Ladera Resort

There can not be a better view than what we had from our suite. We have also never had more attentive service - especially from Caroline, the concierge, but really EVERY staff member was very friendly and accommodating. When we arrived, we were given cold towels and rum punch while our bags were taken to our suite. We were then treated to a personal tour and explanation of all the amenities. For the whole stay, we felt appreciated. I would love to return.

This is one of the most challenging reviews I’ve written. It’s our 2nd time at Ladera and this trip was a mixed bag of extreme amazing areas and extreme disappointments. First things first. There is no better place to stay in the Caribbean if you’re looking for amazing landscape, tropical jungles, incredibly maintained hiking trails, and views of the Pitons are so insane your eyes can’t adjust to the fact that they are real. Ray, the head gardener for like ever at the resort is an absolute incredible human being. If you visit, seek him out, talk to him, learn about the property. He’s been involved in the planting and maintenance of virtually every plant on the resort. I’ve never been a place with such lush vegetation. Most of the fruits and vegetables you eat on resort come from the resort grounds… and Ray has secret “off menu” plants he loves to eat and tell you about as well. As we checked out we were told he won employee of the year last year and he absolutely deserves it. Take the time and hike the trails, look at all the fruit trees, watch the bees and humming birds feed at the feeders, it’s pretty cool. On to the housing. As you know this is a 3-wall unit, so wildlife will come into your room. On our first visit in 2023 we had a huge problem with mosquitoes attacking us all day and night. This visit we were SO HAPPY to not have that problem whatsoever. The netting around the bed was better, the mosquito repellant they burn in the rooms was better, and I think the fact that there was a bit more wind really helped. All in all, we were so so happy to not come home with bug bites! This trip we stayed up in the Paradise Ridge units and we really loved the layout better than our previous stay. The room was very well designed, roomy, the bathroom was huge and beautiful, the pool was heated (Ladera has some of the only heated pools in the entire Caribbean). Overall, we would absolutely stay in the PR suites again if we returned. The one new thing they added to the resort since our last stay was the Rum Bar. It’s an AMAZING addition to the resort. I’d highly recommend the resort moves it to the local artist vendor room (only used on Tuesdays) as the Rum Bar seems to be growing in popularity but is very very very small. Incredible addition to the resort that I commend the staff for adding! OK, now on to the two negatives. One minor and one major. Minor Negative: When we visited two years ago the huge beautiful spa wasn’t open. We were told “it’s opening in a few weeks”. Well, two years later, still no spa. It’s pretty disappointing as we were excited to get some treatments in there, especially after missing out two years ago and spending $2700/night on this trip. Major Negative: OK, I start this by saying food and drinks are very important to us. We cook a lot at home, consider ourselves foodies, and when spending thousands of dollars a night at an all inclusive, expect the food and bev service to be high level, especially since Ladera boasts so much about how amazing Chef Nigel is. Two years ago it was some pretty good food, this visit it was some of the worst food and bev we’ve experienced, especially for a room that cost us $2700 per night. I know chef has been there for 20 years, so maybe he’s just tired and needs some youth in the kitchen to liven things up. I don’t know, but that’s no small amount of money to have the quality of food we had served to us. Let me break it down a bit because it wasn’t all bad. Breakfast – The breakfasts in the one restaurant they have on site were pretty solid. The menu hasn’t really changed at all in 2 years which is pretty boring, but the food they bring out is above average breakfast. Make sure you try the banana jam as it’s the best we’ve ever had. Lunch / Room Service – More disappointment as the menus haven’t really changed at all in the last two years. Where’s the creativity? This resort is supposed to have a renowned chef, yet we’re serving the exact same food day after day year after year? It’s boring! The room service and lunch menus at the restaurant are exactly the same. So after two days, we got bored of eating the same food over and over again. If you’re only going to have one place to eat, and charge $2700 a day, you gotta make the food fun. We had previously been at Cap Maison before coming to Ladera and their food is so much better in quality, flavor, and originality. At Ladera nothing was seasoned, the bread for our sandwiches was rock hard, everything was pretty bland, there just doesn’t seem to be any love coming from the kitchen. They also got two of our orders wrong which was disappointing but we just ate it and went on with our day because the meals take such a long time that you’re ready to leave and get back to your villa. The best bite from the lunch menu was the grilled vegetables and the St. Lucian Accra. Dinner – The worst meal service all three days at the resort. It was strange, the restaurant appeared to be in its first week of service, that’s how off everything was. We showed up for our 730pm reservation and were told we couldn’t be sat due to the restaurant being full (they take guests from outside the resort as well). I guess reservations for $2700/night guests don’t matter because we weren’t sat until 830pm. Dinner took until well after 10pm and we were one of two tables left, it wasn’t a fun vibe. On our 2nd night they released a new menu… and were out of the two things we ordered. What’s the point of putting out a new menu if you’re out of things on it? Go to the market, get fresh food, and put out a menu based on what you do have, not what you don’t have. Dinners took foreverrrrrrrr. 2+ hours for 3 courses. They say your all-inclusive comes with 4, but the soup course isn’t a real thing. They say you’ll have two choices, they only had one, and it was the same soup all 3 nights with one ingredient change the 3rd night. The best thing we ate was the Lamb Shank but everything else was forgettable. Most of the food was bland, the fish was all very fishy in taste (I normally eat fish every meal when on vacay and stopped after half our stay), and every night the only fish to choose from was barracuda and kingfish. I’m the person that takes a picture of EVERY dish of EVERY meal on vacation and the last two days I just had no interest. We skipped dessert the last two dinners because a) we were just so tired of being in the restaurant for such a long time and b) they were so insanely sweet that we couldn’t eat more than 2 bites. The martinis were really really sweet this trip as well. I also thought it was strange that everyone knew we were there for my girlfriend’s birthday and no one did anything special for it for any of the meals. Worth noting, the best soup of the entire stay wasn’t even served in a restaurant, it was served to guests who visited the local artist event on Tuesday. It was fresh, light, full of flavor and St. Lucian heritage. Even the staff raved about how they race to the event at 5pm when it closes to try and get some if there’s leftovers. That’s the type of food the restaurant should be serving. Ladera would be wise to bring in a culinary director to evaluate the program, even if just on a consulting level. Cap Maison is putting on a clinic of how to run a food and bev department and Ladera is falling far behind. Shop locally, get some exciting ingredients, make some fun specials each night that are packed with flavor and St. Lucian flavors! Having a section of “Creole Specials” on the menu and being “out” of all of them makes no sense. Having no nightly specials when you’re running the same menu each night makes no sense. Not for $2700/night. My final suggestion comes to the Butlers. The room has no a/c, has a small fridge, and has no 4th wall. Why not just bring a new bucket of ice to the room a few times a day with some drinks? To have to request ice an drinks multiple times a day makes it where drinking and relaxing in the room isn’t fun. Every time we asked for something they brought it within 30-45 minutes, with a smile, with great service… but don’t make us have to ask. For other resorts in the $2000+/night category, the butlers get to know what their guests like, and take care of them without having to be asked to. I’d love to see that level of service added to Ladera. Overall – Would we visit again? Yes. There is no better view in the Caribbean and honestly, it’s such an amazing property/view, they could have no food even offered and people would still show up. If we visited Lucia again next year though, we’d only go to Cap Maison. That said, Ladera will always be sold out because of their views, but I’d like for them to not rest on the service and quality just because they’re sold out. Inspire to be the best overall package on the island, right now that isn’t the case. We will absolutely return, but it won’t be for a few years. Time to go see other islands, learn about other cultures, and see some new areas. I hope our next visit to St. Lucia includes Ladera, it’s a property I’d love to see again. We’ll be keeping an eye on it from afar as it’s a place we truly want to go back to.

