We’ve got a really special deal for families during Easter 2012!

Book any five nights or more over the Easter period, and your child(ren) stay FREE (i.e. no charge for foldaway bed).

What’s more, the Easter Bunny will make sure your child(ren) receive a yummy chocolate Easter egg on Easter Sunday!

To take advantage of this special offer, please contact us.

Saint Lucia Jazz

Since its inception in 1991, Saint Lucia Jazz has grown from a clever marketing idea into one of the Caribbean’s most important events. Here’s a potted history of the festival.

It all started as an idea for attracting more tourists to St Lucia during the traditionally quiet month of May. This is toward the end of the island’s annual peak visitor season, but the tourism providers were of course keen to extend that season just a little more, and so the idea of a music festival was born.

In a region where music festivals have a tendency to peter out after seven years, the fact that Saint Lucia Jazz celebrated its 20th birthday in 2011 is testament to the hard work and dedication that goes on behind the scenes to ensure this colourful event endures. That – and of course the array of musicians, from little-known local acts to household names, which grace the festival with their talent year after year.

During initial meetings about increasing tourism to St Lucia, organisers brainstormed extensively before finally coming up with the idea for a music festival. But despite the excitement at the thought of such a project, there was an overwhelming feeling that the limited resources available made the festival a ‘bad’ idea. Not to mention the fact that some critics felt that jazz, not being an ‘indigenous’ style of music to St Lucia, was the wrong medium for any musical event that was to be held on the island.

Despite objections and concerns, the first Saint Lucia Jazz took place as planned in 1992. The festival was pretty small, there were few attendees, and only four venues took part. Clearly the festival was not the huge success it had been hoped to be, and it would have been easy at that time to give up on the idea. But the organisers still felt the idea had legs, so they brainstormed again and worked on ways to improve the festival. By 1994 things were picking up, and the festival started to morph into the Saint Lucia Jazz we know and love today. The musical mix – acoustic and fusion jazz with some R&B – was clearly a winning formula, and the expansion of the festival into the fringe has also contributed to the success of St Lucia Jazz today.

In 2012, far from the gaggle of small clubs and hotels that Saint Lucia Jazz started off as, the festival has expanded into a ten-day event that sweeps the entire island up in its enthusiastic wake. The development of fringe events in the south of the island has virtually turned the fringe into a separate festival, where the flavour is distinctly Afro-Caribbean and appeals to a wider range of audiences, particular local music fans.

These days, Saint Lucia Jazz is considered one of the best music festivals in the world. It ranks second of all the Caribbean festivals (pipped to the post by T&T’s Carnival). Far exceeding its original objectives, St Lucia Jazz is today a big brand, attracting thousands of visitors every year.

A festival as prestigious as this obviously attracts musical artistes of the highest quality and talent. In 2012 performers include Lionel Richie, Ziggy Marley and Gypsy Kings. Past performers have included Shaggy, Maxi Priest, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick and of course Amy Winehouse, who was a regular visitor to St Lucia.

Saint Lucia Jazz has achieved what it set out to achieve. It has grown into a phenomenon that has vastly improved the island’s tourism figures every May, and which provides local tourism businesses with opportunities to run ‘specials’ in the lead-up to the festival every year. Look out in particular for special offers made by hotels, who often sell rooms at preferential rates during Jazz or provide complimentary transport to the venues throughout the duration of the festival. If you’re considering St Lucia as a potential holiday destination, this is definitely a good time of year to grab yourself a bargain!

Caribbean cruise

The prestigious title of “Best Port of the Caribbean” has been awarded to Port Castries, Saint Lucia by Editor-In-Chief, Mr. Bill Panoff of Porthole Cruise Magazine.

Port Castries is managed and operated by the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), welcomes over 300 cruise ships and handles approximately 600,000 cruise passengers per year.

Director of Marketing and Product Development Dona Regis says a lot of investments in infrastructure and facilities were made in the development of Port Castries. She said: “SLASPA continues to play a great role in the development of the cruise industry and winning this award reaffirms that we are doing something remarkable in Saint Lucia.”

Porthole Cruise Magazine is published bimonthly and offers cruise and destination related feature stories, as well as information on industry trends, ship reviews, destination features and onboard cuisine, entertainment, amenities, innovations, spas and much more.

The lineup for the 2012 Saint Lucia Jazz festival has been announced, with this year’s headlining acts to include Lionel Richie, Ziggy Marley and Gypsy Kings.

The full lineup with venue details and dates can be seen in the official launch flyer, below (click to enlarge).

Saint Lucia Jazz 2012 lineup

Like many St Lucia hotels, Marigot Beach Club and Dive Resort will be organising its own special rates, transport offers and other goodies nearer the time, so please stay tuned!

Our new chef/food and beverages manager, Ian Sherlock

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ian Sherlock, who will take over as chef and food and beverages manager at Marigot Beach Club and Dive Resort in early February 2012.

Ian, a world-class AAA chef, has a huge amount of experience in the hospitality industry, stretching back over many years. Currently employed at Smuggler’s Cove at Gros Islet, Ian’s past experience includes positions of varying seniority in hotels and bars all over the world, including Thailand, Hong Kong, Dubai, Bali, Bahrain and Morocco – among many others!

We’re very excited to have Ian on the team at Marigot Beach Club and Dive Resort, and can’t wait to get stuck in with all the changes Ian is already planning for the resort. We believe 2012 is going to be a really exciting year for Marigot Beach Club, so stay tuned to our blog to learn about each new phase as it happens.

Meanwhile, we’d like to say a huge “welcome” to Ian, and we look forward to many happy years of working together!

