Hotel Chocolat
No more waiting, chocoholics. Your wish has come true. Yes, Road Trips Foodies, there’s gonna be a chocolate hotel!
Where? Hotel Chocolat is found on the Rabot Estate close to the town of Soufrière on the island of St.Lucia in the Caribbean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, St. Lucia is northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. What’s more important, however, is that the island lies in the “cocoa belt”, which girdles the earth plus or minus 20 degrees latitude from the Equator.
Needless to say, chocolate is the star here (you’re staying right on a chocolate plantation). The hotel’s restaurant, Boucan, includes many items made with cocoa, which was first used by early civilizations as a savory ingredient. Thinki: Chicken with Champagne and Chocolate sauce, Roast Kingfish with Cocoa Nib Crust, Sautéed Prawns with Chocolate Tapenade, Slow cooked Lamb with Chilli and Chocolate.
There will be just 14 “cocoa pod” cottages and villas at Hotel Chocolat. These accommodations will include all the items on a luxury checklist: ultra-high thread count cotton sheets, polished granite double-basin bathrooms with rainforest open-sky showers, private verandas with rocking chairs and well stocked concierge cabinets. Constructed from local stone and wood, they have high ceilings and a cooling natural breeze-way designed in. The landscaped grounds are lit by solar powered lights and water has been “harvested” from the rain. Rooms are discounted during the “soft launch” opening (February 28 through June 30, 2011).
This whole project began about 15 years ago. Founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris had one goal in mind – to make a better type of chocolate. They started with a catalogue business aimed at the market in the United Kingdom, segued into shops (there’s even one in Boston, Massachusetts) and now a hotel. It’s located on Rabot Estate, not coincidentally where they grow their cocoa in the West Indies. Rabot is Saint Lucia’s oldest cocoa estate, dating back to 1745.
(Photo of cocoa pods courtesy of Hotel Chocolat)
[…] The Hotel Chocolat opens on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia on February 28 (you have made a reservation already, haven’t you?). […]