If you are looking for a relaxing get away and being in touch with nature, look no further than Ladera! My husband and I recently stayed here in the beginning of January. Not only were we met with the most stunning views and accommodations, but with the most incredible staff. I traveled while 20 weeks pregnant, and I have never felt more at ease. Front desk staff (especially Tanisha) were always looking out and making sure we were comfortable during our stay. Definitely take advantage of the yoga classes with stunning views (yay Anson!), and don't miss out on breakfast (ask for a chocolate croissant). Pool chairs were limited at Ladera, however they offered free shuttles to 2 local beaches. They have a partnership with one of the beaches and we were very well taken care of during our day trip. If you are weary of being too close to nature, do not worry. We did have some tiny frogs and lizards in our room, but never in our bed! There is a net surrounding the bed and the staff uses incense to keep most other things away. We will definitely come back to stay in the future!

What a beautiful and amazing place to stay! The hotel is set in the most beautiful lush grounds, with humming birds, stunning flowers and trees brimming with fruit everywhere. Everyone we met, who works at the hotel, was delightful. They all made our stay a complete joy. Caroline in conceirge was so knowledgeable and a complete ray of sunshine. She has been 37 years at the hotel which says it all. Ray the gardener gave me a tour of the grounds. He is so passionate about his work and plans for the garden. The view from our room was incredible. The food was delish!!! Come stay here. It’s amazing.

We loved our stay at Ladera!! The views are unbelievable and the grounds are beautiful. Staff is incredibly helpful and friendly. We ate local a couple times, Dasheen at Ladera was definitely our favorite meal of the trip. Location is great!!! We were close to everything we wanted to do and concierge ordered taxis which made getting around very easy. The onsite trail is beautiful. The only downside is the bugs. We expected it being open air but we left covered (I think ant bites). Ladera does everything they can to keep the bugs away but it’s inevitable. It didn’t take away from the experience for us at all, just something to note! Overall an unforgettable experience.