“Good base to do St Lucia on the cheap, but you'll need a taxi to get to the beach”
We stayed at the Downtown Hotel for two weeks, from the end of June 2010 to mid-July. You shouldn't be put off that it's the start of the rainy season... you'll maybe get a short burst of rain once or twice a day, but it doesn't get in the way.
The room was clean and tidy. It had a big room with two big beds, and a good air conditioning system. It also had a small fridge and a microwave with a grilling facility. The bathroom was a bit dark, but did the job. We also had a balcony overlooking the town square. A couple of nights it was quite noisy outside - the first Friday because that's party night, and once for a political rally - but for the most part we weren't disturbed. I would recommend asking for the sea view though.
The service was very good. Charlma was very helpful with arranging trips and a transfer from the airport, and our taxi driver Marcus was very helpful too... whether we wanted to go to the beach, or inland for bird watching, he was very reliable and friendly. One key point though: if you stay at the Downtown Hotel, you'll need to get a taxi most of the times you want to go anywhere. Marcus was great, helpful and reliable. However, if you don't want to get taxis everywhere then think twice about staying here. It wasn't a problem for us.
Soufriere is fine. As the hotel is in the middle of town and it has a fairly high rate of unemployment, we did get hassled sometimes for money outside. We also got hassled a fair bit about taxis, water taxis etc. but a firm "No" was usually fine. It's near a few small supermarkets, and a few nice restaurants too: Archie's is good for a cheap roti and a Piton, but we ate most at the Belle View and The Petit Peak... both by the waterfront. You should also make the trip up the hill to Gee's Bon Manje. We also went to dinner at the Hummingbird once but were disappointed.
The hotel is on top of a shopping centre, which is a bit weird at first, but it does have an internet cafe and a pharmacy if you need. It's also near to the Mystic Man water tours if you want to do whale watching. We did once and didn't see anything, but they gave us a free trip a few days later to make up for it. It did make up for it as we saw dolphins and whales that time.
Also, in Soufriere there isn't a decent beach, which was disappointing. There is one near the Hummingbird but we only went there once because we didn't want to get hassled by the water taxi operators.
The hotel is well positioned to get to the best resorts. Jalousie lets you use the facilities: toilets, restaurant, and some battered old sunloungers at one end of the beach. You can rent one of the expensive sun loungers too, if you want. It has a nice snorkelling area, and if you go around the side - past the buoys - then you should be safe as long as you're sensible and don't go too far.
Anse Chastanet is also close by, and has tasty cocktails and a good restaurant (but no sun loungers). And we went to Anse Cochon a couple of times too, although it is a bit of a trek (and it's up and down lots of mountain roads so take car sickness tablets if you get car sick). It's also near other attractions like the rainforest, birdwatching, the Fond Doux Estate, the Pitons and Diamond Botanical Gardens. Tet Paul has some lovely views if, like us, you couldn't face the idea of getting up early to climb a Piton.
In hindsight, we'd have probably been better staying in Soufriere for 9-10 days and doing the rest of the holiday somewhere else, as by the end we were going back to the same beaches each day. It's not a complaint - with the beaches, snorkelling and scenery there's no reason to complain - but it would have been nice to stay somewhere else for a little bit too.
In general, though, it's a good base if you want to do St Lucia on the cheap - and yet still get to take advantage of the services at some of the bigger resorts - I would recommend the Downtown Hotel.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
