And to Janus – thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this vacation and anniversary celebration one we will never forget. Wish we could stay forever in this beautiful villa! It was apparent that he is the “Superhost” as described

Thanks so much to our amazing host, janus, for making us feel so welcome to St. Lucia and Serrana Villa. After Janus welcomed us in person to the villa it was apparent that he is the “Superhost” as described in many glowing online reviews. 
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We were given a tour of the villa and all of the amenities and assured that we could contact our host at any time to assist us or answer questions. If you don’t already have the WhatsApp, go ahead and download it. We sued the app to contact Janus for everything we needed – transportation, recommendations, questions etc. 

The blackberry phone is for Serrana Guests – it’s quite handy if you’re out and about and need to contact Janus or one of his drivers, or make local reservations without using your roaming services. The phone has the numbers you need or speed dial! The Wi-Fi is solid – never  had any problems with connectivity. The Smart TV’s with Netflix are a wonderful added touch. This is one of the creature comforts, along with Wi-Fi that made us feel like this was home away from home. 

We did not realize how hot St. Lucia would be. Hope you packed light cotton and linen as you will sweat through clothing if you spend anytime at all walking around town or on a tour. After arriving back “home” from an outing, having a dip in the cooling plunge pool was divine. From the wifi, Netflix, WhatsApp conveniences to the luxury of the plunge pool and rain showers – it’s apparent that Janus has anticipated your every need. Combine with the magnificent views – you’ve definitely mad the right choice in staying at Serrana. 

Advice:

walk around Soufriere and get to know where a few places are, there’s a bank, souvenir shop, many restaurants, a couple grocery stores. There’s a gas station, cool breeze, nearby convenient to pickup snacks, drink (Pitons!). there’s a market each morning down by the waterfront. Friday morning is the best though – more venodrs come and there’s also meat and fish available. GO EARLY. 

Local people are all very friendly. Don’t be shy, say hello! Many will want to chat with you to get you to buy something, use their service (Water Taxi, Tour). Or even beg for money. The advice given us was to make eye contact say NO. Which has worked well for us, and know that everything is negotiable. 

Don’t leave food or dirty dishes out, will attract the ants. 
We picked up groceries on the way from the airport in Vieux For supermarket. Good idea to get supplies to make breakfast the next morning, and to pickup some beverages. We recommend the Piton Beers, and Bounty Rum. 

September is off-season, unfortunately we could not try some of the local restaurants such as Ruby’s and Fedo’s  - as they were closed the week that we were here. Marigot Bay was also fairly quiet  - some shops were closed. It rained torrentially on night, and a couple of morning but overall the rail did not affect our vacation. 

There was a little black bird repeatedly flying into the window. Trying to get in. we named him LIL TAP TAPP because you can hear his beak tap-tapping at the window 😊 

Zaka’s Aart Café – excellent coffee and smoothies. Amazing local vibe. We loved this place. We purchased one of the beautiful hand crafted wooden masks. 

Tet Paul Nature Trail – SERIOUSLY, GO HERE! Probably our top recommendation for thing to do. It’s inexpensive and not very time consuming but the views are magnificent. You will want to see this! 

Sulphur Springs Tour – Tour is short but interesting and the actual bubbling pools are pretty incredible to see in person. The mud baths seem to be very highly rated but just not something we were interested in doing. 

Martha’s Tables – Best Local Spot for Lunch, open weedays 11:30-3. Probably the best local food we had during our stay – wish we could have gone back to try more of the menu. The pumpkin soup and fishcakes were delicious. 

Sugar Beach – this resort is super pricey. If you want to go to this beach on the cheap take a water taxi and get a beach chair on the public side (free). Resort side you need to pay $25 USD per person for a day pass in order for the shuttle to take you back up to the parking lot. I don’t recommend walking up the hill to the parking lot, unless you are fit. Apparently the resort charges US$50 per person to use one of their beach chairs. We though that was a little steep so we sat on the public sided. The beach chairs are definitely not comfortabl though. There’s a great snorkeling site on the public side – this was lot’s of fun; overall this beach was the most picturesque, situated between the Pitons. Great place for photos! 

