Katie and Robert loved Ti Kaye Village Resort in St. Lucia, where they stayed on their May honeymoon. Katie found the resort through her online research and loved the remote location of the accommodations.

She says it was “kind of a hike to get there” though not literally on foot. The resort’s van picked them up at the airport and they traveled along some very bumpy, rustic roads to arrive at the destination. But Katie and Robert where thrilled with their choice and were welcomed with complimentary cocktails upon arrival.

Katie describes the resort as “pretty small” which means they avoided hustle and bustle and go to focus on relaxation. The highlight of the whole stay was their room. The private porch had spectacular views and a private pool. She says, “It was great to hang out on our own hammock and have privacy in our very own pool.”

There was even a private outdoor shower. Another highlight was the couple’s massage they had on the balcony one afternoon.

The bed was strewn with flowers when they first arrived… a small touch that the honeymooners loved.
The resort has a larger shared pool which Katie and Robert also used. Access down to the beach was just steps away as well. She says, “Every day we had to decide do we wanna go to the pool or the beach today”

For meals, they ate most dinners at the resort’s waterfront restaurant (above) which features seafood and other fresh selections and a “sundress casual” dress code. There is an option for a meal package, though Katie and Robert opted to keep things simple. Most mornings they ordered in a room-service fruit plate for breakfast, grabbed a sandwich at the pool or lunch or had some snacks they’d brought from home, and then splurged on an a la carte dinner.

Katie says the resort was so “amazing” that they’d love to go back someday. And their first stop would be to grab a tropical cocktail under the paper lanterns at Ti Kaye’s on-site bar.

We’re not really sure what’s cuter, Katie and Robert Haines’ photos from their St. Lucia honeymoon or the story of how they met. She tells us it was at the Jacksonville, Florida, ad agency where they both work. She had a crush on him that very first day on the job, but it would take them almost a year to really start to chat. But once they made a connection, the sparks flew and eight months later, they were walking down the aisle in Jacksonville. As Katie says, “When it’s right, it’s right! We just knew.”

She says, “We had talked about Hawaii, but it was just so expensive, both the airfare and the lodging. We knew we wanted a warm, tropical beach vacation. And we didn’t need to sightsee or do a whole lot.” But she was also adamant of staying away from what she calls “the honeymoon mill of all-inclusive resorts.”

Katie turned to the internet for help and kept noticing Ti Kaye Village Resort (above) in St. Lucia pop up. There were so many great reviews, that at first she thought, “ this sounds too good to be true.” Some more research online and a glance at the resort’s website and Katie and Robert were saying, “This is perfect for us!”

These two describe their May trip as “romantic, relaxing and indulgent.” They had a good mix of chilling out and getting out to explore the island. Check back all this week to read about their experiences at Ti Kaye and around St. Lucia.

Andy says: A particularly worthy destination – not to be missed under any circumstances in fact – is Trunk Bay, named by Condé Nast magazine and National Geographic as among the world’s most beautiful beaches. This crescent -shaped swath of white sand and transparent, azure water will bring out the inner Jacques Cousteau in even the most virulent land-lubber. One can literally see the tropical fish swimming amongst the coral from the beach and there is a one-a-kind underwater nature trail designed to be followed via snorkel.

In the end, the only problem with St. John for us was that we didn’t get to see everything. In many ways, this trip just scratched the surface. There are many miles of trails, and many unspoiled beaches, most of which are only accessible with a combination of hiking and a rented car (we lacked the latter, and cabs are only practical for half the island). To sum it up, from what I know about a lot of the Caribbean,  if you haven’t been to Saint John yet, you won’t be disappointed, but once you do go, you are likely to be spoiled.

RH note, again: Many, many thanks for Andy and Shaira for taking the time to share their planning and experiences on this beautiful to the Virgin Islands.

Andy says: After a wonderful wedding weekend (but a hectic 6 months of planning) we were thrilled to get out of New York and down to the Caribbean. Saint John is one of the US Virgin Islands, a very small archipelago located off the northeast corner of Puerto Rico and about a four hour flight from New York. Since there is no airport on Saint John itself, (the roughly Manhattan-sized island is mostly covered by Virgin Islands National Park) you have to fly into the larger island of Saint Thomas. From there you catch a boat for the 45 minute ride over to the Island – there’s simply no better way to start a vacation than getting almost straight out of a cramped airliner directly onto the brilliant blue Caribbean waters.

Saint John has a number of places to stay… although we’re not big resort types we ended up at the Westin Saint John; it had the right promotion on and – since we gambled by booking at the height of hurricane season – was not terribly crowded.

Carla and Tad didn’t jump back on the plane to Oklahoma immediately after their gorgeous April beach front wedding. They took a few long days for honeymoon romance and relaxation. Carla says, “We spent a majority of our time relaxing on the beautiful Bucuti Resort beach. We took walks down the beach and watched the sunset most evenings.”

They did a little exploring outside the resort, “We took an all island tour and visited the local landmarks. We really enjoyed seeing the island. We also shopped at the local open air market. Which was a great place to buy souvenirs. Downtown had some great shopping as well.”

A few evenings they took one of the local shuttle buses from Eagle Beach where the resort is located to nearby Palm Beach, which has a lot of the bigger hotels and tons of shops and dining options.

