Our Holiday - Nov 2004

[Kylie]

Here goes, I landed at 9.30 this morning and have now been awake for too many hours to count. Excuse the typos, I hope this is of help.

We travelled to Tobago on 4th Nov, there were two of us myself and my partner, both in our 30's and pretty laid back about things. I have been to Tobago for one 3 day visit whilst working in Trinidad but this was Bev's 1st experience. I had read a fair amount about Tobago on this website and in teh rough guide and went with a very slight element of anticipation regarding the hotel and our personal safety. We paid about £1500 for the two of us for 11 nights room only, flying with BA. This was all done through KUONI.

Outgoing flight was fine, we stopped at Antuiga on the way which was a tad boring but otherwise a breeze. We were met at the airport and bunged in a taxi drien by a great guy who talked to us about Tobago for the whole trip. On arrival at the hotel my glasses steamed up when I got out of the car!!! At the hotel we were given a Rum punch while we checked in and everyone was really nice, we had to pay a $1000TT deposit on the CC and slightly light headed we plodded off to our room. We were in one of the high number rooms and it did seem like a bit of a treck fully laden after a long day BUT we could have got the stuff taken by porters so that is fine.

The room was cool as the aircon was on, the room was fine, basic but it had everything you needed, the bathroom was fine, clean and fine - at the end of teh day they are there for function and they did the job. The rooms we were on were a bit newer so not sure what the other rooms were like. The aircon was loud - I was happy to put up with it all night, Bev preferred it off once it had cooled.

We ate in the Hotel that night which was OKish -we used the A La Carte menu and it was about $250TT inc a few beers.

The 1st morning I was amazed at the sea view - bloody hell!!! HOLIDAYYYYYYY!

We weren't on all inclusive so popped up to Black Rock (about 10 mins max walk) and got a few provisions, the Superette was quite well stocked and well priced.

We booked tow tours with our KUONI rep. A half dfay snorkelling trip to Buccoo reef and a trip to Sunday School.

The snorkelling trip was great, it was $25US and we had a great time on the boat, a couple of reefs to snorkel and a swim in Nylon Pool - all with a few tall tales from out guide.

Sunday School was also a good night although the organised trip was not necessary. The trip was $25US and included the bus and drinks. Unfortunately it was just beers out of the back of the guides car, we felt that it didn't really give us a feel for for the evening so we ditched the tour paid our $5TT and hit the Hendrix Bar with its $7TT bottles of Stag, great music, dancing and FUN!!! (the following week we took a cab $150TT for the two of us) and had a great and more authentic night. There is plenty of good street food around it it is a great night out. No hassle at all - a few lads chatting up the girls but find a plcae where that doesn't happen.

I did a bit of diving which I won't go into here. I used R and Sea divers - they were absoultely brilliant.PM me if you want any info.

We hired a car from Tobago Travel at $50US a day inc insurance and collision damage waiver. All very easy. We went everywhere and had a laugh. Only slight concern was on the road to Speyside. This guy stood in the middle of teh road so we had to stop the car, he came over and said he was after a lift to work so I told him to hop in. When he asked me to turn up a dirt track we got a bit suspicious. He was conning us into a tour, we felt a bit concerned as he was quite persuasive but when I put my foot down he was fine, he tried to blag $100TT of us and I gave him $20TT and told him he was a cheeky sod!! We were silly but we also felt a bit concerned, we were fine but felt we could have ended up in the middle of the rainforest in a confrontational situation. If you see Wayne be aware - he wants to take you on a tour!!

Food - we ventured out the hotel on a few occasions and found good, great and OK food.

Roti King in Stone Haven (? about a miled outside Black Rock), a miserable guy but great Roti. $12TT and really good.

??? Bakery Basket (I think...) Black Rock. Brill, we had a meal in which was good, we sat on plastic chairs in the takeaway bit and had a great meal. I had flying fish Bev had Chicken, with salad calaloo and veg, a couple of glasses and pop and all for $100TT.

Crown Point airport carpark. The best doubles in the world!!! Served from the back of an old car and only $2TT each!!! A must for any visitor.

Store Bay Beach Facility - a few food places, We had Rotio the 1st visist with coconut water - great and about $14TT for Roti. We went again and I had a dissapointing 'crab n dumplin' - not much crab and too much dumplin!!

Dillons - Crown Point. A more upmarket dining experience (well more upmarket than a car park meal out of a car boot). The first visit we had Lobster crepes, crab, stuffed snapper and grilled snapper - a really good meal. The second night we had shrimp curry and flying fish. The main courses were about $100TT ish. Well cooked, well presenetd and nice place. Appaling piped music tho!!

Castara - a meal on the beach, chicken and rice, aboutr $100TT for two and fine.

Hotel - food was overpriced and the A La Carte was limited, we used it a few times and it performed a function and we can't complain.



Other stuff


The hotel staff were really nice, everything was very Tobago - very laid back and random. If you went with the wrong frame of mind it could seem chaotic and frustrating. On holiday it is all part of the fun. We didn't use the pool or pool side facilities. They looked fine and great if you had kids.

