Take a mud bath. Go deep sea fishing for blue marlin, yellowfin tuna, and wahoo. Saunter through verdant, volcanic hillsides teeming with banana, pineapple and hibiscus trees. It will then be time for relaxation and renewal, unparalleled views of the Pitons, two mountainous spires jutting out of the Caribbean Sea, and the enchanted feeling that Paradise has been found. At the Ladera Resort on the beatific, sun-kissed West Indies island of Saint Lucia.
An intimate retreat with only 37 tropical wood-designed plunge pools, this discrete, eco-friendly indulgence sits on a volcanic ridgeline 1000 feet above the sea. “There’s beaches, a spa, most suites have balconies, different levels, and all have three walls (to allow for unobstructed, panoramic views),” says General manager Christian Gandara, noting that Ladera is located on a UNESCO World Heritage site. “Here the connection with nature, the sea, is extraordinary.”
Certainly an inviting getaway with its luxuriously-expansive, open-air accommodations and French-Carib cuisine, Ladera (close to the port town of Soufrière) boasts one further enticement. It is surrounded by cocoa trees, and can safely be described as a destination where chocolate, or “Food of the Gods,” is richly celebrated.
Written by Edward Kiersh
