Reduit Beach, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia | (937) 315-4602
Great location on Reduit Beach and close to Rodney Bay Village
Huge lagoon-style pool with chic swim-up bar
Large suite-style rooms with separate living areas and bedrooms
The Beach Tent, an intimate open-air restaurant on the beach
Huge three-story lobby with plenty of nooks for reading and relaxing
Two-for-one cocktails during happy hour
Free Wi-Fi
The flooring and rugs in the suites show signs of wear and tear
Water sports are not included in the room rate and are pricey
Guests not staying at the hotel are able to purchase day passes to use the pool
Beach vendors can be annoying
The gym (shared with the adjacent hotel) is outdated and small
No elevators to service the second and third floors
There is a charge to print documents from the computer in the lobby
It's a 90-minute drive to the major international airport
This 95-suite upper-middle-range resort delivers on location -- it's steps from Reduit Beach and close to Rodney Bay Village. A stylish swim-up bar services a lagoon-style pool ringed by palm trees and cushy white loungers and day beds, which are spaced far enough apart for privacy. The resort offers three restaurants, but the most intimate is the Beach Shack, an open-air pavilion right on the beach. Some of the spacious suite-style rooms have terraces with dead-on views of the sea, but the rooms do show hints of wear and tear with scuffed floors and spots on the rugs.
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Scene
Relaxed vibe with a civilized social scene centered around a huge pool with a chic, roundel swim-up bar that overlooks the Caribbean
Rex by Royal is the upscale sister to the adjacent St. Lucian, one of St. Lucia's first resorts. Although the two hotels are connected via a maze-like outdoor hallway and share a spa and gym (both in need of updating), that is all they have in common.
The Royal is an all-suite, boutique-like resort with a huge, three-story lobby finished in a quirky Caribbean style. Contemporary purple velvet sofas mix with arrangements of traditional white wicker furniture and interesting and colorful local artwork. A business center is tucked under a stairwell and a boutique is fronted by white shuttered doors.
While there is plenty of space to sit and relax in the lobby, the focal point of the Royal is the large lagoon-style pool and its attractive roundel-style swim-up bar, which features an interior lounge with a crescent-shaped banquette finished in crisp white fabric. Similarly finished woven lounge chairs with matching side tables are arranged around the pool in a civilized and uncrowded fashion. The beach, just a few steps away, is ideal for morning walks. It offers sugary, amber-colored sand, calm water for swimming, and an interesting mix of tourists and locals, some who may still be asleep on the beach.
Guests of the hotel have three dining options. L'Epicure is a huge open-air restaurant with a white piano and a bar and lounge that's popular during the two-for-one happy hour. Chic is an air-conditioned fine-dining restaurant highlighted by modern art and sculpture. The intimate Beach Tent is a highlight of the hotel. The tiny tiki-hut style building right on the beach offers a rustic, romantic vibe all within earshot of the waves and voices of beach walkers.
Location
On Reduit Beach, walking distance to Rodney Bay Village
The hotel is located on the northwest side of St. Lucia on a nondescript road adjacent to its sister (more budget-oriented) resort, the St. Lucian. The hotel fronts Reduit Beach, a long amber-sand stretch of beach that rims the calm waters of Rodney Bay. The restaurants and bars of Rodney Bay Village are within walking distance.
Rooms
Spacious suites with modern, but slightly worn, Caribbean decor
All of the 95 rooms at Royal by Rex are suites with separate bedrooms and living areas. The living areas, sunken below the bedrooms, feature light ceramic tile floors, modern geometric-patterned rugs (some showing stains from past guests), and cream-colored modular-style sofas. Desks and chairs offer a place to check e-mail via the free Wi-Fi while French doors open onto tiled terraces and patios with views of the gardens, the pool, and the sea.
The decor, although slightly worn, is modern Caribbean, and incorporates inset glass shelving displaying colorful pottery and vases arranged with local flowers, as well as walls covered with Caribbean-inspired artwork. The rooms also feature wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, safes, mini-refrigerators, and coffeemakers.
A white-shuttered pass-through window connects the living space to the bedrooms, which are finished with dark wood flooring, large closets, and multi-drawer vanities. Bathrooms are well-equipped with separate showers with oversized rain showerheads and deep soaking tubs. Twin raised vessel sinks are set into large vanities covered with shimmery pearl glass tiles. Frosted glass sliding doors enclose water closets and showers while monogrammed towels are hung and stacked beneath the vanities.
Rooms feature either one king or two twin beds and are categorized mostly by view. The majority of the rooms (55) are Seaview Deluxe and feature views across the pool or gardens to the ocean. Deluxe Suites face the gardens. The coveted Beachfront Deluxe Suites (more spacious than the Seaview Deluxe rooms) offer dead-on views of the beach and Caribbean from huge, walk-out terraces that come equipped with outdoor sinks, mini-fridges, and two lounge chairs. Grand Deluxe Rooms are the largest of all the categories. They offer views of the sea from wide, covered terraces that are outfitted with whirlpool tubs, dining tables, and several lounge chairs.
Features
A boutique-like resort with a huge pool, three restaurants, two bars, and a small spa
Royal by Rex doesn't have the onslaught of amenities offered by many of St. Lucia's big resorts, but it does deliver on many fronts. It holds a prime location front-and-center on Reduit Beach and within walking distance to Rodney Bay Village's numerous restaurants and bars. A lagoon-style pool is ringed by palm trees and nicely coiffed landscaping, providing a picturesque backdrop for guests lounging poolside. A swim-up or bridge-accessed roundel style bar is popular throughout the day as guests retrieve cocktails to sip poolside or beneath umbrellas on the beach. The hotel offers three restaurants, ranging from an intimate beach shack to air-conditioned fine dining to a massive open-air space with a terrace and bar. Unlike sister properties, the Royal is not all-inclusive. A small, adequate spa and an inadequate gym are located between the Royal and its downscale sister resort, the St. Lucian.
