My wife and I stayed at the East Winds Inn during the second half of April 2008.

We have wanted to visit St Lucia for some time and selected the East Winds after extensive research on line, particularly Trip Advisor. We were very impressed by previous reviews especially the positive comments about the staff and food.
Our expectations were very high and we were expecting to ‘have our socks blown off’. Sadly they were not and we were a little disappointed. After travelling extensively, I always take the view that you make the best of things. I certainly do not mope around complaining to everyone. It was interesting to note however that many of the guests we spoke to shared our views. All had used trip advisor and their expectations were also very high. We were only aware of two other guests who had stayed at the resort previously.
This raises an interesting new phenomena. Exceedingly high expectations due to web review sites such as this one.
Don’t get me wrong. It was not a dreadful holiday. It was just not as good as we had expected.
First of all the positives.
• Very laid back atmosphere.
• Wonderful tropical gardens which are well laid out and maintained.
• Good location, just south of ‘Windjammer Landing’.
• Excellent sun loungers and large parasols.
• Very clean room, grounds and beach
• Nice pool area
• No beach traders
• Evening entertainment very laid back but enjoyable
For information:
• The electrical sockets are 13amp English type
• Hairdryers are provided
• The Dine Around Scheme was no longer available. This enabled guests staying more than 6 nights to eat at an alternative restaurant in the area.


Sadly, we did not find the staff to be as friendly and attentive as previous reviewers. All were polite, including the gardeners. Some were very friendly other less so. One of the head waiters who took our order each evening did not even make eye contact and it wasn’t for want of trying.

I suppose the biggest disappointment was the food. Breakfast was ok with a selection of egg dishes, including freshly made omelettes, bacon, sausage, baked beans, ham, cheese, fruit and cereals. The sort of think you see in any hotel in the world.
Lunch was either a choice of three main dishes from a hot buffet or a barbeque served with salad and/or vegetables.
Dinner was either 4 course table d’hote style or a barbeque. On one evening we were offered stir fried conch creole style, poached stingray in a nutmeg sauce and squid. Not being a fishy person I opted for the vegetarian option which was a stuffed pepper.
This is the full menu offered the night before we left:

Sauted Squid with barley and basil
Or
Pan fried duck foie gras with Marsala wine
Or
Cucumber carpaccio with mint and lime dressing
*******
Yellow split peas soup
Or
Salmon pasta
*******
Stuffed chicken breast with curry sauce
Or
Pan fried salmon with seasoning pepper sauce
Or
Vegetable fajitas
********
Fresh fruit salad
Or
Banana doughnuts with spicy toffee sauce
Or
Chocolate tart
********
I thought it might be useful to reproduce this in full so that readers will know what to expect rather than relying on my subjective views. Some of the dishes were excellent. Others were ‘weird’.

The wines offered at lunch and dinner were very acceptable. There was an impressive range of drinks available from the bar. Cocktails were made with branded spirits as opposed to local and champagne was served every evening.

We stayed in one of the 3 Ocean View rooms. I think we were very lucky staying in room 27 which turned out to be the largest. There was also an Ocean View suite which I understand was also very nice. Rooms 28 and 29 looked very small. Our room was very nice with a seaview, ceiling fan, air conditioning and a fridge on the small balcony stocked with beer, water and soft drinks. There was also a coffee maker. The furniture was showing its age but we were told that it is being gradually replaced. Two new chairs and a table appeared on our balcony whilst we were there.

We slept well but several other guests who were staying in the deluxe rooms further away from the beach were disturbed by barking dogs. On one or two occasions during the day there was also some loud drum ‘n bass music filtering down to the beach from the villas higher up the hillside towards Windjammer Landing. The noise was entirely out of the control of the hotel management and I suspect there is nothing they can do about it. There was some evening entertainment at Windjammer Landing but this was usually over by 10pm.

Whilst we were staying my wife celebrated her birthday so I told our Virgin rep who arranged for someone from reception to call me. They did and said they would provide a cake but that flowers would be at a cost which I agreed. When I went up to reception to collect the flowers they had not been ordered. The cake arrived the night after. Not very impressive.

The staff usually dine in the main and only restaurant at lunchtime. This is not a problem but I have never seen so many back office staff. On one day I counted about 10 suits, male and female. We couldn’t’ work out where they all worked.
Every good hotel I have ever stayed in usually has a high management presence. The manager of a hotel we once stayed at in Barbados used to walk the floor at least three times a day. No matter where you were you would see him. I never saw either the manager or deputy manager walking the floor at East Winds. We met Pearl, the deputy manager at the managers cocktail party (we heard that the manger was back in the UK). She was very personable and greeted us warmly saying we must try and get up to reception to say hello..... If the management were walking the walk and talking the talk they would be coming down and saying hello to the guests not the other way round. I got the impression they managed from their bunker up the hill.

I suspect that previous guests may not share all my opinions. Ce’est la vie. What I will say is that at least 5 other couples, unprompted by me, also said “not as good as they were expecting”.

If you are already booked don’t panic. Just be realistic about your expectations.

Barry and Sarah
Sheffield. UK