We travelled to St. Lucia at Easter. As a family with two children (11 and 14) we needed a hotel that would cater for everyones needs. I was particularly looking for one that would let us all share a room as two rooms were too expensive but a lot of hotels classified my daughter as an adult and would not let us book one room.
After deliberating for hours I opted for Almond Morgan Bay, I looked on Tripadvisor and there were no really bad reports and Easter in the caribbean is so expensive that we had to rule out a lot of the hotels on price alone. However this did leave me worried that you get what you pay for.
Location
The hotel is situated 25miles from Hewanorra International Airport. The journey from the airport took about an hour and a quarter and provided a scenic introduction to the island even though the rule of driving apeeared to be that it didn't matter what side you drove, you just avoid the potholes! The hotel is 3 miles from the capital Castries and is on the West which faces the calmer Caribbean Sea.
First Impressions
On arrival we were shown into an open spacious reception area and were greeted by the sounds of a Caribbean steel band and a glass of Rum Punch before being given our room key. Our bags were taken from us and we were put on a land train to be shown to our room. I am probably being a bit of a grump here but after an 8 hour flight and an hour in a minibus I didn't need music or alcohol! I just wanted to get to my room quickly, this duly happened and the guide showed us to our room and explained the features and told us our bags would be about 15 minutes (at about 4.30). A table had been booked for us at 6 o'clock in one of the restaurants. We then waited for our bags, and waited and waited! I had forgotten that nothing ever happens quickly in the Caribbean. I really wanted a shower and to get dressed for dinner. Two of the three bags eventually arrived at 5.45 and after much searching the porter eventually found the third bag. By this time we were all grumpy and I was regretting my choice of hotel. We had a quick change and went to the restaurant for dinner.
We followed our map and found ourselves in a lovely open sided restaurant by the beach, by this time it was almost dark and there was a lovely atmosphere. The service was laid back but polite and the food unusual but delicious. By the time we were walking back to our room we were feeling much better!
Setting
The hotel is set between two hillsides and covers about 22 acres. This gives it a very private feel and it has its own secluded cove. All beaches in St Lucia are officially public but not many locals frequent this one, it is really only hotel residents and the occasional hawker. The beach is just as you imagine for the Caribbean, palm-fringed with lovely warm water that you can walk a long way into. The grounds are beautifully tended with colourful exotic flowers everywhere you turn and cashew nut trees dotted about. The hotel was refurbished in 2005 and we got talking to a couple who had visited prior to that and they said the pool area had been vastly improved.
Rooms
The hotel has 340 rooms, we stayed in the older blocks but there were also some new rooms and suites on the opposite hillside. The older blocks have three floors and no lifts. The blocks are set on a steep slope so people with walking difficulties may find the paths quite hard work.
Our room was a reasonable size and had two double beds but surprisingly when we arrived there was also another single z-bed that had been put in for one of the children. We had expected that the children would have to share (not a popular idea with them!) but the hotel do this for families which was so helpful. The room had the worlds smallest safe--- we could fit in our passports, iPods etc but is was very dark in that corner and we always struggled to find things in it. There was a small wardrobe and a few drawers. They would have been adequate for a couple but we had trouble storing the clothes for the four of us. The decor was quite plain with white painted wicker furniture. Luckily there was air-conditioning which really is a must in the tropical climate. The room was always very clean. Each room has a balcony or terrace but these are very small and can just fit a table and two chairs; however it was a pleasant place to sit and watch the world go by.
The bathroom was large and light with a shower over the bath, there was always plenty of hot water and the towels were changed daily if you left them in the bath. There were also blue beach towels in the room, which you could change as often as you wanted at the sports hut on the beach.
All the usual things like a TV and a hairdryer and coffee making facilities were included as was a lovely platter of fresh fruit and a half bottle of Rum!
Restaurants
The hotel has four restaurants but you do need to make reservations for your evening meals. This is done in reception and we simply booked several nights in one go and never had trouble getting the times we wanted. Dress code in the day was anything except no shirts and swimwear, most people just used a beach cover-up or shorts and t-shirt.
