St. Lucia: Hotel Of Harvest

Some trips are all about the beach, some are all about the mountains, some are all about the spa. But all about the farm? Let it be noted: Whether you sow the seeds of relaxation, adventure or indulgence on your next journey, you'll be sure to reap something worthwhile if you stay at a working plantation.

Let the aroma of the harvest — past and present — season your stay at La Haut Plantation on St. Lucia. The 52-acre estate 1½ miles from the town of Soufrière was once a cocoa and coconut planation and is now home to a fruit and vegetable garden where everything from soursops to cashew nuts flourish. In the refurbished, 100-year-old main house, the smell of drying cocoa beans still drifts through French doors into guest rooms that open onto rows of pineapple blossoms and mango trees below. From the balcony of the copra-house-turned-guest-cottage, coconut trees frame views of the Piton mountains — a reminder of coconuts that once were processed in these very rooms.

After your first cocoa-scented night at the property, enjoy a walking tour through the buzzing plantation and learn how owners Joe and Stephanie Allain maintain their crops, livestock and aviary. Once you understand the inner workings of the farm, taste its fruits at the inn's restaurant. Coconut chicken, orange and spinach salad, breadfruit balls and freshly squeezed citrus juice are all made with ingredients plucked from the La Haut fields. Farm fresh has never been such a trip. lahaut.com

Rate Information

• La Haut Plantation rates from $80 a night.

More Fruitful Furloughs

• Walk through the working coconut plantation at the Aore Island Resort and witness one of Vanuatu's largest industries in action. Later, try a coconut-crusted seafood entree at the resort's oceanfront restaurant. aoreresort.com

• Stop and smell the coffee beans — and shallots and jackfruit and ginger — among other fruits, vegetables and spices grown on site at the Losari Coffee Plantation Resort & Spa on Java. You can sample all the flavors, courtesy of the Losari Plantation kitchen. losaricoffeeplantation.com