Castara Retreats Apartments - Reader Reports & Opinion
Guest Report
Jo Theed from U.K. visited in February 2006 and awarded 
Just back from a second, lovely visit to Castara. It was only a week but what a joy after central London in a February freeze. I just want to add my voice to the general clamour to confirm that Castara Retreats is a very special place to visit.
Coasthanger is the first of the new haiku lodges to be opened and it's dreamy. The 180 degree-view of the coast, the smell of wood, the sound of the surf, the spacious layout and airy design, the garden and birdlife around, and the attention to detail make for a wonderful experience. The 2nd haiku lodge is not yet completed and the builders (although being as considerate as possible) are a bit close for comfort, but that's all going to be over in a couple of weeks and then there will be another beautiful, new building to visit. Lucky you if you have a booking for any of the Castara Retreats accommodation!
For me... the joy was the view, AND the peace of the hammock at sundown, AND the people (thanks to Porridge and Jeanelle for looking after us and arranging our day diving, Duck for a lovely day out in the boat and for a fun BBQ, Marita for a delicious "take-away" supper, Doris for the flowers, Carrington for fruit from the garden, King David for the walk in the forest, Steve Felgate for having a birthday and introducing us to the Woolers - lovely to meet them and to be able to thank them for this great site in person - and all the fellow guests for being such friendly folk!).
Hmmm - seems cruel to be back at work. Have a lovely time if you are visiting this accommodation!
PS My only Tobagan advice is to take lots of anti-mosquito (only thing that I don't miss are the biters!) and to obey the common-sense rule of asking how much something biggish (outing/meal) is before accepting it. It makes for a horrible moment if you find that things cost more than you expected and it's so avoidable if one asks first.
Guest Report
Carol Heaton/c Elliott from U.K. visited in January 2006 and awarded
We first stayed at Castara Retreats (in Coasthanger) in January 2006, and liked it so well that we came back again in January 2008. We are booked to return yet again in January 2009, and on that occasion will be joined by American friends who have booked another apartment in the same complex. This history should give some idea of our opinion of the place, which we found to be absolutely delightful, managed by delightful people, in a location that would be hard to match for beauty, unpretentiousness and all round charm. I hesitate to recommend it only for fear of its being "discovered."
Guest Report
Sue And Stuart Vernon from U.K. visited in January 2006 and awarded
We have just had a wonderful week at Castara retreats with our two grown up daughters.
If you want to get away from the world and experience the real down to earth charm of Tobago then this is the place to be. We stayed in Rainforest at Castara Retreats and this accommodation was even better than the website pictures suggested. The design of the accommodation is simple, but it works and we certainly were not without any comfort needed by urbanites! Needless to say, Porridge and his team (try Marieta's cooking!) couldn't do enough for us.
We loved Castara itself so much, we didn't even step outside the village, apart from doing one boat trip where we snorkelled to our heart's content, although I am still looking for Nemo!
We shall certainly be back and perhaps this time explore more of the delights of Tobago, although I am told (and certainly believe this) that it might be difficult to beat the charm of Castara.
Guest Report
Tim & Lynn Morris from U.K. visited in January 2006 and awarded
We have just returned from our second stay at Castara Retreats. We thought it was amazing last year – this year was even better!!!
We stayed in Birdsong Lodge this time. Birdsong was in the process of being built in February 2006 when we last visited Castara Retreats, so we were excited to see it finished. It exceeded all our expectations. As with all the apartments/lodges at Castara Retreats, the lodge is beautiful with stunning views. I have now seen all the accommodation at Castara Retreats and have found every property to be finished to the highest standards and immaculately clean and well equipped with everything you could possibly need. Every single property has its individual highlights. All have amazing views over Castara, the beach and the coastline below. The gardens surrounding the properties are beautifully planted and very well maintained.
What makes Castara Retreats so special are the staff. Porridge, who manages the apartments, is always on hand to answer any questions and make sure your stay is perfect. He always has a smile and makes Castara Retreats a very special place to stay. He will call by each day to see if you need any help and advice. Porridge & his wife Jeanell are perfect hosts and can provide a taxi service to anywhere on the island, vehicles to hire on a daily or weekly basis, tours, shopping trips and advice about local activities. If you would like a home cooked meal, Marita, who lives opposite the Retreats, will prepare you delicious local dishes and deliver them to you. Ovita, Hermin & Sherry-Ann come in the service the apartments twice a week, always with a friendly smile and nothing is too much trouble. Doris brings fresh flowers for each accommodation every week & Carrington is around most days, maintaining the gardens and bringing guests fresh bananas & mangos from the garden.
The village of Castara is situated around a beautiful bay with a lovely sandy beach and warm sea, with safe swimming. Fresh fish can be purchased from the local fishermen on a daily basis. The ladies of the village bake bread & cakes in banana leaves in a clay oven on the beach every Thursday & Saturday...delicious!! Freshly baked bread can also be purchased from one of the local stores every afternoon and basic food & vegetables can be bought at the various shops in the village. All the local residents are friendly and always ready to stop for a chat (called liming!!). It was our second visit to Castara and already we have been accepted as a “local” and have made many friends.
We have travelled all over the Island now, as this year was our 3rd visit to Tobago. I have not seen anywhere as perfect as Castara to stay and to be honest, none of the other accommodations I have seen on the Island can touch Castara Retreats for location, excellent accommodation and friendliness. In Castara Retreats, Steve & Sue, who designed and built the beautiful accommodations, have created the perfect oasis for relaxation and an amazing holiday. The properties blend into the hillside and are finished to very highest of standards. The website Steve & Sue have designed is excellent, very comprehensive with easy booking & payment facilities. Requests and emails are always replied to promptly. All in all we would highly recommend Castara Retreats!!
We have been back 2 days and have already booked for next year!!! I can definitely say that Castara Retreats will be our winter holiday destination for many years to come!!
Guest Report
Caroline Wade from U.K. visited in November 2005 and awarded
I have been e-mailed by mytobago to given an opinion on the accommodation that I stayed in when I visited Tobago, even if it was quite a while ago which it was.
We stayed in the Rainforest apartment for one week after staying at Top River Pearl for the first week (which I will review separately). The Rainforest apartment is the biggest of all the apartments, we went about four years ago now. We have really happy memories of staying there and would most definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see the real Tobago. I have stayed in many hotels and all inclusives in different places in the world but you never really get to see the “real” Mexico for example if you are cosseted away in an all inclusive hotel. With this apartment you can you go down to the local restaurants in the village and have a delicious meal and get to meet all the locals. The apartment itself was breathtaking, beautiful pine floors and well looked after and a really good kitchen. I brought a bird feeder (there was an old one there) and put bread and left overs out for the birds everyday, they were fascinating to watch. We also put banana in the bird feeder at night and watched all the bats flying around within a few feet of us taking the banana from the feeder as well. You can’t do that kind of thing in a hotel!
To wake up every morning to the view was just magical and we will always have fond memories it. The apartment was beautifully done, but the best thing about it was the open veranda to the front and obviously looking out over the beautiful bay. Our advice would be to hire a jeep like we did and explore the island, we had some great fun in ours and went to just about every beach there is in Tobago.
We would love to go back sometime in the future and would give this apartment 10 out of 10, it really does have the Wow factor.
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