Castara Retreats Apartments - Reader Reports & Opinion
These reports are a combination of questions and comment posted in our Castara Retreats Apartments forum and visitor reports added via the 'Add Report' tab above. The votes awarded are weighted by volume and date to give a truer representation of reader satisfaction [more details].
Reader Satisfaction Ranking: 
Weighted ranking based on 67 votes = 4.8 (max 5)
Guest Report
Salwa Beheiry from U.S.A. visited in September 2010 and awarded
I just returned back from 7-day vacation to Tobago. Castara Retreats was beyond all expectations. I have been to Tobago before, however this was my first time to Castara and I was blown away!! The management team is excellent and they do all they can to make your stay comfortable. You will be picked up from the airport which is 50 minutes away and when you get to the retreat you will know that you are in for a real treat!!! I would go back in a heart beat.
Guest Report
Kenny Sharpe from U.K. visited in August 2010 and awarded
After a busy and stressful year we needed to go somewhere and chill - this was the place. We stayed at Coasthanger for one week , not enough time in my book. We had a great time in Tobago and an even greater time spent at Castara. Very releaxing and friendly place and will recommend the retreat to everyone - we will be back again. This was our honeymoon so we had to get this holiday right. We also needed a well earned break and this was it. We found the accommodation to be excellent, I was weary of how the place would look in comparison to the photos on the site, but I can say without and doubt the photos are spot on. The quality of the accommodation is to a very high standard, everything we needed was there. The seats were comfortable and we enjoyed many hours relaxing with the shutters wide open. Castara is a very stress free zone.
Poor Porridge was not a well person when we arrived but he still waited for us at the airport to take us to Castara. Unfortunatly we didnt see much of him because of this but he was always on the end of the phone or Jeanell was on hand to help organise a tour or trip.
The village is friendly, good food and great places to drink. The Almond Tree is great for evening meals and Chinos Coffee bar did the best breakfast to start your day with.
We will be back !
Kenny and Karen Sharpe
Edinburgh
Guest Report
Linda V. Dautreuil from U.S.A. visited in August 2010 and awarded
I wanted to visit Tobago for nearly twenty years. Not Trinidad, but Tobago. I’m not sure what first attracted me to this island. Maybe it was the lack of commercialism, or maybe it was the remoteness. In other words, it wasn’t one of those high profile islands in the Caribbean. Back then, there were no websites or online reviews. Travel books had very little to say, if anything at all. So, when I began planning a surprise trip in celebration of my daughters’ graduations from Graduate School and Law School, I knew Tobago was the place I wanted to take them.
Discovering Castara Retreats wasn’t just luck – it was fate. I knew from the moment I found the website and read about the “Japanese haiku house” which described the architectural style of Coasthanger , one of the accommodations, that I need not look any further! The descriptions, the pictures, the reviews all convinced me this was the right place for the three of us to make memories that would last a lifetime.
Although the three of us would have been quite content to sit on the deck and take in the magnificent views of Castara Bay with its fishing boats bobbing in the blue-green water, or soak up the sun while on the beach, we did venture into the village each day to purchase fresh fish from the local fishermen or warm, baked bread from the village women in the schoolyard. Castara has numerous wonderful, little restaurants, as well. It was nice to always have the option of preparing our own meals, having someone prepare one for us at Castara Retreats, or eating at one of the places in the village.
I cannot say enough about the management and staff of Castara Retreats. From the initial inquiry to saying goodbye at the airport terminal, every detail was handled professionally, with ease and warmth. Jean took care of the arrangements in regards to the booking, special room requests, and airplane arrivals. Milk (everyone in Tobago seems to have a nickname) met us at the airport and chauffeured us to the nearby supermarket to stock up on groceries for the week. Jeanell welcomed us into our immaculately clean “haiku house” when we arrived. And Porridge, with his keen intuition, spotted us walking along the beach the first evening, somehow “knew” we were the newest Castara Retreats guests, and approached us with a warm welcome.
We were so fortunate to have our visit coincide with that of the owners, Steve and Sue Felgate, and their daughter, Freya. It was delightful getting to know them, and to hear the stories about how such a paradise of a place was envisioned and became reality. Even though Castara Retreats is designed for the guests’ independence, these gracious hosts really went “the extra mile” to make sure we felt included and welcome. When they realized we would be missing out on a day long boat trip scheduled for the day after we were to leave, they threw together a last minute half day trip that we could enjoy (many thanks to the captain, Shaq – Porridge and Jeanell’s son). And the bar-b-que hosted the night before we were to leave, enabled us to get to know more of the other guests staying on the property.
Family and friends, food and fun, are part of our Acadian culture, here in south Louisiana. From our spicy food to our unique music, we love living life to the fullest! In all of my travels to date, I have not found a place that embraces all of these things as much as the Cajuns do... until I found Tobago! There were many similarities between Castara and Acadiana (the region in which I live). We felt very comfortable there. Almost like coming home... to a place we’d never been before. It won’t take me twenty years to return!
Guest Report
Max & Angela from U.K. visited in July 2010 and awarded
I'd like to thank everyone involved in Castara Retreats, our stay there in July 2010 was superb. We found the accommodation to be excellent, exactly as we'd hoped it would be and the photos of Coasthanger (whilst very good) really dont do the place justice. The quality of the accommodation, furniture and fixings is to a very high standard, we found everything we needed - from the kitchen to the bedroom. The seating was comfortable and we enjoyed many hours relaxing with the shutters wide open, listening to the waves, bird song and being cooled by the breeze from the sea. I dont think either of us have been so relaxed and chilled for years, I just wish our stay could have been longer. I'm sure the any doctor would prescribe a stay in Castara to remove any stress you might be suffering from!
Porridge and the team on site were fantastic, hitting just the right mix of being there to help and assist us but not being intrusive. I really felt that they would help with anything, from providing us with a new bird feeder (the previous one broken by an attack of fat chickens!) to providing advice and guidance on days out. The accommodation, village and surrounds are beautiful and idyllic, and Porridge and the team really make a difference.
We will definately plan to return at some point in the future - hopefully this time we will be able to spend all our time in Castara. I feel there is a lot more on the island for us to explore.
Guest Report
Vitamaria Moltedo from U.K. visited in May 2010 and awarded
What pressure choosing a honeymoon destination! One can’t help being worried, as it has to be the best holiday ever. Well, for us it most certainly was! It has been two months since we returned to London, yet almost every day, at least for a moment, we’re back in Castara – the best place in Tobago and most probably in the Caribbean. For just a fraction of a second at some point while we are sitting at our desk, or squeezing through the crowds on the tube, we can feel, see, taste and smell the loveliness of Heavenly Bay: the sound of the sea, the perfume of mangoes, the hummingbirds feeding from the banana flowers less than a yard away from us, the wonderful hot sand, the warm sea water, the view of the bay from the balcony of Rainforest, the hot sauce with the mahi-mahi caught an hour earlier by one of our fishermen friends, the thrill at feeling the bonito biting at the fishing line, the laughter with Porridge, Sherwin and Daniel while sipping a malt on the beach, the exhilaration at seeing every new bay from the boat...
We had such wonderful, exciting and relaxing time, made possible by the beautiful nature, the perfectly designed accommodation and most of all by the great effort, the hard work, the touching kindness and the relentless enthusiasm of Porridge and Jeanelle and of all the other Castara people. They made our holiday truly unforgettable.
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