We wanted to have a really luxurious holiday in the sun before Rachel, our eldest, turned 12 and we had to pay adult fares for her. St. Lucia turned out to be an inspired choice - direct flight, only 9 hours, not too hot, with blue skies and fluffy white clouds and the famous Trade Winds. We got the helicopter from the airport which only took 15 minutes and was a fantastic introduction, flying over rainforests, mountains and Castries harbour with its luxury liners.

Windjammer was wonderful - small enough for the chidren to be independent, big enough to have everything we needed and beautifully landscaped and maintained. Our 2 room suite had fantastic views of the sea and felt as if no one else was nearby, with 3 terraces and 2 bathrooms. The service was impeccable, the beds were changed every day. We had a variety of birds visting every morning as we had coffee on the terrace.

On the first afternoon, I had the best facial and massage, lying in a sunny white room, watching the ceiling fan go round, which pretty much set the tone for the whole 10 days, of relaxing while everything was taken care of!

We chose the all inclusive option, which worked well, the children could go and order ice creams and drinks and we could eat in any of 4 restaurants with different cuisines, with regular special nights. The breakfasts too, were amazing, great plates of tropical fruit, omelettes cooked to order, mountains of croissants, bacon, sausages - my picky 9 year old ate like a horse!

We played tennis while the kids went to the very good Jaquot Club, with a huge variety of fun activities and trips. The staff were fantastic and we had our own personal Ambassador, who couldn't do enough for us and made sure we were happy.

We took a catamaran cruise down to the south of the island was fantastic, seeing the famous Pitons come into view,then swimming under a waterfall, visiting the volcano and lunching on a sugar plantation. The sea was warm and full of fish, even in the shallows, there was a diving school and both I and my 9 year old did scuba diving and saw some amazing sights.

We had a fabulous holiday, I would really recommend this resort to anyone with chidren, and it's great too for older children who are a bit more independent and have more sophisticated needs than toddlers.

Diane Hammond, April 2005