Sometimes you just need to get back to basics.

So we're throwing out all those large, commercial, luxury resorts with their fancy plasma TVs, their silly heated mirrors, and their dumb private plunge pools.  Instead, we're aiming for some good, old-fashioned intimacy - the kind you're actually comfortable with.

Check into the Ladera Resort - a small, sophisticated eco-hotel in the south western region of St. Lucia.  The resort maintains a tree house-style design - each of its six villas and 26 suites are surrounded by mango trees and a magnificent view of the Pitons to help you 'focus on the important experiences of a lifetime'.  Read:  no televisions, no radios and no phones in any of the rooms.  While it's not entirely rough (there's a mini-bar in each room), you can count on it being entirely luxurious.

Each elegant villa and suite features an open wall (think:  breeze.  Lots and lots of breeze.), four poster bed, terracotta tiles and Caribbean stone - not to be mistaken for American stone.  We think you'll appreciate the missing "fourth wall", an interesting concept that opens up your worry-free vacation to panoramic views, while remaining private and safe (the tree frogs are okay).  When the view proves to be enough, check out Dasheene, Ladera's restaurant where you can enjoy several martini-tinged courses of eclectic cuisine.

Back at your villa, relax and enjoy your plus-one and your... private plunge pool - because even environmentalists shouldn't have to choose.

Ladera Resort | Val de Pitons, Soufriere, St. Lucia | 758 459 6600 | www.ladera.com