Reviews of Almond Smugglers Cove Resort, Castries

First the good part. We went to attend a family wedding and the day was superb. Lorna does a great job as event co-ordinator, everything was very well organised throughout the day. The only down side was the lack of shelter from the sun during the ceremony. As for the rest where do I start?

All inclusive it is not - it is more like full board with the drinks thrown in. You have to book into one of the four restaurants (ie if they are all open-we found that on most nights only two were open).

In this day of skin cancer etc we found a serious shortage of sun brollies. There are none at all around the tables only between the sun beds, so if you want to sit and have a drink you either go inside or sit in the sun with no protection.

No amount of insect repellent will protect you from bites. I never get bitten when in Europe but was covered from head to foot on this holiday.

The number of thefts which occured was very worrying, especially as some were actually from the safes installed in the rooms. We also heard from families who were having nappies and knickers stolen from their rooms. There is no security guards visible in the grounds, and we saw a number of cleaning staff carrying shopping bags. Having said that the staff as a whole are extremely friendly and helpful and helped to make our holiday easier to bear. The lighting at night time leaves a lot to be desired, the paths are poorly lit and I'm surprised there were no serious accidents.

The island of St. Lucia is beautiful and I would consider returning for another visit, but certainly not to Almond Smugglers Cove.

im 17 years old and ive been to the same hotel 6 times already.... i have seen the hotel change it's name, staff and surroundings 3 times. but through it's changes it hasn't change the amazing feeling when im there. i would absolutely recomend this hotel and country to visit, im also going this year in october for 2 weeks. which will make it my 7th time.....according to the tv program ''carribean cops'' i am a st lucia vetran. :)

ive done things there that i wouldnt imaging could happen.. such as walking in a volcano. simply fantastic Goooo there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Booked to stay 15 days ended up staying 5.So many people having their safes robbed resort not safe.Such a pity as it is lovely.Would not recommend it to anyone.Think Virgin should pull out as a tour operator.

What a lovely time we have had!! A brilliant place for families. We have three young children, ages 6 to 2 and all three were kept occupied and happy! Food fantastic, choice of restaurants to suit all are perfect.

Go on Cpt Edmund Boat trip - exceptional value for money, especially if a group of you.

Only thing is the Garden View room abit cramped if five of you, altho our friends with four found it perfect.



Would definately book it again!

Short and sweet (in this case sour), a total rip-off! DO NOT GO TO THIS HOTEL!!!!!!

We were outraged when we arrived when i asked for a game of ping pong in order of getting a bat and ball. When i finally got the staffs attention she replied, "only if you can find a ball".

4 STAR SERVICE!!!! I think not. There were many dangerous hazards around the place with loose tiles and paint as obstacles. Also the staff had very moody attitude and my Mum's dress got ruined because a waitress spilt drinks down her dress. Ther was supposed to be a slide, i was really looking forward to it, but no. The slide had been taken out. The building work was loud. The quality of the rooms were very poor and we had to move 3 times!! The beach was pathetic with pebbles and stones disguised ready to cut your foot along with plenty of urchins. Luckily, my family found a beautiful beach around the corner from the resort which had massive waves and was extremely quiet. Overall, a resort that needs either to be sorted out or demolished. ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!!!!

I went to club St Lucia to get married on site and on arrival my husband and I had our room upgraded. Our apartment was cleaned every day; there was different themed meals every day, drinks and snacks in between meals all fresh.



The facilities were fab three pools, 1 for adults and for all and also a water slide. You had your own beach which all non motor sports were free and the fish are brill. We did a boat trip going to the volcano, a water fall, and then snorkelling.



But best of all was the wedding day staff cannot do enough to help you, the service food, drink was all brilliant, and we also had the steel band and horse drawn carriage. Everybody is child friendly good place for kids I had a 9month old and he loved it.

We arrived at Almond Smugglers on 27/12/07 and promptly departed 3 days later. The list of disappointments was endless. The resort was overcrowded; we had been sold "deluxe" beachfront rooms which, though built, were not completed. The hotel thought it reasonable to stick all 8 of our party in shoddy outbuildings scattered throughout the resort, more akin to a rabbit warren than a relaxing hotel. The rooms were basic at best and placed very far back from the beach.



Food was sub standard and queuing was unavoidable. The dining set up here is more akin to Butlins than a 4* resort.



Management seemed at first unwilling to accept our concerns about the appalling state of the hotel. Finally, after several days of gruelling negotiations we were moved to the nearby Almond Morgan Bay. Morgan Bay is much more like the standard you would expect in the Caribbean and the remainder of the holiday was thoroughly enjoyable. The excellent food, service, accommodation, gym, activities, entertainment, staff and atmosphere at the Almond Morgan would put the shambles that is Almond Smugglers to shame. Stay at Almond Morgan; avoid Almond Smugglers like the plague.

