Tucked away on a lush hillside along the cobalt Caribbean Sea, Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort brings to mind the beauty and charm of a picturesque Mediterranean village. This stunning island resort offers secluded villas, luxury amenities, and friendly Lucian hospitality.
Pack your suitcase and find out what we thought of our stay at Windjammer Landing...
Where is Windjammer Landing?
Located on the North West side of the beautiful Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, Windjammer Landing is about an hour and a half drive from the main airport on the island, Hewanorra. A tropical getaway, St Lucia itself is an idyllic place offering the best of both worlds, for those who like to relax on the beach or if you’re more adventurous and want to explore the jungle. Just over an 8 hour direct flight from Gatwick, it’s well worth the journey. Windjammer Landing boasts guest rooms and villas with waterfront views overlooking Labrolette Bay.
We arrived at the resort around midday, it’s a short drive off the main road, right on the water. As soon as you go through the archway entrance you feel like you’re in your own little world. The newly refurbished lobby was particularly impressive, with arches framing and offering tantalising glimpses of the pool, beach and resort beyond. Painted a cooling white with gorgeous pale tile, with some pops of blue in the cushions and décor, and plenty of waxy palms and greenery. The staff were extremely welcoming, we were greeted with a glass of rum punch and offered a seat as we checked in and arranged our activities for the next few days.
Our room was not quite ready as we were a little early, so we headed to Jammers (one of the resort restaurants) for a spot of lunch. Positioned almost right on the water, you’re spoiled with sea views and good food too. Our server was lovely and friendly, we chatted to her about our first few days in Soufriere and she immediately got us sorted with drinks and even organised the chef to make us a special portion of macaroni pie as we’d enjoyed it so much in Soufriere!
When we’d eaten we headed back to the reception, which is just the other side of the pool to Jammers (it was really easy to get around the hub of the resort) to see if our room was ready. It was and our luggage was swiftly found by the concierge before flagging us a shuttle to our villa.
Where will I sleep?
It is rather hilly at the resort, and we were right up at the top, but the shuttles run pretty much 24/7, we never had trouble getting one, so if you did have mobility issues you’d be absolutely fine. Upon arrival to our room we were blown away to see we’d been given a one bed villa apartment, with a pool on the balcony!
The white walls and terracotta floor tiles gave a Mediterranean feel, and it was beautifully cool despite the heat outside. We had a living room/dining room and functional kitchen area with fridge, tea and coffee making facilities, plus a large bedroom with four poster bed and ensuite with a huge walk in shower. There was also an additional bathroom with shower. The balcony was large, with a covered area to offer shade, loungers, a table and chairs, and access from both the bedroom and the living area. Then there was the lovely private pool, just 4ft deep and probably about 6ft across, but great to dip into after we’d returned back of an afternoon. I even enjoyed a ‘swim’ a couple of mornings, watching the sun rise over the ocean.
The way the villas are laid out we had a top floor apartment, so we were lucky to have a beautiful view over the water. You can tell they’ve really thought about where each villa is, where they face etc – when on our balcony it felt very private and we weren’t overlooked at all, and also when wandering down to breakfast you never felt like you were disturbing anyone.
The room was spotless, and the toiletries in the bathroom were lovely quality. The soaps in particular smelled beautiful and made my hands feel really soft and cared for, which is great after being in the sun and saltwater. Another handy thing was that Saint Lucia uses UK plugs, so there was no need to bring an adaptor.
As well as the fully kitted out kitchen, there was everything you could need including a hairdryer, iron and ironing board and a safe. We also had plenty of towels including some for the pool. Windjammer do a towel tag scheme so you can hand in these cards with your room number on it in exchange for towels at the beach, then can trade them in for dry ones. It’s a great idea as you’re not carrying heavy wet towels back to your room, or worrying about remembering to bring them down for a day at the beach.
As well as the villas with pool, the resort offers a range of accommodation options suitable for couples and large families, with rooms starting at £302/US$354.00 per night and villas starting at £492/US$577.00.
What is there to eat?
There are plenty of options for eating at Windjammer, we made sure to try all of them during our stay. The main spot we enjoyed was Jammers, we had most of our breakfasts and lunches here as we enjoyed the feel of it. There was also live music here every evening so it was a great spot to come sit at the bar of an evening and listen to some great singers and live bands.
