Ti Kaye Resort and Spa

second visit here. snorkeling every morning. an amazing villa with grand view of the Caribbean sea. the staff is amazing. we very much enjoyed the non tourist season.

Our stay at Ti Kaye Resort in St. Lucia was truly special, and it is an experience that my husband and I will remember for a long time.

Ti Kaye is a beautiful, intimate resort that gives you something that is becoming harder and harder to find—peace, privacy, genuine hospitality, and the opportunity to truly disconnect from everyday life. The smaller size of the resort is one of the things we loved most. It feels less like staying at a resort and more like becoming part of a little family while you are there.

The cottages are beautiful, comfortable, and surrounded by the incredible natural beauty of St. Lucia. They are cleaned daily, and the attention to cleanliness throughout the property—including the pool—is evident. The setting is absolutely breathtaking, with the lush landscape and Caribbean views creating the perfect backdrop for relaxation.

One of our favorite things was that there are no televisions in the cottages. At first, you may think that's unusual, but we quickly realized it was part of the magic. It encouraged us to slow down, enjoy nature, talk to one another, read, listen to the sounds around us, and truly be present. In a world where we are constantly connected to phones, televisions, and technology, Ti Kaye gives you permission to disconnect and reconnect with what really matters.

The food was very good, and we enjoyed the overall dining experience. The wine tasting in the wine cellar was another wonderful experience and something I would definitely recommend. Just bring a sweater—it is definitely cold down there!

But what truly made our experience exceptional was Ms. Shenel.

Ms. Shenel is absolutely amazing. She is personable, warm, attentive, and you can genuinely tell that she loves what she does and truly cares about the people she serves. Her kindness never felt like simply part of her job—it felt genuine.

Unfortunately, my husband became sick during our stay, and Ms. Shenel went far above and beyond to help us. She was instrumental in helping us get a doctor, making sure we understood everything that was happening, and continuing to check on both my husband and me throughout the experience. She didn't just make sure he was okay—she made sure I was okay too.

During a stressful and unexpected situation so far from home, having someone like Ms. Shenel there made such a difference. Her compassion, reassurance, and willingness to help meant more to us than she probably realizes. She is the kind of person who leaves an impression on you long after you leave the resort. Ti Kaye is incredibly fortunate to have her.

We also appreciated the peaceful atmosphere, beautiful surroundings, friendly staff, intimate setting, and the way the resort allows you to experience St. Lucia in a more authentic and unhurried way. There is something very special about waking up surrounded by nature, enjoying the ocean, and not feeling like you have to rush anywhere.

If I could offer one area for improvement, it would be the fitness center. The equipment is somewhat dated and could use an update. For guests who enjoy working out while traveling, newer equipment would be a nice addition.

Overall, though, Ti Kaye is a gem. It isn't the place to go if you're looking for a huge, bustling resort with endless entertainment and modern distractions. It is the place to go if you want to slow down, breathe, reconnect, enjoy nature, experience genuine hospitality, and spend meaningful time with the person you're traveling with.

We came to Ti Kaye for a vacation, but we left feeling like we had experienced something much more meaningful.

Thank you, Ti Kaye, for a beautiful stay—and especially thank you, Ms. Shenel, for your genuine kindness and the way you cared for us when we needed it most. You truly made our stay unforgettable.

Until next time, Ti Kaye!

My partner and I visited St. Lucia 7 years ago and decided to return to celebrate our anniversary. Although we'd been pleased with a different resort we visited the first time, we decided to stay in a different part of the island. We selected Ti Kaye because it boasted vegetarian friendly options and a range of excursions.

Ti Kaye is a beautiful resort. Our room was comfortable, with a stunning view. We truly enjoyed our stay a lot, but there were several issues that prevent us from recommending Ti Kaye, especially to vegetarians or to people with disabilities.

NICKEL-AND-DIMING During our visit, we experienced a lot of what felt like nickel-and-diming us. Although we were on the all-inclusive plan, the first thing we received upon arrival was a cold, brief welcome from reception before they walked us through a list of everything that was not covered in the plan. Apparently the "all-inclusive" is closer to a "mostly-inclusive" plan. Our stays in other "all inclusive" resorts had entailed on demand food and drink without limit, but Ti Kaye has limits (one afternoon snack, limits on how many items you can order for meals, etc.). Snacks for our room were not included, and there were limits on what drinks were and were not included in the mini fridge refills. Room service was an extra charge.

To make matters more confusing, Ti Kaye's communication about what was and was not included was arbitrary and inconsistent, and throughout our stay, we found ourselves worried about accidentally accruing more charges. For example, a document in the room stated that smoothies at breakfast were not included in the all inclusive plan, but it turned out they were. And while ordering San Pellegrino to our room's mini fridge would supposedly accrue additional costs, the same with meals did not; this caused us concern when we'd order bubbly water at dinner and it was a 50/50 tossup whether it was house soda water or a brand name beverage.

We also had not factored in the additional cost of tips when we booked the resort. The last resort we visited in St. Lucia had a strict "no tipping" policy, with an option to contribute to a tipping pool at the end. At Ti Kaye, by contrast, tipping was expected at every meal, snack, activity, etc.

