In a Jade Mountain sanctuary open to the sun and the sea, to the warm salty breeze and the cheerful call of the Antillean crested hummingbird, there isn’t a heartbeat that escapes guests in search of total immersion in nature. But aside from its pioneering ‘no walls’ concept, this architecturally striking resort offers genuine service, thoughtful dining and experiential fun unlike anywhere else in the region.
Falling asleep in a king-size hotel bed on the first night of a vacation, after a gruelling long-haul flight, has to rank among life’s greatest joys – the touch of soft linen on your skin, a sense of having arrived and the familiar sound of an AC working hard to keep you cool. But bedding down in our hotel on Saint Lucia, it wasn’t white noise we heard, but a symphony of waves, winds, whistling frogs and crickets crawling around the rustling rainforest below.
When we woke, the sound of chirping crickets had been washed over by that of singing swallows. We were up early, not only because our circadian rhythms had yet to adjust to the local time, but also because the sun rose directly onto our faces. Our Galaxy sanctuary was open on two sides, inviting in the elements while granting us uninterrupted views of a UNESCO World Heritage Site straight ahead. It’s the two Pitons that give Saint Lucia its distinctive appearance and make it perhaps the most dramatic of islands in the Lesser Antilles. There being no walls, nothing stood between us and these shark-tooth-shaped ‘volcanic plugs’. Not an atom of glass or glue, no stainless steel, no wood and no cement – just the thick, honey-flavoured, golden breeze of the Caribbean.
Jade Mountain is a hilltop resort whose creators we’d like to say threw out of the window the rulebook on how to build a hotel, except, of course, there are no windows here. In the realm of architecture, concept sketches are watered down in stages. First, after meeting with the client, then before construction begins, and on occasion before it concludes. But at Jade Mountain, the architect, Russian-Canadian Nick Troubetzkoy, was the client, which helps explain why the resort looks like something you rub your eyes at in disbelief: a concept sketch come to life.
Jade Mountain opened its doors in 2006 and has since become one of the world’s most recognisable places to stay. Set within a pristine 600-acre estate, the hotel was built away from the ground, with its 24 open-air, infinity-pool sanctuaries and five Sky whirlpool suites accessible via a number of bridges partially overhung with plants. Picture a three-dimensional, post-apocalyptic, steampunk take on an M.C. Escher lithograph and you’re halfway there.
Owner Karolin Troubetzkoy is arguably the driving force behind the hotel’s green ambition, which has made it the first in the Caribbean to receive gold certification in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building rating system. Jade Mountain’s environmentally sound construction aside, the resort also grows nearly half its produce on its very own organic Emerald Estate farm, and features a state-of-the-art water purification system paired with hydration stations.
Guests, meanwhile, are invited to take part in coral planting on the magnificent house reef. Community is another pillar of operations here. Saint Lucian craftsmen and artisans have been tasked to furnish both Jade Mountain as well as Anse Chastanet with handmade furniture, using local woods, from teak to red cedar and mahogany. The island’s beautiful national cloth – madras – also features prominently, much to the delight of local seamstresses keen on safeguarding the traditional fabric for the future.
This Basecamp review is an extract from a longer feature article, first published in print. To read the full article, click here.
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Escapist | UVF | GMT -4 |
| While you’re Out There |
| No stay at Jade Mountain would be complete without a private sunset sailing trip around the island. We loved seeing what is arguably one of the most striking destinations of the Caribbean from the sea, and our evening was made all the more special by the many culinary treats (and a bottle of champagne or two) the team had kindly prepared before our departure. It’s a must to take to the waters here, if you ask us. |
It would have been difficult to imagine our top-floor Galaxy sanctuary – the most luxurious accommodation option at the resort and the very room Amy Winehouse honeymooned in – furnished any other way than it was. Across its 185 sqm/1,991 sqft of entirely open space, the sanctuary boasted a blend of rattan and blocky wooden furniture with chequerboard inlays, lampshades mounted on cross-sections of tree trunks, a four-poster bed with a heavy chest at its end, an elevated bathroom (all set with an enormous bathtub and freestanding shower) up a curved staircase, and a showstopping 85-square-metre circular, cantilevered infinity pool at its end. The specially commissioned tiles in it even had a textured surface that cleverly changes the colour of their shimmer depending on the angle you look at them from.
No two sanctuaries here are alike. Bathroom basins, for instance, are different in every room. Its uncompromising idiosyncrasy – which even had architect Nick Troubetzkoy place a pool right down the middle of one of the sanctuaries, thereby dividing the space in two – is what makes Jade Mountain unique. While it’s not unusual to have a ‘first time for everything’ moment on travels, here, everything is a first time – the many different walkways and staircases leading up to the sky-bound resort from the grounds of the adjoining Anse Chastanet meant we took a different route up to our sanctuary each time we returned from the beach.
Other aspects of our stay were no less stimulating, and often completely novel in the wider region. The resort features Saint Lucia’s first vegan dining outlet, where curried banana soup, breadfruit ravioli with cashew-based ricotta, and mango teriyaki chargrilled tempeh send us on a pan-tropical voyage of island cuisines. A bean-to-bar experience at the chocolate laboratory was so thrilling we were tempted to book the Chocolate Delight treatment at the property’s Kai en Ciel spa, but ultimately decided on a signature massage in the comfort of our sanctuary, with the Pitons in view.
Later, we dove into Saint Lucian culture at an art class with local muralist Naja Misaki Simeon, and took a walk through the ruins of the on-site 18th-century sugar plantation at Anse Mamin, during which our guide Tyson struck an engaging balance between lighthearted entertainment and historical facts about the fate of the 60 slaves that once lived here. Amazingly, the walk immersed us in the island’s colonial past – uncommon in the Caribbean, where resorts rarely want guests to think about anything other than rum punches and beachside loungers.
Many guests at Jade Mountain will no doubt return year after year, having found a quality in this place that has all but disappeared from most Caribbean resorts, which look out over the natural world, rather than placing you at its beating heart.
Photography by Macduff Everton, Steffen Michels and courtesy of Jade Mountain
