Guest Report

[HaggisForBrains]

We're not long back from a two week B&B stay at Coco Reef. We arrived the day after a new manager, Adrian, from Barbados, took over, and we wish him well. He is very approachable, and keen to talk to the guests, which is important. I think he'll have his hands full, as the hotel is clearly short of trained staff, particularly in the Tamaras restaurant in the evening. We only had two dinners there, and although the menu was varied and the food very good, the service was particularly slow, and in some cases very offhand, as if the waitresses would rather be somewhere else. An exception was Preston, who looked after us well.

Middle management were generally much better trained and mostly showed a good attitude, and helpful with booking taxis and tours. We had an excellent private tour of the island with Lester, who is very knowledgeable, and clearly spoken. On our trip he found lots of great sighting of local birds, including a hummingbird feeding chicks on a tiny nest on a power line!

Those of you who have visited Coco Reef will know that it is a place to fall in love with, in spite of some shortcomings. It is largely fairly well maintained, but the bathrooms could really do with being renovated. The rooms are lovely, and our ground floor deluxe room was spacious and with a great view over the lagoon.

The private lagoon is special, with a choice of sunshine or shade offered by the coconut trees, and drinks service to your sunbed (some days this was excellent, and on other days non-existent, but the bar is just a short walk away). The artificial reef is slowly improving over the years as coral starts to grow, and there is a fine selection of fish to see (I counted over twenty different species) just a few feet below the surface.

It could do with some investment, and the staffing needs to improve, but I would still return, if I could travel with other than British Airways!