When we checked out, we found that Ti Kaye had mistakenly added several additional charges (for example, double charging us for the wine tasting, which we'd pre-paid for). The receptionist cleared the charges up after we pointed them out, but the size of the errors was concerning. Additionally, Ti Kaye added a $2 per day charge for its educational philanthropy, a charge that could only be removed by request (in our case, after a staff member did a quick spiel about how the fund helps Ti Kaye employees send their kids to school). If Ti Kaye wants to help its employees send their children to school, it should pay them better, not sneak in additional costs to its customers so that it can then boast about its philanthropy. We support those efforts, but this kind of sneaky guilt-tripping was inappropriate. After departing, we made a larger donation to a local educational nonprofit.

VEGETARIAN FOOD OPTIONS: Before booking our visit, we contacted the resort to ask about vegetarian food offerings. We asked if as vegetarians we would be able to have a good variety of meal options and if we would be able to try authentic Creole cuisine during our stay. The staff gave us an assured yes to both questions. I now suspect they were just giving us the answer they thought we wanted to hear, as they were not forthcoming with the real details.

There were multiple vegetarian options, but it was the exact same set of options every day, while the rest of the menu changed on a daily basis. In addition, while there was a Creole cuisine night at the restaurant, none of the Creole options were vegetarian, and we were left with the same four options as every other night. When we asked about making adjustments to the Creole options so we could partake, the server appeared annoyed with us. They let us order sides, but no effort was made to make it look presentable, increase portion sizes to account for lack of an entree, etc.

Perhaps the worst was Thursday night. The main restaurant was closed, and the only option for dinner was grill night at the beachside bar. When we got there, we were handed a menu with no vegetarian options at all. When we pointed that out, our server seemed surprised that we were there (despite no alternative aside from ordering to our room for an extra charge) and annoyed by our needs. We were eventually offered a vegetarian menu… with the same four options as every other night.

So while our dietary needs were technically accommodated, we were not made to feel welcome.

It bears mentioning that at the last resort we stayed at in St. Lucia, the resort did not boast being vegetarian friendly, but the chefs there would whip up something special for us when there wasn't a vegetarian option on the menu. They were kind about this; we were never made to feel that our dietary restrictions were an inconvenience. And the food was delicious. We enjoyed that arrangement far better than what we experienced at Ti Kaye.

EXCURSION ARRANGEMENTS Another major issue involved arrangements for excursions. One of us wanted to do the Gros Piton climb and reached out well in advance of our trip to ask about reserving that. Ti Kaye responded that it required a 2-person minimum. We asked them to explain how likely it was that there would be other people interested. After receiving responses that amounted to repeating, "we can't guarantee anyone will sign up," we made a phone call and finally received a clearer explanation (that some weeks there are people who sign up but its not uncommon for no one to sign up).

We selected all the excursions we were interested in and sent them in via email to confirm. Ti Kaye responded by saying, "I am pleased to confirm all tours have been booked on your behalf, however some of them require a minimum of 4 persons to go out. Confirmation of those tours can be made upon arrival to the resort." Since there was now no mention of not meeting the 2-person minimum, we took this to mean that someone else had signed up for the Gros Piton excursion. However, after we arrived, it became apparent that the person who booked our excursions had done so under the assumption that both of us were participating in the hike, despite the considerable back and forth about only one of us being interested. Ultimately, we had to pay an additional $60+ to go on a hike for one person. Had communication been clearer, we would have booked in advance through a different agency to arrange the hike.

The second, bigger excursion-related issue pertained to SCUBA diving lessons. We were interested, but because one of us has a disability, we wanted to make sure we had any needed medical documentation before we arrived. We reached out in advance of our trip to ask if a note from a doctor would be required. Ti Kaye did not answer our question. Upon arrival, we followed up on the inquiry and were told that, yes, we did need a doctor's note. Unfortunately, by that time, it was too late. Despite scrambling to contact our doctors to get clearance for the activities from outside the country, we could not acquire the documentation in time. We were unable to participate in an activity we had been looking forward to.

INCONVENIENCES

There were a number of smaller incidents that we felt demonstrated a lack of care by staff at Ti Kaye. At one point, we were looking for beach towels before we made our way down to the beach. The towel baskets upstairs were all empty. We asked the front desk where we could get towels, and they indicated they would call f. We played a round of connect four in the lobby area while we waited. We followed up again, and there were still no towels. We asked for an ETA on the towels because we wanted to go down to the beach, and the front desk person said she didn't know. At this point, we were getting frustrated, as we were losing precious sunlight. Thankfully, two nearby employees asked if they could help, and one of them told us that there was another towel basket downstairs at the dive shop. Had we been told this at the start, we would not have been waiting upstairs for so long for something as basic as a set of beach towels.

Other inconveniences included having a hair dryer in our room but no outlet in which to plug it in and the gift shop being completely out of bug spray, causing me to accrue numerous bites during my stay.

We had been looking forward to our Ti Kaye visit for a long time but ultimately felt disappointed and unwelcome. The next time we visit St. Lucia, we plan to stay elsewhere.