Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort in St. Lucia was the perfect resort for our family vacation this summer for so many reasons.
- IT IS GORGEOUS. When we entered our Villa, none of us could believe just how spacious and light and gorgeous this place was. Every bedroom had ocean views. It was a little overwhelming. My son asked if we were rich (we’re not!). THE VIEWS are to die for. Just couldn’t get enough of this magical place.
- THE SPACE. We have a big family - 6 to be exact - and we had 7 staying with us altogether. The villa was very secluded and HUGE. Villa #406 and had a huge kitchen, huge living room, and good size bedrooms all with their own bathrooms. One thing with a big family of teens/young adults is that space is essential. We didn’t spend a ton of time in the villa, but it was nice to have our own space to recharge and relax when we were there.
- THE ATMOSPHERE. We loved the relaxed atmosphere at our resort. There were activities - lots of water sports, pool volleyball, entertainment in the evening, but it wasn’t a loud party atmosphere. There were lots of families and we met some great people from all around the US and the UK as well.
- THE PEOPLE. The people of St. Lucia and just delightful and at Windjammer it was no different. They genuinely enjoy showing their beautiful country and sharing their culture. They really need tourism to be healthy for their economy to thrive, so they are always concerned about your experience and if you enjoy your time - whether on an excursion away from the resort or on the resort itself. Many St. Lucians asked me if I would return to St. Lucia - and, of course, I told them I would love to! This was one of our drivers who really gave us a wonderful tour on the way in from the airport. We had many questions and he was more than happy to indulge us.
- THE TRANSPORTATION. This resort is built on a hillside. I am very active and love to walk/run. I thought that I’d definitely be walking to the resort area from our villa each day. WRONG! Absolutely not. The hills are like mountains - very steep and there are no sidewalks...so you are sharing the narrow roads with the shuttles. From lower levels, that would have been ok, but we were fairly close to the top of the “hill”. However, Windjammer provides an excellent shuttle service. All you have to do is call and a shuttle is at your door within minutes. And, they run constantly from the lobby back to the villas.
- . THE DINING OPTIONS. Windjammer has 5 restaurants on-site. All are open air, which is simply perfect. There is a breakfast buffet each morning at Dragonfly - and that was almost always my favorite meal of the day. Omelette stations, french toast, pancakes, fruit, pastries and plantains. So many choices and it was quite good. For lunch, there are two options - Embers offers a variety of options from flatbreads to nachos to tacos and more. And, Jammers offers some standard fare like sandwiches, burgers, delicious sweet potato fries, and lots more. For dinner, Embers is closed, but Papa Don’s (Italian), Upper Deck (the most upscale), Jammers, and Dragonfly, again with buffet options. Our favorite dinners were at Papa Don’s, but I had a really good filet at Upper Deck as well.
- THE POOLS. WIndjammer has a number of pools. We stuck to the main pool or our private villa pool most of the time. My son loves to play in the pool with friends, otherwise I am sure I would have stayed at the beach 100% of the time. We also brought pool toys which helped attract other kids and make fast friends. The pools were clean and really not crowded at all.
- THE BEACH. The beach is PERFECT for little ones. There is no undertow - simply a beautiful cove of warm, caribbean sea. It’s not really big which helps with keeping track of your children. Even during the busiest parts of the day, you could always find a beach chair (though I recommend going early to get a shady spot). The bartenders bring you flags to put up when you “need” something - and they bring it right to you. Quite delightful. They also had floats to swim out to. We brought our own floaties to blow up and we gifted them to another family as we left. Note: there are sea urchins so the swimming area is marked off and you will want to be SUPER careful when not in the marked off area. I recommend water shoes when not in the marked area. One of our treasured finds was an almond tree we found at the end of the beach. Had no idea that almonds grew on trees or what the almond fruit looked like, but one of the staff educated us. So cool.
- WATER SPORTS. There are so many options at Windjammer. We did paddle boats and sea kayaking, even some rafting rides. All are included on the AI plan. The only thing we paid extra for was my brother’s scuba diving experience.
- TAKE THE SUNSET CRUISE. Every Friday night, Windjammer has a sunset cruise. It’s a party boat and SO MUCH FUN. Family friendly (mostly) and just a blast. Book that as soon as you check in.
- ALL-INCLUSIVE OPTION. Windjammer offers a breakfast only plan, and an all-inclusive option. All-inclusive covers your watersports including motorized water sports,drinks and dining (except certain dishes and bottles of wine). I didn’t do the calculation to see what would have been the most cost effective for us, but I do know that it takes the stress off of me to have a vacation mostly paid for before we go. Sure, we had some excursions and tips that were extra, but if we had not done AI, I would have been stressed out. Plus, the currency is in EUC, so it’s 2.7 exchange rate made all of our dinner bills look like 800-1000 dollars! And, you should have seen the bar tabs we ran up! They do give you the “check” at the end of your time for their inventory and you sign for the charges and add a tip (you can charge that to the room and pay at the end of the stay). The only outside charges besides that were from extra activities at the kids club and spa.
- THE SPA, FITNESS CENTER, and KIDS CLUB. Many in our group utilized the spa and enjoyed massages and facials and enjoyed the experience. My oldest daughter, Hailey and I are training for a half marathon so we utilized the fitness center. While there, they also were holding a yoga class in the next room. It’s a decent sized facility and it wasn’t very busy when we went. Most importantly, the air conditioning is nice and cool. There are also tennis courts right there. The Kids Club was great. It was generally open from 10-12, 2-4, and some evenings from 6 or 6:30-8 for a special activity. My son had a great time - he made some friends and enjoyed the camp leaders.
If you are thinking about a family vacation to the Caribbean, contact STLV Travel Advisor Kelly Greenstone! Her email is kelly@skyesthelimitvacations.com. She will help find the perfect resort and work with you to plan all the details so you can focus on making memories with your family.
