After trawling through Tripadvisor for hours we chose to spend our two weeks at the Coco Palm in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. From the reviews on tripadvisor we decided it sounded like the place for us.
We spent two weeks there in March, we booked through Virgin Holidays. We had no problem with our booking and were very impressed with the Virgin Atlantic flight and the rest of the package.
The transfer from the airport was in a small minibus, the only passengers were going to the Coco Palm and it’s sister hotel Coco Creole, even so with the condition of some of the roads it took quite a long time, though a private transfer wouldn’t have saved much, if any time so I personally wouldn’t bother with one of those.
Once at the hotel, check in was smooth and easy, all the staff were helpful and able to answer any questions we had.
We booked a pool view room. It was large with two double (maybe bigger?) beds, excellent shower and views of the pool. It had patio doors so you could access the pool and bar from there which proved really handy when you’re sat around the pool. The only downside I can think of with the room is that when there was entertainment on in the evening you couldn’t get away from it as you could here it very loudly! The room was very clean and well kept, the Air conditioning worked well also.
The hotel itself was clean and tidy. All the staff were friendly and helpful. The free internet access was good for keeping in touch with family at home, though it could get busy!
The bar had a good choice of drinks, we tried our best to get through the cocktail menu but failed by missed a couple of them out! All the staff on there were great. The food in the restaurant was good, but there are lots of restaurants nearby. Our favourite was The Edge, a little expensive but definitely worth a visit!! The Thai restaurant next to Coco Creole was also very good, although the service there was a little slow, but the food was excellent. The local beer, Piton is nice and very drinkable! Restaurant prices varied upon where you dined and what you have to eat, The Edge was the most expensive (but worth it) but we thought they were not expensive, certainly not as much as we were expecting, so we had extra money for more trips. With all the local places to eat, it’s not really worth going All inclusive anywhere.
The beach is close by, the walk down the lane is fine if you ask me. That brings you out at one end, so you can walk down towards Spinakers, the beach bar. This has some good offers on drinks at happy hour and nice to watch the sun go down on an evening.
While we were there we went to Pigeon Island (free tour with Virgin holidays) that was worth the visit, if you get to the top it’s an excellent view. I’d really recommend the helicopter tour, that was well worth the money, you get to see all the island from a unique viewpoint! We decided to treat ourselves to the trip to the Grenadines. We really enjoyed the trip, though although they weren’t as desserted as they were made out to be, one was basically full of people trying to sell you things! That said it was a really great trip, the Grenadines are really beautiful. We also went to the volcano, mineral baths, the Pitons etc another good trip, you had the choice of half catamaran half bus tour or all catamaran or all catamaran, we did it all by catamaran and loved it! It was another good way to see all the sights and culture the island has to offer.
I would definitely recommend the Coco Palm to anyone wanting to stop in Rodney Bay.