Cotton Bay Village

In Depth

You approach Cotton Bay Village through the Cap Estate in the far north of St Lucia. You drive among the fairways of the golf course and then run down towards the coast, before turning into an area enclosed by a wall. As you can tell by the name, the villa resort presents itself not as a hotel but as a village, and it is immediately apparent. Your first view is down a ‘high street’, called Atlantic Drive, along which there are townhouses either side, each with a carport for their cars. For all the residential appearance though, you can also detect a holiday feel about the place. A boardwalk is built into the sidewalk instead of pavement and palm trees spike an otherwise regular skyline. There is a large pool area at the heart of the small resort and of course beach at the front.

The reception is also at the far end of the resort, so as you arrive for the first time you will pass through the village and all its facilities as you make your way down. To your right at the entrance is the Village Square, where you will find Piano Piano, the fine dining restaurant and its Champagne Bar. There is a deli, Bruschetta, where you can find wine and fine foods and other essentials for your holiday. It is also the location of the Hummingbird Kid's Club, which is designed for children aged from three to seven. For details of their programmes, please see below under Children.

At the end of the high street, where the road divides, the tone changes a little as larger houses appear either side of you. Windward Close, a short cul de sac to the left, has another handful of townhouses and Ocean Boulevard leads off straight ahead. Here you will find a number of free-standing, detached villas – Cotton House Villas and Chateau Mangos, which each have three or four bedrooms (townhouses have two or three). But if you are arriving for the first time you will turn right along Sunset Crescent, which encircles the pool area as it winds down to the beach. Sunset Crescent has townhouses on one side and on the other apartment suites that overlook the pool. You will eventually come into another open space, where you will be greeted at Reception. From here you will be taken to your apartment and settled in. If you have arranged butler service, your butler will accompany you and explain their role.

The apartments and villas come in a range of different levels, but they have all been built to a high specification and they are very comfortable. They use quite a bit of classic Caribbean style, which has been brought to the modern era, leading with polished hardwood and coral limestone floors and marble and coral fittings. There are elements of Palladian Caribbean style in the architectural form, in the rounded windows and arches around the doors, which themselves are fitted with louvered shutters. Some of the furniture is reproduction antique. Other pieces have a more modern, lean and square form to them. The walls top off the traditional design with classic and modern prints in gold frames.

Back in the same building as the reception is the Heaven Spa, where there are six treatment rooms. It caters for adults, but because of the family aspect of the resort, the spa even offers mother and daughter beauty treatments. Actually the gym is set in a different building just across the arrival courtyard form the reception.

Although guests at Cotton Bay Village can be independent because they have their own fully-serviced houses or suites, there is still a sense of community about the small resort. Much of this is centred on the main swimming pool, where there are loungers and sunshades, some of which can be taken into the shallow water. There is a Pool Bar where you can get drinks and light snacks. The pool area is surrounded by pretty tropical shrubbery. It is attractive but it also means that the gardens giving onto the pool are not in full view of all the other guests.

Next to the swimming pool area you will see a small lagoon surrounded by a network of vast mangrove trees. A boardwalk with wooden and wire balustrades leads along the side of this to take you to the beach. It looks very good at night when the downlighters throw light into the mangroves and greenery. Just before you arrive on the sand, you find on your right Cotton Bay Village’s main restaurant, The Beach Club 14°N 61°W. The dining room continues the nautical theme of the boardwalk and is set on a very attractive raised hardwood deck with wood and wire balustrades.

The beach is a nice curve of light-coloured sand about a mile long that is enclosed by headlands that reach out into the ocean. It is very nice to walk (or ride on horseback) and kayaks are available to guests, but it can be quite breezy as the wind blows in right off the Atlantic, so you may find that most of your sunbathing time is spent around the pool.

Cotton Bay Village has a full range of standards of accommodation, from relatively simple one-bedroom apartments to supremely comfortable villas with every sort of modern convenience. It is designed to cater for families, which adds to the community atmosphere, but it caters for all sorts of travellers. Some may wish to cater for themselves. Others may want to retain one of the Village’s butlers, who will be there to arrange everything and to get the very best out of their holiday.

Beach & Swimming

Cotton Bay Village gives onto a very attractive Atlantic-facing bay with light-coloured sand. It is about a mile long. The bay is cut deep into the land and it is protected by an off-shore reef so the water is safe to swim in, but the wind and waves can get up and it can become choppy. Loungers are laid out on the beach for guests to use.