Do not fear about going to Smugglers Cove it’s the most relaxing holiday we have ever had, the staff were fantastic and the hotel is about 99% operational, disregard anything said about it being incomplete, all four restaurants and four pools are all up and running, which was quite a achievement with respect to the hurricane damage.



We saw no building work apart from a massive clean due to the hurricane, the grass, trees etc are now looking very good, this damage and forced clean up may account for the widely differing views of this resort. All I can say is we would definite go back, which is the best endorsement of this hotel.



Anyone complaining about the food at this hotel must either have been brought up on junk food or used to Michelin 3 star class restaurants. I am very fussy about food in general but this hotel lives up to its 4 star food rating. The only problem was the buffet breakfast in the large Cove restaurant which got a little busy , but going to the Waterside grill, provides an a la carte menu and was first class.



The only problem the resort has several trip / slip hazards, the tiles around the pools can get very slippery and at night the paths around the main complex are not well light. I would not recommend the resort for older people or anyone not steady on their feet or poorly sighted.



The only down side was our the Virgin agent on site, if you travel with them be sure to take a credit card as they do not accept charge cards for excursions.



The location is stunning the staff could not do enough the whole place is clean and tidy, so if you want a totally relaxing holiday then this is the place for you. We have two teenage sons, who both really enjoyed it, especially the well organised water sports. If you want nightlight etc go to another island as St Lucia is not for you.

Our holiday was fantastic. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it. There was plenty for them to do, with five pools and the waterslide. The meals were varied and delicious as there were five different restaurants on site to choose from.



The evening entertainment was great fun, mainly done by the club staff, who were always very friendly. The kids were always entertained, both daytime and evenings with loads of different activities at the kids club and disco.



We were treated to a special meal with the manager, Phillip, being return guests to the Club (my husband and I having honeymooned here) and we also received special t-shirts and a bottle bubbly for coming back.



We will all definitely return in the future.

For a 4* hotel I was outraged when I arrived for a second time.



I first went here at the age of 9 where I absolutely loved it. It was packed full of people and families with a great kids club and fantastic food.



The hurricane that was heading for the island made it a bit scary but when it moved away and didn’t hit the island it was fine. We met lots of people and the atmosphere, staff, and weather were fantastic.



At age 18 I went with my boyfriend last July and was disgusted to find our room so basic and dirty. The whole complex was completely run down from when I was there before and there was nobody there.



The food was so repetitive and the snacks throughout the day were infested with flies or kids handling everything before the adults could. The man made beach was black and filthy and had too many bugs crawling around to sit down.



We didn’t meet anyone, the entertainment was very much the same for the both weeks even though the entertainment team were fantastic, but there were a lot of families also complaining.



Luckily most of them got moved and after 3 days we wanted to do the same. However, after paying £1500 each, and being told we would have to pay a further £400 to transfer, we just couldn’t afford it. We had saved up for so long to have that holiday.



Also, don’t go in rainy season like we did because you are limited with what you can do. It rained nearly every day and was very dull which is not what you would want after spending that much for a Caribbean holiday.



Nevertheless, we booked some trips and days out that took away the boredom.

The canopy tours are a must. Amazing... and go to Rodney Bay as it is lush. Taxis however are very expensive.



All in all we made the most of it, but I would not go back to this resort. It might have been nice a good 10 years ago but now it is So rundown it needs a bit of refurb. We heard that the Sandals resort was nice from a few people we met on the tour as its right on a really nice beach.



Hope this helps!

I stayed on this resort at Easter time this year. The resort is in a very sorry state of disrepair, it is very dirty, it is overrun with ants, and boy do they bite, the food is atrocious, and you really are taking a risk eating here, of the two rooms I stayed in the first was just too dismal to stay there, the 2nd had constant problems, the air con spat water out at you, the water was either exploding out the taps or non existent.



We were plagued with ants, followed back to the chalet by dogs which roam freely, as do mangy cats in the dinning begging under the tables, there is a constant smell of raw sewage, and the staff generally just cannot be bothered, be prepared to wait an age for any service at all, with the exception of the animation team who try really hard, I unfortunately cannot tell my whole story as it will not be posted, but believe me avoid this place like the plague.



I honestly do not know why it is still allowed to operate, I paid £4,200 for two adults and two children to stay here and I feel it was a total waste of money, I would not return for free, avoid at all cost!

