Double up on St. Lucia at Ladera and Cap Maison

Start at the Ladera for three nights, and then move to Cap Maison for another three. And, there’s one rate that includes food and beverages for the week you’re bouncing between the island’s southern rainforest and northern secluded beach. For two people, the package starts at $5,400 – but includes a few aspects that translate to a 20 percent savings on your trip.

At the Ladera, you’ll enjoy an open-air Gros Piton Suite with a private plunge pool and unobstructed view of the mountains and the Caribbean Sea. You’ll also have all meals covered at Dasheene reastaurant covered, not to mention cocktails, wines by the glass, daily afternoon tea and a treatment at Ti Kay Pose Spa.

For the second half of your trip, a private car will take you up to Cap Maison, St. Lucia’s newest hotel. Golf, shopping and nightlife are nearby, and you’ll be comfortable in your Ocean View Villa Suite – with a private Jacuzzi and sea views. Wine and champagne with meals are covered, as well as afternoon tea, a spa treatment at Spa Maison and full use of resort facilities.

This deal is available from May 1 to December 20, 2009, though rates vary with booking date. You can add nights to your stay if you like.

Jalousie Plantation resort brings solar golf carts to St Lucia

Okay, it’s not exactly a cure for cancer, but any initiative that does cut down on fossil fuel reliance still resonates with me. So, I was pretty excited to see that the Jalousie Plantation has adopted a hybrid solar-powered golf cart to move guests around on its 192-acre property … with no carbon emissions! This is among the first of these environmentally-friendly golf carts in the Caribbean, and the goal is for this quirky little vehicle to replace the oil-dependent carts and minibuses that currently carry passengers around Jalousie.

This measure is reflective of Jalousie parent company Kor Hotel Group’s “Second Nature” program, which consists of several eco-friendly measures across its holdings. Kor’s properties are encouraged to source local produce, arts and other supplies to cut down on food-miles (or other “product-miles”) in an effort to reduce carbon emissions while contributing to economic growth in the community.

“We want to play our part at The Jalousie Plantation in supporting the environmentally-conscious initiatives of Kor and the new hybrid solar-powered golf cart is seen as a first step in helping us to do this,” Jalousie’s General Manager, Rodrigo Caldeira said.

The golf cart has a photovoltaic cell on its roof, which takes St Lucia sunshine and turns it into the electricity that makes the cart move. In the event of rain, the cart can be plugged into an electrical outlet to have its battery charged.

“Eventually all of the vehicles we use at Jalousie will be gasoline-free and this will help us to lessen our emissions of greenhouse gases which are having a tremendous impact on eco-systems around the world and contributing to climatic change and global warming,” Caldeira said. “The new cart also significantly reduces noise pollution and makes a great contribution in our efforts to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and in ensuring our operations are environmentally sustainable.”