At a time when the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is condemning the UK government for crippling Caribbean tourism with its unfair air passenger duty banding, it’s refreshing to learn that air travel between St Lucia and other Caribbean islands is set to become easier and cheaper.

REDjet, the Caribbean’s only low fares airline, has recently announced the launch of a new low fare route between Barbados and St Lucia. This new service was launched on 16th December, in time for the Christmas and New Year break.

St Lucia is REDjet’s sixth destination, and the Barbados to St Lucia route will be its seventh route, following the successful launch of flights to Antigua and Jamaica in November.

Flights between St Lucia and Barbados will initially be offered on Fridays and Sundays, operating on the airline’s MD-82 jets. Fares for these flights can be as low as 60% cheaper than competitors.

In St Lucia, REDjet’s call centre can be reached at +1 (758) 724 5538 (5-JET) and low fares can be booked at Going Places Travel locations in Vieux-fort and Castries. Tickets are also available at the airline’s website, www.flyredjet.com, via call centres and through booking agents in all countries.

Fireworks at Marigot Bay

The festive season is upon us, and as you’d expect, there’s a lot going on at Marigot Beach Club and Dive Resort at Christmas and New Year!

Christmas Eve special menu

On Christmas Eve there’s a special three-course menu at EC$150/US$60 per head, plus live entertainment from Focus Band. Use the link at the bottom of this post to download the menu.

Christmas dinner menu

Our Christmas dinner menu offers interesting twists on traditional Christmas fayre, at EC$125/US$50 per head. Use the link at the bottom of this post to download the menu.

New Year’s event at Doolittle’s Restaurant and Bar

On December 31, from 7 p.m, join us at Doolittle’s Restaurant and Bar for our New Year’s Eve party and see in 2012 with a bang! There’ll be live entertainment, limbo dancing and snake dancing, and of course plenty of fireworks at midnight!

There’s also a special ‘old year’s dinner menu’ at EC$130/US$52 per head (glass of champagne included). Use the links at the bottom of this post to download the menu and find out more.

To reserve, email info@marigotbeachclub.com or call us on 1758 451 4974.

Doolittle's Restaurant and Bar, Marigot Bay, St Lucia

Food and beverage manager required for successful restaurant in Marigot Bay.

The successful candidate will:

The sucessful candidate will be responsible directly to the General Manager, and renumeration is negotiable.

For more information and to apply, please email info@marigotbeachclub.com or call us on 451 4974.

Jump Up at Gros Islet

Once upon a time, Friday night was like any other in the little town of Gros Islet on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

Then someone – one of the bar owners; nobody knows any more which one, but it probably doesn’t matter – thought of a good way to attract customers: they started putting loudspeakers out onto the pavements and playing loud, upbeat music and residents would come out in their droves to dance and socialise and enjoy a beer or two with their friends and neighbours.

Over the years, this simple act has snowballed into what’s now considered to be a true ‘institution’ on St Lucia: “Jump Up”, which is the affectionate local name for the Gros Islet Friday Night Street Party (presumably because one jumps up to dance).

It didn’t take long for word to spread; where at first, Jump Up was mostly attended and enjoyed by Gros Islet residents, it’s now one of the top “must-visit” events on the island, with St Lucians travelling from all over the island to take part in the fun and tourists writing rave reviews of their experiences when they return home.

Jump Up these days is a joyful festival of music, traditional food, dancing and merry-making. Loud music blasts out from every corner of the town, and street food stalls line the pavements; the smell of grilled lambi, lobster and fried fish wafts from one pair of nostrils to another, filling the air with a delicious scent of good, honest, fresh St Lucian food. This is where you’ll get the true taste of St Lucian cuisine: fish cakes, fried chicken, fried fish and baked corn are all popular, and there’s always plenty of fresh fruit and peanuts on hand too.

Through the smoke and delicious scents from the food stalls, people dance non-stop. From their arrival at about 9pm until their departure in the early hours of Saturday morning, locals and tourists alike dance themselves dizzy to the sounds of Caribbean music, smiles of enjoyment spread across their faces.

The party atmosphere at Jump Up is something all adult visitors to St Lucia should experience, as it really encompasses the joyful spirit of the island and her people.

Getting to Gros Islet from Marigot Bay is easy enough: either take a taxi, which will take about an hour, or go by water taxi, which takes about half an hour from Marigot. Most taxi drivers will be happy to stay with you during your visit to Jump Up (you may feel more comfortable if you have a local person with you); alternatively, you can ask the taxi driver who takes you to Gros Islet to meet you at a specific bar or other landmark at a pre-determined time to take you back to the hotel.

If you’re visiting Jump Up, or any other night time event in St Lucia, the advice is much the same as for any part of the world: don’t wander off on your own, stay on the main streets, don’t take too much cash with you and don’t wear expensive jewellery.

But most of all, the advice is simple: ENJOY yourself! Visiting Jump Up at Gros Islet is a real must, and if you’re going to be on holiday in St Lucia it’s one of those activities that’s worth going out of your way to experience; you’ll be so glad you did!

Treat yourself to a relaxing spa treatment at Marigot Beach Club

Did you know that we have a spa on site here at Marigot Beach Club? The Soothing Touch Massage Spa is situated next to reception and overlooks the gardens and beach. Julia, our therapist, is very popular with our guests and offers luxury treatments such as:

Soothing Touch Massage Spa is open 7 days a week from 9am until 5pm (Sundays strictly by appointment only) – be sure to pay Julia a visit when you next stay at our hotel.

We also have a great gift shop on site, offering souvenirs, beach wear, bucket and spades, sun tan lotions etc as well as gorgeous hand made handbags. Check out the shop if you feel you need some retail therapy.