Ryle & Emmett
July 22- 28 

Day 1- we flew in from Charlotte layover and arrived at UVF AT 2:30PM. After going through immigration we were greeted by out Islander Rental Car worker who set us up with our vehicle for the week. Emmett quickly acclimated to being on the opposite side of things and we headed to Massy Stores to get a few items (eggs, cheese, bread, Piton Beer etc.) for the villa, total us$120.00.

We opted to purchase a GPS map of St. Lucia and this immediately gave us added peace of mind as we weaved our way from Vieux Fort to Soufriere. Wow.

The views along the way are breathtaking and once we got to the villa we realized that the view from our villa is STUNNING!! Janus stopped by to show us the ropes and then we spent the remainder of the evening relaxing at the villa anticipating the adventures adhead.

Day 2- Alright…realizing that there is too much fun to be had so to save time we will just be making some notes from Here on out…

Boucan By Hotel Chocolat- Tree to bean and bean to bar experience… out tour guide Monique was great and we both enjoyed the knowledge and tasty treats aquired😊 Lunch at Boucan Bayside Restaurant was amazing and Unique.

Sunset Catamaran Cruise through Mystic Man Ocean Adventures- walk down to pier, stopping at Zaka’s for fresh smoothies- US$5.00 each and delicious. Tour was beautiful and must do for sight-seeing, fun and relaxed mingling with other tourists.

Dinner at Hummingbird Resort- relaxing environment, great pina coladas, food was flavorful and fantastic!...Better than Orlando’s

Day 3- Tet Paul Nature Trail- Stunning Panoramic views of the island, a must do, especially if you don’t hike Gros Piton. If you can go on your own (with guide) that would be best (we got stuck with another US couple who’s constant commentary/jokes deterred from our experience)

Diamond Botanical Gardens/Falls- if you’re plant nerds like us or simply enjoy being surrounded by pristine, lunch forest vegetation, then this is for you!

Drover to Anse Chastanet Beach- brought our own towel and cooler with Piton Beers & water, got a nice spot on the left side of the restaurant (guest-beach). Rented snorkel Gears (us$12 per person)- WOW so many colorful fish!!! 

TIP-if you have beard the snorkel mask may not seal under your nose well ☹
Lunch at beachside trou ou diable restaurant- good food at a fair price, relaxed paced service
Relaxed at the villa

Day 4- Sugar Beach Resorts Rainforest spa- 9am appointment, got there early, parked in the guest lot and took a shuttle (free for spa guest)- incredible facilities and treatment, a true treat to feel pampered. Walked down to Sugar Beach and found a spot under a nutmeg tree for shade (aka free shade) 

Lunch at Bayside Restaurant on the beach – good food with a beautiful view

Tip- beyond, the guest parking lot and tennis court, is a path up to an amazing overlook, a must do!

Orlando’s for Dinner- expected a full menu but when greeted by the host/ waitress/bartender/busy-boy we’re told it was a fixed, 3 course meal that night for U.S $45 each. Decided to still give it a try  and while the food was good, it didn’t meet our expectations at the price point… also due to only having the one woman working the front of the house our service was very slow and we realized another patrons were frustrated around us, creating a tense, unpleasant atmosphere. Would not go back.

Day 5- AKA Road -Trip day

1 ½ hour drive to Rainforest Adventures

Ziplining Canopy Tour @ 10am- crazy fun roads on the way and great way to see more of the island communities; our first time ziplining and it was so much fun 😊

Drove to Castries to check out the city vibes and Castries Central Market- fun to walk around and explore, talking to vendors and buying fresh fruit

Lunch at a spot down a narrow alley filled with food vendors, tables and lots of locals filling up their lunch. Good food, BIG portions! Great value at US$6 per plate 😊

Headed back home, home made daiquiris with our fresh fruit from the market, snacked on  our pastries from our local bakery and went to bed early to refuel for tomorrow’s adventure.

DAY 6 -  Hike Gros Piton Nature Trail- started early, 7am and were the first people on the trail which made for a peaceful ascent. Our guide was patient and knowledgeable. We both brought our hiking packs with 3 liters of water each and both finished our water on the way down.
Prepare to get sweaty!

Great views to the south, but ask your guide to take you to the other side of the summit for breathtaking views of Pitit Piton and Soufriere – wowza!!! Legs were like jelly by the time we made it back down (just under 4 hours) but every ounce of effort was worth the reward!
Treated ourselves to homemade ice-cream to the bottom, delish!
Quick shower at the Villa

Lunch reservation at Jade Mountain Club- best service, wonderful cuisine and a spectacular panoramic view- super cool to sit back and see Gros Piton when we had just hiked it 😊
Lunch menu was reasonably priced so a great way to enjoy the facilities on a tighter budget
Nap back at the villa

Dinner reservation at Dasheene by Ladera resort for 6:15pm- cocktails in the bar lounge while waiting to be seated- beautiful view of the sunset and both pitons. Definitely worth booking a reservation- live music every night.


Day 7-  We planned on going to the beach (Anse mamin) to relax our final moring before heading home but we were rained out so instead hang out @ the villa and took our time cleaning up and packing our bags before driving to the airport.

As many others mentioned, if things got off track relax and go with the flow 😊

Overall, an incredible trip in the most beautiful place and with friendly people. Hope to be back! Thanks Janus!

