SUN DESTINATION

I Heart St. Lucia

By Laura Osborne

über-luxe hotels, unique spa treatments and a vibrant jazz scene make St. Lucia the Caribbean hot spot.

Discovery at Marigot Bay

A major discovery

Imagine a secluded bay flanked by lush green hills, described by novelist James A. Michener as “the most beautiful in the Caribbean”; then imagine a hotel with a lobby-cum-champagne lounge filled with pink glass chandeliers and Philippe Starck chairs. You’ve arrived at Discovery at Marigot Bay, a hotel whose high design interior is just as exotic as its surroundings. When every room comes with a large plantation shutter-framed balcony overlooking the bay, Kiehl’s toiletries and a four-poster bed romantically draped with netting, it’s clear why this is one of the top Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

All that jazz

When you think of an island getaway, I’ll bet that Branford and Wynton Marsalis aren’t the first things that come to mind. The St. Lucia Jazz Festival, a well-established fixture on the jazz scene, celebrates its 17th anniversary in 2008. Past luminaries include Santana, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mary J. Blige and Natalie Cole, and with daily shows that range from calypso and soul to fusion and straight-ahead jazz, there’s something for everyone.

Stairway to heaven

When a wellness center combines a couple’s private grotto and a champagne bar, it can do no wrong. Casuarina, the swish spa at Cotton Bay Village, has these things and more. In fact, it’s the only spa in St. Lucia to feature a Moroccan rasul. Customize your own mud and clay body treatment before sinking into the rasul chair as aromatic steam slowly fills the tiled treatment room, a semi-dark sanctuary lit by fiber-optic lights that mimic the stars and moon. Finish off with a gentle rain shower before heading upstairs in your robe to the rooftop garden restaurant – aptly named Heaven – for some seared yellow fin tuna, king scallops and pickled sweet papaya drizzled in a tomato and lime dressing, with a glass of Veuve Clicquot Rosé.

Come out swinging

It’s no easy task designing a golf course on a tropical island where the topography alternates between sheer cliffs and towering peaks. So when Greg Norman took up the challenge for Le Paradis’ new championship course, aficionados knew it would be spectacular. The Shark’s Bight, the signature 14th hole, is perched on a rocky hillside surrounded by rain forest and boasts cliffside tee boxes and oceanfront greens. The island’s breezes challenge the most seasoned golfer, while the calming views of the ocean temper the high drama of the water hazard.

Eye in the sky

St. Lucia is famous for its volcanic landscape, and the best way to take it all in is from above. Charter a helicopter – the mode of transport favored by Harrison Ford, among others – and see the sights. St. Lucia Helicopters takes visitors over banana plantations, the Pitons (a UNESCO World Heritage site consisting of two mountain peaks that rise 2,000 feet from the water), remote waterfalls and the Soufrière volcano. Or make a grand entrance with an eight-minute flight from either airport directly to the Jalousie Plantation‘s private helicopter pad.

(Laura Osborne, a senior editor at Spafax, is borderline obsessed with St. Lucia.)

TOP PHOTO: RODNEY EVANS  / TOURISM AUSTRALIA
COUPLE: TOURISM NEW SOUTH WALES
CHEESE SHOP: HUNTER VALLEY SMELLY CHEESE SHOP
HUNTER VALLEY: OLIVER STREWE / TOURISM AUSTRALIA