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Style: Elegant, secluded, Oliver Messel inspired, colonial style, luxurious hilltop retreat. Excellent St. Lucia villa for weddings and photo shoots.
The Beach: Anse du Cap or Smugglers Cove both volcanic sand beaches within a 10 minute drive, the latter has excellent snorkelling
The Rooms: 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms - 2 en suite and 4 (one being a single) sharing 2 bathrooms
Key features: Top St Lucia villa rental, services of a St Lucia wedding planner, panoramic 360 degree views, numerous verandas, terraces and living areas set on a 4 acre hillock, with swimming pool, cable TV, CD system, barbecue
Children: Welcome
Staff: Cook and assistant cook 7 days a week (resident couple Ivy and Marius), maid service 8.30am to 3.30pm Mon-Sat, and gardener/pool service from Cletus, Mon-Fri. |
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Description
Set on the summit of a secluded four acre hilltop in the Cap Estate in the far north of St Lucia, Cap Pavilion enjoys the utmost privacy and sweeping 360 degree vistas of both the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts, as well as far reaching views inland across the island. The house takes its inspiration from the classically designed coral stone villas of Oliver Messel on the islands of Barbados and Mustique. It features weathered coral stone clad walls, fanlight windows and traditional jalousie shutters painted sage green, which work so naturally together. The house is built over two levels and around three sides of a central courtyard with wide covered walkways to link one main and two smaller pavilions, with bedrooms and living areas on both floors. Its sprawling gardens are simply brimming with tropical flowers, fruit trees, shrubs and palms. Much of the landscape was left undisturbed during the building of the property, so the gardens have retained much of their natural state. The wide verandas and terraces that surround Cap Pavilion are designed to make the most of the tremendous views and surrounding greenery. The gardens are very much part of the interior design. Over the years Cap Pavilion has attracted a number of fashion shoots and has been a popular setting for luxury weddings St Lucia style.
As you enter the house there is a sense that you have been transported to the elegant era of plantation house living. To the right a guest wing has a richly furnished double bedroom with four poster bed, an en suite bathroom with tub/shower and private patio. To the left the covered walkway passes the kitchen in the central pavilion that is operated by the staff and into which there is seldom a need to venture. Adjacent is the open-sided formal dining room which can seat twelve. It has an unusual mirrored wall framing the view to the courtyard, hung with cobalt blue drapes to create the illusion of a window. Continuing along the walkway, you come to another bedroom with a beautifully draped king size bed, excellent views and a small private patio. There is a walk-in dressing room and en suite bathroom with a sunken marble shower area over which hangs a sparkling chandelier.
The far pavilion has a large, airy and very elegantly furnished drawing room in English country house style, with arched doors all the way round that give views to the courtyard, gardens, countryside and the Atlantic Ocean. A large covered terrace at the end of the drawing room provides a less formal living area – perfect for afternoon tea, a game of cards or backgammon. Views from here have the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other. Behind the dining room is a large, well equipped kitchen, which is operated by the staff. The central courtyard extends to the garden and a winding path leads down to a shady retreat where the swimming pool is set on its own terrace against a rock garden backdrop with overhanging trees and palms, and there is a romantic poolside gazebo.
The remaining three bedrooms are upstairs in the main pavilion of the house, where there is also a delightful casual sitting room on a galleried landing overlooking the courtyard. This area, which doubles as a games room, has cable TV, a music centre and a chess set. There are two twin bedrooms which share a bathroom with tub/shower and one double bedroom with en suite bathroom with tub/shower. There is also a single bedroom suitable for a child or nanny perhaps.
There are two massive roof terraces. These are nice and breezy by day and wonderful at night for stargazing. The views are panoramic and give inland views to the surrounding countryside, the wild Atlantic rollers on one side and to the Caribbean Sea on the other stretching as far down the island as the Pitons.
Stop-press: Cap Pavilion is no longer available for rental. This review page will be switched off in due course. |
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Beach & Swimming
The nearest beach is Anse du Cap, where LeSport is located, which has volcanic sand and is about ten minutes by car. Close by, Smugglers Cove has excellent snorkelling. A ten minute drive will get you Causeway Beach, where there are two stretches of white sand running down to Pigeon Island National Park. The north area of the beach is popular with St Lucians on weekends, especially bank holidays, and has a picnic area. Reduit Beach is the island’s most popular beach and is located on the other side of Rodney Bay, with a lovely mile long stretch of powder soft sand. It is fairly active. It has a few hotels and a good variety of watersports is available, including waterskiing, parasailing, jetski, sunfish and hobie cat sailing. It takes about ten minutes to reach by car.
