Guest Report

12 bedroom cosy hotel in Lowlands. *** NOW CLOSED ***
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Melaas

Guest Report

Post by Melaas »

A big, big disappointment!
"MyTobago" writes that the hotel was built in 2008, totally wrong. The new owners took over the hotel in 2006 and "renovated" it, which we saw no results of..No smile and no " welcome " when we arrived, and a dirty hotelroom and bath met us. The woman who guided us to the room saw how dirty the mirror on the bathroom and the sink were, and cleaned off immediately. The shelves under the TV and for the bedside table we wahed ourselves,- very dusty.
The karaokee Friday night did not stop 11 o`clock pm as announsed, it did not stop before 2 am, and the noise was very loud! The managediretor compensed that for us with a free dinner at the restaurant.
The house-keeping was every day until 15 o`clock pm, but if we did not left the room before 14 o`clock pm, they did not do any housekeeping, even we told them that we have to stay in the room to 14 o `clock because of migraine...we experienced this twice.
The curtains were very transparente, and with a surveillance light outside the room, we did not get any dark night....
The bathroom was very dirty ! And the employees had their home next to our bathroom, and we had noises , meal-making and speaking from them all the day, as the "windows" had to be open...
The internet-presentation was totally wrong,and the pictures were taken by wide-angel lense, the room was less, less smaller than the image from the pictures.
We will not at all recommend other tourists to stay at Bamboo Walk Hotel.
We changed hotel after 10 days, and regret that we believed the presantations and had big expectations..
We needed to relax and have a comfortable stay, which we did not have. Sad.
A stay is cheap, but is not worth the money :o(
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Steve Wooler
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Re: Guest Report

Post by Steve Wooler »

I provide this site to allow visitors to air their views about tourism-related businesses on Tobago. There are times when I really question my own determination to allow free speech and my policy of never deleting a post unless it breaks any of the common-sense policies declared in the Notes For New Readers sub-forum.

The above report gives me no legitimate grounds for deletion but it is so unfair that I must respond. It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to challenge reports. However, unbeknown to Mr and Mrs Melass, I guess, Jill and I were resident at the Bamboo Walk Hotel at the same time and our experience is very different from theirs. More to the point, having ‘met’ them in a manner of speaking, I truly believe that they perhaps might be their own worst enemies.

The listing on myTobago has never stated that the Bamboo Walk was built in 2008. What we said was that it was ‘new for 2008’ – new to our listings. I apologise if I inadvertently gave the wrong impression and appreciate that English is not the Melaas’s first language. The comment is no longer relevant and I have deleted it to avoid any chance of further misunderstanding. The actual age of the buildings is entirely academic. Bar one or two minor issues (bathroom grouting and water pressure), which are currently being worked on, the hotel is in excellent maintenance condition and the age of the building irrelevant.

Jill and I were staying at, and reviewing, the hotel during Mr and Mrs Melaas’s stay. I recall them well because the only time we ‘met’ was when I stood back and gave them right of way on the narrow path leading to the pool area. They neither acknowledged nor thanked me and seemed to intentionally avoid eye contact. Their rudeness was such that I noted the room they went into: Room 12 – the reciprocal of our own room in the adjacent block. This couple kept themselves very much to themselves, did not patronise the restaurant or use the pool and were, I believe, one of the very few guests that we consequently didn’t have an opportunity to chat with during our six days there.

When the owner of the hotel subsequently showed me a frankly offensive complaint sent by Melass by email, at 5:30am on the morning before their departure, I immediately asked if the guest concerned was in Room 12. Surprise, surprise! Sometimes there are no surprises in life.

To suggest that this hotel is unfriendly defies belief. It is undoubtedly the friendliest, most welcoming, small hotel on Tobago. Perhaps any ‘unfriendliness’ was a reflection of the attitude that I experienced when my path crossed with these visitors?

I clearly cannot speak for the cleanliness of their room on arrival. However, their comments surprise me. Our room was beautifully kept and maintained, as were all the other rooms that I inspected.

The karaoke is something that the hotel needs to take note of because it is something that could cause issues. However, I can only say that our recollection was somewhat different. It finished by around 11:30pm and was not loud enough to be a major disturbance. Frankly, had I been the manager I wouldn’t have offered them a free drink much less a free dinner. Again, it seemed to come as no surprise to find that when claiming their free dinner (the only time they patronised the restaurant) they immediately ordered the most expensive dish on the menu. More disturbing was the fact that they claimed they had been promised free drinks when, I am told, it had been made very clear that alcohol would be at their own expense.

