The London Reviewer

Hotel review: LeSport, Castries, St Lucia – The Oasis Spa & treatments
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Spa overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Atmosphere: **** (out of 5)
Facilities: **** (out of 5)
Products used: **** (out of 5)
Customer service (attitude of therapists and reception): ****1/2 (out of 5)
Therapist skill: **** (out of 5)
Quality of “all-inclusive” treatments: ****1/2 (out of 5)
Quality of exclusive (ie pay extra) treatments: **** (out of 5)

LeSport‘s health and fitness centre, The Oasis, truly lives up to its name – a secluded and beautiful, calm spot, where you can not only regain your health but also be pampered and achieve deep relaxation.

Besides having a lovely swimming pool, hydrotherapy room, treatment rooms and yoga/pilates studio, the spa’s fountains and beautiful sculptures add to its tranquility. And, with its arches, pillars and tiled floors, the building is reminiscent of Moorish architecture.

Having had numerous salon treatments at various places over the years – in hotels and high street beauty salons – I can happily say that the quality of those at LeSport is consistently good and the Elemis products used are good quality, although in some cases I found that the effects – for example, those used in the facial – didn’t last more than a couple of hours after the treatment. This is no fault of LeSport’s, it’s simply that the products are not as good as some other spa ranges such as Guinot, Darphin or Dermalogica.

As part of one’s stay at LeSport, each day, you are entitled to a complimentary 50-minute treatment. And, as all the therapists are highly skilled (eg know how to give good pressure in a massage) and the products used are good, all treatments are good value for money and highly enjoyable. Seven different treatments are offered.

Inclusive treatment reviews

Lucian Lime and Ginger Scrub
Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
A great massage and scrub with organic ingredients (natural sea salt, St Lucian lime, ginger and coconut oil and essential oils of ginger and lime) all in one. Highly recommended.

Aromaspa Ocean Wrap
Rating: *** (out of 5)
A nice seaweed detox wrap, which helps to de-fatigue the body and remove toxins. The wrap, unfortunately however, can leave the skin tingling too much after the treatment is over – in the same way that a sore-muscle rub, such as Ben-Gay or Tiger Balm might.

LeSport Massage Treatments
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Great treatments – The Oasis Serenity Massage is good for relaxation, while the St Lucian Sizzler will
pep you up and revitalise you. With such massages, how good they are depends on the quality of the masseuse. Fortunately, the therapists at LeSport know how to apply deep pressure where necessary.

Aromapure Facial
Rating: **** (out of 5)
A great facial with excellent lymph drainage massage, cleansing routine for the face and also a neck, shoulder, hand and arm massage. Loses a star only because the products used don’t last as long as some other ranges.

Deluxe Coconut and Spice Combo
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
An excellent, intense head, neck, back and shoulder massage with local organic coconut oil and spices. Love this treatment (as do many other guests) as it perfectly works out all your knots and tension after a hard day of playing!

6. Hydrotherapy
Rating: **** (out of 5)
A great opportunity to get a high-intensity water massage as tub jets work into your sore areas with sea water that contains calcium, phosphorous and sodium ions.

7. Hand and Foot Zone Therapy
Rating: **** (out of 5)
A great treatment, which will help you unwind, including the stimulation of many pressure points. A good way to end your day after a lot of activity.

Other treatments I tried
Besides the inclusive treatments, LeSport offers an extensive range of further treatments, which can be taken at an extra cost. These include various beauty, spa and alternative health options.

Further treatment reviews

Japanese Silk Booster Facial (75 mins – $135)
Rating: *** (out of 5)
An interesting facial that includes two masques with plant complexes and algae; compresses with Japanese silk protein serum and sulphur; and also ingredients such as pro-collagen, which boosts hylauronic acid content in the skin, oxygen to restructure tired, fragile and sensitive skins and Vita-C to purify problem skin. The treatment and the massage were nice and I found my skin well-moisturised, decongested and generally feeling lighter after the treatment. However, I did not have long lasting results (when I cleansed my face the next morning they were gone), nor did I notice any fine line reduction.

Fennel Cleansing Cellulite and Colon Therapy ($135 for one treatment, $340 for three)
Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
A great detox treatment in which after you’re scrubbed from your waist down, a fennel and birch body mask is applied to your thighs, you are also given a deep colon massage and a scalp pressure-point massage. The treatment is very soothing and not only does it help with detoxing your colon, but also helps remove cellulite. A course of three treatments is recommended and this makes sense as you feel better after each treatment and more toxins are expelled from the body.

Reflexology & acupuncture
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
Both of these were done by the same therapist, Briony Macleod, who comes highly recommended. She is one of St Lucia’s experts who gets great results in alleviating many problems (one of the successes she mentioned was infertility). Again, having had many acupuncture and reflexology treatments, I found that she knew exactly what she was doing and had a genuinely caring attitude towards her clients.

Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massage (60 mins – $125)
A great deep pressure massage using mainly forearms and elbows. Which, because of the sweeping, slow movement from ankle to top of the shoulders, is great at relieving tense muscles (even more so than Swedish massage). Very much worth the price for the muscle release it gives!

Further information:
LeSport Review – Part 1 (The London Reviewer)
The London Reviewer’s pictures of LeSport (Flickr)
LeSport – list of body treatments (official site)
LeSport (official site)
Sunswept Resorts (official site)
Feature: environmentally friendly holiday resorts (The London Reviewer)
Interview with Vincent Andrew about LeSport’s healthy eating & fine dining ethos
Caribbean poetry by Alexa Williamson (The London Reviewer)