Our 10 year wedding anniversary may have come and gone, but our stay at the Jade Mountain Resort will live on in infamy! Vince and I had put this resort on our bucket list, even back when we were looking at honeymoon spots a decade ago. The reason it took us so long to pull the trigger? The price. The cheapest we found a room for was $1200 a night. Yes, you read that correctly – a NIGHT. So we saved up hoping that one day we’d splurge and get away. Fast-forward to us trying to figure out big plans to celebrate a decade of marriage and we decided it was finally time to book!

How to book a sanctuary at Jade Mountain:

Of course you can book through Jade Mountain’s main site. However, we found our rate through good ol’ hotels.com of all places. The only issue with the “deal” that we found was that the room was non-refundable. That went on to pose a problem when American Airlines cancelled our flight the night we were leaving. We ended up rebooking on Delta and taking three connecting flights to get there so that we wouldn’t lose a night of our stay since it was non-refundable. Toss in the fact that I had just broken my collarbone a few days prior and was in a sling and lots of pain, and it could’ve been the recipe for a total disaster. However, besides the nightmare of getting there, it was worth every damn second and every penny spent!

First is a little background on Jade Mountain. The allure of Jade Mountain Resort is due to their “sanctuaries.” These aren’t rooms people, these are mother fuckin’ SANCTUARIES! And there are only 24 of them. Jade Mountain is in St. Lucia’s southwestern Caribbean coastline. And there are some very unique characteristics about it! For starters, all sanctuaries all missing their fourth wall! Because of that you really feel like you are one with nature. Beyond that, all sanctuaries include an infinity pool. The views are some of the most breathtaking I’ve ever witnessed, and Vince and I have stayed in some pretty incredible places in our time together. The other bonus? You get your very own butler, or as they call them, “major domos.” They attend to your every need.

Major Domos:

Our main butler was Jameel and he was amazing! Vince and I are very low-maintenance travelers (which I realize sounds like bullshit staring at this resort, but you’re just going to have to trust me.) So Jameel kept asking us what we needed and never believed us when we told him “nothing”. He gave us a phone that we could carry anywhere on the resort and call him with our every whim. We left the phone in the room 100% of the time figuring the only thing we needed was each other and our view!

But I read a ton of reviews and there were other guests who would meander to the beach and forget their sunglasses, or need sunscreen, so they’d summon their major domo. After years in the customer service industry, it’s ingrained in me to not want to bother people, so we really didn’t ask for anything. Regardless, your major domo is the one who tends to bring your food when you order room service or request any extra things. On our last day when we were heading to the airport, Jameel even offered to send us with a sack lunch since the airport is small without much food to offer. Vince asked for grilled cheese and he packaged those up with drinks and gourmet muffins and snacks. He was the sweetest!

The rooms at Jade Mountain:

When I walked into our sanctuary for the first time, I cried. It is that fucking beautiful. There is no tech in the rooms. No television, no hard phone lines, nada. There are of course outlets for you to charge your own devices. But Vince and I looked at this as an opportunity to completely unplug. Our parents knew they could text us if our kids needed anything, but besides that, we stayed off our phones.

As I said, your sanctuary will have an infinity pool and an gorgeous view. You’ll also have a fridge that is restocked daily with water, juices, soft drinks, beer, and a daily freshly-made gourmet snack inside of a snack box. The snack is replaced daily with something new. Vince and I both eat vegetarian for the most part, so we made sure to let them know and they accommodated that with every snack and meal. There’s also a separate coffee/tea station for you too. We were greeted with a non-alcoholic strawberry fizz with sugar cane in it that was phenomenal. They also had a bottle of champagne on ice ready for us too!

You’ll have a canopy bed with mosquito net to keep out the bugs. I got the same question over and over when people saw we had an open-air sanctuary. Do critters and bugs get in easily? First off, they fog the resort every couple of days, so it kills the bugs. The only critters we had come in were birds, and that was only if we left food out. Room service is quick to take your trays of food away, but if you don’t want to bother, simply cover your food back up and it’ll stop the birds from coming in. We truly enjoyed the sound of them whizzing by.

Your shower will be open-air with a rain shower head. Bath robes and luxury bath products are also included. They gave us a canvas beach tote with water bottles, sanitizer, sunscreen, and sleeping masks as well.

You will have a view of the Pitons. We stayed in the Moon sanctuary which is their mid-level one. We had actually booked the Star sanctuary, and upon arrival, we were upgraded for free to the Moon sanctuary. (An upgrade that would’ve cost us an extra $2500 bucks by the end of our trip if we had booked it on our own!) No matter the room you get, your view will be top-notch! In order from lowest to highest grade rooms you have: Sky, Star, Moon, Sun, and Galaxy, so we were smack in the middle. A bad room at Jade Mountain is still a five-star room anywhere else, I can assure you.

What’s included in your stay:

Your food and booze of course! You’re not paying top dollar to not be fed. And their food was absolutely incredible! There are a few places to dine in, and you also can dine at the sister resort (Anse Chastanet) that rests below Jade Mountain. We had our first dinner in the Jade Mountain Club. As their website states, “created by James Beard award winner, Chef Allen Susser, is a brave new world of tropical flavors. His cuisine is exotic and delicious with a history of fusion, taking Saint Lucia Dining to new heights.” The food was always light (but still filling,) fresh, and creative. You can also dine in your room, but we enjoyed dinner out since we tended to order every breakfast through room-service.