There is a large main pool area at the centre of the resort. To one side is a 15ft shallow childrens pool. The main pool is split a into rectangular lap section on one side and a lazing section on the other, which is shallow enough for you to sunbathe on your lounger with your feet in the water.

All the houses and apartments at Cotton Bay Village have direct access to a pool. Those that are not set around the central pool have their own plunge pools.

Sports & Recreation

Cotton Bay Village has kayaks available to its guests. Because of the onshore ocean winds, the bay is excellent for windsurfing and other wind sports. There is a Tornado Kite & Surf School which can hire you the equipment. They also offer small sailing boats.

A very popular activity is to ride a horse along the beach. There is a stable nearby and so it is easily arranged for all standards of riders. Beach volleyball is played on the sand and of course the golf course is right next door to the resort. A second championship course is in the planning stages at the moment for just north of the village .

There is a gym at Cotton Bay Village which has exercise bicycles, cross-trainers, treadmills, free weights and a multi-gym. There is also an exercise floor for classes, which are open to all guests.

Spa

The Heaven Spa is set at the front of the resort, just beyond the pool. It is a Caribbean spa with six treatments rooms, including two wet rooms. There is also a couples suite which you can book and lounge in all day while you have your treatments. It is partially open air and has its own plunge pool. Of course you can choose to have your treatment in your room or in another location in the hotel. Favourite places include the gazebo at the pool.

The product line is Elemis, but there is also an original feature in the spa, their Moroccan Rasul, a detoxifying and exfoliating process that involves aromatherapy oils and cleansing muds in a steam room. More regular spa treatments are available of course. These include many massages such as Swedish, aromatherapy, sports and stone massage (reflexology, Thai and ayurvedic massages are also available on request), also Vichy showers and of course many beauty treatments. These include wraps, rubs and facials as well as more traditional salon treatments such as hair care, manicures, pedicures and waxing.

Accommodation

The accommodation at Cotton Bay Village is built to a high standard and the apartments and houses are extremely comfortable. The bedrooms are air-conditioned, they have full kitchens and all the sitting rooms have a CD and TVs with a DVD player. Traditional Caribbean architectural styles have been used, but brought up to date to fit modern comfort. The floors are made of polished hardwoods or polished coral limestone. Some of the furniture is also hardwood, either in antique reproduction or in a leaner and more modern but equally elegant style. Fittings are marble and highly polished limestone coral rock.

There are several different categories of accommodation. The smartest are the Chateau Mangos, which are free-standing villas with three bedrooms. These are laid out over one storey and the walls are decorated with coral render. They have an entrance hall and sitting room that give onto an outside terrace and an enclosed area with their own pool. There is a separate dining room.

The Cotton Houses are two-storey villas which sleep up to 10 people. Some also feature a guest cottage that can accommodate teenagers or a nanny. They are also well laid out for entertaining, with a separate gallery, a dining terrace and an exterior sundeck around the secluded pool. The bathrooms have Philippe Starck fittings.

The Terracotta Townhouses have two or three bedrooms and are set over two floors. They line the main street Atlantic Drive and Sunset Crescent. The simplest accommodation at Cotton Bay Village is the suite, which is set over one story (with a patio for the ground floor suite and a roof-terrace for the upper floor suites). These are mainly set around the central pool area. Suites are actually one or two bedroom apartments (Tamarind and Calabash) and there are some three-bedroom Coral Penthouse apartments.

Dining

There are full kitchens in the apartments and villas at Cotton Bay Village, so you are able to make your own meals whenever you wish, but assuming you would like a break from the preparation, there are several options for both eating in and eating out.

Piano Piano is their fine dining restaurant and your best option for a bit of time away from the children. Set upstairs near the entrance to the resort, it has a Champagne Bar attached to it so that you can have a drink before your meal. It uses wood and textured tiles on a theme of cream and deep red and the tables are candlelit with white tablecloths. The menu mixes Mediterranean and Caribbean cuisine, so you can expect tastes and spices from Morocco, Greece and Italy as well as Caribbean spices. There is a good wine list and there are even cheeses, which is unusual for the Caribbean. A dress code of long trousers (no jeans) is in force. Piano Piano is open six nights a week until 10pm.