Breakfast is served at two of the restaurants; this is a self-service buffet with a huge selection of food. There was always lots of variety. There was a good continental selection, various cooked choices including omelettes made to order and lots of cakes and breads and a machine to prepare your toast--a highlight for the children!
Lunch was either a buffet on the beach-you could take it back to your sun lounger or you could eat at the restaurant tables or take a full-service meal at The Palms.
In the evening the four restaurants were open and served different style food. Dress code in the evening is more smart casual and I did see people asked to change when they were dressed inappropriately. All evening meals were waitress service:
The Palms-- continental style menu
Bambou---unusual Caribbean/Asian fusion menu
Morgan’s Pier--- very popular fish restaurant which is situated out over the sea.
There was also a French Restaurant that was adults only, we never ventured in here as we prefer to dine as a family but it looked rather dark.
The food and service was always very good and we had no complaints at all. Some of the flavors were quite exotic but all the restaurants in the evening also had a children’s buffet of chips and hot-dogs etc when my son wouldn't try something new!
If you were hungry in-between times there was a snack bar open which supplied chips, pizza, biscuits and ice-cream all day!
Facilities
The hotel has lots of sun beds but like most places you had to be up early to get the best positions as they did get taken. However during our second week the hotel emptied a lot and there were plenty of sun beds then!
There is only so long I can spend sitting on a beach, once I have read for several hours I get a bit bored so we had opted for a hotel with some available activities. We were very impressed with what we found.
On the beach there is a water sports hut, here you signed waiver forms for your chosen activity and also book the time slots for anything you wanted to do. You could only book for that day which was great as it meant you knew you would be able to do your activity if you got to the hut in the morning. There was also free tuition available. We had tuition for sailing and found the guy was great and didn't make us feel foolish and we really enjoyed ourselves. There were plenty of lifejackets in various sizes and we never had any trouble getting ones to fit when we were doing an activity. The activities available were:
Kayaks--either single or doubles
Catamaran (hobby cat) sail boats
Windsurfers
Waterskiing--split into beginners and advanced (for children over 8 and adults)
Banana Boat rides
The staff seemed to be very relaxed but we noticed that they did seem very safety conscious and were aware of all the activities going on in the bay. By the second week the hotel was so quiet that the children would be out on the banana boat for half an hour at a time as there was no queue.
There were four pools with two being adults only. They were never particularly busy and you could always find spare chairs around them. They were all a nice size and were very clean. There is a family pool with a slide and a shallow toddlers pool as well.
The bars are around the pool area and one of the adult pools has a swim up bar. The bar staff would happily make a great selection of non-alcoholic cocktails as well as normal ones so the children loved having something exotic to try.
If water sports aren't your thing there are four tennis courts with equipment available and I believe there is golf available locally as well.
There was a children’s club which seemed to organize various activities but I do not have any experience of how that was run.
In the evenings there was some entertainment laid on in the bar area but it seemed to mainly consist for Bob Marley tribute acts which got a bit boring after a couple of nights. However i Don't think the hotel was particularly busy at night as everybody seemed to get up very early. I think this is because it gets dark to early in the caribbean.
There is also a spa which offered a selection of treatment but they seemed a bit expensive so I didn't try them.
Conclusion
This hotel offered everything we wanted. It was TOTALLY all-inclusive. All activities, equipment hire, tuition (except tennis), food, snacks and all drinks were included, we also had an excursion to Pigeon island included in the price. I can't remember what we paid but next Easter Virgin are offering two weeks with flights for £2300 fo each adult.
The only crticism would be that the storage in the room was just not up to a family and the room was a bit of a squeeze. However since we spent very little time in there it wasn't a problem.
The hotel is set in the most beautiful tropical gardens which are a delight to walk around. Our room and all communal areas were kept very clean. The staff were always pleasant and helpful and happy to chat, especially the gardeners who will tell you all about the species they grow. This was a lovely place to really unwind, my profile picture is of me relaxing here! It really is a tropical paradise.
A Tropical Haven 
