Starfish St Lucia Resort

I stayed at the Starfish resort for 5 days, overall the hotel was good. The room was very clean and the bed was comfortable, the standard room also had a great view of the beach from the balcony. I’d give the food 8/10, there wasn’t as much choice as I’d hoped for an all inclusive resort but the food they did have was still quite nice. There are two other restaurants you can eat in apart from the buffet which requires a reservation, they are advertised to be open every day but are not open every day. There also could have been a wider choice of soft drinks, the cocktails were nice though. The pool was clean and swim up bar was nice but slightly cold. The hotel is within walking distance to local amenities which is also great. The staff were friendly and helpful, the leaflet they give you with hotel information could have been more informative though. The TV in the room had an issue where the screen was blurry though which wasn’t great but didn’t spoil my stay. I’m not sure if I’d say it was great value for money but overall my stay was pretty good. 7/10. Read less

My Wife and I visited the Starfish St Lucia at the end of Oct 23 for two weeks. We had read a lot of the reviews and have been to places similar before so we sort of knew what to expect. I'll try my best to give my open opinion on the hotel in various elements: Location: We couldn't really fault the location, its directly on a nice beach and as we found out at the better end of the beach when the cruise ships arrive as the other end is swarmed with day visitors. It is within walking distance of plenty of restaurants, bars, shops and super markets so plenty of choice and easy to get out and about. The only slight negative point to the location is that is quite a way from the airport and most of the common attractions (Pitons etc) but again we knew this but its something to bear in mind that transfers for example are fairly long (The time varied a lot due to various things happening on the way - street fairs, celebrations etc.. making our transfer around 2.5 hours one way and i think best part of 1 3/4 on the way back). Hotel Room/Grounds: The rooms we had was just a "normal/standard room", this was actually sea facing which was nice. Its pretty basic but did have a coffee maker, fridge (to put your own things into) and apparently (according to the wife) quite a good hair dryer by hotel standards. The room was kept clean during our stay so no complaints there, we did have a couple of issues during the stay; no hot water initially, and a bulb blow in one of the lamps both of which was sorted swiftly after reporting them which was appreciated. If anything I'd say the rooms are quite dark at night the only lights were the lamps and a light near the door, so makeup near the mirror for example was a little tricky. The hotel grounds are fine, always staff knocking around sorting bits out and it all looked pretty well kept really especially for a 3 star resort. Sun loungers and Umbrellas are an issue here, this is sadly one of those places where it seems everyone thinks they own the beds, so go put the towels or what ever out even though they don't use them most of the time and certainly not at the point of putting the towels out. This is made worse by the fact the hotel staff them selves reserve beds for the few "special" guest lol.. which is common but an off putting practice (certainly for us). There were during our stay occasions where 3 adults were led to 4 reserved beds (1 for each person, and 1 to put a bag on can you believe?) with 3 umbrellas between them, this was sorted by the hotel staff themselves meanwhile there were people sitting on broken beds (sometimes 2 to 1 bed), people purchasing umbrellas from vendors on the beach, or people just sitting on the sand in the sun.. This was pretty poor on the hotels part and clearly all guests were not equal in their eyes. Food: This is a bit of a win/lose kind of scenario.. what food was there usually was pretty good and I'd say most of the time on par with what you'd get when eating out locally. The flip side to this is that the selection is particularly small (especially in the evening) which meant if you didn't like what was there, your pretty much out of luck.. there appeared to be no "pasta" type stations, no chips, no pizza.. so bear that in mind if that's your thing. Breakfast was fine with the usual selection of cereal, cooked food, cold meats, fruit and an egg station. Lunch was fine in both the snack bar (chips/burgers/wraps) and the buffet again a small selection but what was there was usually pretty good. the A La Carte's for us at least were not at good as the food in the buffet or snack bar.. and oddly they only open 1 at a time and only on certain days? so at times the buffet is your only option. To be fair we planned on eating our most nights so this never bothered us but again something to bear in mind particularly if your stopping for 2 weeks as I can imagine it would be VERY repetitive and quickly. Drinks: In the morning there were a couple of flasks for tea/coffee prior to the buffet opening and this was refilled as needed throughout the day. It seemed that only 1 bar was ever open at a time, the pool bar in the day and the lobby bar at night, there was a sunset bar above the snack bar but this never opened. I think it would help the hotel and staff to have self service for soft drinks/beer when at the pool bar usually they are tied up with cocktails and mostly during our stay there was one person on the bar (occasionally two). Whilst the service was good if slow at times.. i think that little thing would make life so much easier for everyone. The drinks all seemed to be good and we never heard people complaining about the strength etc.. so all good there. Service: Usually we'd say the service in the hotel from nearly all staff was very good.. there were a couple who wandered around aimlessly with all the time in the world but the rest were great. Overall: We think overall compared with other hotels etc in St Lucia the Starfish is pretty good value for money with only a few things letting it down. For us eating out most nights where we wanted and what we wanted was still less in cost than for example staying at the Mystique which was only marginally better so we were happy with our choice. Read less

