Awesome Villa Experience 7/7-7/14/2011

Guest: Bob Leavitt (Omaha Nebraska)
Date of Stay: 12/07/11 Review Submitted: 12/28/11

We absolutely loved your villa, the layout, the views, the openness, it simply is the perfect place for my wife and I and our three children and their spouses. There was ample space for everyone to be together or break apart for some peace and quiet. And we loved your staff, every one of them. They took care of every detail to insure our comfort and quite simply, spoiled us. I had intended to cook the breakfast as I always do, and have them prepare a dinner or two. After the first night's dinner and the breakfast the next morning, we were hooked. We knew that the week was going to be special. We did dine out our third night, and while it was a great meal and view, we all agreed that Sharmaine was a better chef and we were eating better at the villa. In addition the views from the villa rivaled any on the island. Other than one other lunch when we took a day trip, we dined in the rest of the time. You really did think of everything in designing the additions and renovations to your villa. You perfectly complimented it with your wonderful and friendly staff. I suspect that Bernard, is more independent than the rest, but you really did hook up with a great individual to be your preferred driver. As you suggested might happen, he had a cooler full of beer, water and soda, when he picked us up from the airport. We never did rent a car and used him the entire trip. How nice to be able to allow you to do our initial shopping and have stocked what we needed when we arrived to start our vacation. After the long trip to get there, this is really a welcome service. We took you up on your offer to allow the staff to spoil us and had them do all of the shopping for us. Tiki is a great individual and a really hard worker who obviously takes pride in making sure the pool is crystal clear, the surrounding decks and patios are clean and the flowers and landscaping are picture perfect. And what can we say about Cathering, Theresa and Sharmaine? They work so well together and seem to really enjoy each others company and generally, enjoy spoiling the guests. We loved them! The flowers on the bed was a special touch and it's obvious Theresa & Catherine love doing it. Albert? What a great guy. We really enjoyed his company and it's a nice touch to know that he is there for our safety and security. This was our 15th or 16th villa rental. We've never had such overall exceptional service. It was, by far, our best villa experience ever.

Owner response:Dear Robert - what can we say but thank you for such kind words. We are so thrilled that you had such a great experience. We were lucky to find the spot and have been blesssed with wonderful friends who work with us to make Le Gallerie the very special place it is. Thank you again. Kindest regards Ben & Ba.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, age 55+, families with teenagers.

A Fantastic 15th Anniversary

Guest: Scott (Charlotte, NC)
Date of Stay: 06/18/11 Review Submitted: 08/04/11

We left North Carolina and our 4 kids behind to celebrate our 15th anniversary and had a week in paradise. Having been to many exotic locations and third world countries, I didn't think there was a place on the planet where I wouldn't mind renting a car - but I couldn't imagine driving on some of the roads there. It's not a negative, because Bernard was such a great personal driver that we never worried at all. The pictures from the website are true to life, in fact, it's even better in person. You literally feel like there is no one else on the island once the staff leave for the day, and having looked at all the villa options for Souffriere, Gallerie clearly has the most impressive view of the Pitons out of all. Plus, we were greeted by a rainbow on our arrival! The weather was perfect every day, the food excellent thanks to our very capable and friendly house staff. We never ate out since we had such great cooks on site and never did any activities on the island other than swimming at the pool, down at their rocky beach (great snorkeling!) and at Anse Chastanet (an easy walk down that seems a little longer coming up but is very doable). We did, however, hike the Gros Piton and were amazed that anyone can make that climb. It's more of a compilation of 4-6 foot boulders all the way up the mountain, than a trail. We are an athletic couple and found it to be quite a challenge! Of course, we tried to keep up with our 15 year-old gazelle, I mean guide, who leaped up the rocks and boulders like they were nothing! He offered to slow down, but we take opportunities like that to become 'weekend warriors' and try to pretend we're not really 40 years old any more. All in all, it was a fantastic trip and the owners were extremely helpful in answering all of our questions, concerns and they were very accommodating. We would recommend this villa very highly (where else can you lay on a hammock inside the house while hummingbirds drink nectar from the vast array of purple flowers only a few feet above you!) It really is surreal. I wish I could post pictures in this review, but the owners provide excellent ones and don't leave anything lacking. Someday we hope to return with all of our children so we can put all of the bedrooms and staff to even better use (I know they want to come), but then again a nice break from reality with just the two of us in paradise - at Le Gallerie again - would be a really nice treat for our 20th...

Owner response:Scott we would like to thank you for posting your kind review of Bernard, our home, our staff and your vacation and for recommending Le Gallerie so highly. Hopefully we can post a few of your great photos on Le-Gallerie.com and congratulations on getting up a Piton too. You must have had a tremendous vacation which makes us very happy.

Recommended for:

A Slice of Heaven!

