Let me start this review by saying (and I will later elobarate) how very nice and how very well run this hotel is. I absolutely recommend it if you are going to St Lucia for a short stop or on business - without doubt.

The reason for my title lies mainly in the following. I have been to (or should I say via) St Lucia several times on sailing trips. It's a beautiful island with lovely little coves to moor up in, take a swim and look at the incredible views that you get there. But this is not a place to go if you are looking for wide, white sandy beaches with swaying palm trees. They just don't exist in the same manner as say the West Coast of Barbados - or if you go to the Jalousie plantation south of Soufriere (currently being revamped as a Viceroy hotel) and use their imported white sand beach. Which is why I say this is the perfect place to stay if you are on business on the island. I would be very happy to stay here in between meetings. It has all you need for that or for a long weekend stop. It's not a long holiday kind of place. You would get bored.

For one thing it's not all-inclusive - hurrah! - this means that you get a chance to sample the delicious food they have in their Cliff restaurant (the head chef Tricky is ingenious) and his service staff delightful but it also gives you a chance to try out some of the other local restaurants, which personally I believe is a must if you want to really enjoy a place - and they have a number of really rather decent ones. I'm not personally a fan of all-inclusive but I can fully understand the 'ease' of them - merely that you get stuck in a little bubble - good or bad hotel dependent.

Cap Maison is a spanish style set of buildings with tasteful and simple (although very bland) interior decoration that lie in a perfect cliff top setting looking toward Martinique. A great view, if this is what you are looking for. The rooms are well-looked after (mostly) and comfortable in themselves. Each has a balcony of some sort and some (garden and rooftop) have their own pools.

The 'shared' pools are very small indeed - pretty- but not for you, if you like to have a work-out swim (unless you like swimming in tiny circles). The pretty little cove beach with beach bar is accessed by quite a few steps, so not great if you have problems walking or generally unfit - not a concern for me but worth noting. Also, the beach is only really in the sun in the afternoon - and you may find you need to keep moving your sunlounger to keep it that way. The water is very clear here.....more so than at other beaches we went to (probably due to the wind at the time of year) but definitely clearer. They have a few non-motorised water sports available - a hobie, some canoes but that's about it The snorkelling is also OK and if you are lucky you may see a turtle or two.....although I, personlly, didn't.

There were a couple of little points I'd like to make about the hotel (more as pointers than irritations). The shower room we had was small. In itself not a problem but what we found was that the tiling had been laid slightly wrongly, so the water would accumulate away from the plug and lie there till housekeeping came the next day. Not particularly pleasant but the mosquitoes loved it!
Also, I know they spray the resort for mosquitoes regularly but having a room spray or some coils there as standard would be good......we got bitten a lot.
Housekeeping were very diligent in their cleaning but often forgot to replace towels or bathroom sundries, so I did regularly have to ask for this to be brought up to the room.....a little annoying when you're butt naked and ready to shower.
Also, the pool loungers......beautifully designed dark (wrought iron?) metal based very comfy loungers. Only problem is that it's hot in St Lucia. So unless you remembered to cover the arms of said pretty loungers, you would get burnt - nothing major but a bore all the same. Maybe, when they buy new ones they can give this some thought.

A great little hotel. The staff were very helpful and very friendly. The room was nice with it's little sitting room addition. The view is lovely and the restaurant well worth a visit.

All in all a nice stay - would I go back. Certainly, if I was on business or needed a night or two in a bed off a boat. On a longer holiday......probably not.

Final tip......rent a car. It means it's alot easier to get around and you don't have to rely on taxis, which can add up.

Located at the north end of the island, just past the town of Castries, the location is excellent, with great views from some of the rooms and a small, very comfortable beach. My wife and I have been on most of the islands in the Caribbean and have stayed at many five star hotels and resorts we rank this one about the middle – excellent location and property but the dinner meals were skimpy and over-the-top expensive. Regarding rooms, it seems that you need to be very exact when booking a room so that you know what to expect when you get there and are not disappointed. We booked one of the more expensive rooms, described as a room with a private pool and an “ocean view”. To be able to see the ocean you had to go to the pool that was on the roof of our unit. Our balcony faced other units between the ocean and us. When we asked about rooms with an “ocean view” we were told that some rooms have views from the balcony and roof tops while others have ocean views from the roof top only. The resort was full and they would not be able to relocate us. Breakfast was included with our room. You could order from the menu or select from a typical European style breakfast that includes several cheeses, slices of ham, salami and other assorted cold cuts, breads, yogurts, fruit and assorted pastries. There is a small beach at the north most end of the property where drinks and snacks (potato chips and candy) are available. They also have a small grill there and offer lunch. While we were there they had shrimp and chicken on the menu, which seemed to be what they offered most of the time. I would not describe it as lunch though; it was at best a snack. We are not into big meals, but when my wife ordered grilled shrimp, she was served three very small shrimp and a few cucumber slices. I had ordered grilled chicken as was served three slivers of grilled chicken, each about the size of a little finger also with several cucumber slices. Each meal was about $22.00. Dinner was also very expensive and the servings were very small, about half the size of a typical small plate serving. We ate there three times and dinner meals for two ranged in price from $400 to $500 per meal, which did not include the cost of wine or cocktails. A small group plays as well during dinnertime. There is a spa on premise and I had a very nice massage at a reasonable price. Throughout our stay, the staff was very friendly and accommodating. Taxi service is available to get you to Castries or a small shopping center just south of the resort. The ride to the shopping center is about 15 minutes and there are several restaurants there serving seafood and a steakhouse. The three that we ate at were all good and much less expensive than the resort. Castries is further south and about twice as long and not worth the additional time or effort to get there. Bottom line is that the resort is located on a great stretch of beach and is very relaxing, with a friendly staff, but the meals were small, very small, and unreasonable priced. While a nice resort with good food and friendly service, we think there are better values elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Did the Peak to Beach deal as we met friends at Ladera prior to Cap Maison. Honestly, did very little research and just added it to the trip as the deal was so good. Boy were we impressed! Gorgeous ocean front villa with roof top lounge, wet bar and pool. The property was stunning as was the service. We hardly wanted to leave the villa! When we did, we were treated to the wonderful Cliff restaurant and the fun and beautiful Smuggler's beach. Yes it is 90 steps down, but it is so worth it. We were surprised with grilled lobster on the beach one day -- incredible!! Cannot recommend this resort highly enough!

My husband and I spent the 1st week of our two week honeymoon at the Cap Maison in one of their Ocean view Villa Suites with a jacuzzi. The suite is to die for! Even though I had seen pictures online; I couldn't believe how big it was and that we had not one but two private balconies and a private rooftop terrace. Our ocean view was spectacular, especially from the rooftop and we both loved falling asleep to the sounds of waves crashing every night. The staff was very friendly and accommodating at all times. We had such a great experience and our stay there was relaxing and beautiful. I would absolutely recommend this resort to anyone looking for a top notch vacation or honeymoon and hope one day to go back!