Above: the Ladera Resort in St Lucia

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Lucia’s Ladera Resort will be reopening Oct. 12 after its annual closure with several new upgrades, highlighted by its new Villa at Paradise Ridge.

The 1,700-square-foot villa is 1,100 feet above the sea, making it what the resort bills as the largest (and most expensive) one-bedroom accommodation directly facing the country’s famous Pitons.

Ladera will also be opening four new Suites at Paradise Ridge, which are scheduled to open in early 2013.

“Each new suite will have our famously breathtaking vistas from the open living rooms and will include private pools,” said Olivier Bottois, the resort’s vice president of marketing and operations.

Ladera’s Dasheene at Ladera eatery has also named a new consulting chef, Mark Tan, the former executive sous chef and pastry chef at the Hotel Le St James in Montreal.

Dasheene will also unveil a new 1,000-bottle wine celler, led by new head sommelier Karim Boulet.