| Submitted by: Liz Hanks United States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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There was always too many other things to do, and we can always play tennis at home. The last time we were at a Sandals resort, we ended up going out and hitting with the pro for about 1/2 hour. At La Toc they also have a pro, and his services are included in the price, we just never made use of him.
Here's the tennis schedule at La Toc:
Monday: Pro available for Playing
4:30 PM - Social doubles Tuesday: 9 AM - Group Lessons
4:30 PM - Singles Tournament Wednesday: 9 AM - Group Lessons
4:30 PM - Social doubles Thursday: 9 AM - Group Lessons
4:30 PM - Doubles Tournament Monday: Pro available for Playing
4:30 PM - Olympic Tournament Saturday: Free Play
Sunday: Free Play
Every time we walked by the courts they were empty, so availability shouldn't be a problem for those who decide to make use of them.
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There are tons of activities to participate in during the day. There was little or no pressure to join in. Here's an example of a daytime activities schedule:
8:00 Morning jog
10:00 Orientation for newcomers
10:30 Aerobics
11:00 Bingo
11:30 Pool volleyball
12:00 Mid-day swing - water exercises
1:00 Lovers' knot competition
1:45 American football in the pool
2:00 Tone and stretch class
2:15 Water balloon toss
3:00 Beach madness
3:30 The drinks mixology class
3:45 Step aerobics
4:00 Pool volleyball
4:30 Siesta
5:00 Orientation for newcomers
5:00 Fit shape begins in the gym
5:30 Basketball
5:30 Aquacise
They claim their swimming pool is the largest in the Caribbean, and it's easy to believe. You can have volleyball and aqua aerobics going on at one end, swimming relays in the middle, and lots of peace and quiet near the waterfalls for couples to float side by side on a raft on the other end.
The smaller pool and hot tub in front of the piano bar are a nice place to relax away from the crowds. This area is mostly used by guests staying in the suites, since it's close by.
The gym has a nice supply of free weights, Universal weight machines, and aerobic equipment (stair machines, upright and recumbent bicycles, and treadmills).
There are a lot of indoor games such as cards, chess, backgammon, darts, pool, and ping-pong, and outdoor games like basketball, sand volleyball, shuffleboard, and horseshoes.
La Toc has a 1/2 mile long beach. At one end is the waters ports center. The rest of the area is scattered with huts and chairs for reading, relaxing, and sunning.
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Starting at around 8:30 every evening, a new band would play in the pavilion. There is no formal dance floor nearby, but the music was so inspiring that a lot of us ended up dancing in the walkways and around the pool. There was only one evening in which the band had bad rhythm and lousy singers.
At 11 PM the music in the pavilion would stop, and we presume that everyone made their way to the disco. The one night we managed to stay up past 10, we went to see what the disco was like. At 10:30 it was empty, and was playing music extremely loud. We decided it wasn't worth staying up for.
An example evening entertainment schedule follows:
7:30 Honeymooners hour
8:30 Band plays for dancing
9:30 Pre show presentation
9:45 Showtime
10:00 Sing a long at the piano bar
11:00 Disco dance class and contest
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St. Lucia has a lot of strikingly beautiful scenery. If you don't get enough of it from the airplane or on the bus ride, you can always sign up for some of the tours offered at the resort.
None of these are included in the price, and we got to see a lot of scenery from the dive boat, so we didn't try any of these. Just for general information though, here is a list of tours:
Day Tour Price (US$)
Monday Deep sea fishing 88
Pigeon island explorer 35 Tuesday Soufriere day sail 70
Rainforest walk 42
Champagne sunset cruise 32 Wednesday Soufriere day sail 70
Marquis estate plantation 55 Champagne sunset cruise 32 Horseback riding beach barbeque 50 Thursday Grenadines day tour 210
Deep sea fishing 88
Soufriere day sail 70
Sugar mill/Marigot bay tour 38 Champagne sunset cruise 32 Friday Grenadines day tour 210
Rainforest walk 42
Champagne sunset cruise 32 Saturday Soufriere day sail 70
Deep sea fishing 88
The shopping shuttle goes to Castries and Duty Free Point Seraphine daily except Sundays and holidays. It leaves at 9 AM and comes back at noon. The cost if US$6 per person.
There is a daily trip to Sandals Antigua that costs US$195 per person.
In addition to all this, helicopter sight seeing tours and horse back riding can be scheduled.
