Holiday Accommodation

Introduction

Shepherd's House is a stately two-storey house situated on a steep hill topped by Fort King George. This elevated fortress was built by the British to defend Scarborough town and port, back in the early 1770s. Being on the eastern flanks of the hill, Shepherd's House faces east, with views over the upscale suburb of Bacolet, rather than dowdy Scarborough. Apart from the wonderful views out to sea, the high elevation means that the house and grounds are permanently fanned by the cooling sea breezes that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Shepherd's House dominates the hillside. It's imposing façade looks grandly down over the lesser villas in the popular rapidly-expanding parts of Bacolet below. And yet, the house is less than 500m from gorgeous Bacolet Beach.

Your own transport is essential when staying at Shepherd's House. There is a small mini-mart at the foot of the hill, but no other shops in the immediate area. The restaurants at the Bacolet Beach Club and adjacent Blue Haven Hotel are open to non-residents, but they are the only restaurants within the immediate area.

Renting a car, however, couldn't be simpler. Shepherd's House is owned by Colin Shepherd of popular Sheppy's Auto Rental and, more recently, Shepherd's Inn. Guests staying at the house benefit from special rental prices.

Accommodation

The three bedrooms of Shepherd's House provide comfortable accommodation for up to eight persons.

The house is situated in a quiet side-street of a discrete upscale residential area. A gradually sloping tiled walkway with solid handrails leads from the gate to both the rear entrance door and the veranda that wraps around the house. Although no mobility aids have been fitted, the property might prove suitable for wheelchair users, or those with limited mobility, provided that they do not require access to the upper bedrooms, or the basement-level swimming pool.

The neoclassical styling, tall columns and spacious front veranda combine to make the house seem larger and grander than is actually the case. Very few houses on Tobago have the same wow factor. Arriving guests are sure to be hugely impressed when the house comes into view as they drive up the hill.

In practise, the house is smaller and cosier than it might at first appear. Each of the two levels provides around 100m2/1000ft2 of internal accommodation space. However, the ground level does feel particularly spacious due to the 3.5m/11ft ceiling height.

Living Room

The massive living area utilises more than half the ground floor space. Doors lead to the master bedroom at one end and the kitchen at the other. A small cloakroom is tucked away in one corner. A wide staircase leads to the upper bedrooms. 

The living room is furnished with two large soft-leather reclining sofas. These face an entertainment centre with 48-inch flat screen TV and digital cable service, plus a Bluetooth media music centre with both CD and USB playback facilities. Although no landline telephone is available, the property offers a decent Wi-Fi Internet connection and cell net reception is excellent.

The second half of the living room is dominated by a dining table large enough to cope with the house under maximum occupancy. In truth, visitors are far more likely to dine on the balcony.

The living room extends across the full depth of the property and is always light and airy. Just keeping the wide glazed veranda doors open was enough to keep the house cool during our stay. The dining table became my office workstation and despite working there for many hours each day, we never once even thought of switching on either of the two large air-conditioners installed in the room. It is quite remarkable how cool and breezy this house is.

Kitchen

With its hand-painted wooden cabinets and display units, and matching kitchen table and chairs, the kitchen is a delight.

Double doors provide access from the kitchen to the veranda. As with the living room, we found that opening the veranda doors early in the day was enough to prevent any build-up of heat. Even the overhead fan wasn't essential. As in the living room, we never even considered using the air-conditioner.

The kitchen is well equipped, with a large electric oven and four-ring ceramic hob, dishwasher, full-size American fridge-freezer with icemaker and water filter and microwave over. Smaller electrical ancillaries include a coffee filter machine, liquidiser and kettle. An excellent range of pots and pans, kitchen utensils, crockery and cutlery were provided. The limited supply of glassware was a slight disappointment, but I'm sure that this oversight will be rectified. With cupboards and display units on all four walls, our only difficulty was remembering where everything was. Unlike so many of the properties that we stay at, this is one where guests are unlikely to complain about a shortage of storage space for their groceries and other kitchen supplies.

Master Bedroom

As in the kitchen, the ceiling of the ensuite master bedroom is some 17ft high at the highest point. This makes the room taller than it is wide or long, giving it an unusual but spacious feel.

The room is simply furnished with a comfortable queen-size bed, plus matching nightstands and a tall chest of drawers. As everywhere in the house, the furnishings were of the highest quality. The house is fully serviced with regular changes of linen and towels, etc.

An attractive spiral staircase leads from the bedroom to a narrow gallery. This runs around two sides of the bedroom and utilises the space above the ensuite bathroom to provide a series of deep wardrobes.

