During our stay on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, my sister and I stayed at the Cap Est Lagoon Resort and Spa on the east coast of the island. We had a great time – the resort and staff were fantastic. Read on to learn more! 

Cap Est is located right on the beachfront, about a thirty minute drive from the airport in Martinique’s capital, Fort-de-France. The resort has a spa, a bar, two restaurants, a pool, and free wifi.

Literally the perfect amount of other guests were staying at the hotel while we were there – enough that it didn’t feel deserted, but not so many that it felt crowded. In the beginning of the week we even had the pool all to ourselves for a while! Coming from NYC, where everything is always crowded (not exaggerating), I can’t tell you how great it felt to be somewhere so peaceful.

Little tunnel path to the jetty.

Martinique is a big destination for the French and other Europeans – not so much for Americans (yet). The fact that pretty much every guest there was European was so interesting. Everyone was very friendly and there was a lot of “bonsoir”s every evening (we should have a word for that in America, I think). We noticed that compared to America, there weren’t a lot of people on their phones and everyone at the pool had an actual book (no Kindles or iPads). There was also a lot of smoking, which seemed so different, and a lot of people sunning themselves seemingly sans sunscreen (not so different).

Our room was huge and had a king-size bed, a terrace overlooking the ocean, a big tub and open shower, a walk-in closet…the list goes on. It was wonderful! Plus a coffee maker – so necessary.

The water was so beautifully clear and aqua. You could wade allll the way out, really far, and the water was still only up to about your knees – pretty cool! It was really warm as well.

The breakfast buffet was included in our stay and it was soooo good! Every morning we had fresh fruit, French Yoplait (so much better than the American version!), delicious mini croissants, and absolutely wonderful, strong coffee (vastly superior to the coffee here).

Man, I miss that coffee!

Of the two restaurants, Le Belem is the more fancy option and La Campeche, closer to the beach, is more casual. Above, pineapple Eton Mess at Le Campeche. My favorite dessert was actually the mango mousse at dinner, but I couldn’t really take a picture because it was too dark.

Really missing that pool…sigh.

The spa was lovely…I got a hot stone massage, facial, and French manicure. Everything in Martinique is charged in Euros but my sister got a no-fee credit card before the trip so we just charged everything to the room and paid with that at the end. Tips were included in every bill which made life so much easier.

Lots of spots to relax.

Houses in the hills.

Pool to the left…beach to the right. Paradise.

photos by me