One Love

Rylee & Emmett

Neal & Holly
July 15- 22, 2019
Honeymooners

Day 1- we landed at the airport around 2:00pm. One of Janus’ drivers Alton was waiting for us at the airport and happily helped us with our bags and we proceeded to Soufriere. Unfortunately the stores were closed due to the holiday carnival but Alton took us to a gas station where we were able to load up on water beers and snacks. Once we arrived at the Beautiful Villa, We hang out by the pool on the patio. For dinner we headed into town and went to Pitit Peak- great view, food and service.

Day 2- we woke up a little earlier today to head to the supermarket, It was a beautiful day on the island. We decided to lay low at our villa, and spent the day by our pool and tanning- the deck is a perfect spot. Later in the evening, we had chef Ramsey come to the villa to make us dinner. This is a must do! The food was amazing, he was so friendly and the price was very reasonable for the convenience! We ate the grilled chicken breast with ginger garlic sauce. Soooo good!

Day 3 -We woke up to another beautiful day. We decided to go enjoy a beach for the day. We left for Sugar Beach around 8:45am, it was a quick 10 minute drive from the Villa. It was U.S $50 per person to get in but that acted as a food and beverage minimum. This beach was so quiet, had amazing service and beautiful views. The food here was so very tasty- we highly recommend their pizza and chicken sandwich. We headed back around 4pm and made dinner from stuff we bought at the supermarket.

Day 4 -Mystic Man Tours!!! We were looking forward to this day our entire trip, we were a little bummed looking at the forecast because it was expected to rain all day. Luckily the forecast wasn’t accurate, it was partly cloudy and only rained for a quick 15 minutes. About a month before our trip we reserved a private catamaran with Mystic Man Tours. This was a full day sail (about 7 hours ) We departed at 9:00am and headed north for some snorkeling- we highly recommend snorkeling at some point while on island. After snorkeling we headed even further up north for some lunch at Marigot Bay. The view was breathtaking. After the boat tour. Alton was there ready to pick us up. We cannot say enough great things about the driving service- we would recommend utilizing this service during your stay!

Day 5 - Today we did the Soufriere tour through Janus . This tour was about 4 hours and we hit a few different stops during the tour. We went to a look out point where you could see the whole city of Soufriere. We got great pictures here. Next we headed to Tet Paul Nature trail. We had an excellent tour guide who helped us throughout the hike. The hike was not difficult but by any means, we were able to do the whole thing in sandals. We then headed to Sulphur Springs where we did a tour and mud baths combo package. The tour at the volcano is worth checking out while here- the mud baths is a definite must- we finished the day at the botanical gardens. There was a beautiful waterfall there along with some amazing flowers. For lunch our tour guide brought us to Fedos- great local food- just note it is cash only there.

Day 6 - today we had another relaxing day by our patio/pool at the villa. For dinner we went to Dasheene at Ladera Resort. This was by far our favorite place, the food, drinks, views were absolutely amazing. We got there around 3pm to have some drinks and watch the sun set. Our reservation was for 7:15pm and we were able to sit earlier round 6:45pm- We recommend making reservation in advance as it gets very busy around dinner time.

Day 7 -Today we went back to Sugar beach and had chef Ramsey come back at night to make us dinner. This time around we had garlic seafood and garlic lime butter sauce it was absolutely amazing.Be sure to utilize this service while here. During the day after coming back from Sugar Beach . Janus took us around to his other properties. All of them are absolutely stunning. We already see ourselves booking another trip here soon!

Day 8 - pack up and head home ☹

Janus we want to thank you so much for sharing your island with us and for being absolutely an amazing host- we couldn’t have asked for a better stay.
​
Holly & Neal

Kelsey & Brian

June 25- July 10 

Must Do’s

Activities: (in no particular order)

• -Hike Gros Piton ($50.00 pp)
• -Snorkel @ Anse Chastanet beach via Scuba St. Lucia. Do the 1 hour Guided tour, they take you to trou diale (‘’devil’s hole’’) ($85 total for 2 + rental equipement)- we went 2pm instead of 10 am and it was just us another couple and our guide
• Soufriere tour by Janus was great to knock out some of the local ‘’must -see’’ attractions. Jamal was our guide. He was cool!
• Pigeon Island (north- gros islet) is an awesome hike/history site. If you have a means to get there
• Sugar Beach – pricier than Anse Chastanet/mamin but worth it ($50.00 pp chairs and we did food and drinks voucher as well because why not?) the voucher got us waitered beach service for food and drinks. We went to Sugar Beach a 2nd time during our stay, It is by far the best beach service we’ve found. We even snorkeled at Sugar Beach but its not as good as the one we did before
• Chocolate tour at Hotel Chocolat-informative / fun. Great Guide(monique) Plant a tree and make your own chocolate bar.

Food (again no particular order

• Chef Ramsey (private chef @ villa) Banana bbq tuna- WOW!!
• Spice of India in rodney Bay area
• Zaka’s smoothies (walkable, cheap)
• Jungle grill @ Anse Mamin- good for beachy lunch
• Mango tree- beautiful at sunset reasonable $$$
• Boucan- excellent cocktails, delicious meals (bfast & dinner), atmosphere +++ views!!
• Sugar Beach bayside restaurant- on beach so great view, good food, little pricey, lunch & dinner 
• Apsara @ Anse Mamin- good food, average atmosphere, sluggish service

​Over all – Boucan & Sugar Beach were much friendlier/more accepting of non resort guest than Anse chastanet/mamin!

Over all great stay here! Don’t be afraid to walk and ask people questions. Local are very friendly and want to share their island with you.

Thanks Janus
Brian & Kelsey