Villa Ivrea was the most spectacular place for our family to spend our week in St. Lucia. I could go on and on about how amazing this house is, and what a great experience I had leading up to our trip communicating with the owners, but I'll keep it simple:
Pros:
-THE VIEW- by far the most amazing views, we spent 99% of our stay out by the pool and walking the grounds.
-Berta: the housekeeper came by every day promptly at 9 am, she also can cook if you buy the ingredients (and for an additional fee). She made the most amazing beef stew, lentils + provisions, and we got home from our tour to a lovely set table and dinner ready to eat.
-Proximity to main attractions (Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, Pigeon Island), if you want to do tours you can pick them up in Rodney Bay, grocery shopping at Massy's along the way, beach days at Pigeon Island or Reduit Beach. This home is great for a larger group but still keeps you close to the heart of things.
Cons/Things to Consider:
- You need a car if you're staying here. This is not a con, it's just a word of caution, we were a group of 6, if we had tried to rely on taxis we would have been hindered in doing the things we wanted to do. We were able to get to dinners/grocery shopping/bank/beach within a few minutes because we rented a minivan for our group. I HIGHLY recommend this!
-Sign at the round-about? It's kind of tough the first time getting to the house, it would have been nice to see a bit more signage or even a small sign to indicate that we were close. I also understand this might be a privacy/security issue.
-Chef Recommendations from the owners were super unresponsive, which is fine, this isn't Villa Ivrea's fault, but we wish we had known Berta could cook for us for a cost per day. Her rates are reasonable and her food was delicious.
-Beds & Pillows: The views from the rooms are amazing and gorgeous, obviously we spent a lot of our time outdoors, but I really think the owners should consider new mattresses/mattress pads and pillows. The only thing that made this feel a little less luxurious was the rough night's sleep.
We loved Villa Ivrea, we would definitely come back in a heartbeat and will be recommending it to all of our family and friends.