Why St Lucia's Piton-Flanked Resorts Are the Caribbean's Most Dramatic Stay

Most Caribbean islands sell a beach. St Lucia's south-west coast sells a skyline: Gros Piton and Petit Piton, two volcanic spires that climb almost straight out of the water a short distance apart, just south of the old French colonial town of Soufrière. Both peaks and the reef-lined bay between them form the Pitons Management Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004, and the small hotel scene that has grown up in their shadow is built almost entirely around keeping that view in frame.

A plantation caught between two volcanoes

The most literal expression of the setting is the resort built on the old Jalousie sugar and coconut plantation, on the narrow strip of land directly between the two peaks. The estate's plantation-era history is still visible in scattered ruins on the grounds, and its beach is one of the few in St Lucia where both Pitons are visible from the sand at once, rather than from a distant headland.

Villas built to face the view

Further along the same stretch of coast, a cluster of open-sided hillside villas has taken a different approach, favouring louvred walls and plunge pools over air-conditioned rooms, on the theory that a view this specific deserves an unobstructed line of sight rather than a window frame. It is a style of stay that has been widely copied elsewhere in the Caribbean, but rarely with a backdrop this singular.

Beyond the resorts

Soufrière itself is worth the short drive down from the hillside hotels: a working fishing town with French colonial architecture, and the departure point for boat trips to the reefs around the Pitons, which are a popular diving and snorkelling site. Nearby, Sulphur Springs is marketed as a drive-in volcano, a geothermal area of bubbling mud pools that visitors can walk through on a short boardwalk trail, usually paired with a stop at the adjoining mineral baths.

Traveller tips

• Hewanorra International Airport, in the island's south, is closer to Soufrière than the northern Vigie Airport near Castries; check which one a flight actually lands at before booking transfers.
• The road down to Soufrière from the north is narrow and winds through hills; many hotels arrange transfers rather than have guests self-drive.
• Boat trips to view the Pitons from the water, and diving or snorkelling on the surrounding reef, are widely available from operators based in Soufrière.
• December to April is the dry season and the busiest and most expensive period to visit.