Sugar Beach a Viceroy Resort, St Lucia

Sugar Beach a Viceroy Resort

It would be hard to envisage a more sensational setting for a hotel than that enjoyed by St Lucia's Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort. Located in Val des Pitons, the steep valley between the soaring twin peaks of the Pitons, with the sheer slopes of Petit Piton overhanging one side of the resort, the hotel is spread over more than 100 acres of luxuriant rainforest, which sweeps dramatically down to a stunning white sand beach. The area is a UNESCO Heritage Site, and the lush tropical vegetation surrounding the hotel contains natural habitats of many rare species.

A steep twisting road descending through the forest leads to the former sugar plantation, with whitewashed villas tucked into the dense tropical foliage, and with gardens brimming with coconut, mango and papaya trees and colourful blooms, and filled with tiny hummingbirds and huge butterflies. The chic hotel lobby in the Great House is light and airy, with white walls and ceilings, alcoves etched with intricate fretwork, and plush white sofas and armchairs. However, arriving guests are not subjected to check-in formalities -- on arrival they are met by their personal butler and whisked away to their accommodation.

Dining at the Sugar Beach is as delightful an experience as you would expect in such surroundings, with the choice of either the Great Room, serving gourmet cuisine by candlelight in an elegant colonial-style setting, or the beautiful Bayside Restaurant right on the sands, offering relaxed à la carte dining on local delicacies. There is also the new Terrace Restaurant, serving breakfast from the ground floor of the Great House, with stunning views. The resort has four bars, including the Bayside Bar right on the beach, where you can sip cocktails under the almond trees, as you watch the amazing sunsets.

Apart from its spectacular beauty, the crowning feature of the resort has to be the enchanting Rainforest Spa, next to a stream and reached along winding wooden walkways. This maze of bamboo, clinging to the lower slopes of Petit Piton, is a magical experience, offering hot rock therapies, and treatments using ingredients from the island's plantations and volcanic springs. There is an earthen Amerindian steam dome known as a temazcal, warmed by volcanic waters, an al fresco relaxation lounge, and a series of tree-house treatment cabanas connected by bridges.

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