St. Lucia Windjammer's Villa Revamped

Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort is no newcomer to St. Lucia. In fact, the resort is one of the oldest in the Caribbean, having opened in 1930. The resort is not showing its age in the slightest, having modernized and renovated over the years.

Villa units form the centerpiece of the 60-acre property, nestled on hillsides that rise from the beach.

"We have 330 villa rooms and will start on a $33 million beachfront villa expansion project that will add 28 luxury two-and three-bedroom villas," said Mark Ozawa, managing director.

Windjammer has a number of time-share villa units interspersed among regular guest units. When the units are not owner-occupied, they are placed in the resort inventory. The resort is investing $9 million in a renovation of 19 existing beach villas.

The resort recently completed a beach expansion program that added 4,000 tons of sand, three in-water hammocks and more than 30 coconut palm trees and 30 frontal palms. New tiki huts replaced older versions, and sea turtle amber-colored safe lights were installed on the beach to prevent the baby turtles from being confused by bright lights after hatching.

Windjammer's biggest news for 2015, according to Ozawa, is the new 5,300-square-foot Atelier Spa and the 2,700-square-foot gym, both set to debut in May.

The spa will feature six treatment rooms, separate locker and steam rooms, an outdoor spa pool and an array of spa products. The gym will include an exercise studio, Cybex equipment and an outdoor yoga deck. The spa and the gym will each be housed in stand-alone buildings.

Where the old gym stood could be turned into what Ozawa described as a "cool coffee shop." Under consideration is the possibility of Windjammer going the all-inclusive route.

The resort does offer what it describes as a "premium all-inclusive" plan that has proven very popular with guests, Ozawa said.

Every guest on the all-inclusive program is assigned an ambassador, much like a concierge, who is there to help out with spa appointments, tour reservations and general information.

Windjammer launched its agent specialist program in 2013 that offers incentives once the online program is completed.

Source: Travel Weekly