As always, a professional service with updates along the way as necessary. Always pleased with the service provided by DialAFlight.
It all worked perfectly thanks.
We loved our stay in St Lucia - thanks to Lloyd as always for a good recommendation! That was our first time with all inclusive
DialAFlight were excellent but Spice travel just gave us a letter at the airport and we heard nothing more from them. We had to contact them to find time of transfer back to airport. Hotel would arrange airport transfers so no real need for them. Very happy with DialAFlight though.
Liked the immediate phone pick-up response
Excellent service from Dylan as usual
DialAFlight deliver what they promise. Abbie is always helpful and goes above and beyond to ensure all our travel needs are met.
DialAFlight are the best and Reece you have booked 2 trips for me this year both without any issues so thank you for always providing excellent service.
Thank you team, and massive appreciation for Jessica. Everything went smoothly as usual. Roll on next year
Vincent, the driver that picked me up to and from the airport was very professional and on time.
Callum explained the holiday and hotel accurately to the point it exceeded our expectations. Will definitely use your company again!
Ryan was amazing. Thank you for all your help. Very much appreciated
Ryan who we use regularly is certainly an asset to DialAFlight. I recommended some 20 people and all enjoyed the experience.
The Bodyholiday, organised by Troy was simply superb. Loved the holiday. All went smoothly ….clear instructions, flights on time, private transfers organised via Troy were on time, clean, with AC and such lovely drivers and the room and hotel experience were even better than our previous visit (only place ever revisited ). Also the app on my iPad is great for further info such as links to online entry customs forms to save time and check in.
All very good. Helicopter transfer had to wait for a long time in hot cafe and was not private. Road would have been quicker
Great advice, package put together leaving everything covered. Great communication and follow up prior to trip. Overall excellent service from Jessica. Will definitely use again
Great holiday. Everything went smoothly
Our only disappointment was that the transfer was not a BMW. We were collected and taken back to the airport via a minibus.
Zac provides fantastic service at all times
Excellent value for money package arranged to suit our needs.
Olivia was great, very helpful
The Hotel Rendezvous was excellent in St Lucia. Ross and his colleagues did a great job in finding the hotel, booking the flights and transfers. It was one of the best holidays we have ever had
DialAFlight were helpful during the flight booking process and provided updates by phone and email. Excellent service and we will use DialAFlight for our next trip
Thanks as always to Ralph Summers. I always recommend DialAFlight to family and friends and I will soon be booking a trip to the USA this summer.
Toby was wonderful
As always, many thanks Dylan Harris for all your help and support.
Great help finding our holiday - excellent support to book what we wanted and follow through to ensure we were organised to travel
I loved the personal service and the phone call before my flight to make sure everything was OK. Brilliant
Marshall put together the perfect holiday to St Lucia for us. Will definitely return to DialAFlight
Paul Jones provides an excellent service. I couldn’t ask for more.
On the scenic road that wiggles along St Lucia's mountainous west coast, it looked like just another viewpoint. Sheer cliffs, vistas of sparkling blue ocean, a simple rum bar painted in gaudy colours.
Only one thing was odd - the country music blasting from the bar's mighty speakers: George Strait, proudly singing All My Ex's Live In Texas (sorry about the apostrophe, that's how the title's spelt).
What was going on? Aren't islands like this meant to be all about reggae, soca and steelpan? That's the cliché, but St Lucians clearly didn't get the message.
'We're setting up for a party,' explains the bar's owner, Paula, 'and we'll be playing country all night. Everyone here loves it.'
It's true. Turn on the car radio and there's Alan Jackson singing If Tears Could Talk. Drop into the Massy supermarket and shoppers are picking through the yams to anguished tunes by George Jones, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.
Where did this love for songs about broken hearts and pick-up trucks come from? 'In the early Forties the United States set up two military bases here,' explains Steve Anius, a DJ who hosts a weekly country music show on Radio 100 Helen FM.
'This was the sound they played, which we'd listen to on AM radio.' One base was in Rodney Bay, now the main tourist area, while the other is today's Hewanorra International Airport in the far south.
There was a time when this taste for country went underground because it was considered 'white folks' music'.
'I had a record shop and customers would sneak the albums out under their shirts,' says Steve. But now this passion is out in the open, with all ages attracted. One reason is that country is free from the yelling, swearing and violent lyrics that characterise some other popular music styles.
'People who go to country dances are polite and dress neat,' says Steve, 'and they do a waltz related to kwadril, our traditional folk dance.'
As we drive around listening to such tunes, I'm struck by the vivid beauty of an island with both French and British influences, reflected in place names such as Smuggler's Cove and Vieux Fort.
St Lucia's twin peaks, the Pitons, make it stand out from other Caribbean destinations. Hideaway five-star centres, such as adults-only Jade Mountain and Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, offer terrific views of this World Heritage-listed attraction, inspiring celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Ellie Goulding to visit.
Surrounding us are green and forested hills ideal for growing cacao - Hotel Chocolat sources its beans here on the Rabot Estate. Its panoramic restaurant, Boucan, uses chocolate in innovative ways, such as a marinade for scallops and to make a rich gravy for beef fillet.
Many visitors, especially families, head for the Rodney Bay area in the far north-west - the popular choice if you like to be in the thick of the holiday whirl, with plenty of shops, restaurants, beaches and activities. This is where we track down our first taste of St Lucian country dancing at Twist, a rustic wooden bar in Grande Riviere, just inland from Choc Bay. Here they play traditional country every Sunday.
It's a friendly, open-air affair with a concrete dance floor and bar snacks that include jerk chicken and souse (pig trotters in broth). Johnny Cash booms out and a passing fishmonger summons customers by blowing on a conch shell.
Country is also part of the entertainment offered at major hotels, such as Sandals Grande St Lucian in Gros Islet. Here, super-smooth ex-policeman 'Cowboy' Shervon Sealy often performs in the lobby in Stetson and boots.
Down at Anse Chastanet resort in Soufriere, the L.M. Stone Family Band - dad, three sons and a daughter - plays every week. When we arrive they're belting out Rhinestone Cowboy.
L.M. tells me how he learnt to sing in church, then got into country because his stepfather cut sugar cane in Florida and brought the music home. He's toured Germany and Sweden and won a contest in Nashville.
'Country's as big in St Lucia as reggae is in Jamaica,' says the star, and, as we twirl around the floor to She Took Everything But The Kitchen Sink, I can only agree.
First published in the Daily Mail - March 2020
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