The views from the resort are stunning. If you’re coming to explore St Lucia with a cheap place to stay, this is a good choice. This is a very basic resort. Old and tired looking. I would call it a 3⭐️. A few important things to know if you’re coming: 1. Buffet is very limited in variety. One or two meats, which are the same or similar each night. 2. A la carts aren’t open every day, so getting a reservation is tough. I did enjoy my GF pasta at the Italian restaurant. 3. If you’re celiac, don’t come here. 4. Grill was pretty decent food, but very slow so come with patience. 5. One bar open at a time. 6. If you’re hungry during off times, you will have to walk into town. No snacks or store here, but town in a 5-10 min walk. 7. The beach is beautiful and the water clear and warm!! 8. Limited entertain and very few things to do on resort. We didn’t bring kids, but appears like nothing for kids. 9. Final comment, the staff overall acted like they didn’t want to be here. Not super friendly, although there were exceptions like Jonathan and Boss Lady (front desk manager). Would I come back? Probably not, mostly due to staff and lack of food choices. Read less

Having read numerous reviews I wasn’t expecting a 5 star hotel but gosh it was awful. The rooms were severely neglected in desperate need of a complete refurbishment or bulldozing. For example, the toilet leaked across the bathroom floor and the flush barely worked. Lighting was insufficient in the room with only bedside lights, one with a broken switch. Quality and choice of food was the worst we’ve ever experienced in a hotel. Breakfast was ok, we didn't eat the lunch buffet preferring to use the snack bar / grill but the evening meal was disgusting. Limited in choice, poor in quality and cooked earlier in the day then kept warm. We didn’t go to the “specialty” restaurants due to an uninspiring menu and cramped, stuffy, claustrophobic rooms.I understand most people chose to eat out rather than eat at the hotel. The waiting staff were insufficient in numbers, poorly trained and ineffectual. They worked long hours but just didn’t have a routine and flitted from one task to the other instead of working methodically , this meant tables weren’t cleared and relaid. The reception staff were surly and indifferent. They know there are problems with the hotel but just don’t appear to care. One day there were no beach towels available so we had to use the bath towels. Many of the sun beds were broken. I could go on and on. Looking for positives is very difficult. I suspect there is no leadership or management leading to unhappy, overwhelmed disillusioned staff. Bitterly disappointed, we were so looking forward to this holiday but would never recommend this hotel. Read less

My second visit to the Starfish St Lucia. Unfortunately nothing has changed. The condition of the resort has declined. No umbrellas for the beach. Rooms are very dated and are in poor condition. They need to start investing in this resort. It is the best location. The bones are there . The room was old and dated, bed was ok. linens are clean, room is kept clean by the housekeeping staff. Food has improved over the last visit. Lots of fresh vegetables and different fish and meat options. There isnt a massive buffet. They have just the right amount. Deserts were very nice as well. I would say they could improve upon the fruit . Please avoid putting out tinned fruit. I loved the days where there was fresh fruit. Staff are what make this resort what it is. They are very nice and make an effort to get to know you. So management invest in the resort so that people want to come back!!! Read less