Beautiful spot, patchy service
Dec 15, 2024 Vaughan W
Windjammer is a lovely location, right on the beach, in between Castries and Rodney Bay. We had just booked a guestroom but we were upgraded to a one-bed villa which was very spacious and comfortable, with a jacuzzi on the balcony and overlooking the Hibiscus pool. It had a decently equipped kitchen which proved a significant asset. We enjoyed…
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Windjammer is a lovely location, right on the beach, in between Castries and Rodney Bay. We had just booked a guestroom but we were upgraded to a one-bed villa which was very spacious and comfortable, with a jacuzzi on the balcony and overlooking the Hibiscus pool. It had a decently equipped kitchen which proved a significant asset. We enjoyed our stay enormously - the opportunity to soak up some sun, explore the island a bit and read some books was just what I needed to escape the onset of the British winter. So, why only three stars? Well - Windjammer is somewhat overhyped. On arrival we were greeted warmly and given a welcome drink and a detailed briefing - amongst other things, emphasis was placed on our "personal ambassador" who we were told would contact us that evening to check that everything was OK with the room and would be available to us throughout our stay by dialling zero on the telephone in the villa. We never saw hide nor hair of this individual during our week long stay. On those occasions we did dial zero, we were frustratingly passed from person to person at least three and on one occasion four times with no context or handover, requiring us to start from the beginning (thankfully it was a simple enough question each time, but having to repeat it three or four times is irritating). We were also told with great emphasis that there was an elaborate system for reserving a spot on the beach. Our friends who have been coming to Windjammer for years told us to ignore this and just sit on an unoccupied sun lounge, there are plenty of them and everybody else does, so we did. There were some minor maintenance issues with our villa - missing knobs on the drawers, one of the balcony doors didn't close properly and didn't lock, and there was a Glinda and Elphaba contrast between the two housekeeping ladies (one was very pleasant, attentive and friendly, the other was rude and miserable). The restaurants at Windjammer are all 'of a standard' with perfectly edible food but are ludicrously overpriced - you will find much better value in nearby Rodney Bay with comparable or significantly better food for around half the price (even once you factor in a taxi there and back). There is also a decent supermarket in Rodney Bay, so we paid that a visit and did some of our own cooking. They do offer an all-inclusive option, but at $180 USD per person per day - so over $2500 for the stay - you need to be a big drinker to make it worth considering. The resort does have a gym, which is fairly well equipped by hotel/resort standards though as is unfortunately common is not very well maintained. On departure day we needed to vacate our room by 11am (our query about a late check out, which we'd have been happy to pay for, was dismissed out of hand) - so a bit of a feel of 'thanks for visiting, now bugger off'. There is actually a decently equipped shower in the washroom at reception, but we were left to find that by ourselves (maybe an explanation of that could have replaced the emphasis on the elusive 'personal ambassador' or the complicated system of booking a beach place). A beautiful location on a beautiful island with decent facilities, but let down by patchy service. I still had a good time, and would consider coming back, but did not exactly fall in love with the place - remembering that there are many other resorts on many other islands in the region to try out.
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