharged and ready to get vaccinated.  Anse Chastanet is a splurge, and we chose it since we were spending exactly zero dollars on travel in the past year, but it was a worthy splurge, and I cannot wait to revisit the island and see what else St. Lucia has to offer besides a relaxing time and gorgeous views! Thanks, Anse Chastanet for helping us celebrate our Anniversary, and making us feel good again!