Jade mountain is simply divine, it felt like being transported onto a James Bond movie set (think 80's style Roger Moore). We stayed in JB6 which was a corner end room. Each morning we would wake up as it started to get light taking in the view of the Pitons. Wth the open wall, it felt like going on a very posh camping holiday. The birds do fly in. This didn't bother us however would recommend putting your toiletries away incase they get pooped on!

The breakfast was very good. The only qualm I have is we would of preferred a more casual style breakfast instead of choosing dishes off the menu. Also, we went for half board however room service was excluded from halfboard (usually hotels charge a supplement only for breakfast in bed). It also would of been nice to have an ipod docker. The evening cocktail party at the main bar on the beach was fun. We met lots of colourful Americans. The only suggestion I would make is making the toilet a little more private, and reducing the flow through the early hours of the morning between the pools. We did have a few dips in the pool however we preferred using the facilities down on the beach. A memorable time.

Having looked on TA a fair bit before coming to St. Lucia, we'd obviously heard a fair amount about Jade Mountain, so we thought it would be good to try and experience it. From the outset things were tricky as we were led to believe the restaurant was fully booked and that we could only be "squeezed in at 6:30". This subsequently proved to be untrue, as we stayed until 9:30 and all the way through there were a minimum of 4 empty tables. Anyway, we arrived at the hotel, having gone down a hugely bumpy road (apparently kept that way to keep things seeming "natural") and then had to sign in at security before leaving our taxi to be shuttled up to the hotel. All of which seemed a little OTT to us, but it was ok. We were guided to the restaurant, which indeed has a superb view of the iconic Pitons, and were greeted very pleasantly by one of the waiters. The decor was to our minds a little dated and a lot of the fixtures and fittings seemed a bit 70's, with the most noticeable thing being the large amount of concrete, which seems far from natural. There was a bread trolly which provided some amusement to us as it looked as if it should have been from a Victorian estate house not a cutting edge hotel. The menu/wine list/cocktail list all looked cheaply made and again not in keeping with the level of hotel. The menu was well put together and the wine list, although potentially a little inflated in price, had something for all. The food arrived and was well presented (we had 3 courses) but we felt having finished that if we were honest, it was simply wasn't of the same quality as other restaurants on the island and certainly not for a hotel that charges $1000/night. I have no doubt the rooms are lovely and make the price seem more reasonable, but I'm afraid for us, it looked like an NCP car park (to quote Prince Charles) and the food wasn't of the quality it should have been. If you want top quality food, in our opinion, try Cap Masion or Boucan

Having benefited from the reviews here in planning our trip, some thoughts and observations that may be useful. My wife and I are fairly fit late 40s, have lived low and high over the years so are objective, and expect value for the money in a high end resort. We spent a week at Jade in a Sun room (JD4), and simply loved every moment. Here are some topics that seem to come up often in JM reviews, in no particular order.

The people: the Saint Lucians are what make this place so special. Gracious, handsome, quick to laugh and proud of their country, both the staff and the locals around Soufriere left us with many good vibes. While your business is appreciated in town, and a tip here and there goes a long way on the resort, I almost never felt as if it was expected. I heard someone joke that "even the beggars in town are polite", not to say that begging/panhandling is common.

Tips: a rule of thumb is to reward in proportion to the extra effort, with awareness of the exchange rate. I kept small bills (USD 5, 10, 20) on me, and felt a great dinner, tour, sailing excursion, or guided dive was worth every bit of $10-$20 on top of the service charge. It goes a long way in a 2.7:1 exchange ratio. For the butlers, as we had three rotating and they obviously had a portion of the over US$2000 in room service charge, we left them each a nice crisp US$100 bill. Many reviewers seem to shy away from the specifics of this topic, and I am perhaps vulgar for laying it out like this, but there it is. Do what you will, your mileage may vary.

Dress code: nothing fancy other than be clothed around the resort during the day, and wear a t-shirt or coverup when off the sand and in any resort common area. In the evening, however, men should have a collared shirt, nice shorts or trousers and closed toe sandals or loafers. Think comfortable but neat, Tommy Bahama-type, though nice golf type shirts are fine as well. Ladies ran the gamut from sun dresses and flats to rather elaborate outfits with heels. The occasional dinner slob in t-shirt and beach sandals stood out like a sore thumb and detracted from the great ambiance at the JM Club.

Food: we were fortunate enough to have a private dinner on Anse Mamin beach for which both Jonathan and Frankie, one of the great local chefs he has trained, cooked us a five course meal with everything from BBQ fois gras to fresh marlin sashimi to an epic filet//spiny lobster tail surf and turf. Jonathan is all of 26 or 27, but cooks well beyond his years. I'd recommend this to foodie visitors, believe they call it the Castaway dinner. Beyond this, the food is consistently excellent and can best be described as simple and fresh ingredients prepared exceedingly well and allowed to stand on their own. Things as mundane as oatmeal turned out to be the best I'd ever had. The fish, beef, lamb and vegetarian entrees were uniformly wonderful, and it was nice to see the care put into the vegetarian options (pasta primavera was superb). If you don't see what you want, ask.

Rooms: loved JD4, huge pool, great sun and on the quieter, east end of the building. Looked at the Galaxy room on the west end, JE1 I believe, very nice but not sure I'd take it over where we were. Layout was a little busy with furniture and the pool was certainly less private. Don't get overly obsessed over your room assignment, we saw several, they are all unique, and all awesome. Be aware that they are exposed to the elements, so not only will the wood have some weathering/scratches but there will be leaves, petals, etc. on your floor at all times. Also, stairs and hills are a big part of the resort, so be in decent enough condition to do several flights of stairs without collapsing..

Staff: for butlers, had a mix of Teclus, Mervin and Al. All great, responsive without being intrusive. They are waiting on the other end of the provided Firefly mobile to address anything you may need. Room service was a bit spotty, missed two drink requests as well a refilling the ice bucket, and the daily bento box was lost for two days, but the butlers quickly sorted it out when called. The guest services staff in reception were very helpful in planning on and off resort activities, Gifter and Shanta were particularly helpful. I had a noisy ceiling fan, informed Al and it was fixed within the hour.

Birds/Bugs: I assume that being this far out of rainy season was the reason insects were not a factor. I was shocked by how few flying insects there were both on and off the resort. We didn't apply repellant once. The tiny sugar ants will appear if you spill something sweet, but that was the worst we experienced and it was nothing. The birds are ever present, often drink and bathe in your pool, will assault any exposed food in seconds, and provide early morning wake ups free of charge. We really didn't mind, as the loudest whistles and chirping didn't last long, but bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper. Heard occasional tree frogs, but not even remotely close to the level others have mentioned. Perhaps another benefit of a dry season visit. Short of it is that if you want an antiseptic environment, clear of any contact with nature big or small, JM is not the place for you.

Activities: mountain biking was fun, starts with a tour then they let you run the trails on your own for an hour. The half day sailing was a blast, as was the volcano tour/botanical garden tour. This one usually also tours the resort's Emerald Farm organic farm. The dive center is a solid outfit with good guides and well maintained equipment and boats. Don't forget to schedule a lot of time to do nothing.

Travel: highly recommend the helicopter transfer. The last approx. two miles of road leading to the resort are truly kidney shaking.

Grab a cold Piton lager, get on "island time", and enjoy this special place.

Our experience at hotel was just wonderful........lit is heaven on earth! Our butler Vito was just superb........will be going back....jade club food was just awesome......beach is ver nice.......and a nice walk down.......the architecture of this place is like no other place in the world......lit may be one of the most romantic places in the world....very very private