The swimming pool at Cap Pavilion is located below the house in an oasis of tropical planting to provide shade from the sun. |
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Sports & Recreation
The 18-hole, 6829 yard, par 71 course at the St Lucia Golf & Country Club at Cap Estate is less than five minutes drive away and has a pro shop, driving range and restaurant. The nearest tennis courts open to the public (courts must be booked in advance) are at the St Lucia Racquet Club at Club St Lucia, also in Cap Estate, which has seven floodlit Laykold cushioned tennis courts, a squash court and gym. LeSport on Anse du Cap beach with its famous spa is nearby. There are also two squash courts at the St Lucia Yacht Club at Reduit in Rodney Bay. The Sportivo fitness centre at Rodney Heights is St Lucia’s largest gym and offers yoga, Tai Chi and Karate classes. |
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Luxury Wedding St Lucia
With such spectacular scenery and Tropical Villas' well trained staff in the background, a St Lucia villa can make for excellent wedding venue. Jonson is a St Lucia villa rental with a wonderful setting and Tropical Villas offer an excellent service for villa weddings. The company does a good basic St Lucia wedding package (US$750 plus the cost of your Marriage Licence), but of course you can build on this. Please see here for further details of Tropical Villas’ services for St Lucia weddings. Alternatively if you would prefer the specialist services of a St Lucia wedding planner, Tropical Villas are happy to work with a company like Awesome Caribbean Weddings, which can provide imaginative suggestions and the logisitical support to make a perfect day. |
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Locality
Cap Pavilion is located within a secluded four acre hill top site in the Cap Estate, a large residential development in the Gros Islet area, which is in the far north of St Lucia. There are many luxury homes dotted on the hillsides of Cap Estate, some holiday homes and some residential. The estate has an 18 hole golf course and a couple of resorts, and is close to two of the best restaurants in St Lucia - the Great House and Tao at LeSport. Views from the estate extend to Pigeon Island National Park, a forty four acre National Trust reserve which was joined to the mainland by a man-made causeway in 1972, where there are two white sandy beaches. The island features ruins of many 18th century British and French military buildings including Fort Rodney, and has an Interpretation Centre, a restaurant featuring local cuisine, a historical themed pub and restaurant, and lookout point at the top of the fort. The island is also the main venue of the annual St Lucia Jazz Festival, held each May which attracts a host of international stars. A ferry runs between the island and Rodney Bay on an hourly schedule.
Rodney Bay is St Lucia’s busiest tourist area, where there are hotels, good restaurants and bars, a shopping mall, banks, mini marts and a nearby supermarket (on the main road) called Super J and a very lively nightlife. It has a busy marina and attracts over 200 boats for the annual ARC (trans-Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) which usually sees its first arrivals in early December. The nearby village of Gros Islet hosts the now famous Friday Night Jump Up, an all night street party. The Rodney Bay and Pigeon Island area is a ten minute journey by car. Castries the capital and George F L Charles Airport (formerly known as Vigie) which receives inter-island flights only, are about 25 minutes drive away. |
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Useful Hints
Ask your travel organiser or the management company (if booking direct) for initial food and drink supplies to be laid in for your arrival (a starter food pack costs approximately US$40 per person), so that the cook/housekeeper can prepare a simple welcome meal for you. Thereafter, your housekeeper will be happy to assist you with your shopping should you wish to delegate this chore, however do expect to provide transportation and appropriate gratuity for this service. Rental rates for villas in St Lucia do not include ‘tips’, about which you will find advice in the guest information book at the villa.
Personal laundry is not included in the rental rates and charges are approximately as follows: machine wash small load EC$10, hand wash small load EC$25 and ironing small load EC$25.
Cap Pavilion currently has three household pets – a cat and two dogs, which can be kept out of the way in a fenced area off the kitchen. |
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How To Book
If you wish to book direct, reservations should be made through the local managing agents, Tropical Villas. You may contact Tropical Villas for further information or reservations by using the DIRECT ENQUIRIES facility or the web link at the top of this page. For reservations, you will need to send a deposit equal to 25% (non refundable) of the total rental fee to confirm a reservation and payment of the remaining 75% is required 45 days (non refundable) prior your arrival. If you are booking within 45 days of your arrival, full payment must be made to secure the booking. For a review of Tropical Villas and their services together, written by James Henderson, please see here where you will also find links to reviews of many more St Lucia villas managed by Tropical Villas and featured by DefinitiveCaribbean .
Stop-press: Cap Pavilion is no longer available for rental. This review will be switched off in due course. |
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Airport Meet & Greet
If you are booking direct ask the villa management company Tropical Villas to send a taxi to meet you at the airport. These are arranged with their taxi driver Desir (pronounced Daisy), who normally waits in the area just outside the customs hall at Hewanorra airport. He will hold a Tropical Villas sign and if you miss him go to the Tourist Board desk and they will page him for you. Your airport transfers are paid for locally and take approximately 1hr 30 minutes from Hewanorra and 20 minutes from George Charles. Alternatively, if you would prefer to be taken care of from the minute you arrive at the airport, with a range of services that can include helicopter transfers, a Concierge Service please click here for St Lucia Representative Services.
If you are booking through a travel organiser, it is likely that their representative will be at the airport to meet you. This service and your return airport transfers should be included in the cost of your holiday. Please check at the time of booking. |
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Getting Around
A hired car is strongly recommended for all St Lucia villas, unless you would prefer staff to call taxis for you as required. A vehicle will be useful if you want to dine out at night or do lots of sightseeing and particularly when it comes to shopping for groceries. Book car hire via your travel organiser or direct with Drive-A-Matic (Tropical Villas will book this for you) or Cool Breeze Car & Jeep Rentals for your St Lucia car rental and ask for your vehicle to be delivered to the property approximately 3 hours after your scheduled time of arrival on St Lucia or the following morning. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. |
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All the information on this page comes to you free of charge. Please remember to mention DefinitiveCaribbean when you contact Tropical Villas for your St Lucia villa rentals and Drive-a-Matic or Cool Breeze Car & Jeep Rentals for your St Lucia car rental. |
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