We stayed 4 nights at Villa Beach Cottages. Our primary criteria were that we wanted something close to the water (where we could hear the waves, unlike larger resorts where many of the rooms are further away from the water) and something where we had some degree of privacy. Those requirements, plus the very high marks that VBC got in the TA rankings prompted us to choose VBC for our stay.

VBC met most of the basic requirements of our stay, and some of the unmet needs were more our lack of good planning than VBC’s fault, but we also didn’t feel that the resort measured up to the high marks given by most TA raters.

In particular:
While cleanliness in general was good, the floors were dirty. Walking around barefoot inside led to dirty, black feet almost instantly. They could have done a better job washing the floors.

They say that they have two grills for visitor use, and we bought some fresh tuna one night to grill. One grill wasn’t working. The other was sitting outside someone’s unit, waiting to be used, but not in use. When I inquired of the office about using it, they said it had been reserved, but they would call the person. The response I got back was that the person didn’t know when they were going to be using the grill, but that they would contact the office when they were finished. This was at 6:30pm. I didn’t make a fuss, but I felt that a better response from the office would have been to gently explain to them that since there was only a single working grill, could they be more specific about their use needs, or could we use it for ½ hour then return it to them? In short, I felt like a resort that prides itself on customer service took their eye off the ball on this. In addition, it made my wife and I wonder why, since there’s a maintenance man hanging around all day doing nothing, there was a non-working grill.

The beach itself is relatively unappealing. It’s very narrow. In addition, right next to the VBC property, between VBC and the Sandals/Halcyon a few hundred yards to the south, is a sort of no-trespassing/public-access area that gets used by many locals, a few of whom look, well, questionable. My wife didn’t feel comfortable walking by herself down this stretch of beach.

As others have said, the road outside VBC is VERY busy. It’s not a walking road. As a result, between the beach issue and the road issue, one can tend to feel “trapped” at the resort. This would have probably been less pronounced had we chosen to rent a car rather than rely on taxis; however, since we did the latter, we did often feel a bit trapped here.

I don’t want to leave readers with an idea that our opinion of VBC was entirely negative; it wasn’t. The staff is helpful and friendly. they were quick to coordinate activities, dinner reservations, taxis, etc – they try hard to serve and please.

But the negatives were surprising to us, given the extremely high marks VBC has gotten in the reviews. I’m always a bit uncomfortable writing negative reviews but in this case, I was a bit surprised by some of these negatives, and felt like it would be helpful to future travelers to know about some of them.

Our family (me, husband and 14 & 16 year old girls) just returned from a week in St. Lucia and the Villa Beach Cottages. Neva was incredibly patient and answered all of my e-mail questions. She, along with Nadia and Olivia were wonderfully helpful in the office in setting up our excursions. We met with Colin on our first full morning - and he gave us a wonderful history as well as a verbal tour of the island. We took him up on a number of his suggestions. We stayed in a 2 BR deluxe on the 2nd floor. Both bedrooms were quite large. The only drawback I can think of is that the balcony was only accessible through our master bedroom (although my husband and I didn't consider this a drawback in any way). We did find that the wi-fi in the room was spotty.

If we ever go back to St. Lucia, I would easily consider staying here again -- especially if going as a family. Villa beach Cottages truly made our vacation!

We stayed here for a week in July 2012 and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We also spent 2 nights at their other property, La Dauphine, near the Pitons. As it was the low season, both properties were quiet and we were upgraded at each resort, which was an unexpected surprise. Despite it being the low season, the weather was perfect for most of our stay, only turning rainy on the day we climbed the Gros Piton.

Villa Beach is small but perfectly formed, from the quality of the self catering villas (which have everything you need if you do want to cook your own meals) and their nicely furnished terraces to the little pools, jacuzzi and hammocks, and of course the beautiful beach right on your doorstep!

A Sandals resort is just down the beach. It was quite loud and much busier than our peaceful surroundings, but obviously has all the benefits of a large all-inclusive resort that Villa Beach does not have. We were so glad we chose a small, independent hotel! The owner, Colin, takes an interest in each one of his guests and spends an hour or so talking with them at the beginning of their stay. There probably aren't many resorts with this sort of personal touch.

The staff are friendly and helpful, particularly the drivers. We had the same driver, Claudius, on a number of occasions. He also drove us down to Chateau Laffite, and did a great job as our guide so that we were able to make a fun day of the journey, stopping at the Botanic Gardens, mud baths and several view points on the way down. He also stopped at Ladera so we could have lunch overlooking the Pitons and Jalousie so we could go snorkelling. We had a fantastic day thanks to him.

At La Dauphine, we were upgraded to the Chateau Laffite - the huge colonial house. Antonia has prepared a traditional Caribbean meal for us so we didn't have to worry about cooking or dining out. This old house is very charming and it was a unique experience staying there, if a little scary at night! It needs a bit of TLC, especially the bathroom - the shower was a bit temperamental. The overall experience was a bit like staying at grandparents or elderly relatives (if they lived in a colonial house in the middle of cocoa plantation)! This is not a criticism as we really enjoyed our two nights at La Dauphine. The grounds are amazing and there is a lovely pool. You can also have a guided tour of the working cocoa plantation with the estate manager, Charles - he knows so much!

Our experience of Villa Beach Cottages and La Dauphine is one of peacefulness and relaxation. Don't be put off booking a trip to St Lucia during the low season.

My husband and I got married June 10th, and soon after left for 8 days, 7 nights in St. Lucia.
First the weather was spectacular, the island was amazing, fun activities, great food.

Now, to say the Villa Beach Cottages was great was an understatement. The girls in reception, Neva, Nadia and Olivia set us up with a great taxi driver for most of our stay, and helped us plan the most personal honeymoon experience. We went zip lining, on an ATV tour, helicopter ride, kayaking, snorkeling, and so much more. They also gave us some great restaurants to try. Our favorite: the Coal Pot!
Colin, the manager, sat down with us, helped us plan activities and gave a great history of the Cottages.

Our honeymoon villa was perfect. The cottage feel to the place was perfect, spiral staircase and all. Two decks, kitchen, lovely bedroom.

The cottages have a beautiful beach, right on the water, lovely landscape and pools.
AND being the middle of June, and a slower season, we had the entire resort almost to ourselves.
Down the beach is a Sandals, it was always busy. SO, SO glad we weren't there. The Villa Beach Cottages was small, personal, quiet and romantic. They even set up dinner on our porch, through Coconuts restaurant. What a perfect way to spent our favorite day there: spent the day in Soufrierre, and come back to a sunset dinner on our porch.

The perfect honeymoon!!! Definitely recommend the Villa Beach Cottages. We're thinking for a 5 or 10 year anniversary, heading back again!! :-)