The Cotton Bay Resort provides the best of both worlds – comfortable self-catering accommodation with unobtrusive & attentive service on tap if required. It is a mixed-use resort complex that has both a resort component to it, where individuals can stay in the resort villas, or you can rent from private homeowners. They claim 5-star. An ideal location for young families with the choice of the resort pool or expansive beach - all in the safe enclosure of the resort.
The resort is a high quality, yet a quiet, type of resort. So, if you want to party every night and meet lots of new people, maybe it is not for you. But if you want a peaceful, discreet place to truly recharge, then you’ll love it as much as we did. We love the fact that Cotton Bay was located in a secluded area of the island – it’s the only resort on Plantation Beach – but that it is only a short drive to many nearby destinations. That said, a rental car is highly recommended. You could take taxis back and forth, but with your own wheels it’s much easier to explore the different beaches and sights on the island.
The resort grounds are a beautiful, fully-walled compound. The landscaping and grounds are tended to daily and the flora and fauna around the resort is top notch. It is also reassuring to see the security guards patrolling the property at night since the resort is in a remote area. There is a security guard at the gate to open and close the door for you any time of day or night, which is a nice touch. All tough Cotton Boy is not a hotel, it surprises us finding a kids club and yes, our kids had a lovely time there; there's even a specific room for the little ones.
The huge pool is amazing, with many sunbeds to use while our kids enjoy themselves. And yes, we must admit the cocktails at the end of the afternoon were nice. Plantation Beach / Cas and Bas beach is one of the only Atlantic Ocean-facing beaches in all of St. Lucia, and it is more or less exclusively shared by Cotton Bay Village Resort and the relatively small number of clients who visit Marjorie’s restaurant and the kitesurfing school that runs out of the north end of the beach.
And there's pool time!
The past years there has been on unprecedented amount of seaweed plaguing the beaches on the island, particularly the east coast, and due to the natural shape of Plantation Beach (it being a cove/bay), the seaweed tends to get trapped and wash up on shore. We’ve read the resort staff plow this away with a bulldozer in the morning. It’s a great beach though, popular for kite surfing with a nice wind and horse riding.
We stayed in Villa Valerie, a 2 bedrooms villa. We enjoy staying in privately-owned condos as typically we have found homeowners take pride in appointing their units. Valerie’s condo was a prime example of this – the condo has been renovated and beautifully appointed. The unit has modern furniture, a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops and a giant master suite with a great master bath. Our kids loved the fact that the second bedroom, their bedroom, is nearly as large as the master and just as nice.
The property does not have central air conditioning, however, each of the two bedrooms has the wall-based A/C units that do an excellent job of cooling down the room (just keep the door to the bedroom shut). This was perfect as we enjoy opening the two sets of French doors in the living room during the day and letting the natural, tropical breezes (coupled with a ceiling fan) flow through the kitchen/living area.
We appreciate being able to pick up lunch and breakfast fixings at the Super J grocery store and make lunch to take to the beach with us. You pay for electricity based on how much you use. And Valerie was very helpful to assist us preparing for our stay. It’s also a wonderful thing she asked for feedback after we left, telling us she is in to making her villa perfect.
View of Rodney Bay
The Villas at Cotton Bay are on the east coast of the northern end of the island. We rented a small car and found that this was an excellent decision since it’s about a 5-10-minute drive to the “downtown” Rodney Bay, the most important touristic place of St. Lucia and a lively social hub. It homes a fantastic range of seagoing yachts and super yachts. The marina is a nice meeting place with a selection of cafés and restaurants. Boat trips, diving and fishing can be organized by the marina. Excursions are also smoothly facilitated by resort staff or independent trips easy to arrange to sight see the beautiful island of St Lucia. The resort is also very close to the St. Lucia Golf & Country Club, if golf is something that interests you.
You could spend time at Reduit Beach on Rodney Bay beach (very calm water), Pigeon Island beach (a small isolated beach for park patrons – chairs for rent), and Smuggler’s Cove beach (this is primarily used by Cap Maison resort patrons but is open to the public). If you feel for it, take a horseback tour around Cas en Bas. Or go sightseeing the old fort at Pigeon Island, take a day-trip boat tour down the west coast of the island and stop at the Pitons to take a tour to the natural sulfur hot baths, and cold fresh water springs, as well as a quick drive by Marigot Beach.
There are different dining arrangements every day from self-catering to resort restaurants/private chef, the nearby Rodney Bay/Castries restaurants or Castries, the capital. There is also the Beach Restaurant, and as we’ve heard a new fine dining restaurant.
Reviews of Cotton Bay differ in the past. It seems like new management has taken over and several improvements were made. Hopefully your stay will be just as great as ours.
WOW:
# We really enjoy our stay at Valerie’s condo at Cotton Bay and feel that for the price this is a good deal (particularly compared to the cost of staying at a resort on the island). An excellent opportunity to relax and enjoy life in your own pace.
# We spend hours at the beach, enjoying the views and playing in the water. But you would be remiss if you spent all your time at the resort without visiting the other beaches on the island.
# Also, the pool is excellent for little kids with a perfect kid’s pool and big tent to avoid them burning in the nice and shining sun.