The sea was brill, a tad wild at times and a lot of people got dumped and taught the power of the sea!! Once you were in it was fine but getting out could be fun. We had a bad rain storm and it was crazy in there after then.

There was one guy offerring spliff, we stayed well clear. I bought a local paper yesteday, a local guy had been caught with a spliff at Sunday School, he got a fine OR 4 months inside with hard labour.....

We kep away from a lot of the hotel stuff, there were a few people complaining about things and I can't comment too much. From the oputside it seemd like people enjoying complaining but can't be sure

Hmm..... I think that is it, sorry for my randomness, the old jet lag is kicking in.

We will try and go back - that says it all really.


PS - an late addition. The one thing that really, really pissed us off was the selfish people that got up at 6 and put towels on the sunbeds and dissapeared all day. The hotel states that the beds are not reserveable but people take them over all day without using them - some of them even dragged them to their patios to keep them. The only upside was when there were a few freak waves and there stuff got wet!!!

[Andrew Poole]

Are you sure you stayed away from the guy with the spliff??

All those typo's!!!

[Kylie]

Yeah I am afraid I am the typo king - sorry!!!

Kept well away from the spliff tho!!!

[Julia C.]

Great report - I liked the bit where you say " everything was very Tobago - very laid back and random. If you went with the wrong frame of mind it could seem chaotic and frustrating. On holiday it is all part of the fun".

[Kylie]

Thanks Julia - that is the appeal of the place really. We came home with the frame of mind that we would chill but as soon as you get here you have stuff to do - that whole chilled out randomness is so refreshing!!

[Andrew Poole]

Kylie wrote

PS - an late addition. The one thing that really, really pissed us off was the selfish people that got up at 6 and put towels on the sunbeds and dissapeared all day. The hotel states that the beds are not reserveable but people take them over all day without using them - some of them even dragged them to their patios to keep them.

I think you would be quite justified in removing said towels and dragging loungers back to the pool area if the hotel rules state that they cannot be reseved!

[Kylie]

Kylie wrote

PS - an late addition. The one thing that really, really pissed us off was the selfish people that got up at 6 and put towels on the sunbeds and dissapeared all day. The hotel states that the beds are not reserveable but people take them over all day without using them - some of them even dragged them to their patios to keep them.

I think you would be quite justified in removing said towels and dragging loungers back to the pool area if the hotel rules state that they cannot be reseved!

Of course the temptation was to do the same to them as we were up very early. We thought we woulod have been grade one hippocrates if we had done that. We didn't lose out as we weren't that fussed about lounging on the beach but we saw other people sitiing on the san and wanting to use the beds while 90% of the beds were just taken up by towels!!

[Kylie]

hmmmmm, do I mean Hippocrates or hippocrits???

[Cornelia Montgomery]

All hotels should provide enough loungers and shade for everybody! Most of us go on vacation to relax; it causes anxiety when you have to worry about reserving a lounger.
It's a pet peeve of mine; it is certainly not a Tobago-only problem. I also have been known to remove a towel from a lounger that hadn't been used for four hours, but I don't want to do that. I don't stay in a lounger for more than a few hours at a time (when I've got a good book); why people want to stake them out for a whole day is beyond me.

[Marc Jones]

Drove me mad at the Rex did that. people would place a towel THEN go for breakfast.

More loungers would solve it, but in the end it's just a way of thinking I can't subscribe to - use it if free, but "reserve" it that way? Very selfish.

[Mark Hall]

Well Marc, if you want a bed now the mentality now is place your towel on the bed/lounger the evening before. In October we stayed at the Rex for two weeks(never again). After an evening out for dinner,( far away from The Rex Restaurant) we would walk back to our room along the beachfront/ gardens. You would be amazed at the rows of beds & accompanying towels. One night after a few beers I considered collecting the towels & doing the laundry. !!!!! Fortunately sensibilities kicked in.

[Marc Jones]

It's just selfish and pitiful.

I'll jump in the hire car and go find an empty spot elsewhere

[Richard]

We always found that there where plenty of loungers and they are kept right down the length of the property, no need to pinch from the pool area.

On our first couple of trips we would of liked to use them on the beach under the shade there but on the last trip with a 10 mnt baby we did "reserve" a couple on our patio as drying racks over night but we used them almost constantly at day time.

Mind you at that end of the hotel there is plenty of shade under the trees which is probably safer as there is less reflection of sunlight which causes some people problems in the shade on the beach.

[Sam Deeks]

he heh
saw the same thing, 6am... and - sorry to all you politically-correct folks out there - they turned out to be.. yes, you guessed it, Germans.

I let it bother me for.. oh, 2 seconds.

Who wants to sit on plastic in front of a hotel when there's a whole island to explore.. even 200 yards up and down either side of RTB hotel?

By the way, when you're next there, get out on the hotel's unsinkable plastic kayaks. We did a couple of times and got a mile and a half off-shore in no time. It was WONDERFUL to put that distance between us and civilisation... Completely safe and just so... freeing. Get a different perspective on things from out there!

Sun beds? Bah, they can keep em