Glazed patio doors lead directly from the bedroom to the front veranda. With the doors open, the cooling breezes keep the bedroom cool throughout the day. Sadly, it would not be wise to leave the doors open at night, so guests must then choose between the overhead fan or the air-conditioner.

The fully tiled ensuite bathroom is spacious and furnished with the usual trio of walk-in shower, wash basin and toilet, plus a bidet.

All bathroom fittings were in good condition and there was lots of hot water. Towels and linen were spotlessly clean and of high quality.

Bedroom 2

Bedrooms 2 and 3 are on the upper floor and accessed via a wide staircase from the living room. The upper rooms are effectively loft rooms, making use of the floor space immediately beneath the roof. This means slightly reduced headroom at the edges of the room, but as the rooms are so spacious, this is not an issue.

Bedroom 2 is particularly large; so much so that it is furnished with two queen-size beds. The only other furnishings in the room are two built-in wardrobe cupboards. In fairness, we stayed at the house before it was fully prepared for rental and I assume that by the time guests arrive, a chair and other accoutrements will have been added to make the upper bedrooms a little more homely. The bareness of the room was disappointing because the open roof joists give this room great character. With its arched glazed balcony doors giving stunning views of Bacolet and the sea, the room could be perfectly charming.

Modern split-unit air-conditioners provide whisper-quiet cooling to both upper bedrooms. Both also have ceiling fans and glazed doors onto a small walk-on balcony. The rooms are so high above the ground that it would hardly constitute a security risk to leave the balcony doors open at night, enabling guests to enjoy the wonderful natural cool sea breezes, rather than relying upon air-conditioning.

Neither of the upper bedrooms have ensuite facilities, but instead, share an adjacent common bathroom. This is fitted with a tiled walk-in shower, washbasin, toilet and another bidet. 

Bedroom 3

The spacious third bedroom lies directly opposite the second bedroom with views over the lush tropical trees and shrubs at the rear of the property. The room is furnished with two single beds. There is also a wooden built-in cupboard, plus lots of shelving for clothing.

The Veranda

A wide veranda wraps around the entire house. Although relatively narrow and more of a walkway on three sides of the house, it opens out to a spacious living area at the front, giving magnificent views over Bacolet Point and out to sea. This is undoubtedly where guests are likely to spend much of their time while in the villa.

A large dining table and chairs are situated on the veranda, next to the kitchen. A large new gas barbeque grill stands proudly nearby. What a wonderful place to dine. Fully sheltered from the sun (or rain) throughout the day but enjoying those fabulous cooling breezes that I simply can't mention often enough. If you want an air-conditioned veranda, this is the one. Naturally air-conditioned.

The veranda is also furnished with a circular all-weather table and four fabulously comfortable patio armchairs. So comfortable that you could readily nod off while sat there. In addition, there is a further separate trio consisting of a two-seat sofa and matching armchairs arranged around a long coffee table.

Pool & Gardens

To keep the architectural balance, two sets of identical wide stairs lead down from the front veranda to either end of the pool deck. The infinity swimming pool is a treat. It has a Roman end with steps leading down into the pool. Both ends are relatively shallow, and the deepest part is in the middle. One of the most surprising things that we found about the pool was how clean it remained. We are so used to the daily clearance of leaves that blow into pools overnight. At Shepherd's House it was never more than flicking out a single leaf or two. This was surprising given the lush gardens, but, in fairness, they are on the leeward side of the property, whereas the pool faces the dominant winds.

Immediately adjacent to the pool is a small pool bar with toilet/washroom. This was unfinished at the time of our stay but will be a tremendously useful facility when completed. Particularly if fitted with a fridge for cold drinks, etc.

Half a dozen sun loungers with all-weather cushions are available around the pool deck. The pool is not overlooked by any properties, so is totally private and topless sunbathing would not be an issue here. Topless or nude bathing are illegal in Tobago and likely to cause great upset to many of the older generations. Very few properties offer the privacy of Shepherd's House.

Conclusion

As mentioned, we stayed at Shepherd's House while it was being refurbished and so there were still a few rough edges that needed ironing out. Having workmen around the place for the first four days didn't help us to form the best impression either.

However, the workmen eventually left and finally we could relax. And boy, did we relax. Despite being a stone's throw from noisy Scarborough, we could almost have been in the middle of the rainforest.

Shepherd's House has huge character. The external presentation of the property is stunning. The levels of accommodation offered may appear a little dated in comparison to the many new villas on the island, but who wants to stay in a sterile air-conditioned box that will slip from your memory before your flight home even lands? This is a villa that you will really remember – and return to.