Fond Doux Holiday Plantation

If you are looking for an affordable place to stay in St. Lucia, with a lot of culture, Fond Doux is an excellent place to stay. All the staff were friendly and helpful. The food was great and the cottages were adorable! It was nice and quiet and relaxing. Just make sure your room has a mosquito net!

This was our 2nd trip to Fond Doux in St. Lucia within the past 4 months. The first trip was our honeymoon in March. We were so captivated by the people and the location that we brought our family back in June for a family vacation. And had another amazing vacation experience! Every single staff member who was at Fond Doux when we honeymooned in March, remembered us and greeted us by name and with hugs! The new staff members quickly became friends on first name basis as well. The people are part of what makes Fond Doux so magical - joyful, graceful, warm, and welcoming are how I describe them, and those characteristics permeate the estate. We stayed for 6 days and 7 nights this trip, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. As it was the start of the rainy season, we did have a few days of steady rain, and enjoyed sitting on our cottage porch in the most comfortable rocking chairs, and savoring the view and relaxation. On the sunny days, we made a beeline for the Jalousie beach, about 7 min. from Fond Doux, and spent hours enjoying the crystal water and white sand beach. The snorkeling was amazing, right of the beach is a reef with an abundance of fish in every color and size and shape - and even an octopus was spotted! After we had eaten at the Fond Doux restaurant consistently for several nights, the chef came out one night and told us that he would be making a special menus for us the next night so we would have something different to try than the menu we had the previous nights. This kind of attention to detail and thoughtfulness is the way of life at Fond Doux. I could write so much more! But to sum it up, this is a place we will be returning to again and again throughout our lives - I can't wait until our next trip there!

I just had a great three day stay at Fond Doux Plantation. Although my girlfriend and I visited other hotels in Soufriere such as Jalousie and Anse Chastanet, we were always glad to come back to Fond Doux. The complementary continental breakfast is amazing. I looked forward to it every day, along with the fresh cocoa tea. It was such a novel experience staying on a working plantation. Apparently they export most of the cocoa beans grown on the plantation to Hershey's in Pennsylvania. We loved being surrounded by all the fresh fruits and flowers. When I visited other hotels, I was always surprised at the lack of fruit they served, but that was never a problem at Fond Doux. One morning I picked a fruit that I didn't recognize (like a large brown apricot) and brought it to breakfast, and they cut it up for us along with some fresh mango, bananas, and grapefruit. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly also, each of them knowing our names after the first day. I requested fresh coconut water, which they were out of, so one of the staff climbed a coconut tree and brought us two freshly cut coconuts at the pool. The bamboo cottage was quaint and I appreciated the screens on all the windows that kept out the bugs. We did not have to use the mosquito net, even though the room as not air conditioned. The one disadvantage of Fond Doux is it is not along the beach, and we had to pay US$20-$30 each for chairs and towels when we visited Jalousie and Anse Chastanet. I would say I also noticed that the service is a little more generic at those places, especially as we were not hotel guests. We also needed to rent a four wheel drive car to be able to visit the beach and explore, which was quite expensive for a week. After Fond Doux we stayed at Ti Kaye resort which was an amazing place overlooking the beach. If I stayed in only one place for a romantic getaway, I would choose Ti Kaye, but Fond Doux was definitely a fun and interesting experience!

My husband and I just returned from a week long stay at the lovely and gracious Fond Doux estate. We chose Fond Doux based upon favorable Trip Advisor reviews and we were not disappointed. Fond Doux is such a beautiful setting it doesn't seem real! We were always treated with kindness and great hospitality. Lyton and Eroline go out of their way to get to know their guests and give your stay the personal touch. The food at the estate is wonderful and we ate most of our meals on site--why go anywhere else with the fresh fruits and veggies and well-prepared Creole dishes? And the pool is simply divine! I agree with other reviewers that one of the most important things to know about staying at Fond Doux is that it is not a "corporate" kind of hotel experience. While the staff is always obliging you must be prepared for being on what we called "island time." This means things are done at a leisurely pace. You will have a good deal of time to study your menu before you order, and then time to have a pina colada or two and banter with the staff before your food arrives. We enjoyed this because it contrasted so much with the frantic pace of life back home. Also, accommodations at Fond Doux feel authentic. For example, you can tell that your cottage was built and decorated by someone onsite--the showers is fit a little awkwardly into the corner, the window is fit with different, patterned pieces of glass, the furniture is a bit funky, etc. We loved this, as it felt homey and not like a sealed, carpeted, air conditioned room just like 200 others. We felt that we really got a sense of St. Lucian culture on our trip, in large part because of staying at Fond Doux. If you like the all-inclusive, standardized resort vacation Fond Doux is not for you! If you like to feel like you are staying as a guest at the home of real St. Lucians, head for Fond Doux. One word of advice: if you get a package be sure to print it off from the website right away. Ours was taken off the site right after we bought it and when we got to Fond Doux they didn't have the record of it. The staff honored everything we claimed about our package (airport transfer, trip to Botanical Gardens, etc) but it was a bit of a pain. I think the issue was miscommunication with their webmaster and certainly not dishonesty.