Anse Chastanet – Snorkeling area right beside Scuba St. Lucia. They rent gear there if you need. $5:50 to rent a life vest for an hour, plus $50 deposit. Snorkeling was so so. Don’t know if we got unlucky but the wasn’t much to see when we snorkeled there. $34 USD for renting 2 chairs. The road to get to Anse Chastanet/Jade Mountain is extremely bumpy. 

Anse Mamin – secluded beach 10 mins walk from Anse Chastanet. Snorkeling area is nor marked but there are some coral fish by turtle rock, honestly enjoyed snorkeling there as I had the whole place to myself. Beach chair rentals offered at different price points; $11 USD for plastic chairs, $17 for regular chairs nu umbrella, or for $54 US 2 chairs, umbrella, towel service, water and juice. The old plantation ruins are located on resort property and only available to visit for resort guests. This beach was so laid back and unbusy – we came here twice (not just for the beach, but for the burgers!). 
Jungle Reef Beach Restaurant – Beach restaurant at Anse Mamin – everyone said get the burger so we did and enjoyed every last bite! The Gourmet burger is $28.00 US – which is pretty pricey but definitely tasty! 

Mango Tree – Stunning views. Be there for sunset. Good food, but for the price, we preferred Hoel Boucan. 

Mystic Man Tours – Full Day Snorkel + Sail. Snorkel at Anse Cochon – it was only okay. Didn’t stay long enough to get a full appreciate of it, and saw the same things as snorkeling at all the other beaches. Lunch at marigot Bay at Chateau Mygo. Great local food. Not all the shops were open though. Marigot Bay is beautiful marina but wasn’t a whole lot to do there possibly due to it being slow season. We got unlucky with some heavy rains and winds during our sail – but it all turned out alright because we came across a huge pod of dolphins. What an incredible experience! My husband filmed one jumping into the air. Wonderful memory. This water tour was a great way to see the island from the water. Very scenic, very fun day. Book ahead, credit card needed to secure reservation. 

Diamond Botanical Gardens – Stunning if you appreciate plants/flowers/nature. Lot’s of great information on the signage. We sort of regret not hiring a guide to answer our questions. Not sure how much that would of cost though. We didn’t’ do the baths – only the tour. The waterfall is beautiful. We walked from the villa – maybe 25 minute walk. 

Jade Mountain – Best view of the Pitons on the island. We normally wouldn’t have such an extravagant dinner. Except it was our 10th anniversary, so why not? It’s a fixed price menu – US$95.00 per person. Menu changes daily. We did cocktails and drinks with dinner so we racked up $350.00 USD. There are lot’s of other gems delivered during the evening – it all lasted about 3 hours and it was an unforgettable experience. The photo ops along…fabulous. Book your reservation ahead of time! we booked one week in advance. Credit card needed to secure reservation. They can sometimes give a tour of the resort if you let them know in advance. 

Hotel Boucan Chocolat – this was our fave for dining restaurant. Food view of Petit Piton, great atmosphere and amazing food with excellent presentation. Dessert was definitely my favorite part. If you love chocolate you might want to give this a try even if you’re not a chocolate lover, I’d still recommend it! 

Petit peak – nice local place on the waterfront. Excellent views at sunset. Tasty local food (Rotis). We read mixed reviews of this place. Glad we decided to try it because we really enjoyed the food and service here. 

We didn’t rent a car, so one of Janus drivers, Fabian, drove us everywhere all week. We are so grateful to Fabian! All we had to do was call him up on the blackberry and he’d be on his way to pick us up. Such excellent service. He also assisted with dinner reservation one night. Thanks so much Fabian! 
And our endless gratitude to Janus! Thanks for bringing us fresh bread and fruit and for making this vacation and anniversary celebration one we will never forget. Wish we could stay forever in this beautiful villa! 

To the next guest reading this – we know you’ll have a phenomenal stay. And to Janus – thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 

Jolene + Will
Toronto, Canada