St Lucia

• Nelson got it wrong, Antigua is fab! - Antigua
• I don’t like Antigua. I love it! and so will you! - Antigua
• My Millionaire Week - Bahamas
• The Bond hotel to die for - Bahamas
• Join the stars in the sun - Barbados
• Short Cut to Paradise - Barbados
• My Adventure on the wild side - Barbados
• How to find the bed of your dreams - Barbados
• My Barbados Love Affair - Barbados
• The Urban Spice Man - Grenada
• The island that time forgot - Nevis
• Heaven, no news for a week - St Lucia
• The Spice Island girl - Grenada
• Slow Time! - Grenada
• Star Grazing - Necker Island, Antigua
• Where Nelson won his spurs - Nevis
• Chill Out Caribbean - Spas
• Chicville-sur-mer - St Barts
• The Most Exclusive Island of All? - St Barts
• Spring into the Caribbean - St Barts
• Frightfully Fabulous - St Kitts
• I Love Lucia! - St Lucia
• So you want to live like a millionaire? - St Vincent & the Grenadines
• My perfect Martini - Turks and Caicos
• The plot thickens in Antigua - Antigua
• Sun, rum and my Mum - Caribbean
• Call me Anneka Spice - Grenada
• My Caribbean dreamland - St Lucia
• A right royal getaway - Antigua
• Babymoon in Barbados - Barbados
• Treasure Island - Barbados
• Every whim included - St Lucia

MY PERSONAL BUTLER, Roger, showed me round my two-storey villa with its own sitting room, plunge pool and sunbathing deck and offered to mix me a cocktail. Unhesitatingly, I renounced my vow of making my week in St Lucia a rare detox opportunity, and specified a rum and coke.

Then I asked him to run me a scented bubble bath. Such is the heady intoxication of having one’s own butler. I am in St Lucia at one of the three Sandals resorts on the island, the Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa.

Personalised service is the key here – and at the 21 other Caribbean resorts owned by Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, owner and chairman of Sandals Resorts International who, in the past 30 years, has revolutionised the hotel business in this part of the world.

Give the guest more than they expect

Butch, a white Jamaican and former air-conditioning salesman, is king of the all-inclusive resorts, a concept that he has elevated from the basic and much derided ‘all-you-can-eat’ idea to the heights of dizzying luxury.

With a collection of lavish suites in Jamaica, Antigua, St Lucia and the Bahamas, the experience features everything from private plunge pools and exclusive dining options to having your own butler (trained by the Guild of Professional English Butlers) who is there to cater for every whim.

All-inclusive holidays are gaining in popularity and Sandals has perfected this kind of holiday. Not only are all the usual things included in the price you pay – rooms, dining in any of the many speciality restaurants, all drinks, state-of the- art fitness centres – but also a fabulous array of watersports including scuba diving, water-skiing and snorkelling trips.

My suite directly overlooks the sea and the first thing I do, drink in hand, is to go on to my private terrace, dip a toe in the plunge pool and settle down on a lounger to watch a spectacular sunset in the heat of the evening.

It’s everybody’s dream, right? And this is what Butch has so successfully provided – aspirational holidays where people can experience amenities, service and an aesthetic which exceeds that which they enjoy in their everyday lives.

‘Give the guest more than he or she expects,’ is the motto. In the morning, I wander round the 210 acre site of lush foliage, wondering why almost everyone seems to be holding hands.

Then I stumble across a couple in a gazebo exchanging wedding vows and then another, dressed in bridal clothes, running along the beach. So this is why one of the Sandals slogans is: ‘Love is all you need; everything else is included.’

I learn that the Sandals brand is associated with couples and romance. Four or five couples choose to get married here daily, attracted by the sensational views and the wedding packages. At first I think, how corny.

But I come to appreciate that this is the perfect environment for romance. Sandals has created another allinclusive brand for families called Beaches, and, being the curmudgeonly type whose children have now grown up, I offer up a little prayer of thanks that they are not here disturbing the blessed peace.

Luckily for me, Butch happens to be in this resort while I am here. A larger-than-life character whose passion for making people’s holiday dreams come true is clearly genuine – never mind the fact that he has built up a billion dollar, privately-owned empire on the back of it.

Everyone is so friendly and welcoming

He laughs appreciatively when I ask him about the four new opulent 800sq ft ‘millionaire’ suites he has built, perched on the resort’s highest point, which are often booked by honeymooners who enjoy the privacy as well as the total indulgence.

‘My daughter was recently married,’ he says, ‘and these suites are for all those daughters whose fathers, like me, can’t say no to them.’

He adds they are also ‘for those husbands who may have been naughty and want to make it up to their wives.’ Butch is a hands-on chairman, always roaming around his resorts, humming with new ideas.

His mobile phone is constantly clamped to his ear, even when he’s on his exercise bike or paddling in the surf. Later I bump into a couple on their eighth trip to this resort.

There is a huge percentage of ‘returnees’ who appreciate the service and like to know what they can expect when they get here. ‘We love the fact that everyone is so friendly and welcoming and that the only decisions we have to make are whether to bathe in one of the four pools or the sea, and which of the restaurants here to book for dinner.’

Everything else is included

I thought they were unusual until I read in the resort literature about a Delaware couple, who have visited Sandals 70 times, trying all of the 12 locations. The returnees are cherished and have their own magazine and rewards system club.

Having had a boat trip to view the magnificent twin Pitons, St Lucia’s spectacular mountains, and visited the ‘drive-in volcano’ which is still smoking and foul-smelling, our group decided to stay on site the following day.

True to gender, the men bounded down to the scenic ninehole golf course – green fees included – while the girls opted for the Red Lane Spa. Sandals resorts are ‘Luxury Included’, providing guests with a choice of à la carte restaurants, premium-brand wines and spirits.

The water sports programme on offer, again all complimentary, includes the Caribbean’s largest PADI certification programme. And at an extra charge, many guests choose to take a one-day cruise down the west coast to Soufriere, where attractions include the sulphur springs and a visit to the Diamond Waterfall after a walk through the fragrant tropical Botanical Gardens.

After lunch, you return to the catamaran and cruise down to Anse Cochon beach where you can swim or snorkel. A cruise through the picturesque Marigot Bay comes before the catamaran heads for home. You’ll run out of time here before you run out of fun.