St James's Club, Morgan Bay

This property has plenty to do - snorkeling, paddleboards, sailboats, 5 restaurants and a variety of good organized activities. Pool aerobics was a fun way to be sure to get exercise. It also serves as a nice "home base" from which to explore the island and go on other excursions. Staff were friendly and generally attentive. Rooms have plenty of space and beds are very comfortable! Read less

This review comes from a mid-twenty-year-old couple from South of England. We have just returned from a week all-inclusive at St James’ resort, booked through TUI. For ease of reading ill break it down into a few categories to hopefully answer any questions people may have before they book. I will mention this early however, before you read on. If you choose to go late August as we did, expect things to start shutting down before you have even left. Having spent thousands of pounds on a holiday, it was becoming very frustrating to be told with an hour or so’s notice that 5 of the 6 restaurants are shut tonight and therefore the entire resort is forced to eat at one restaurant. While the chef catered for our vegetarian diet, it’s a bit naughty to advertise all of these restaurants, secure the booking and then an hour before dinner post a flyer under the door to say they’re all closed. Not impressed. TUI- I cannot recommend TUI enough to be honest. We think highly of TUI since their service when we got stranded during the drone nonsense at Gatwick and for this holiday, they were everything we needed them to be again. The Room – We stayed in a room a 10-20 second walk to the beach and our back door opened out onto the pool. This was great for us as we barely spend any time in the room and meant we could pop to and from the beach to the room for forgotten sun cream etc, as we pleased. It did come with its downfalls as it was also next to the bar and evening entertainment stage so was fairly noisy until midnight ish. The room was a bit ropey. It was clean and well maintained but it was basic and didn’t really have any of the added pleasantries you often find when you walk into a hotel room. It was the kind of room you would expect in a travel lodge at home or similar company. Basic, but did the job. Air con that worked, a tele, a safe, a comfy bed with ample pillows, a fridge, a coffee maker that you won’t use as there is a complimentary coffee shop on site, mediocre shower and a couple of mirrors. While the room could have been better, who goes to the Caribbean to sit in the room? We showered and slept there and spent the rest of the time out. The staff – The restaurant staff were absolutely brilliant and very accommodating. I cannot fault them at all. A lovely lady called Leatha made us lovely omelettes every morning and was very friendly. There was also a waitress who’s name I didn’t catch, but she was young and tall and her name began with J I think. She was absolutely lovely as well. One evening (and I will touch upon this later in the show) we arrived at Bambou restaurant having not pre-ordered vegetarian dishes. This lovely waitress went out of her way to chat with the chef and between them they rustled up a veggie pasta dish, with no notice. Thank you. However; the rest of the front of house staff and especially the watersports staff were not friendly and had this attitude about them that made me feel like talking to me or answering a question I had was a chore. I felt like they rolled their eyes at me every time I dared to ask something. The watersports staff were horrible to be honest. Rude, abrupt and treated you like an idiot. One day, we asked to go snorkelling and got grunted at and thrown a contract to sign (filled with spelling mistakes) about the cost of the snorkel should it not be returned. Fair enough. Upon its return, the same rude guy in the shack told me I needed to sign the snorkel back in, and as I went to, he snatched the paper away from me and shouted aggressively at me “I don’t want you wetting the paper”. Surely asking someone that’s just been snorkelling to sign something was only ever going to end one way. And in 30 degree heat, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been the end of the world if I did make the paper slightly wet. I didn’t like the man that taught the basics of water skii’ing. He was an older large man and again, made the entire group feel like idiots for not understanding his instructions. May I suggest that if the whole group doesn’t understand what you’re teaching, that maybe the issues lies with the teacher, and not the pupils. There wasn’t one water sports member of staff who was friendly to be honest. They all had attitude. They were all rude and all make you feel like a hindrance for daring to ask to use some equipment. Let’s not forget, we have paid a lot of money to be here and the watersports were what tipped the scales towards St James’ for us so its unfair we felt like we couldn’t ask to use something. The watersports - There are pedalos, kayaks, paddleboards, sailing boats and snorkels. There is also a small boat that takes out a banana boat in the afternoon and does some water skiing. As mentioned above, the staff are rude and make you feel like a hindrance and they aren’t willing to spend time making sure you learn whatever sport you wish to partake in. If you are already fairly competent at a watersport, or