BodyHoliday
When seeking adventure in warmer climes, the brilliant BodyHoliday suits them for a perfect mix of luxury, along with keeping up their keen fitness regime.
This is a super place and one I am keen to share so asked Lucy if she would be interested to provide some feedback from her visit at the end of last year.
She kindly obliged...
Having previously experienced a stay at the BodyHoliday, I decided to return but this time with my partner. I enjoyed it last time but this time, I totally loved it!
"I am a big fan of and regular visitor to the truly beautiful island of St Lucia and ha
After a great direct flight with British Airways from London, Gillian had arranged a private car transfer for us.
The hotel is located at the north of the Island and with the International Airport in the South, the drive takes around 90 minutes. However, any tiredness quickly evaporated with a lovely driver, complimentary water, air conditioning and a totally inspiring journey through the lush and gigantic rain forests. It felt like our own private tour through Jurassic Park!
The BodyHoliday is an impressive 5* resort. The tone is set with the quality of the arrival cocktail and the welcome pack before being shown to our room.
Having a pillow menu was an exciting first and the bedtime herbal tea and cookies were a nice change from the complimentary chocolate on the pillow!
A worthy mention at this stage too for the charismatic bar tender who not only visits the beach to provide service for you but who actually comes into the water too - a lovely touch!
We went all-inclusive and it was well worth it. The food choice was amazing with all dietary requirements catered for and certainly one of the most flexible places I have visited.
If a full breakfast was desired you could, if you wanted to eat more healthily you could, if you wanted to eat early or late you could...
The quality of the food was outstanding. Genuine à la carte options along with some more relaxed dining and as for the pizza oven and the deli, they have to receive a stand out mention - the blue cheese and pear pizza was a firm favourite and the deli an awesome place to chill and enjoy fabulous coffee, homemade cakes, fudge to die for and tasty salads/ wraps.
Believe it or not, after focusing on the culinary delights, this is an activity holiday – gym, boot camp, combat, dance, Pilates, yoga, tennis, golf... literally an activity available on the hour every hour from 6am to 7pm. The dance studios and the gym are top drawer.
There is also a complimentary full hour treatment per person per day – all kinds of massages, facials, etc – each one we had was amazing and you can pre-book your times too, which was greatly appreciated so we did not have to cancel/ rearrange anything else we had booked.
Evening entertainment is provided at the hotel by way of a disco or live band but to be honest most people seem eager to simply enjoy the food, the bars, the company of fellow guests and then head to bed in preparation for an early start.
Our holiday had also coincided with the 1 mile St Lucia swim week – a themed week with 2 Olympic swimmers. We learned so much, partook in various lessons, group swims and added some extremely worthwhile private lessons.
We then took part in the fabulous St Lucia swim of 1 mile – not organised by the resort – it was a public event open to all residents, guests and locals and was great fun. The St Lucians are friendly and welcoming wherever you go and have a great sense of humour!
We were also keen to get out and try some tours. There are lots available from gardens, wildlife, forests and local village visits but we opted for the relaxing sunset cruise which was beautiful if a little crowded.
More active and far harder work was the Quadrathon - a challenging cross-country cycle ride on top quality mountain bikes, followed by a run, a spectacular abseil down a waterfall, then a 5 mile kayak back to the beach. It was fully supported including several water stops but boy was that tough!
This was a brilliant holiday. The weather was stunning throughout and being with an active fitness partner and having enough for both of us to do yet still be able to relax ticked all the boxes.
We wish we could have stayed longer but wasted no time in booking it with Gillian again, hopefully for late this year (fingers crossed). We will bring a little more insect repellent and more sports clothes than formal ones this time and just can’t wait. Bring it on!
Lucy Bolton