The food was everything I’d hope it’d be. It was of course fresh and tropical as you’d expect. When we first arrived, even though we had gone through hell and back to get there, we immediately got into our swimsuits and went for a dip in the infinity pool. We also ordered some plantains with guacamole as a snack and just soaked in the views. Then we hung out, showered, and headed to dinner at the Jade Mountain Club.

The menu changes daily in the Jade Mountain Club, so you’re sure to always find something delicious to eat. We did eat at the sister resort one of the nights, and their food was just as good. The servers are outstanding just like the major domos. I cannot reiterate how impeccable the service is here on every level!

Our tenth anniversary happened to be the day we arrived, so the following evening, our housekeeper surprised us with gourmet chocolates they make on site! They have a chocolate tour you can take as well as tasting classes or you can also check out their chocolate laboratory. The only reason we didn’t do the tour was because we picked a few other excursions to fill our time. (More on that below!)

What to do in St. Lucia:

All reservations can be booked by the hotel! Vince and I wanted to hit up the mud baths in Soufriere on our first full day. The Soufriere Volcano last erupted in the 1700’s. It originated from a weak spot in the crust of a collapsed volcanic crater, and is considered to be a dormant volcano. The best feature of the volcano is the mud baths. Our guide to the mud baths was named Cherwin. He rode with us and our driver to Soufriere and was the one that covered us in mud. The light mud was used to cover our entire bodies and then the dark mud was used to draw on each other. He had us write messages on one another’s back but wouldn’t let us know what the other was writing. Me being the lady that I am, wrote a lovely message on my husband’s back.

After the mud bath, you rinse off as best you can in the hot spring, then throw your clothes back on and head back to the resort. We went straight to the spa to get massages to really soak in the relaxation benefits of it all. Cherwin was also my masseuse, so he was a jack-of-all-trades. After our couple’s massage, Vince and I showered and headed back to the Jade Mountain Club for a delicious lunch. I still dream about the Pad Thai….

Shopping in St. Lucia:

For our next day, we took a water taxi to Castries to do a little shopping. The ride out was so bumpy, I was certain my collarbone would be broken into even more pieces. Thankfully the ride back was smoother. When you take a shopping trip, you have a guide who walks you around and takes you to a few places.

One is a market where the locals sell their goods. The other place was a duty-free jewelry store. I was getting flashbacks to our Caribbean cruise where they try and sell you overpriced jewelry that’s not of the best quality, but since they let you barter they make you feel like you’re getting a real deal. Needless to say we didn’t buy anything there, but we did get some unique souvenirs from the market. I was thankful to be with a group and a guide, as there are parts of St. Lucia that seemed a little rough. However, the boat taxi ride in had the most breathtaking views!

Snorkeling:

The next day we spent the morning snorkeling. “Snorkel with a broken collarbone?!” You say in utter disgust. You bet your sweet ass. I won’t miss a chance to snorkel. Ever. I just draped my arm over a pool noodle to hold the brunt of the broken bone, and off we went! We’ve snorkeled in a lot of incredible spots, so while the snorkeling was great, it’s not like Hawaii or anything like that. But a mediocre snorkeling trip is still better than the best day on land in my book.

After that, we got a second massage, this time in our room. We booked the “Alchemy of two” massage which ended with even more chocolates they make on the resort! Don’t worry – no happy endings here – unless you call eating our weight in chocolate a happy ending. (Which it just might be!)

Getting around Jade Mountain:

This resort is definitely for able-bodied folks. The hike down to the beach is somethin’ else. First, you need to get out of the first few stories of where the sanctuaries are. Then, you go down about 4200 steps to go down a steep hill, to end up going down more steps. They do offer a shuttle to get you up and down to the room, but I enjoy walking so we hoofed it wherever we went. You do have that option though if you’re weary of the hike up and down from the beach! Other than that, your driver will take you into town or anywhere else your heart desires!

Birdwatching:

My husband is hot as hell, but he has the soul of a 90-year-old man who would be keen spending every day of his life birdwatching. So naturally, we booked the birdwatching tour through our resort. Our guide was named Meno, and he was a character! We forgot binoculars, so Meno had his men boat some over to us. (See: Incredible service. AGAIN!) You hike around the old Maman Estate. We got to see bats, tons of floral and fauna, eat some beans from cocoa pods, have some fresh bananas off the trees, and of course spy some birds. The hike was about 3 hours in total and it was just great to walk around in the fresh air and get a local’s stories of his homeland!

Relax, relax, relax

If you don’t spend some time just taking in the view from your sanctuary, swimming in your private infinity pool, and eating your way through your trip, you’re doing it wrong. Being unplugged for 6 days (minus our nightly texts in to see how our parents and kids were doing) was exactly what Vince and I needed. The trip was romantic, relaxing, and full of adventures. There’s no one else I’d rather do it with. We are hoping to get back there again for our 20 year anniversary! Until then, Jade Mountain has our hearts!

None of the links above are affiliate links, nor do I get any incentive for saying nice things about Jade Mountain. If you are looing to book though and have questions or need some guidance, feel free to reach out to me! As always, thanks for reading! Here is a video of our sanctuary if you wanted to see every inch!

For other travel blogs check out this one on Costa Rica, or this one on Kauai.