She adds, “We had a great sunset meal at a downtown restaurant called Pelican’s Nest on Pelican Pier. Our table was on the water. We watched the fish surface looking for food. It was a great experience and the seafood was amazing.”

They also loved Pizza Bob’s right near Bucuti Beach Resort. She says, “It was a great little pizza shack located within walking distance of the Bucuti. They had great pizza and was a great place to have a cocktail. Some nights they even had live music.”

Located along a gorgeous stretch of Palm Beach in Aruba, the Hyatt Regency Aruba is a large resort complex with 360 room and offers guest a ton of on- and off-site activities to keep their vacations and honeymoons full of fun.

One of the things that stood out to me immediately was the seriously well manicured gardens all around the resort. Above is the entrance to the pool area from the lobby.

With a huge three-tierd, 8,000 sq. foot pool complex, there’s lots of deck chairs available for guests. Their pool features everyone’s favorite amenity, the swim up bar. You can grab a drink or even lunch while sitting in the pool. In the background is the hotel’s water slide, open to young and old.

They Hyatt has an affiliation with Aruba’s Red Sail Sports, a water sports company that teaches scuba classes on site in the hotel pool.

They morning I visited in late March, was breezy and overcast. But as is very common in Aruba, the sun was out by lunchtime. A few clouds didn’t seem to stop anyone from coming down to claim beach chairs in the sand and settle in for some serious relaxation.

Melody and Kevin spent their time in Belize at the Victoria House resort in Ambergris Caye, which she describes as, “luxurious, clean, friendly, with excellent service.” This just so happens to be the very same resort that another one of our couples, Melody and Dave chose. These pairs don’t know each other, but were all equally impressed with the luxury accommodations.

Victoria House has it’s own dock, which not only provides for some great sunset viewing, but is also the launching spot for many of the area’s best attractions. From here, you can board a boat to go snorkeling, scuba, fishing and more. Boats dock here nightly to pick guests up to head to nearby resorts for dinner.

All those activities are fun, but Melody and Kevin took plenty of time to do some chilling on the beach as well. Victoria House has plenty of chairs – and hammocks – for guests to relax in.

When they tired of the beach, they also spent time getting sun poolside.

It was the little touches that really made the resort a stand-out for Melody and Kevin. She notes the “lush manicured lawns and gardens, amazing high thread-count sheets and a gorgeous canopy over our bed” among the memorable details.

For these two, it was the warm hospitality that they loved most. Melody says, “From the moment we were greeted at the front door to the moment we checked out, we felt very welcomed and taken care of.” Love this shot of Mel looking serene and relaxed, just like a honeymooner should!

Kate says: Any stress from getting to Kerala soon vanished when we reached The Tall Trees Resort, outside of Munnar. Cardamom, pepper, and coffee are grown on the grounds of Tall Trees, and tea plantations surround the resort. We loved our accommodations—a spacious two-story “cottage” with a large bedroom and modern bathroom, above. It provided a peaceful alternative to the bustling crowds of Mumbai, and we relished the stillness.

We left Kerala from Trivandrum’s international airport on Indian Airlines. Returning to Mumbai was much less adventurous than our train ride to Kerala. However, there was a moment of drama when we boarded our plane. The flight attendants had placed dry ice in the window wells for dramatic effect, and we thought the plane had caught on fire! Once we calmed down, we enjoyed a quick, comfortable flight complete with lunch. Domestic airlines serve meals even if the flight is less than two hours and are known for their excellent service.

Though the trip was an anniversary/Valentine’s celebration with some R&R, our recent trip to Burlington, VT would make the perfect local mini-moon for any couple looking for good food in a gorgeous environment. Vermont, home to just over 600,000 residents, is know for it’s beautiful Green Mountains, legalized gay marriage, dairy cows and crunchy lifestyles.

Its largest city – Burlington – sits on the shores of Lake Champlain, seen in the chilly shot above.

Lake Champlain offers tons of summertime fun, with kayak rentals, dinner cruises, fishing and even scuba. It was a bit too icy when Tim and I visited in February for any of that. But of course winter’s greatest attraction is the nearby slopes at Stowe, Smuggler’s Notch and Jay Peak.

Burlington is an easy drive from NYC in under 6 hours and even closer from Boston in under 4 hours. We packed our rental car full off music, snacks, knitting materials and of course caffeine. Leaving early Saturday morning had us in town and ready for lunch that afternoon.

Planning the trip was super easy… We got a good hotel deal through hotel deal through Hotwire.com. The design*sponge Small City Guide and The New York Times’ 36 Hours in Burlington made great guides to take along on my iPhone. We took a slow pace that weekend, wandering, snacking and wandering some more.

We can’t say enough good about Burlington. It’s an adorable, progressive town, full of friendly locals and lots of laid back vibes. Tag along this week as we hit up great restaurants, tour the Magic Hat Brewery. And eat Ben & Jerry’s, of course.

Many, many thanks to Jen and Eli for sharing their gorgeous honeymoon with us. These two think Greece is the perfect location for anyone who wants to mix relaxation with sightseeing in a stunning location. Jen says, “We fell in love with Greece and would go back in a heartbeat. We’d love to explore more of Crete and some of the other islands we didn’t get to.”

Food and wine was obviously a huge highlight of this honeymoon. For Jen and Eli, their great meals are some of the happiest honeymoon memories. I think it’s fitting to end this week’s featured trip with the obligatory wedding ring shot. So sweet!