A really poor experience, the room we stayed in was a shambles, filthy with draw fronts hanging off, the bath was rusty, the bed sheets were covered in stains and the iron had a bare wire. We moved hotels - If you want a holiday prison camp then go.

We travelled to St Lucia for our wedding in September 03.

With it being our wedding we thought that we would upgrade to a better standard of room and get a few extras and pamper ourselves. After a quite enjoyable 60 min drive from the airport in a mini-bus with a driver who was very informative about the island and answered peoples questions all the way to the resort and told us about local things to try to do we arrived at our resort just after the sun had disappeared for the day. By this time we were looking forward to a shower and getting changed and then going for a relaxing drink after all the travelling we had done.



It did not take long for us to get booked into the resort. The girl we saw gave us some pamphlets and a quick description of the resort and arranged for us to be taken up to our (upgraded) room. The one we chose was with a 4-poster bed and a hammock on the patio. Well the 4 poster was as it said. Four Long Posts. They were around 5 feet in height. Not the kind of thing you expect when you think of a 4-post bed. The hammock was usable but a couple of the strings were broken. The room itself had about half a dozen cracked tiles on the floor and the dressing table had large pink stains on the surface, which were into the wood. We complained about these things with-in 30 mins of arriving and then went off looking for some refreshment and wondering what would happen with our complaints.



The next morning we again mentioned these things to our tour rep and he said he would look into things. But it looked like all he was interested in was getting us to book trips to the many attractions that the island had to offer.



The resort had 4 places that you could eat but 3 of them had to be "booked" which you did at the entertainment office next to the main pool. We found it quite easy to book if you were flexible on which nights you wanted to eat in certain places. Earlier in the year it would be different trying to get booked as the resort was not full when we went and when it is running at full capacity I can imagine people having a lot of problems getting a booking especially if there is a large group of you. The main eating place "The International Grill" was just a turn up and eat place but again when the resort is full you might have to wait to get a table.



The food is plentiful and varied so there will be something for all and we found it very palatable. But I do not think I will be trying the goat meat over in Britain for a few years yet.



The entertainment during the day centered around the main pool with competitions and the like with prizes (bottles of champagne) for the winners, which I thought rather daft as you could go to the bar and ask for a bottle anytime as it was free. Down at the small beach you had sun loungers if you did not fancy lying on the sand and you could get flippers and masks if you wanted to go snorkelling. There were also canoes, wind surfers and small dinghys that you could sign out for a couple of hours. There was plenty to keep you occupied depending on what you wanted to do with your time.



The resort also ran mini-buses into the local towns every couple of hours if you wanted to do a bit of shopping on your own without going on an organised trip. Friday nights it is the local street party in town and buses leave the resort at 8pm to take people down the party. There you can mingle with locals and other tourists from other resorts and try out the local food from the many grills that line the street and have a few drinks while you listen to the music and watch the dancing. Also there is the usual tourist stalls selling all kinds of knick-knacks for the unsuspecting tourist. The buses bring you back to the resort at midnight, which we found was long enough at the party. But it goes on for hours so if people want to stay they can and just get a taxi back home. All these trips in the mini buses cost £4-5 per person return.



There are many varied excursions available on the island depending on what you are looking to do from walking trips through the rain forest to jeep safaris, pony trekking, shopping trips and obviously boat trips and deep sea fishing. You can even visit other islands for the day if you like but these trips are a bit expensive. If you prefer have a word with one of the mini-bus drivers or taxi drivers they can also take you on these trips and if there is a group of you it will probably work out cheaper for you depending on how good you are at haggling for a price. Also you can work out your own time scale for leaving and stay longer at certain places than you would normally get on an organised trip.



We found all the staff on the resort to be very friendly and helpful and the rooms were kept very clean. If you have problems with the mozzies just ask at reception and they will arrange to have your room sprayed every night. If you want things like your phone switched on and a remote for your telly you have to pay a deposit which is refundable on leaving.



Some reviews I read about this place mentioned that their water supply was turned off in the afternoons but we did not find this to be the case maybe we were lucky but to be honest we were never in our room much during the day there was that much to do outside.



Overall we had a great time and have said that we would go back again so we would recommend this resort to people who want to have a good time.

I went to this hotel in order to get married. The wedding was superb and everything we could have imagined. The staff made it so easy and were very professional . We had a family room which was more spacious than normal yet we had been let down with an overbooking of the room type we had booked. The rooms were quite basic yet did have what was needed in them. If you have children I believe the resort facilities are good with creches from 0 years old. I now have children and would consider returining to the property with them. As it was a special occasion and we had no kids with us we checked out of the property on teh morning after our wedding and went to Sandals Regency St Lucia which was everything up to expectation, definitely worth the extra price.