its as simple as a pedalo is you will enjoy it however if you require some tuition prior, done expect to get it from these guys with a smile. The food - Not eating meat, we struggled. There are 6 restaurants, one you have to pay, one buffet (when the hotel didn’t decide to close it with no notice) and 3 to book in advance. We didn’t go hungry by any stretch of the imagination, but the food certainly wasn’t luxury. Breakfast was fantastic each morning with everything you would expect from a buffet breakfast, but lunch and dinner was questionable. There is a bbq station run throughout the day. The man that was running it for the duration of our stay seemed like an angry man and on one occasion, had an argument with another member of staff and so turned up his music to a high volume to drown out his colleagues’ voice, leaving customers stood there, feeling awkward. I felt like it was always going to be the case, going to a bbq station, but vegetarians, don’t bother. They supposedly offer a veggie burger, however not once did they have any in stock, or so the angry man told me. The drinks - Absolutely spot on. The booze wasn’t watered down, the cocktails / mocktails were amazing and the service was always prompt and efficient. There are various bars all over the resort however St Lucia is never going to attract the dunk riff raff you associate with all inclusive bars and therefore, they were pleasant to sit around. Excursions - They are on offer. Whale watching, piton viewing, the ‘drive in volcano’ (don’t bother) etc. Its not cheap but if sitting in the resort isn’t your thing, you can get out and see lots. Shopping - There are two shops on site but they are extortionate. And I mean, 10 pounds for a share bag of doritos! We intended to venture out to the local shops to buy souvenirs however having driven past the market on an excursion, it is very very fruit / veg / local produce orientated and not ideal for souvenirs. So my family went without when I got home. The resort - It is absolutely stunning. There are multiple pools including a pool right at the top of the resort that looks out across the ocean. All are clean and have a bar no more than a couple of feet away. There is a coffee shop offering a range of hot and cold beverages into the early morning with a selection of biscuits and cakes. Pool table and jenga. Decent gym, and tennis courts. Activities throughout the day and always somewhere to go to avoid everyone else. Not once did we feel like sardines and again, as the resort attracts working couples / families, all but one of the kids were well behaved throughout our stay. In Summary – I have noted a few gripes about our stay throughout this review, but please don’t let that put you off. We had an absolutely amazing stay and will be recommending it to friends and family. The views are incredible, you will get some lovely photos and I even came back with a fiancé. The resort allows you to make the holiday into what you want. Lounging round the pool or on the beach. Excursions or volleyball. Water sports or the gym. We did a bit of everything every day and had a fantastic time. I just wish some of the staff could learn from the restaurant staff in manners and courtesy. The bit you were hoping someone would answer: They use UK plug sockets so you don’t need an adaptor. Yes there are bitey bugs, and yes you will get bitten. Wilko do a great DEET bug spray. Take predominantly US dollars and a few East Caribbean. Everywhere takes both and we found the ECD’s a bit of a chore so just spent them on unnecessary food at the airport on the way home. There isn’t a departure tax but take a pen to fill out the immigration forms each way, they’re like gold dust. Tipping isn’t necessary. Appreciated but not expected. Sun cream is a must. End of August is hurricane season and we still burnt after multiple sun cream applications that must’ve washed off. Make sure you are happy with the $2 a night charity donation the hotel kindly add to your final bill. While they don’t keep it secret they are adding this to your bill, it is cheeky to find a $14 donation when you come to check out although it is easy enough to remove if you wish. Take your diving licence. You can drive dune buggies around on some excursions and you need your DL. Be sure you are a confident driver however, as although they drive on the left, the standard of driving is shocking. Don’t wear your Raybans on the banana boat. Read less

It was meant to be a special holiday to allow us a chance to revisit the island where we got married and then to renew our vows! St Lucia, St James Resort and the staff did not disappoint! Right from the arrival and up until the departure we had an amazing time. The food was fantastic with a great variety that catered for everyone! you also have access to few restaurants on the resort that you're able to eat at (although you do need to book (we did not find this a drama). The bar staff work tirelessly ensuring that your needs are catered and always with a smile. We booked the boat trip with Joys tours and the crew were again brilliant, and allowed the whole group to have a fantastic memory! The Vow renewal service went without a hitch (even with Storm Dorian trying to invite itself!) and supplied a brilliant day that we will all remember forever! on that note, the threat of Storm Dorian hitting the resort was well managed by the staff. An amazing time, amazing memory and would definitely recommend. Read less

