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After the absolute high of our wedding day, we woke up at about 4am to catch our flight to St. Lucia. (Word of Advice: Book a flight later or two days after your wedding!) However, it was funny to see the lounge of the flight full of girls with messy makeup and hair sitting next to their new husbands begrudgingly wearing their "hubby" t-shirts. With fake eyelashes falling down my face, we boarded our first class flight and tried to catch some sleep.
The flight in itself wasn't bad, although St. Lucia is one of the most southern islands in the Caribbean, making it an over 4 hour flight from Atlanta. Once we arrived, we went to the Sandal's lounge where a van brought us on an about hour and a half ride through the windy roads of the island. Again, not ideal after the night of your wedding. We later found out there was an option to take a helicopter ride to the resort from the airport and we will DEFINITELY be doing that next time. Take my word for it, spend the extra money and save yourself some island road nausea.
I will preface this next paragraph with humbly saying I am no novice traveler. My family has always been in the tourism business which allowed me the luxury to travel around the world from a young age. My dad bregrudigenly tells the story of how I complained there was "nothing to do" on the Disney Cruise. Truth be told I've always had a taste for high end travel and in complete truth, I was nervous about trying out an all inclusive resort. However, I can honestly say Sandals greatly exceeded my expectations for our honeymoon.
We called it the honeymooners resort because it was probably 90 percent newlyweds. The grounds created the exuded romantic vibes with heart shaped shrubbery and lounges to gaze into your lovers eyes, but not in a cheesy champagne glass hot tub way. It wasn't overly crowded because it was their off season in August, but any more people would have been too much.
The thing that stood out to us the most was the staff with their excellent service. Unlike other all inclusive resorts, they did not perform based on tips alone. The food was much better than I could imagine, with tons of speciality restaurants to choose from instead of being forced into mass buffets. You could even take a shuttle to their sister resorts and eat at their restaurants as well, but we didn't feel the need to leave.
We definitely recommend springing for at least a club level room for the extra concierge service and included excursions. We got to go on a fun hike and snorkeling adventure as part of the club level 'club.' They also took care of our dinner reservations and anything else without having to go to the front desk. If I could do it again I would save up and go for the over the water bungalows complete with a butler. That's on our list for an anniversary trip!
Sandals Grande St. Lucian was honestly the perfect ending to our wedding celebrations and I recommend it to all of my brides and friends getting married.
If you're looking for a travel agent to book your trip, which I absolutely recommend to make sure everything is planned for you, reach out to Carlie Finch. She is a Sandals guru and will help you plan the trip of your dreams! Follow her on insta @2travelanywhere and check out her website www.2travelanywhere.com.