The view from the balcony at the Butterfly Beach House is breathtaking. One could almost be content sitting out there for an entire vacation. However, retiring at night to the crisp, white linens in the air-conditioned bedrooms was also heavenly. Pearl, the housekeeper, truly makes a beautiful bed. She also takes great pride in keeping the rest of the house spotless. Her sweet personality is a bonus. If you desire a luxury resort with full-service amenities, this house is not a good choice. But if you are independent travelers who appreciate a well-maintained family home with a central location ideal for exploring the entire island, look no further. Uriel, the house manager, met us upon arrival and explained everything we needed to know in great detail. He also came by daily to check on us, which offered peace of mind. LaToc Beach, adjacent to a Sandals resort, is a short walk down a staircase from the house's patio. It's a pretty beach and large enough that we didn't feel crowded among the Sandals guests. And Sandals doesn't seem to mind if you borrow one of their beach loungers. As the sun rises early and sets early in St. Lucia, we got into the habit of morning activities - zip lining, hiking Pigeon Island, whale watching, climbing Gros Piton, touring the Botanical Gardens are more. Then we came back to the house in the afternoon to enjoy the pool well into the evening. While the kitchen is not large or exceedingly modern, it's certainly adequate to prepare simple meals. For example, we got fresh Mahi from a local fisherman and cooked it for dinner twice. One word of caution: the driving in St. Lucia is very treacherous. We are adventurous travelers who have driven in many locales, but St. Lucia's winding, narrow roads with no shoulders, heavy traffic in some areas and many pedestrians, should not be taken lightly. We originally planned to get a rental car. However, after the ride in from the airport, we changed our minds. The best decision we made was to hire a driver named David, aka, "Big Runner." He drives many of the guests at Butterfly Beach House and a few other neighboring villas. He was incredible. He showed us many local things we would not otherwise have seen and essentially served as our private tour guide all week. His rates are incredibly fair. We HIGHLY recommend him. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to St. Lucia, and we would definitely stay at the Butterfly Beach House again.