When we arrived at this hotel our first reaction was wow! We were greeted by the most friendly staff and a rum punch. Check in was quick and Nathan then came over and gave us a fabulous briefing on the hotel and everything we needed to know. We were then whisked off to our room on the golf cart. We had booked a garden view room but ended up with a sea view suite! We had emailed the hotel prior to arriving to ask for both rooms next to each other and we were so happy that they sorted this! The rooms are amazing. We had a little living area with tv, fridge, sofa and doors to the balcony. There was tea and coffee making facilities. The bed was huge and so comfy and there’s plenty of storage space to put your clothes. The balcony was a great size and had two chairs and a table for sitting out. The bathroom had a giant bath with shower head and there was loads of space to put your toiletries. Onto the food... There’s 5 restaurants to choose from at this hotel. The Palms is the buffet restaurant and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All meals at this restaurant are great! The theming for lunch and dinner changes daily so there is a vast variety of food. For example we had BBQ, Mediterranean, Italian, Caribbean and comfort food for themes. Bambou is located on the beach front and is Caribbean/ Asian themed. The food here is amazing and you order off a menu. I had lamb shanks with veg, there was a duck casserole which the rest of my family had and they thought it was delicious. The next time we went I had the most gorgeous steak! Morgan’s pier is... on the pier!! This restaurant is mainly sea food however there are other options. I had beef and sausage kebabs, there’s a catch of the day, a burger and some more seafood options. Again, the food is gorgeous. This restaurant was also our favourite setting! Book in for about 6:30pm and you’ll see the amazing sunset in the next half hour. Tree tops is an Italian and is located on a small hill surrounded by trees. This is probably the least formal of the a la carte restaurants but the food is really good! Pizza, pasta, knickerbocker glories! It’s great!! For lunch we mostly ate at the Palms, however there’s a BBQ beach hut located on the beach next to Morgan’s pier where you can get burgers, fried chicken, salad etc. You can also eat at the snack bar which is at the children’s pool. We were there on the final night the hotel was open as it was closing for a month due to renovations. During the last week they shut the Palms restaurant so we ate at the a la carte ones more often (no complaints!). On the final night the only restaurant open was Le Jardin and as a gesture of goodwill to the remaining guests we got to eat there for free (we wouldn’t have gone otherwise). The food was really good, as was the atmosphere with the pianist. You can see why there is a charge for this restaurant as it is beyond what you’d expect at any all inclusive resort! There’s no obligation to go here, it’s down to choice so I don’t know why people complain that you have to pay- just don’t go! There’s plenty of other restaurants to choose from! There’s a couple of bars- the swim up bar is located in the adults only pool. The staff will ask children to leave this pool due to alcohol being served. The swim up bar is part of the main pool bar which is around the other side. The Sandpit is located on the beach where you can also get drinks. If you’re on the beach you get a red flag to wave whenever you want a drink. The staff also came around the pool with water and asked if we wanted anything g. There’s the sunset lounge which is where you get your drinks on a night. Ask the staff to mix you something nice, don’t just stick to the cocktail menu! The water-sports are really good. Aloysius taught my sister how to sail the hobbycat and we went sailing everyday after, we even saw a turtle in the sea! If you don’t want to learn to sail, the water sports guys will take you out for a ride. I had a go at water skiing but wasn’t very successful though plenty of people were. The banana boat goes out everyday except Sundays at 2pm. We also took the kayaks out. You can paddle board and jet skI (at a cost). All sports have to be booked and booking opens at 8am daily but as we were at the hotel during low occupancy we could often just walk up and choose what we wanted to do. The hotel is so clean, and the grounds are well looked after. All of the people we met, inside and outside the hotel, just want you to love their island as much as they do and they will do anything to make sure you have a comfortable stay. We got the bus from outside the hotel to Rodney Bay but not much was open. A local advised we went to the market at Castries as everything is much cheaper but we didn’t go. Getting the bus was an experience and there’s no schedule and the busses look like little vans. I would probably get a taxi next time. Like usual tourist destinations people will try to sell you stuff and give you stuff and then expect a ‘tip’. A simple ‘no thank you’ and they move on. We felt safe walking around and found locals to be very friendly. All of the staff at this hotel are so friendly and helpful but we have some special mentions for a couple of members of staff: Jeanique who works