Guest: Rosebud (Mountain Brook, Alabama)
Date of Stay: 07/02/11 Review Submitted: 07/17/11

Our stay at Le Gallerie was nothing short of one of the beautiful photo spreads seen in Coastal Living or Travel Lesiure! The property is absolutely breath taking! The staff is so warm and welcoming and devoted to making your stay memorable. Our sons were age 23- 19 (3) and our daughter age 10. They took great delight in snorkeling at Anse Chastenet.....walking down is easy....the walk up a little more than a challenge after a day of snorkeling/scuba and a delightful meal at the restaurant. There are taxis at the entrance to Anse Chastenet and I am sure you could get one to run you to the top of the hill! I highly recommend the taking the zipline tour in Soufriere! It was so much fun (even for someone like me who is afraid of heights!) and the guides were patient, knowledgeable and lots of fun! There is another zipline around Castries but the road to there is long and extremely curvy. Be sure and take a water taxi tour while you are visiting....it is so beautiful to see so much of the island from the water and to view Le Gallerie from the water! Another great treat is to go Micoud and ride ATV (4 wheel vehicles)! The guide, Kirk, is from Belgium and is very enthusiastic and entertaining throughout your tour of the fruit plantation and rain forest! It is not a problem to access anything you want to see in St. Lucia....always use Bernard and his taxi service! Don't even consider trying to rent a car and drive yourself! The road conditions vary as well as the difficulty in remembering to ride on the left side of the road. Bernard is a wealth of info as well as making you feel secure in your travels! Be sure to request Sharmaine (the head chef) to make of fabulous coconut shrimp! Catherine is the lovely housekeeper and she will transform your bed into a work of flower art everyday! One day we needed a doctor and she promptly made the arrangements. The doctor was quite good and along with the medicine it was quite a reasonable charge. Albert is the night watchman and he promptly arrives at 6pm every night. He is so kind and a most interesting person to visit with! What we enjoyed the most was just the beautiful view from any angle of the property! The flowers are incredible, the petite birds, limes growing from bushes next to the kitchen window....it REALLY is paradise! The owners of the property are most helpful and available to help in any way to make your dream vacation a reality!

Owner response:Thank you so much for your wonderful review. We are delighted you loved the house and all our friends that work with us to make the holiday experience of our guests so positive.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, adventure seekers, families with teenagers.

Absolutely Extraordinary!

Guest: Happy Family (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Date of Stay: 12/27/10 Review Submitted: 01/31/11

We just spent a week at Le Gallerie with a family of six (kids from 15 to 8) and can’t say enough great things about it. For us, the words “relaxing” and “breathtaking” aren’t usually used to describe the same vacation so this was a very unique getaway. The ocean vistas, the Pitons, the flowers, the hummingbirds, rainbows, and sunsets all seem to be right out of central casting for tropical paradise….and that is without leaving the villa! The owners were very helpful and accommodating in answering our many (and often last minute) questions as well as offering up great recommendations for local drivers, fishing, etc. It is obvious that they are also very discerning in choosing and maintaining the wonderful and friendly people working at the property. Brian, the property manager, was there when we arrived to give us the overview and always available by phone to answer our questions. Sharmaine’s cooking was a treat and she was able to make absolutely fantastic meals that met our large breadth of palates, which is a challenge. Catherine and Tiki went about their activities with big smiles. Albert, the night watchman, was a great person, very friendly and more than willing to answer all of our kid’s questions (and there were many) about life on the island before helping us close up the house and heading out for his nightly duties. The pre-order groceries and dinner allowed us to get into vacation mode immediately upon arrival so we would highly recommend this. We did not rent a car but rather had a driver arranged for us by Brian who would either take us around and wait for us or come back and fetch us as necessary. Everything that was arranged for us was friendly, professional, and punctual. We did a half day fishing and snorkeling trip out of Souffriere and thought it was great. The walk down to the resort (Anse Chastenet) from the villa is about 5-10 minutes but seems a lot longer coming back up. It is probably worth a few bucks to have a taxi bring you back up the hill but we were too proud. We snorkeled at the resort (top notch) and had lunch which was good but the two lunches cost us half as much as our entire food bill at the house for the week. Our favorite thing to do was simply to head down to the private rock beach below the property for world class snorkeling and then come back up and hang out by the pool. As earlier posters mentioned...it is hard to come back to the real world after staying at this fabulous property!

Owner response:What a fantastic review, thank you. We are thrilled that you enjoyed the whole experience so much, our house, the views and our wonderful staff. It sounds like you left with some precious memories of a great time together and that is what it is all about. Please come back if you can.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Fantastic holiday in St Lucia

Guest: Jenksfamily4 (Essex, UK)
Date of Stay: 08/04/07 Review Submitted: 10/23/10

Eight of us stayed at Le Gallerie in August 2007 and had the most wonderful holiday. Our party consisted of two families with four children - two girls and two boys. The villa was so wonderful that we harldy left it. The pool was maginficent, the staff were lovely, the food was beautiful and the setting was the stuff of dreams - a real holiday of a lifetime. Sitting on the verandah drinking rum punch looking at The Pitons is a memory that will last for ever. The villa was so lovely we hardly left it, so we cant tell you too much about the island. The boat trip was great fun although we didnt see any whales or dolphins. The trip to the volcano and the hot springs is definitely worth doing, as is the rope swings through the forest. Otherwise, just sit round the pool and enjoy paradise, and if you are feeling energetic then stroll down the cliff to the sea and go snorkelling - it works up an appetite for more food and rum punch!!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, pet owners, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Amazing!

