As Told by Ali

Hey Friends!

We’re back with another hotel review! I visited St. Lucia for a workshop whereby the meeting organizers took care of accommodations and transportation. This was my second time in St. Lucia and I was particularly excited given I got to travel on the weekend with more time for adventures before the meeting. However, we will talk about that in another post! The selected accommodation for this trip was Coco Palm Resort.

Length of Stay: 6 Nights

LOCATION

Coco Palm Resort is located in the Rodney Bay area, about 15 minutes away from the George F. L. Charles Airport and 1 hour and 20 minutes from Hewanorra International Airport. It’s located nearby a variety of restaurants, shopping areas, and a beach.

CHECKING IN/OUT

Checking in and out was fairly simple. We got to the hotel around 6 p.m. after a tour in Soufriere and we simply had to give our names at the front desk to get our hotel keys. The attendant was pleasant and instructed us as to where our rooms were and the hours for dining. Once it was time to check out we simply had to return our keys and were on our way back to Antigua.

ROOM TOUR

From browsing the website you’ll see there are several room options available such as Luxe Swim Up, Family Suites, Patio Rooms and more. My room was on the third floor (I believe there were 4 in total) and from the various options, it appeared to be a View Room. This room gave me a Juliet balcony with views of the pool and a peak at Rodney Bay. All of the options listed (with exception of the Luxury & Family Suite) appear to have the same room features – air conditioning, flat screen TV, safe, ceiling fan, mini refrigerator, telephone, tea station, walk-in rain shower, king/double bed, and decor.

My favourite part of the room was definitely the view, my only wish is that I could see the beach. Sadly, I didn’t get to lounge by the pool but the views were nice. The bed was also super comfortable and the room was cleaned daily so that’s another plus. My least favourite thing of the room was the bathroom. It wasn’t giving modern at all, and it was really a turn off but I made do.

Hotel Amenities/Services

• Full service spa
• Fitness Center
• On-site dining
• On-site Bar
• Outdoor pool
• Free WiFi
• Tour Desk
• Currency Exchange

DINING

Located on the hotel property is one restaurant, Ti Bananne Caribbean Bistro & Bar which provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also have an outdoor bar serving all your alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and specialty cocktails. Given I was here as part of a conference, we only had breakfast and lunch provided. These were both buffet options and I never visited the restaurant for dinner, however glancing through the menu the options looked appealing.

I missed breakfast on two occasions given my desire to sleep in then head to the conference room. However, on my other visits I enjoyed an Omelet with bacon or stewed sausage, French Toast and Breakfast Potatoes. I find it hard to mess up breakfast because everything is so standard, but I was a bit picky when it came to certain options. Why was there raisins in the pancake?

Lunch on the hand had its moments, but that may be due to my pickiness in how certain foods are prepared. With all the options available, you were guaranteed to have some form of rice. Highlights throughout the week include macaroni salad, potato salad, stewed pork, BBQ chicken and I believe it was a corn and breadfruit pie. I’m not sure if they serve buffet lunches daily or this was prepared just for conference participants, but I would say it was just about average. However, I appreciated the variety they tried to have each day.

RATES

As mentioned before this stay was sponsored due to my work. However, feel free to search for them on Booking, you may be able to get discounted rates and/or a chance to book without paying until visiting. They also have a website you can check out for more information.

HOTEL EXPERIENCE

Overall, it was a comfortable stay. The rooms were cleaned daily and the staff were very friendly and helpful. My favourite part about staying here was the location. If you wish to explore more of St. Lucia, for instance Soufriere, it will be a bit of a drive (1 hour+), however being the Rodney Bay area gave you access to a lot. Surprisingly enough there’s a wide variety of restaurants located in the area, each offering different cuisines from Italian, Mexican and Indian. There’s also a beach, supermarket, and bank nearby. The design of the hotel was also intriguing but it could do with a bit of modernisation, particularly the furniture and bathrooms. The pool looked inviting, but given the weather during the week I didn’t get a chance to indulge.

Located Nearby

• Baywalk Shopping Mall
• Massy Stores
• Reduit Beach
• Splash Island Water Park
• Rodney Bay Marina
• Pigeon Island National Park
• Restaurants (Spices of India, Dominos Pizza, KFC, Amici, Big Chef Steakhouse, and others).

Until Next Time,