The Beach Club 14N 61W has a much less formal feel. It takes its name from its geographical position on the bay 14 degrees of latitude and 61 long - on a very attractive hardwood deck raised above the sand overlooking the beach. The Beach Club 14N 61W serves international cuisine, with tastes garnered from around the world - France, Italy and even India as well as the Caribbean. The menu changes daily. The Beach Club 14N 61W is open for all three meals.

Of course room service is readily available (from the menu at 1461), and a butler will lay it out for you and serve it. If you wanted to make the occasion a little more formal by having people to dinner, or just for the two of you, then a chef can be arranged.

Weddings

Cotton Bay Village is happy to host a wedding ceremony for you, which they do through the excellent wedding organisers, Awesome Caribbean Weddings. As tailor-made wedding specialists with a keen understanding of the needs of a bride, Awesome Caribbean Weddings will take you in hand from the start, liaise with you about your plans, make sure all the regulations are covered and then ensure that everything goes smoothly on the day itself. Cotton Bay Village operate a restriction of one wedding a day in order that your day is as special as possible.

Children

As a Caribbean family resort that is designed specifically with children in mind, there are extensive childrens facilities and programmes at Cotton Bay Village, particularly at younger ages.

The Hummingbird Kid's Club, which is designed for children aged between six months and three years old, was founded along the lines of a Montessori school. Activities include art and craft, shell painting, board games, beach games, singing and story time. Children below three years old should be accompanied by a parent or nanny. The centre is open daily between 9am and 5pm.

The Hummingbird Club is open to children aged four to eight and offers a variety of activities such as kite flying, picnics and beach-combing expeditions. Theres also a chill out room away from the sun and pool with television, computers, a Wii and a dirty room for painting.

Have a read of a recent interview with Marketing Director, Michael Bryant, about the child-friendly scene at Cotton Bay Village.

Locality

Cotton Bay Village is set located in the Cap Estate near the far northern tip of St Lucia. This is a wealthy district of private homes and villas, set around a golf course and secluded coves on sea. It is close to the centre of tourism in the island, Rodney Bay, which is just a few minutes away by car. As you leave the Cap Estate, you first pass the turning to Pigeon Point, where you will find old fortifications and a nice beach bar, Jambe de Bois. Back on the main road you pass Gros Islet, famous for its Friday night Jump up and then, on the side of the lagoon, the marinas and yacht services. Next you come to the turning to Rodney Bay, the liveliest area of St Lucia, with its strip of bars and restaurants and then the finest beach on the island (in the classic Caribbean sense of palm backed white sand), Reduit Beach. If you are looking for night-time action then this is the place to come too. Beyond here, about twenty minutes drive from the hotel is the island capital Castries, a small and quite lively West Indian town set on a magnificent harbour.

Restaurants worth visiting in the area include the Great House in Cap Estate, The Edge on the shores of the lagoon in Rodney Bay and Buzz and the Charthouse. The Coal Pot in Vigie Marina in Castries is also excellent. Plenty of other restaurants in Rodney Bay are suitable for children and the area is lively and fun anyway.

Meet & Greet

If you are travelling independently, taxis are usually available at the airport, but one can be arranged for you by Cotton bay Village at your expense. It is worth putting in the request at the time of booking. If you are flying into Hewanorra in the south of St Lucia then the ride from the airport is around eighty or ninety minutes, depending on the traffic around Castries. If you have an option, it is better to fly into George FL Charles Airport at Vigie near Castries, about twenty minutes ride away.

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.

Getting Around

Hiring a car to explore the island is easily arranged. If you are not travelling in peak season and you don't think you will want a car for more than a day or two, hotel reception will be able to assist you. Otherwise, we recommend you book in advance via your travel organiser or direct with Drive-A-Matic or Cool Breeze Car/Jeep Rental, who will deliver to the property and issue your St Lucian driving licence, price EC$54. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day.

Be aware that around the Jazz Festival in May and around Christmas there can be a shortage of cars in St Lucia, so you are advised to book well in advance. Also book early if you want one for a week or more because pre-booked rates can be better. Taxis are readily available through the reception at the hotel, through drivers who remain on property. No public bus service runs near to Cotton Bay Village, so that is not a convenient option.

Cotton Bay Video