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Breakfast:
There are two options for breakfast: The Pavilion, which has a fantastic buffet from 7:30 til 10 AM, and The Pitons restaurant, which according to my notes has a buffet every day except Sunday, from 8:30 til 11 AM. We never made it over to the Pitons for breakfast, but in the Pavilion, there was always large quantities and varieties of fruit, juices (some fresh squeezed) and breads. They also had made-to-order omelets, pancakes, french toast, eggs Benedict, sausage, bacon, and all kinds of other deadly selections.
Lunch:
The Pavilion served a great buffet from 12:30 til 2 PM daily. The Pitons had a buffet with lower calorie entrees during the same hours.
Dinner:
La Toc has 5 restaurants that serve dinner.
At the Pavilion they have an international menu, and you never need reservations. One evening a week they have a buffet instead of a sit-down meal, and it is fabulous. We never tried their regular menu.
The Pitons doesn't take reservations either, and offers great West Indian selections. Their menu changes once a week, as is probably true of the other restaurants.
La Toc is an OK French restaurant. The service is white glove, and the presentation is impeccable. We enjoyed our appetizers, but the main course was a disappointingly overcooked and tasteless rack of lamb. The mousse by husband had for desert was frozen solid. Maybe it was on purpose, but it wasn't very good. We never went back. Other guests we spoke to had similar comments.
Kimono is like a Japanese steak house. Eight guests are seated in each room, around a large cooking surface. The main course includes several different kinds of meat, seafood, and vegetables, and is chopped into small bits by clinking knives and throwing them up in the air once in a while. Before the chef makes his appearance, appetizers, salad, and soup can be ordered from a menu. I had some sushi and it was pretty fresh. The diverse pieces of meat in the main course were overcooked, but we enjoyed the evening immensely since we got to meet and talk extensively with several other couples. As long as you don't expect too much from the food, Kimono is a blast.
Arizona serves steak and potato fare. We didn't go anywhere near it.
Halcyon has 3 restaurants, one of which was closed because there weren't enough guests to fill it up.
Mario's is an Italian restaurant that has great pasta entrees. For an appetizer, I had an individual-sized seafood pizza which was quite good. My husband and one of the two friends we were dining with, ordered an entree that ended up including a couple of big soggy shrimp, so I would recommend sticking to pizza and pasta.
The Pierhouse is a West Indian restaurant that was booked solid by the time we tried to make reservations. According to several people we talked to, it was the best joint in either resort. Their seafood selections were highly recommended.
The Bayside Restaurant was closed, but normally doesn't take reservations, and serves international cuisine.
Other meals:
The Beach Grill at La Toc serves snacks from 11 AM til 5 PM and from 11 PM til 3 AM daily. We never tried it, since we discovered early on that there are many yummy drinks that can calm the munchies.
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Notes:
It is a good idea to plan all of your dinners as soon as you get to the resort. You can always change the reservations afterwards, but the restaurants do get filled up quickly. Also, find out what evenings the Pavilion international buffet, the lobster dinner, and the beach party are. You might want to forget about reservations on these nights, since all three can be worthwhile. Also, if you've already been to a Sandals resort, there's a special party with a marvelous 5-course meal one night in the Pavilion. It was the best meal we had the whole time we were there.
The dress code at Kimono's and La Toc is somewhat formal. Basically the rule is 'no shorts', but you won't need a suit, tie, dress or skirt anywhere. At the other restaurants, shorts are allowed. In general, some people wore suits and fancy dresses, but most were more casual
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There are seven bars at La Toc, opening as early was 10 AM, and closing as late as 3 AM. Our favorite was the swim-up bar in the main pool. All of them have lots of different kinds of rum, vodka, scotch, liqeurs, etc. Each has a pina colada machine, a decent white wine, a not so good red wine, very enjoyable champagne, and Heineken on tap. Heineken is brewed on the island, and is just about the only beer you'll find at the resort. Mario's restaurant at the Halcyon proved to be the only exception: they serve bottles of the local Pitons beer.
Our drinking routine most days consisted of several pina coladas and banana cows in the hot tub after diving, to stop the stomach from growling before lunch, and then champagne starting in the early evening during happy hour, and continuing through dinner.
At other times, there were lots of yummy non-alcoholic concoctions to choose from. The Beach Bar had a long list of them. There were also soft drinks and iced tea available everywhere. |
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