Saint Lucia's Best Beach Just Got a New Flagship Villa Resort — With Butlers and Private Plunge Pools
Sapphire Sands Villas by Bay Gardens Resorts has opened on Saint Lucia's Reduit Beach, a nine-villa property built for families and groups in an adults-heavy market.
Reduit Beach, the long stretch of golden sand near Rodney Bay that many consider Saint Lucia's finest, has a new flagship. Sapphire Sands Villas by Bay Gardens Resorts opened its doors this past week, the locally owned company's most ambitious property yet.
Sapphire Sands is a villa resort, tapping one of the fastest-growing trends in luxury travel. It has nine villas totaling 27 keys, configurable as one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts, an unusually flexible setup that suits families and groups. That matters on an island filled with adults-only resorts and short on family-friendly options. Every room has an ocean-view balcony, and certain first-floor rooms come with their own private plunge pools.
Service centers on specially trained butlers who handle requests from pre-arrival planning to booking appointments during the stay. The main restaurant, Kimchi & Kalaloo, blends Caribbean and Asian flavors, including Korean barbecue. But Bay Gardens builds its stays around getting out: guests can add an all-inclusive plan with a "dine-around" option that extends to off-property local eateries, giving a choice of nine restaurants in all. The company pioneered that idea a decade ago.
Because it is part of the Bay Gardens portfolio, a stay at Sapphire Sands includes complimentary access to four other resorts nearby, plus the Bay Gardens Beach Club with its floating water park and kids club.
Rates currently run about $692.75 a night for a one-bedroom beachfront suite and roughly $1,147.50 for a two-bedroom. A one-bedroom suite with a private pool starts around $756.50. Executive Director Sanovnik Destang called the opening "the next step in the evolution of luxury hospitality for both our company and Saint Lucia."