Visiting St. Lucia this time around, we decided to stay in Soufriere to celebrate my husbands birthday, the most quiet and scenic side of the island, considering we travelled with our ten month old baby. We were so happy to have chosen Fond Doux for our week-end long stay. The place was heavenly! We woke up to the sounds of the birds and went to bed to the sounds of the crickets. Everyday there was a little bird who visited us three times on our veranda to join us at mealtime. The Cinnamon Cottage where we stayed was recently built and gave the feel like you were the only ones on the plantation, not to mention very clean. We looked forward to our meals. Their food is one of the best on the island, considering that the ingredients are freshly picked right from the plantation. Be sure to try the Lucian Breakfast! The staff was warm, friendly and provided excellent service wanting to make every minute of our stay comfortable. Stanford, John, Charmaine and of course Lyton and Eroline (the owners)- we say Thank You. One of the most memorable experience for us was touring the plantation with our baby,(fruits are in abundance there and you can eat to your heart’s desire) during which Stanford gave our son a mango and he held on so tight to that mango until he feel asleep with it :-) Fond Doux was a great experience and we will definitely be back!

Fond Doux was one of the most amazing travel experiences we've ever had with my wife. We traveled extensively together and very rarely had that kind of welcome. The cottages are nestled in a garden of Eden. The kids loved it, especially eating the fruits from the garden for breakfast. There is so much beauty and charm on this cocoa plantation, it's hard to beat. As my son said, we lived in a house of prince and princess, surrounded by chocolate!

We spent 3 nights staying here in the Hibiscus Suite as part of a 14 night trip to St Lucia. Out of the 4 places we stayed this was our favourite by far. This is genuine hospitality at its best. If you want to stay somewhere where you can feel like family and get to know real St Lucia then this is the place. The place is still a working plantation which makes it so interesting, and they will take you around the plantation sampling fruits and talking about the plants and flowers. We stayed in Hibiscus, which is the most basic room type, and is situated in a cottage next to the main Plantation House, the building is beautiful and historic. The room was very clean and comfortable, and kept spotless throughout our stay. It is an authentic experience though and if you are looking for somewhere 'perfect' run by a big corporation where everything is identical run like clockwork without personality or for someone to wait on you hand and foot this is not the place. It is great for the more independent traveller who appreciates the important things - genuine hospitality, excellent local food, eating food from the plantation around you, all the sights and sounds of the lovely plants and trees. If you want somewhere you can feel settled and relaxed it is perfect. The staff are exceptional starting with the owners Lynton and Eroline are so friendly and welcoming if there was anything you wanted to learn about St Lucia, this is the place. They are wonderful to chat with about the island and it is excellent to know you are contributing to the ongoing preservation of the plantation and St Lucian culture - not just a faceless foreign hotel corporation. John the bar man makes the best Rum Punches anywhere on the island and the juices they have fresh from the plantation are like nothing you have ever tasted. All the other staff were always friendly and personal and an exceptional note also has to be said for Standford, such a kind and lovely person - he would come and cut fresh coconuts for us, and was always keen to make your stay comfortable and help. This place is so tranquil and made us feel so relaxed, since being back I have dreamed of the noises and tastes from the plantation. If you want Real St. Lucia - this is the place. We hope to visit again soon.

My partner and I travelled to St Lucia last October for a week of sun, sea and relaxation. We booked the Fond Doux plantation near Soufriere and hoped for the best! And the best it was! We did little of the "sun, sea and relax" but more of the "get out and about and explore"! Fond Doux is a working plantation set a few miles from Soufriere. WE received a very warm welcome on our arrival which was to continue throughout our week there. We stayed in the most charming cottage, Angelina, set amongst mango and grapefruit trees, to name but a few. Our intention was to try out different restaurants nearby however, due to the fantastic quality of food (all freshly cooked using fruit and veg from the plantation) we ate in the restaurant at Fond Doux every evening! Lyton and Eroline LaMontagne are fantastic hosts who enthuse about their island and advised us on several memorable trips out in our hired jeep. Don't be put off by the stories on the net about the roads and driving. We stuck to the south of the island stopping off to take in the beauty of this island which remains unspoilt. All the staff at Fond Doux went out of their way to ensure we will never forget St Lucia. If you do go, remember to take a tour of the plantation and ask for Stanford! This holiday was beyond what we had expected and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone, all inclusive holidays are a thing of our past!! Can't wait to go back and next time we will take in the Grenadines on our host's recommendation!

I found this plantation quite by accident because I got tired of staying in the northern end of St. Lucia. I only stayed one night but it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Everyone was so endearing, the food was great, the cottage was so comfortable, and the surroundings were paradisaic! I will definitely be back, but this time for a much longer stay.

The location was wonderful I spent a fantastic 2 weeks of sheer pleasure here, the staff were so helpful and accommodating, the food too goooood !!! the views are spectacular and you can feel free to pass the time away simply taking in the sights and going on the walks of nature or chilling !!! we'll be back soon i can assure you