Heavenly Hideaways

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Ladera
St. Lucia

It’s far from the most romantic thought, but . . . we wonder what Sigmund Freud would have made of Ladera. Sitting astride a rainforested ridge at 1,100 feet above the Caribbean, right smack between the famed twin volcanic (and at 3,000 feet, decidedly phallic) Piton Mountains—and overlooking St. Lucia’s southern port town of Soufrière—what makes the resort unique is its “luxury tree house” design. Each guest accommodation was built without a fourth wall, and yet set so cleverly within the natural landscape that one still feels sheltered and safe. It’s the perfect place to let your feet (and other parts) go bare—though Freud would probably conclude that most Americans are too repressed to stay here.

Not we Americans, baby. Ensconced in the three-story, two-bedroom Villa “C,” we felt just like Tarzan and Jane without the swinging vines—although one of our living room chairs, the one overlooking our private, heated outdoor plunge pool and waterfall, was actually a rope swing. A quick word, before we forget, about the patio alongside that plunge pool: We fell in love (and we mean our hearts grew three sizes, reformed Grinch-style) with the hummingbirds that obsessively partook of the nectar feeders planted there.

If only all people in love placed as much care in the details as Ladera. Opened in 1992 (it was once part of Rabot Estate, one of Soufrière’s oldest plantations), its goal was to be thoroughly “St. Lucian,” offering guest lodgings that set a new bar for “ecocompatibility” and affording spectacular views—in our case, of Anse Piton Bay. Our villa was an architectural art gallery of carved Caribbean timbers, mosaic tile murals (a rendering of the Pitons lined the shower wall of one of our bathrooms) and crafty stonework by local artisans, design motifs that also dominate the public areas of the resort.

Technophiles have come to the right place for attitude adjustment: There are no phones, air conditioners or TVs to be found among the 23 suites and nine villas (though all rooms are WiFi compatible and portable DVD players are available), and while there are lights for almost every nook and cranny, nothing’s much brighter than what filters in during the day. Here, the classic comforts are roomy king- and queen-size four poster beds—carefully screened in to keep out bugs and other small woodland critters—rainfall showers and, yes, a minifridge with complimentary sodas and water.

Outside our door, however, we found a whole world of indulgence, starting with the gemlike Ti Kai Posé Spa, which offers a Romantic Bliss outdoors couples massage, the Flamingo Body Scrub (rich in vitamins A, C and E) and a mud-wrap excursion to Sulphur Springs, the world’s only “drive-in” volcano (it’s dormant). All guests are welcome to avail themselves of the spa’s mineral pools free-of-charge. They’re drawn from Soufrière’s Diamond Mineral Baths, which were built in 1785 with funds from King Louis XVI of France (it’s said that Napoleon’s Josephine bathed there). Ladera also provides complimentary guest transportation to local beaches—Anse Chastenet and Jalousie—and arranges excursions for bird watching, island tours and day trips to the northern capital city of Castries.

Then there’s the ever-elegant Dasheene restaurant, presided over by executive chef Orlando Satchell, serving innovative farm-to-table Caribbean dishes bearing names that befit the touch of poetry in them: Seventh Heaven Carrot Soup, Rhythm of Rasta Pasta (with jerk chicken, seafood or vegetables), St. Lucia Mojo Steak. We started our dinners with a drink or two at the T’cholit Bar—which rocked with live reggae, steel band music and even a fire-eating demonstration—and capped things off with Chef Satchell’s Ladera Chocolate Mousse. It’s what Freud would call the pleasure principle.

For more information, call (866) 290-0978 or visit ladera.com.

—Patricia Grandjean