My husband and I chose Ladera for the second part of our honeymoon. We hadn???t been able to decide on whether we wanted to do a more active vacation throughout Europe or to do a more relaxed island...
My husband and I chose Ladera for the second part of our honeymoon. We hadn???t been able to decide on whether we wanted to do a more active vacation throughout Europe or to do a more relaxed island trip, so we wound up doing both. My husband wasn???t sure whether he would like a ???resort??? vacation, though now he???s already talking about good times to book future stays at Ladera because of how incredible our time was there. There are a lot of places we want to see in the world, but this place is so perfect that it basically begs for repeat stays.
The two things that make it so special are the staff and the rooms/the location. To start with the staff, Ladera has an absolute dream team and it wouldn???t be the same without them! Yvette (the lovely front desk manager) did something so thoughtful when we checked out that I cried. She is an absolute gem, and went above and beyond for us throughout our stay. If she???s around, rest assured that you???re in good hands. Melissa is also so sweet, and went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable, which was greatly appreciated.
We stayed at Paradise Ridge Suite 3 and the Paradise Ridge Villa during our week at Ladera, which included ???butler service.??? The butlers are all phenomenal, professional, and have great senses of humor. Fabian went the extra mile for my husband several times over (and was also incredibly thoughtful), and he always checked in with us to make sure we had what we needed. Schol was super attentive, kind, and helpful, and you can tell how much he cares about his work (we hugged him when we left!). Rohan, who we think played a part in that really thoughtful gesture from Yvette, is absolutely hilarious and always made us laugh, and was so prompt whenever we needed something. Theodore was incredibly accommodating, super patient (we were deciding between two rooms and being decisive isn???t our strong suit), and warm! Darrell made check-in and our first couple days flawless and was great to chat with.
The massage therapists there are also top notch (we both said many times over that the massages were the best we???ve had), the front desk/concierge staff are absolutely wonderful people, and the housekeeping staff have insane attention to detail. We also had great experiences at Dasheene! Seriously, whoever is Ladera???s hiring manager is doing a great job. The staff play such a big part of what makes a stay there great.
The resort: pictures don???t come close to doing this place justice. I woke up every morning and immediately smiled/gasped by how beautiful it all was. Both PR3 and the PR Villa are absolutely gorgeous, and we think we would try to split our time between them again in the future. We liked that they were up the ridge from the rest of the resort, and they felt extremely private. The woodworking and tile work throughout is absolutely beautiful. The rooms have everything you need and are very well appointed! Highlights are the heated plunge pools (which were amazing for morning dips and stargazing at night), very nice King beds, comfortable sun loungers, complimentary fridges that are restocked daily, extremely comfy robes (we basically lived in them while we were there), and nespresso machines. Both the suite and the villa were extremely quiet and we had NO issues with bugs. I had been a little worried ahead of time about the open air concept because I didn???t know what to expect, but it was a non-issue. We did keep some lights on at night and had no problem whatsoever - We didn???t see one mosquito the entire stay. You will see some hummingbirds and the occasional moth, but that???s about it. Also expect that you???ll see some bats flying around the jungle at night, but they were way overhead and never came close to bothering us.
Location: it???s absolutely beautiful between the pitons, and the views are unparalleled (especially from the Panoramic balcony of the PR Villa, but there???s not a bad seat in the house). We rented a car (and had little to no problems with driving in St Lucia), and found the location very convenient to everything we wanted to do. We drove to Sugar Beach a few times (Ladera called ahead, we parked, and had a Sugar Beach shuttle ready to drop us off right on the sand), and to Anse Chastenet/Anse Mamin (the road to get there is definitely an experience, though our 4x4/my husband handled it with no issue- I think we???d get a water taxi in the future for my own sanity). Definitely go to Martha???s Tables and Boucan (right across the street) - both were delicious and we made repeat visits. We did the horseback riding, captain for a day, and the tet Paul nature trail, and would recommend them all!
We HIGHLY recommend Ladera and can???t wait for future stays!
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87% of travellers recommended this hotel
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Jan 25 2020
