I’ll admit it: I’ve always been one of HELLO!’s party girls. I jumped at the opportunity to check out Ibiza’s most famous hotels, and I’ve been to the Caribbean more times than I can count on one hand because rum punch and dancing on the beach is exactly my idea of heaven.
But, after heading to StolenTime in Saint Lucia for a slower paced retreat, I’ve totally broadened my travel horizons…
What's StolenTime resort St Lucia like?
StolenTime by Rendezvous is an all-inclusive wellness resort nestled in Castries in St Lucia. I used to scoff at the term ‘wellness’ in my 20s, but became more curious about the buzzword as I entered my third decade. Whereas I used to lust after the bellinis-for-breakfast and sangria-on-the-sun-loungers kind of all-inclusive, my liver will be delighted to know that activities such as meditation and crafts now jump out at me when scrolling through hotel websites.
StolenTime by Rendezvous includes all sorts of mindful activities, and when I went, artist Venetia Berry was doing a residency, giving relaxed art classes to the visitors.
Our first class felt like I had rewound to the fun primary school arts and crafts, where we cut out shapes Matisse style. I was, understandably, hopeless, but focussing on scissors and bright paper in the St Lucia sun transported me to my fondest memories of making birthday cards for my parents or photo colleges of my friends.
We also painted on fabric, which was easier than expected, and dolloped paint on huge pieces of sketch paper. Surrounded by the beach and Stolentime’s colourful architecture, alongside Venetia’s dynamic teaching, I’ve got to say, my creative juices were flowing as easily as the ocean!
There were two pools: one by the Water Garden near the spa for a bit of tranquillity when you’re sunbathing, and a swim up one by the bar. With the sea as an option as well, you’d better pack plenty of swimwear.
And there are plenty of watersport options to book if, like me, you’re a bit of a water baby and find that the sea will wash away all of your worries.
An underrated part of travelling East to West is the time difference: us Brits can take advantage of jet lag and become ‘early morning’ people without too much effort. I therefore booked a meditation lesson, knowing I wouldn’t be groaning at an early alarm, and my body clock would wake me up bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
Although I have dabbled in the Calm app for breathing exercises and meditation, having the sounds play through headphones to drown out the sirens from my tiny flat in London is nothing compared to focussing on your breaths surrounded by the morning waves.
The beach studio, home to the sunrise meditation session, was simply heavenly; clean, unfussy interiors to really clear the mind. I finished the hour feeling like my brain had been dusted!
What's the food and drink like at StolenTime St Lucia?
All-inclusive menus can sometimes be hit and miss for a lot of people, but personally, I love Caribbean food and am usually thrilled with what’s on offer.
Starting with breakfast, my buffet go-to at Terrace restaurant was salt fish alongside beans I mixed with hot sauce (as you can imagine, Caribbean hot sauce is not one to be missed!). For those with a sweeter tooth in the morning, I adored the raisin cake.
The Terrace also had a super all-day buffet, with a great selection of food - and a brilliant cocktail list alongside three wines to choose from per colour (this is my kinda wellness!). I’m more of a savoury than dessert person but their banana crumble pudding was to die for. Every Tuesday, the restaurant puts on a candlelit dinner on the beach for no extra charge.
Malabar beach club was a bit more casual, where you can opt to dine on the beach with sand in your toes. We enjoyed the catch of the day with some fresh juice and of course, my favourite hot sauce.
For later in the day, I thought the Bubbly Bar was a gorgeous idea; every day, from 7-8pm, they poured generous glasses of any champagne and premium sparkling wine alongside a short seminar to learn about it. The pianist played beautiful music and it was a special place to start the evening before dinner.
What are the rooms like at StolenTime St Lucia?
I stayed in a room with a garden view, which was rather atmospheric during the rainy season when I was visiting. The balcony was totally sheltered so it was still beautiful to sit on, and the sound of the rain was actually as soothing as the sound of the ocean!
The baths were deep for a bit of extra relaxation, and I liked how they had glass bottles with filtered water instead of endless plastic ones in some other hotels.
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Plus, when I was ready to check out (well, not quite ready, I don’t think I would ever be ready to leave Saint Lucia…), StolenTime offered a departure lounge for those with late flights, including a very genius swimwear dryer so you could at least spend your final day in the pool and sea. It made the goodbye slightly easier!
Rooms start from £392 a night, book via TUI, Virgin Holidays or Kuoni.
FYI, our travel journalism is written and edited by our expert writers to inspire readers. Hotel reviews have been independently reviewed by our expert writers who are usually hosted on a complimentary basis, but this never affects our review process.