On our last evening at the hotel we discussed our findings with the owner and manager, Patrick and Jennifer. Jill asked where the Filipino staff lived. Much to her embarrassment, she realised that they had rooms immediately behind our own. She truly hadn’t realised. Yes, you occasionally heard voices, but noise? No!

I am truly sorry that the Melaas’ did not enjoy their stay. It is worth noting that they only posted their report after asking for, and being refused, a refund. I note that they have not posted a report about the hotel they allegedly moved to. I clearly know nothing of their circumstances or background and they are perfectly entitled to keep themselves to themselves. However, there is no excuse for rudeness and frankly their complaints are a complete distortion of the truth. To be perfectly honest, it has made me really angry that a hard-working worthwhile small hotel should be so maligned. Let me declare: I know the owner and most of the staff of Yes Tourism very well indeed. It is that knowledge allied with my own brief experience of Mr and Mrs Malaas, that makes be implore our reader to keep a very open mind on their report.

Our detailed review of the Bamboo Walk Hotel will be published around the end of April. I am delighted to say that it paints a very different picture to that of the report above. We try our best to present our reviews from a wide perspective appropriate to the type of guests who might patronise the property. We currently have in excess of 50 such detailed accommodation reports on this site and the hundreds of visitor reports posted for these properties conclusively prove that actual visitor experience matches our own findings more than 95% of the time. It is sad that this did not happen in the case, and somewhat bewildering that two couples staying at the same hotel at the same time could report such different experiences.
Steve Wooler
myTobago.info - the definitive Visitor Guide to Tobago
rhea.dean
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Re: Guest Report

Post by rhea.dean »

So let's start at the top. If you cannot understand English, get a dictionary or maybe a translator. Before my husband and I stay ANYWHERE in Tobago, we visit myTobago for reviews and find it quite helpful and almost totally true. So the website did say it was new for 2008, not newly built in 2008. The place when we visited (June 2009) was clean...extremely clean. It is a very small establishment, so you cannot help hear a few noises here and there. The staff does live behind the rooms, and it was close to our bathroom, so when you didn't want to hear them....CLOSE THE BATHROOM DOOR - quite simple I would think. The room was always cleaned everyday while we were there. And I would love to know, if you are a guest and in your room all the time, would you like someone to come in and clean the room while you're there?? I bet if the staff did do that the Melaas's would have complained about that too. I did notice however, they did not complain about the free food hmmm? I cannot speak for how their room was when they came in, but ours was clean and when we were leaving a few guests kept saying how clean the place was. I cannot understand however, how exactly they stated "we saw no results of..No smile and no " welcome " when we arrived", once you check in at the office, there is always a warm smile from someone and my husband and I immediately felt comfortable and the gentleman that took our bags in, was very kind, he told us about the TV, the A/C, fan and the bathroom. He also told us about Karaoke night, we didnt go the first night, but when we got home (back to the hotel) we totally enjoyed listening in on the fun, (and we had to stay outside to really hear what was going on, inside you bearly heard anything) that we were really happy that they repeated the karaoke the next night....and we had a blast. The staff was really nice...I mean really nice, very friendly, in fact we still keep in conact with some of them via facebook. I don't think there are hotels like this in Tobago, that give you personalised attention and make you feel at home and very comfortable. And I think that if a guest wants seclusion, and quiet, look for a place that suits your needs. Honestly my husband and I were a bit surprised at how spacious and clean the rooms were for the price. The bedrooms were bigger in than the website stated, they were queen size in the Superior rooms, that was the only "wrong info" from the website, but it was a positive. I wonder which was the "other" place they stayed at after their 10 day stay at Bamboo Walk, andd why they did not change hotels after the first or even second day. Quite frankly I would not give them a refund, if they were unhappy from the very beginning they should have stated that, not 10 days when they were good and ready to "swithc hotels" or go home; and not post it AFTERWARDS on a website...very rude and unethical!! You did not even give the Staff or Manager to fix the problem from the beginning, which is quite unfair and then want to ruin their very good reputation?

For all the readers out there and for vacationers from ALL OVER THE WORLD...this is a small, cozy, CLEAN, fun and very friendly hotel...you are most welcome anytime to TOABGO and to BAMBOO WALK HOTEL. My husband and I stayed there last year and will not hesitate to stay there again, and I am not just saying that because I am from Trinidad, there are places in Tobago that I will never stay again and stated that quite clearly on myTobago, but this place is a keeper on my list :D
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