Sugar Beach Viceroy

A private, white-sand getaway in the Caribbean

By Patrick Janelle

One autumnal New York day, flipping through emails, I read a press release about the Viceroy Sugar Beach, St. Lucia. It was accompanied by images of gorgeous, emerald peaks rising out of the ocean adjacent to a crescent-shaped, white sand beach, airy rooms constructed in colonial style, with gauzy fabric framing four-poster beds, and guest rooms that lead directly onto the beach. I booked immediately. Clocking in at 4+ hours, the flight is considerably shorter than traveling from North America to the South Pacific, which the striking topography of St. Lucia’s foliage-encrusted, ancient volcanic landscape conjures. Making a quick weekend trip during increasingly chilly days made sense.

The property, a 45-minute ride from St. Lucia’s Hewanorra International Airport, sits behind a gate and down a steeply curving road. The beachfront is accessible solely to hotel guests and to the handful of daily boats that bring snorkeling and scuba diving tourists in from other properties to the base of one of the rock faces.

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Pro Tips

Pro Tips

• Stay

  If you can spring it, reserve one of the handful of beach-front bungalows. But if you don’t, don’t worry: you’ll still have plenty of beach time, thanks to the colorful tuk tuk-like vehicles that transport guests around the property.

• Eat

  There are four restaurants on property: a sushi bar, a formal dining room overlooking the property, a beach hut for lounge-side service, and a casual, open-air, beachside establishment encircled by citronella-filled tiki torches.

• Drink

  Aside from cocktails at the restaurant’s property, the mini bar is stocked with Coca-Cola and Chairman’s Reserve Rum, a spirit that has been distilled locally in St. Lucia since 1999.

• To Do

  If you’re interested in getting off property, the hike up the larger inactive volcano, Gros Piton, is a strenuous climb that takes anywhere from two to four hours, round trip. The hotel will arrange a required guide as well as transportation to and from the small village at the mountain’s base.

Once I arrived, I was taken directly to my room where I checked in with my personal butler. He handed me a tiny prepaid Nokia mobile phone: a quick text message and he or his colleague would be there to assist. On the way from the airport, I had stopped at a grocery store, which was unfortunately just stocked with junk food and booze. So my first order of business was changing into a bathing suit, stepping past the threshold of my room, directly onto the beach, and ordering a burger and Piña Colada at the all-day, beachside food shack.

I spent the next few days exploring the property and the island. The spa, set amidst a series of Swiss Family Robinson-like tree huts, is nestled into the hillside above a tiny creek. The sounds of trickling water beneath the hut floors provides a natural soundscape to a deep-tissue massage. At the beach, on-property scuba instructors lead expeditions into the clear blue waters. Gros Piton, the towering, dormant volcano that sits adjacent to the hotel, features a challenging but rewarding hike—and if you go first thing in the morning, like I did, you can spend the whole rest of your day hopping between the beach and your bungalow's personal pool, Piña Coladas in hand.