2006 festivals, events and island, hotel and restaurant news
St Lucia, West Indies (June 2, 2006) – St Lucia’s tourism industry is reaching new heights in 2006 with recently invigorated airlift, exciting island festivals, international sporting events and a host of new hotels and resorts. St Lucia will open more than 1000 new hotel rooms in 2006 and is currently developing two new 18-hole golf courses. Both Air Jamaica and Delta Airlines recently added new flights to St Lucia, with Air Jamaica reintroducing non-stop service Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays from New York’s JFK International Airport, and Delta Airlines now offering daily non-stop service from Atlanta.
On July 17-18, St Lucia celebrates Carnival in the island’s own unique and festive way with concerts, food, calypso and parties held throughout the island. The center of St Lucia’s cultural festivals, locals traditionally spend weeks preparing elaborately designed costumes for the Carnival parade, one of a series of Carnival events, which winds through the streets of Castries at the height of the festival. For more information, visit www.luciancarnival.com.
In October 2006, St Lucia will host their first-ever Rum and Food Festival complete with cooking classes, rum tastings and food prepared by award-winning chefs from around the world. The festival will take place October 26-29 with events held throughout Rodney Bay and St Lucia’s famous restaurant alley.
In spring 2007, St Lucia’s new state-of-the-art Beausejour Cricket Ground will host several Cricket World Cup matches, including an opening round and semi-final match. Multi-million dollar renovations to the world-class Beausejour Cricket Ground are already underway to increase the stadium capacity from 12,000 to 20,000 patrons.
St Lucia’s new Rainforest Aerial Tram is a unique new addition to the island’s many eco-tourism activities. The first of its kind in St Lucia, the Rainforest Aerial Tram opened in 2005. Twenty-two eight-passenger, open-air gondolas glide through and above St Lucia’s lush rainforest canopy located in the north of the island. An expert naturalist guide conducts a brief orientation and safety presentation at the beginning of each fully wheelchair accessible tour, and escorts guests through this unique experience. Restaurant facilities and a snack bar are available on premises.
Until now, St Lucia Golf & Country Club was the only 18-hole course on the island. The island’s golf offerings will also be expanded with two new signature courses under development: an 18-hole Greg Norman signature golf course and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course.
In partnership with the rapidly increasing tourism opportunities in St Lucia, the island will experience numerous hotel and resort openings in the coming years, from the five-star Discovery at Marigot Bay Spa Resort and Marina to a family-oriented Beaches Resort.
HOTEL NEWS
Ti Kaye Village, a tranquil 33-cottage clifftop boutique resort in Anse Cochon, names James Nobel the new head chef of Kai Manje and Ti Manje restaurants. Nobel trained at Westminster College, London, and the University Colleges of Cambridge and arrives from the prestigious Cotton House on Mustique. The already extensive wine list is expanding to 100-plus bins in the resort’s unique glass-enclosed and climate-controlled wine room, making it the largest and most diverse on the island. Additional resort refurbishments feature new poolside teak lounge chairs and umbrellas, a new relaxation deck with a television lounge and game area and free high-speed Internet access in the main bar. Ti Kaye was also honoured as a 2005 winner of TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award in the Caribbean Hidden Gems and Caribbean Bargain categories. For more information call (758) 456-8101.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Celebrated chef, Bobo Bergstrom, has gone solo after three successful years as culinary director of Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort. His new fine dining waterfront restaurant, The Edge, introduces the first sushi bar on island. Located at The Harmony Suites in Rodney Bay, the restaurant also serves his unique “Eurobbean” cuisine, which fuses traditional European dishes, St Lucian home-cooking techniques and indigenous ingredients with a touch of Asian influence. The newly redesigned and refurbished restaurant allows spectacular waterfront views for all dining room seating. For more information call (758) 450-EDGE (3343).
HOTEL AND RESORT OPENINGS
The five-star Discovery at Marigot Bay Spa Resort and Marina is scheduled to open September 15, 2006, in Marigot Bay. The 124-room new luxury boutique hotel has 57 suites, 30 with private plunge pools, and 67 deluxe rooms. In addition, the property will feature restaurants and lounges, Lapli Spa, a Zen garden, fitness center, a 60-berth marina and a marina village with shops, cafés and yachting facilities. For more information call (758) 458-5300 or e-mail info@discoverystlucia.com.
The Plantation on Cotton Bay is scheduled to open in summer 2006, and will be the first five-star luxury villa resort in St Lucia. It promises guests total luxury and pampering, combining barefoot elegance with designer styling, gourmet food and first-class golf just steps away. The 74 spacious accommodations range from one-bedroom suites to four-bedroom villas with guest cottage. Casuarina Spa at The Plantation on Cotton Bay will feature the only Rasul on the island, in addition to wet and dry treatment rooms, outdoor gazebo and a rooftop restaurant called Heaven.
