I am a big fan of manifesting. So of course when I create my vision boards of things I want to manifest there are always a fair few pictures of far flung, beautiful destinations on there for me to visualise. I know some of you out there are scoffing but guess what? The proof is in the pudding…
Last year I received an email informing me that I had won our honeymoon – an entire week on the beautiful Caribbean island of St Lucia! Only a few days before I had been flicking through my most recent copy of Weddings & Honeymoons magazine and came across the feature for luxury resort East Winds. Whether it was the stunning greenery in the pictures, or the fact that they grow and use their own herbs and medicinal plants on site, something called me to enter the free competition online to win our honeymoon at this stunning all inclusive resort.
Jason was pretty sceptical when I told him we’d won. To be honest, I wasn’t even fully convinced, even though the resort themselves contacted me and we booked our Honeymoon for the first week of August 2022. It wasn’t until we touched down at Hewanorra airport and found our private driver waiting to escort us 90 minutes up the island to the resort that it truly sunk in. Our driver was lovely and chatty, and he told us lots of interesting facts about the island as we drove through.
Honestly, as we pulled up to the gate of East Winds I genuinely had no idea what to expect – I’d never been to a luxury resort before! Driving down the driveway through lush green surroundings, my excitement grew exponentially as it dawned on me that we were actually here! We entered reception to check in where a beautifully cold glass of juice and a warm towel for washing was waiting for us. After refreshments the lovely lady escorted us to our room.
Accommodation
Now due to it being a freebie, I was expecting to be placed in one of the smaller, more basic rooms. How wrong I was! They had given us the Ocean Front Suite – the most stunning and luxurious room they have incorporating a super-king bed, lounge area with sofa, walk in shower, private patio that looks out over the beach and Caribbean sea, and an outside shower to wash off those sandy feet. Added to the chilled champagne on ice and locally made chocolates, I was overcome with joy at our home for the next week. Enjoy the video below to see our reactions to the accommodation!
Service
Overall the service at East Winds is the best I have ever experienced. Our luggage was taken to the room for us, and on the way down we were told all about the resort and what was on offer, including the official welcome meeting the following morning. At this meeting we casually expressed our interest in wildlife, and they arranged to have the gardener – An exceptionally clever man who can tell you absolutely anything you need to know about the Flora and Fauna of St Lucia – put up a hummingbird feeder right outside our room for us so that we could get a special close up view of them. Nothing was too much trouble for anybody, and we were made to feel like the most special people in the world for the entire time we were there, from all staff learning our names immediately and greeting us like old friends, to bartenders knowing which cocktails I had tried and liked so she could surprise me with a new concoction she thought I would enjoy.
The best example though of just how attentive the whole staff are though is this. On arrival at approximately 17:00 local time we were asked if either of us had any allergies – I replied in the affirmative that Jason is allergic to prawns. After unpacking and heading to the restaurant for dinner at around 19:00 we were greeted by multiple members of staff who immediately knew who we are, and that Jason was allergic to prawns. They demonstrated this by informing him that dinner meat was cooked on the same grill as prawns tonight and would he be OK or would he like something cooked separately? I genuinely thought some sort of magic was taking place – they had never seen us and we had never seen them – how on earth could they identify Jay as the man that had arrived 2 hours earlier and was highly allergic to prawns?! It was incredible, and after informing them that he would be fine eating from the grill we proceeded to taste the best food I’ve eaten in my life…
Food & Drinks
When this resort claims to be all inclusive it’s not kidding.. Literally everything is included, every cocktail, piece of food and drink you could wish for. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style but not your usual bulk cooked food. Oh no, a large selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, hand made yoghurt, and main dishes are served every day, with some days dedicated to a delicious BBQ or specific cuisine. Every morning begins with either a fresh smoothie or their own refreshing, detoxifying drink (recommended). Some days I had both because I just couldn’t decide… Pancakes and omelettes are cooked fresh with whichever fillings you would like that day, and cooked breakfasts is always available.
Although breakfast and lunch was superb, the evening meal was really something special. Four courses of pure deliciousness, gourmet menu style. No buffet in sight here, choose whatever your taste buds fancy from the evenings menu and pair it with the unlimited wine selection chosen specifically to complement that night’s meal. Not sure which wine to choose? Just ask one of the knowledgeable servers who will serve a taster of their recommendation for you to try. Now I love food as you can tell, but I’ve never been one for small portions of ‘posh’ food. This dining experience has completely changed my mind though. Every single thing I ate was exquisite, and although they seemed like small portions I was often so full by dessert that I struggled to fit it in! The chefs at East Winds clearly enjoy what they do and strive to create excellent, tasty food at all times – an ambition which I feel they clearly achieve.
The bar staff are equally as skilled, and they appeared to love nothing more than the challenge of creating a cocktail just for me based on my previous preferences (which they somehow manage to remember?!). The pool servers come round to the beaches and offer to bring you drinks while you relax, which of course I took advantage of many times. Hey what can I say, I was on my honeymoon!
Activities
At East Winds there are so many activities that are also included. Of course you may just want to lounge on the beach the entire time, but we are definitely not those people! The watersports hut was on the section of beach just in front of our suite where you can book in a catmaran sailing lesson, paddleboarding sessions and grab some snorkelling gear. This last one we did a few times, and snorkelled right off the beach. There were some beautiful fish in those shallow waters, and one person even managed to spot an octopus! It’s worth noting however that there are A LOT of sea urchins around this shore, so caution should be taken to avoid getting stung.
To go further afield, pay a visit to the Good Vibes hut where you can book island tours, boat cruises and trips out. Although some things are timetabled on certain days such as the coastal boat trip to the pitons, if you cannot make this for whatever reason the staff will happily arrange an alternative on a different day for you. We actually missed this boat trip, so they arranged a car driver to take us down to Soufriere instead, showing us all the sights and taking us anywhere we wished to go for a very reasonable price. We managed to squeeze in the lovely Tet Paul nature trail where we could view the Pitons, as well as the volcanic sulphur mud baths, a visit to a proper handmade chocolate factory shop and some tasty lunch with a fabulous view of the mountains – all in one day!
We also booked an adventurous day doing the Ultimate three package in the rainforest – Aerial Tram, Trail hike and ziplining course through Rainforest Adventure. For more details on our out of resort adventures, see my St Lucia post.
My favourite East Winds experience though has to be the sunset cruise! Free for honeymooners due to the romance of it, you are taken out on a beautiful yacht from the nearby harbour. As you travel up and down the coastline watching the sun set over the ocean, you are served drinks of your choice including champagne and the heavily alcoholic ‘Good Vibes Punch’. I admit I may have partaken in a few too many of these delicious drinks and was slightly wobbly afterwards! This trip is definitely on my must do list whilst visiting East Winds, the pictures speak for themselves.
Another thing to book on resort is definitely the garden tour. The head gardener is an extremely knowledgeable man who walks you through the grounds of East Winds, sharing his vast knowledge of the different trees and plants. He talks about what they are, any associations with them, whether they are edible or not, and any medicinal properties they may have. This experience is free of charge and I highly recommend it.
Conclusion
For an all inclusive, adults only experience in St Lucia, you can’t do better than East Winds resort. Although we were fortunate enough to win our holiday, even if we had paid full price I would have been incredibly impressed with the resort itself, the service provided and the food and drink options. I genuinely have nothing bad to say about this place, and I am already planning an anniversary trip back there to celebrate! We loved getting to know the friendly yet professional staff, and we count ourselves as very fortunate that we were able to experience this incredible place.