28/10/2026
🌿 LADERA: HILLSIDE LUXURY, OPEN-AIR LIVING AND A LITTLE SLICE OF JUNGLE PARADISE!🇱🇨
Leaving Rabot Hotel from Hotel Chocolat behind, we continued our Saint Lucia adventure to somewhere that felt like stepping into yet another completely different world.
Our arrival at Ladera Resort was rather memorable, with an open-topped Moke parked outside, the team waiting with cold towels and cocktails beside a colourful mosaic-backed fish pool come water feature with turtles basking happily in the midday sunshine. Frankly, the turtles looked as though they'd mastered the art of staying cool in the Caribbean sunshine far better than the rest of us! 😂🐢
Once refreshed, we wandered through wooden walkways enveloped in tropical foliage, exploring this extraordinary hillside resort and some of its rooms. And when I say some rooms looked like tree houses, I really do mean it. Wooden structures raised above the pathways, tucked into the greenery, with a wonderfully close connection to the surrounding landscape.
The rooms we viewed included open-sided designs with private plunge pools and generous terraces or balconies overlooking the jungle below. Some had swing chairs positioned so you could sit back, take in that incredible view and dangle your feet into the pool. Now, if that's not a perfect way to spend an afternoon, I'm not sure what is! 😍
And when the day is done? Four-poster beds draped with mosquito netting offer a romantic retreat for a good night's sleep, with the surrounding tropical setting never far away.
We also explored the spa, which felt wonderfully open to the elements, with an infinity pool looking out across a sea of lush green jungle. It was the sort of setting that makes you instinctively lower your voice and take a deep breath.
Then there was JAKO Wellness Café, with its open-air charm and rainforest setting. The café focuses on fresh, nourishing food, tropical smoothies and cold-pressed juices, with locally sourced and garden grown ingredients playing an important part in its offering. I didn't sample the main menu, but we did have some rather delicious canapé of fried cod bites and other delicious morsels all washed down with a much needed mocktail, we were working of course, albeit in a setting that was something rather special. 🍹
We also popped into the Hideaway Rum Bar and the Immersive Art Studio, adding yet more character to a property that brings nature, wellbeing, local creativity and a little indulgence together so well.
Ladera also has several distinctive suite categories, including the Hilltop Dream Suite, with its open-wall design and private plunge pool. It's a very particular style of luxury, wonderfully immersive, but one to understand properly before deciding whether it's right for you.🤩
You can look at photographs all day, but walking the pathways, seeing how the rooms are designed and getting a feel for the atmosphere gives me a much better idea of who might love a place, when matching clients to holidays this really does matter. Ladera is adults-only, and I can certainly see its appeal for couples seeking privacy, spectacular scenery and something a little removed from a traditional resort.
It's not about deciding whether one hotel is better than another. It's about finding the one that feels right for YOU. Using my 40 years in travel, of discovering places and of bringing back that knowledge to the great benefit of my clients, now that’s called adding value!
💚 If Saint Lucia is on your wish list, let's talk. I'll help you explore the options, ask the right questions and find the experience that suits you, not simply the prettiest photograph.
Next, we were heading by boat to ANSE CHASTANET and Jade Mountain. And if you think we've seen some spectacular scenery already… just wait! 🤩