Anse Chastanet Resort introduces 24 exclusive infinity suites, scheduled to open in October 2006. The luxury infinity suites will act as a “resort within a resort” with their own reception area, concierge services and the Jade Mountain restaurant. Located on the highest point on Anse Chastanet hill, every suite will include a bedroom, living area and a personal infinity pool. Built to be in harmony with nature, the rooms have only three walls to allow for an unobstructed view of the Piton Mountains and Caribbean Sea. For reservation information call 1-800-223-1108.
The Pointe at Cas en Bas, a private golf club and luxury residential resort owned by Point Hardy Development, LLC, is scheduled to open in late 2007. The resort will feature a members-only 18-hole championship Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, 113 luxury villa home sites, a 140-key five-star resort hotel, 224 luxury condominiums and a 20,000-square-foot spa. The almost 360-acre resort is part of Cap Estate, a former sugar plantation at the northeast point of St Lucia, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean on its north shore and the Caribbean Sea to the south and west.
DCG Properties Ltd and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced plans for a Westin hotel to be the centerpiece of the 554-acre Le Paradis, a new luxury condominium and real estate development on St Lucia’s secluded east coast in Praslin Bay. The 232-room resort will feature conference facilities for up to 600 people, more than 100 luxury condominiums and deluxe residences, international health spa with 26 treatment rooms and a Greg Norman signature 18-hole golf course managed by Troon. Additional resort components include a 40-slip marina, marina village, upscale shopping boutiques and more. The Westin Hotel is scheduled to open by August 2007. For more information call 1-886-798-9873.
The Jalousie Plantation, formerly the Jalousie Hilton, is located on 325 acres of lush tropical forest directly between the stunning Piton Mountains near Soufriere, in the heart of the world heritage site. Surrounded by white-sand beaches, the property includes 65 villas, 35 villa suites and 12 additional guest rooms. Renovations are being made to the villas and guest rooms while the property remains open – fortunately villas are grouped in clusters, making this possible without disturbance. A Rainforest Spa and center of well being is scheduled to open in conjunction with the completion of the renovations in 2007. For more information call (758) 456-8000.
Bay Gardens Ltd, owner of the award-winning Bay Gardens Hotel, and its sister property Bay Gardens Inn, will embark on the new Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa on famous Reduit Beach. The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion by November 2006. The new property will consist of 80 deluxe rooms, 40 one- and two-bedroom suites, restaurant, beach bar, lobby bar, lagoon-style pool with swim-up bar, executive floor with lounge, spa and Jacuzzi. Rooms will be equipped with flat-screen TVs and high-speed Internet access, and wireless connection will be availalbe throughout public areas. The second phase will feature 40 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums for sale adjacent to the hotel, which broke ground in early 2006. For more information call 1-877-620-3200 in Canada and the US.
The Landing, a $165 million villa resort development project on the north shore of Rodney Bay, broke ground in November 2005 with the first phase slated to open in February 2007. The 19-acre waterfront SunSwept Resorts property will include yacht moorings and slips, a beach club, watersports, lounge, helicopter transfer to/from major airports and nearby islands, a restaurant, fitness club, spa, concierge service, swimming pools, tennis courts, reception area and 500 rooms in 228 one-, two- and three-bedroom villa units.
Sandals Resorts International announced plans to expand the company’s family-themed Beaches Resorts brand to St Lucia. This $80 million resort will be the first Beaches in the eastern Caribbean and the fourth Sandals-owned resort on St Lucia. Located on picturesque Pigeon Island next to the causeway, the new resort will feature 300 rooms and suites with ultra all-inclusive amenities.
One of the Windward Islands of the West Indies’ Lesser Antilles, St Lucia (pronounced Saint LOO-sha) is nestled halfway down the eastern Caribbean archipelago. The “Helen of the West Indies,” St Lucia is known for its natural beauty and diverse attractions. Among them are the signature Piton Mountains and the Pitons Management Area, which was named a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; a tropical rainforest; and one of the world’s few drive-in volcanoes. Culturally rich offerings include the bustling marketplace in the capital of Castries, a variety of heritage tourism sites, quaint fishing villages along the coastline, and the annual St Lucia Jazz festival in May. St Lucia’s wide range of accommodations includes world-class five-star resorts, all-inclusive resorts, intimate inns and value-oriented properties.
For information on the lodgings listed above, see their listing under St Lucia – accommodations at www.caribbean.com. For information about the island of St Lucia, call (888) 4-STLUCIA.
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