This Stunning St. Lucia Resort Is Straight Out Of A James Bond Movie
Architect Nick Troubetzkoy’s incredible Jade Mountain resort is truly one of a kind.
The other day we took an in-depth look at the inspiring locations favored by James Bond over the years, from Monte Carlo to Morocco and all points in between. Here’s one more that should definitely be on 007’s travel itinerary.
St Lucia’s Jade Mountain is like one of those idyllic but double-top-secret cinematic backdrops that Bond, in Thunderball mode, would scuba-dive up to, or parachute into, by cover of night, and then in this scenario… get lost, diverted by all its breathtaking beauty, deterred from his mission to the intense annoyance of M.
St. Lucia lies in the East Caribbean, between Martinique and St. Vincent and the Grenadines surrounded by rainforests (70% of its 27-mile length) and the Pitons mountain range. St. Lucia was the first country named after a woman, has the world’s first drive-through volcano, and is the only place that a certain Amazon parrot and hundreds of exotic birds flock to. And then there is Jade Mountain, a first, too, no doubt, one of few resorts in the world that simply astound in their vernacular singularity.
It did not come easy. Architect Nick Troubetzkoy first visited the island country in 1971 and was instantly smitten. A visionary, he saw the grounds of hundreds of acres, overlooking the lush Pitons and the sea, as a means of making it a place that would mirror, not compete with, it’s surroundings. It took three years and more than 500 craftsmen and workers to realize the dream. The budding hotelier named the new venture after his own collection of antique jade mountain figurines he had collected for over 35 years.
Troubetzkoy was following the footsteps of Anse Chastanet, the former owner of the namesake resort that now sits below his spaceship-like modernist aerie. It was already more than well established as a tropical haven for adventurous vacationers. Troubetzkoy original vision eventually grew from 14 rooms to a 49-room resort on its 600-acre estate with two beaches after his acquisition of Anse Chastenet.
“The rooms and public areas are colorful art-filled spaces deep-rooted in the culture of Saint Lucia as are the furnishings, and even uniforms,” said the architect’s wife Karolin G. Troubetzkoy. “When we decided to extend Anse Chastanet, many of us thought that Nick simply would add additional rooms. But as these ‘new rooms’ took shape we soon realized that what was being created in front of us, had little to do with the existing resort property and deserved its own name and a standalone experience.”
Even the toilets in the suites are all different from each other. “The concept of a ‘resort within a resort ‘ was born,” she said. Ultimately, in all, the idea was to not only “take full advantage of the unforgettable views of St. Lucia’s Piton mountains to essentially allow the onlooker to float into space and become one with them.” Thus the suites have no walls facing the sea.
Besides Jade Mountain’s serpentine infinity pools in each suite that roll up and off roofs, it features otherworldly columns that reach up to the skies. These “columns to heaven” are topped with amazing glass designs created by David Knox of Lightstreams, who also created the handmade glass tiles in the pools. So much of this ragged-concrete and hybrid-materials façade and nearly wall-free interior is about the smallest of details.
Take the 24 iridescent reflective pool tiles. “Each suite has different color pool tiles, from ruby red to amber to plum and to amazing shades of green and blue,” the property notes. “The mold for these tiles has been destroyed. This was part of the agreement so that the Jade Mountain tiles could in fact remain a unique, one-of-a-kind design feature.” No one room shares the same furnishings or configurations.
One thing the suites at Jade Mountain all have in common is that the ceilings are an airy 15-feet tall. “The living areas of the rooms are finished with more than 20 different species of tropical hardwood flooring,” the property points out. ”Jade Mountain’s technicians actually visited the Rain Forest of Guyana and personally chose which trees to be used. A multitude of hardwoods has been used, including Purpleheart, Greenheart, Locust, Kabukali, Snakewood, Bloodwood, Etikburabali, Futukbali, Taurino, Mora, and Cabbage Wood.”
“The interior walls are finished in a crushed blush-toned coral plaster quarried in Barbados,” Mrs. Troubetzkoy explains. “The exterior is in massive rough concrete and imbued with locally quarried stone, with all the window openings framed with massive tropical wood mullions and muntins, which are in-filled with movable jalousie louvres. The flooring exposed to the weather is finished in quarried coral tile from neighboring islands.”
The food experiences offered are equally refined. Led by James Beard Award winner Chef Allen Susser’s so-called “Jade Cuisine,” featured at the Jade Mountain Club, a gathering place for guests. Atop the Club is the Celestial Terrace, which lives up to the name with its star-gazing space, perfect for sunset cocktails. Jade Mountain guests can also take advantage of the restaurants at Anse Chastanet below.
The combined properties have four different dining options, from haute cuisine to casual. The choices are wonderfully regionally ethnic, among them modern Caribbean, traditional Creole, East Indian fusion, and vegan. For starters, Balawoo in the Treehouse focuses upon sea-to-plate, farm-to-table offerings. There are two open-air treehouses, looking out on lush fauna and the Caribbean. Inside, candlelit tables and original art. It also searves breakfast.
Emerald Vegan restaurant in the Piti Piton Lounge raises the bar on greens with what the resort calls a modern tapas style menu, including crispy cauliflower accras and St Lucia mango gnocchi. Above the panoramic hillside, there is the Trou au Diable Beach restaurant. Directly upon the Anse Chastanet beach, it serves lunch daily, focusing upon more comfort foods such as salads, burgers, and Creole-Caribbean specialties. It’s a social coaster, what with the beach all lit up at night with flambeau.
Put on your bikini or surf shorts and hit the Grill in the Beach Bar for grilled fare in a casual setting and boisterous shore-side bar. Similarly, the Jungle Grill at Anse Mamin is on the resort’s second beach. It’s laidback and open daily for lunch. Anse Chastanet is a luxury sidecar to the Jade when it comes to athletic amenities meanwhile. It provides non-motorized water sports that include snorkeling gear, windsurfers, kayaks, and Sunfish sailing. Tennis courts, and yoga classes too.
Inspired by its precursor’s pedigree and its own formidable offerings, Jade Mountain was the first Caribbean hotel to be recognized as one of the World’s Top 3 Hotels for Best Service by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. Since then the accolades have been steadily piling up. It’s only a matter of time before 007 books his suite.
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