Cuffie River Nature Retreat - Reader Reports & Opinion

Wonderful Small Retreat   

Ann Ball from U.K. visited in April 2007 and awarded  

We have just returned from 2 weeks on Tobago, the middle 4 days were spent at Cuffie River Nature Retreat. We had an excellent time here and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys nature, bird watching and peace and quiet.

We stayed in the Executive Suite which features the largest king size bed I have ever seen. This room is worth the extra cost if you are a keen bird watcher. It has huge opening windows on 3 sides with tremendous views down over the trees. Chairs are provided so you can just sit with your binoculars at a chosen viewing spot and enjoy yourself. Red legged Honeycreepers were often at the top of one of the trees just outside one window and Gray Kingbirds were nesting in a tree on another side.

The other rooms are very generously sized each with two double beds, but only overlooking the front of the property. There are however many quiet shady spots in the rest of the retreat provided with chairs for you to enjoy the views on the other sides.

We explored one trail by ourselves one day, and managed to see very little,(our inexperience rather than absence of birds!) but the next day Desmond took us out and we saw a lot! He is very talented at spotting and knows all the calls so knows what he is looking for. He showed us the Common Potoo, which obligingly sits all day in the middle of local some bamboo, but you stand little chance finding it without Desmond to show you where it is! We would have liked to have gone out with him again but this was not possible as we had pre booked another tour out.

The food and sevice were excellent, the staff very friendly and cheerful which is not always the case on the island. Regina's evening meals tended to be a selection of dishes, which was lovely as you could easily miss out one if it was not to your taste. There was soup both lunch time and in the evening and I have never tasted such lovely ones.

The swimming pool is in a stunning location as is the table tennis table – I lost most of my games as I was constantly looking out over the view for birds!

We thought it would be useful for the Retreat to produce a rough trail map so you could go out on your own. and we have suggested this so hopefully one day this might happen – Regina did tell us a route which was very easy to follow as the paths tend to be old tracks and are quite wide, but a rough sketch map would have been a help.

We did not have a car and did not miss it for the 4 nights we were there as the location and food were so lovely we saw little point in leaving, and would have been happy to have been staying a little longer. We would love to return and happily recommned this small hotel.

Cuffie River-a Lovely Place To Stay   07 Apr 2007

Anna M from Kent,England visited in March 2007 and awarded  

I have just returned from a very pleasant stay at Cuffie River nature resort. It is in a very pleasant,quiet location and is great for birdwatching and general relaxation.The food and service were outstanding. The staff were so friendly and polite especialy Regina and Ena the cook.I loved the swimming pool-so cooling after a hard day walking or bird watching.A highly recommended place to stay. You would need a car if you wanted to expore the rest of the island easily or go out at night.

Guest Report - Cuffie River Nature Retreat   

Steve Bond from U.K. visited in February 2007 and awarded  

What can I say? This place is a gem – an oasis of calm. The nature walks were good (even though I didn't see a Potoo). No matter how many times we will return to Tobago, we will always have a couple of days at Cuffie River.

Cuffie River Nature Retreat   

Robert Bridgeman from U.K. visited in August 2005 and awarded  

We were looking for a special holiday for the family whose ages spread from 6 to 60.Our travel advisor from Tripps recommended that we stay at the Cuffie River for three nights as it offered something special.

I would have to say that our whole party enjoyed our stay.The location was perfect surrounded by verdant rain forest teaming with bird life and the stream below was visited by cayman.Desmond gave us an exhilarating tour of the forest which we all found fascinating the boys in particular asked a non stop stream of questions which Desmond was only to happy to answer.

The food was an absolute delight cooked in Tobagan style and served in a manner that has largely been forgotten in most places.

We all found the swimming pool an added bonus in which to cool down at the end of the day.

Thanks to Regina and her staff it was a delightful stay if not a little short.

Excellent Place To Stay   

Marija Bryant from U.S.A. visited in April 2002 and awarded  

We stayed there some time ago -- close to when the place was just built -- and loved it. The comments from recent stays warmed my heart becuase it sounds like it's still the same welcoming, personal experience we had. Thankfully, it also sounds as if the road has gotten better. When we were there, I wasn't sure if it was a road or an eroded river bed! Cuffie River was the highlight of a wonderful Tobago trip.

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