Guest: MrHampshire (Reading)
Date of Stay: 08/10/10 Review Submitted: 09/07/10

This unique house offers contemporary yet comfortable accommodation combined with friendly service which makes this a welcoming haven from every day life. This is the ideal place for an indulgent stay where you can choose to get away from it all relax in style or immerse yourself in all that nearby Soufriere has to offer. The house offers a swimming pool, cinema system and other every modern day gizmos you would expect. The bustling central square of Soufriere is 15 minutes walk away or 5 mins in a local taxi, a great place to buy fresh produce and experience a typical Caribbean town. A trip out for lunch to Marigot Bay on the water taxi is great way to see some of the coast line and all that lies beneath it! Great Snorkelling is also available just below the house via private steps to the waters edge. A trip to the waterfalls at Anse La Raye is well worth it, will take some finding off the end of a beaten track. We were cooked for many times by the staff, what a great way to experience local cuisine. After a long day, you can sit back with a Gin and Tonic and watch the sun go down in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The only criticism I have is, I had to go home! :)

Owner response:Thank you for choosing to stay in Le Gallerie and for your kind and enthusiastic comments about your stay and the helpful feedback on where you had fun on the island. We do hope you can return to us again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children.

no.1 location in St Lucia - the owners description is spot on.

Guest: Madda (Oxfordshire, UK)
Date of Stay: 05/18/10 Review Submitted: 06/09/10

We stayed at Le Gallerie in May. It was the most amazing place - the welcoming house (with the most amazing sitting room & balcony), the delightful staff and the most amazing location. The location is fabulous in two ways - the spectacular and ever changing view of the pitons from all the rooms, and its position between the most classic un spoilt small town of Soufriere (5 minute drive - not for feint hearted!) and Anse Chastenet which has two great beaches plus bars / restaurants. We snorkelled from the small pebble beach, our friends went diving with Chester. Our children got Ticki the gardener to climb the coconut tree and cut one down. We were also spoilt with Catherine keeping the house spotless, and washing our clothes, and Sharmaine cooked us great breakfasts and prepared dinner for us. On the doorstep - We went on boat trips, saw the bubbling volcano, washed in the hot waterfall, saw the bat cave, botanical gardens, rested on the beach half-way between the sea and the bar.... If you stay at Le Gallerie you would never want to stay anywhere else on St Lucia. Its a perfect place and location.

Owner response:We really do appreciate you leaving your feedback and your positive comments about the house and its location but most of all our staff. Thank you for staying with us and we hope to see you again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Amazing Holiday

Guest: Fi Doak (Guildford)
Date of Stay: 05/18/10 Review Submitted: 06/09/10

We have just returned from St Lucia and stayed in this property. It is the most amazing place that we have ever stayed in, and we are definitely looking to make a return trip!!! YOU MUST STAY HERE!!! The photos definitely do the property justice and more! We are still talking about how amazing the views of the Pitons actually are, and we never got used to the breathtaking views. The staff were amazing, friendly, efficient, and nothing was too much trouble. One evening one of the ladies even babysat for us, allowing us to go out for a super meal at the nearby "Mango Tree". To sum the whole experience up, it was like staying in our own private hotel, with fabulous staff, a beautiful house and the best views on St Lucia. Heaven!!

Owner response:Thank you for your kind and positive comments, we are delighted that you enjoyed our house and our wonderful staff so much.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Great house, great town.

Guest: Karl S. (Denver, CO)
Date of Stay: 04/18/10 Review Submitted: 04/25/10

We stayed here right after attending a friends wedding at Sandals Regency, and I wish we would have spent the whole time at this house. Bernard the driver was very helpful, fair priced, and reliable. The daytime staff prepared us some excellent local food, and kept the house spotless. Albert the night watchmen, was the best of them all, making us feel safe and secure at each night of our stay. The owner was a great resource for activity ideas and answers to our questions. As far as the house is concerned, it accommodated our large group nicely. All bedrooms had bathrooms in the unit, and the living and dining area were big enough for us all to enjoy each others company, with out feeling like we were on top of each other. The snorkeling below was fun, but the black sand beach (a 15 minute walk away) was awesome, Crystal clear waters and great views. I recommend this house to anyone looking for true st. lucia experience, and want to avoid paying for overpriced all inclusive resorts.

Owner response:We are so delighted with your wonderful and kind feedback about Le Gallerie and our staff. We believe we have created a very special place there and it is fantastic that you enjoyed it so much. Thank you for taking the time to give the feedback it means a great deal to us and our wonderful staff.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.