The food at Jammers was a mixture of Caribbean classics and dishes like burgers etc. A particular favourite of ours was the mahi mahi sandwich. The other lunch option, Embers, was a little further down the beach, with a covered decking area on the sand. By day it was a grill restaurant serving burgers, jerk chicken burritos and fish tacos, and by night dishing up more elegant dishes such as swordfish and steaks. Above Embers is Dragonfly, which is currently closed for refurbishment, but it looks like it’s going to be stunning when it’s finished – with beautiful views out onto the ocean and a huge balcony area.
Next to Jammers is Upper Deck, it’s only open during the evenings, and is known for surf and turf. This was probably our favourite evening meal, we enjoyed a steak with huge prawns and a catch of the day with a Creole sauce. Last, but not least, there’s Papa Don’s – an Italian restaurant. Again only open in the evenings, the food is gorgeous and it overlooks a separate pool area further up from the main hub of the resort. We got a shuttle there and back as we weren’t sure how easy the walk would be, but it was so simple to get the shuttles. We enjoyed a risotto with swordfish and a seafood pasta, then returned to Jammers to enjoy that evening’s music.
There is also a Caribbean night (how often is this?) with a buffet of food including macaroni pie, rice and beans, jerk chicken, swordfish, pork with barbecue sauce, Caribbean curry, and a dessert buffet as well. After dinner the entertainment includes fire eaters, dancers and stilt walkers, plus music and dancing.
If you wanted a night in, there is a little on-site shop where you can buy groceries, as well as a few little shops to buy souvenirs.
What is there to do?
Since we were only staying a few nights, we mainly enjoyed relaxing at the beach and were more than happy to spend our days in the sea, back to the loungers, swim over to the hammocks, then decide what we wanted to eat for lunch! There are plenty of loungers and beach umbrellas we never struggled to find a spot, and the beach area itself was kept immaculate.
If sunbathing isn’t your thing, the resort is well kitted out for those who’d rather be a bit more active – there are tennis courts, a gym, and you can hire plenty of watersports equipment such as snorkels, kayaks and paddleboards, and at no extra cost for those on all-inclusive. The resort also has an on-site tours company, Jammin’ Tours, who are more than happy to suggest and arrange excursions to nearby Castries, or further down the Island to Soufriere to see the jungle, volcano and sulphur springs. We opted for a boat trip to do some snorkelling on the Saturday afternoon, which included lunch on board and a trip to a snorkelling spot where there are some gorgeous fire corals. It does take your whole afternoon, but it was lovely to be out on the water sailing past the colourful houses on the coastline - apparently it's a St Lucian Christmas tradition to repaint their houses for the festivities, after the rainy season, so their houses are as bright as possible!
We also tried out the on-site spa, which was really stunning. We were greeted with big smiles and a welcome drink – something gingery and cooling, and asked to fill out the usual forms before being shown to the changing rooms. We’d decided to have a couples massage so after we were in our gowns were shown to a large treatment room, which was lovely and warm, smelled beautiful and had dimmed lighting. The massage itself was amazing, we both said afterwards how relaxed we felt, and again the spa staff were really lovely.
For families there is a kids club, Jacquot Fun Club, which offers lots of activities to keep children entertained throughout their stay. From sports and tennis lessons to performances and arts and crafts. Windjammer also offer babysitting services so you can enjoy some alone time while knowing your little ones are well looked after. We saw lots of families while we were there, many with small babies and toddlers, so it’s clear the resort is well suited to families.
There was always something going on, either at the pool (aqua aerobics was a popular class) or with live music at Jammers.
Final thoughts
Throughout our stay we were blow away by the fantastic staff, who went above and beyond to make our stay the best it could be. We often saw staff greeting holidaymakers like old friends, and indeed from chatting to other visitors, many would return to Windjammer year after year, a testament to the home from home feel of this resort. It really does have a community feel, like a Mediterranean village, with the modernity and luxury of a quality resort. We were very sad to leave and hope to return to St Lucia again!
For more information and reservations, visit www.windjammer-landing.com