in the restaurants was just amazing! So friendly and helpful, always asking what we’d been up to and she always had a smile on her face. Jayah at the pool bar mixed the BEST cocktails! Ask for something peachy, they are just amazing! Lisa who was actually in training used to always bring cups of water whilst you were sunbathing around the pool, if it was quiet she would bring cocktails around and take your drinks order. She was lovely and we hope she gets the job! Laura who welcomed us into the restaurants was also so friendly, as was Jonathan one of the waiters. We would definitely come back to this resort if we were visiting St Lucia again. The hotel was no comparison to other hotels we saw on trips out. I can’t really see what anyone could complain about! We never met a rude member of staff or ate any bad food, in fact we never felt hungry at any point of the holiday because the food was so nice!! We would like to thank everyone at the hotel for making our stay so fantastic. Read less

We visited St. James’s Club, Morgan Bay in August. We booked through TUI and unfortunately on arrival at the airport there was only one TUI rep organising everyones transfers. Our name wasn’t on their list and we ended up standing in the heat whilst she decided what to do with us, in the end despite no confirmation but the rep we were placed on a bus to the hotel. The check in at the hotel was quick despite slight confusion on what was going on but lovely drinks provided upon arrival. A golf buggy took us to our room as the resort is quite large, the room was large, great air con, amazing view, very clean. Good buggy’s were available for lifts whenever you needed. Rooms were cleaned daily and all staff were so friendly and polite. The only let down of the room was the hair dryer, not very strong or hot, definitely take our home, ours also broke several times despite poor attempts to fix it! We booked two tours whilst at the hotel, one through the hotel- scuba steve and joys tour via JJ under the almond tree I the beach. Both absolutely amazing and worth doing!! Plenty of trips were available at reception. On arrival at the hotel, family’s were provided a booklet with TUI, day trip info etc. Due to our name not being on the arrival list, we didn’t receive this until half way through the week. It would have been helpful to have our reps contact info sooner as the rep was never just available on site, we also missed the information regarding the Friday night street party/tickets which I would have loved to have gone to missed. The resort is genuinely beautiful, there are multiple restaurants to eat in. Our favourite breakfast restaurant was Bambou looking over the sea - buffet style, eggs cooked to order, amazing omelettes! For lunch we mainly ate at the BBQ shack, chicken, ribs, burgers, beef brisket to die for! We had dinner several nights at the Palms - buffet, no bookings required, different themes daily, very nice food but drinks service very slow. We booked to have dinner at Bambou one night and twice at the Pier. The pier was our favourite by far, amazing three course meals, amazing view and atmosphere, the staff very polite especially Wesley who made it extra special. I visited the cafe most days for cake and cold drinks, raspberry crumble cake and iced chocolate drink were my favourite. The plum tree restaurant was helpful when other restaurants were closed following one of our day trips, more of an English food menu and the food was very slow. Bars were located everywhere! Cocktail of the day was always worth a try and piton beer was great, staff always super friendly. There are several pools, one with an in pool bar, one adult only with a great view over the sea and some lovely sunsets. The main bar is open every evening with varying entertainment and also is WiFi along with reception. The beach was lovely, safe, clean, lots of sun beds available, separate swim area to water sports. The water sports is absolutely amazing and included in the package. The waterspouts team were all amazing especially Bob! There were kayaks, paddle boards, pedalos, homie boats, water skis, and snorkels. You signed up each morning for lessons or to take equipment out. I learnt to sail, water ski and wakeboard! I only wish there were further classes available to teach further skills on the water skis and wakeboarding. In addition, there were snorkels to take out for an entire day one day, someone had taken them on a day trip leaving none at the hotel. The water sports team were always there to help. Jet skis were available at a cost. The gym was really good, good equipment and classes were available daily. Float fit in the sea was a good laugh! Tennis courts are also available for use daily. We visited the hotel shop and the more traditional st Lucian souvenir shop before we left the resort. The latter of which only accepts cash payments but is 100% worth a visit. I took cash out through the hotel reception, I believe there is a cash point in close walking distance to the hotel but the receptionist was not helpful when asked. Unfortunately the beach party was a wash out which was a shame as I’d heard really good things about it, within 1/2hr of starting so did the torrential rain and it didn’t stop. Overall this hotel is amazing and the staff great, I would 100% return and do it all again, the best holiday ever! Read less