I spent Christmas and New Year at the Bel Jou with a friend. We have a room each in the main building on the second floor. Views great and the birds came onto the balcony if you spread a bit of sugar out. Watch out as the little black ones will come into an open door and pinch the sugar packets out of the tea box.
The food was very good, as with all buffets in hotels abroad a lot is the same thing every day. The soups were fantastic and I recommend them. There were joints of ham, beef or pork cut by the chef not altogether but on different days. There was fresh vegetables and they potatoes were very nice.
You could also have lunch in the Cabana by the pool which was waiter service and made a nice change from the main resaurant, the burgers were delicious. There is a bar by the pool and they made smoothies, really lovely but very high in calories I was told.
The pool is not large but is not deep so I could stand wherever I was in it. Sun beds around but some people did put towels on then disappear for quite well before returning. The brochure tells you there are a lot of steps and there are a lot. No point in going there and complaining about them as it is stated in the brochure. Steps down to main block, more steps down to the gardens and steps up to the restaurant and reception. However, with the single rooms behind the Cabana you could get around without doing steps apart from going down to the gardens. Look out fior humming birds.
On previous Trip Advisor reports I had read about the rep Andy, and I was looking forward to having what sounded like a great rep. Unfortunately he is no longer there and the current rep is a very nice man but we did not find him so helpful. All the questions I asked I never got an answer to. We were unfortunate that we were unable to go to the Orchid factory on the included trip because it was Bank Holiday and we asked the Rep if he could arrange a trip there when it was open. No feedback whatsoever. That was disappointing. The same could not be said about the Manager Patrick and his wife Victoria, they were brilliant they were really helpful to me and Patrick went out of his way to sort something out for me. They put on a brilliant New Years Eve celebration and I thought it was really fantastic that he invited some of his staff to the meal and celebrations. It was great to see them enjoy themselves in that close community. Although I did hear one guest complain about it.
We had a gala dinner on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Neither was attended by the Saga rep, as it was his "day off". It is the first Gala dinner I have been to with Saga where there was no rep to oversee things. There were several off us who were disappointed in this. But certainly the Manager and his wife made up for it new years eve and they worked hard.
The aerial tram was really nice, if you don't mind heights, it was so peaceful. The sunset cruise was a real treat, it was on a pirate ship and I would recommend this. There was a free bus that would take you down to Castries, the local beach, Rodney Bay and Pidgeon Island. At Pidgeon Island you could walk up the cliffs to the fort. If you wanted to do any of the walks in the optional trips you would need walking boots. There was also a zip wire at the aerial tram.
The rooms are a good size and well maintained, I had no problems while I was there, there is an iron, tea making facilites and even a bedside clock provided. No binoculors in rooms now you have to go to reception and ask.
All the staff were friendly and the hotel had good security plus an electric gate. It is recommended that you do no walk down to Castries as the roads are very steep and not always good quality. I would reinforce this, although some people did do it. I wonder how you would stand on insurance if you were involved in an accident as they recommend against it. The road to the hotel is steep and narrow.
My friend and I had booked the helicopter to and from the internation to local airports. That was a fantastic experience and took about ten minutes as opposed to hour and a half.
I took the tip of a previous report and took quite a few one dollar notes with me for tips and I was glad I did.
Don't miss the market in Castries and if you like spices go to that part. There is a duty free shop by the harbour where you can get perfume, cigarettes, watches etc.
We had a fair bit of rain while we where there and it can come down very suddenly, umbrellas were provided but might be advisable to take a waterproof with you. It could be quite heavy at times and then it would just go and the sun would be out again. But be warned the tilles etc will be very slippery when they are wet.
We had planned to do the Grenadines trip but sadly it was cancelled, no explanation so we did miss out on a couple of things.
Reception staff were very helpful, hello to Gilbert. You needed to put your names down for the buses as numbers were limited, the sheets are on the reception desk. Wifi was available.
I would recommend this hotel but only if you are reasonably well mobile as there are no ramps only steps.
Room Tip: No views from single bungalows but easier to get to restaurant and pool
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
