Post Recreated: Originally posted - 29 September 2002
hi steve. did you see last weeks article in the sunday times about tobago? it seems to support everything you said and they agree that the coco reef is the best hotel on the island, but say its slightly ersatz and the beach is artificial. your review never said anything obout the artifical beach. any comment?
Beach at Coco Reef
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Steve Wooler
- myTobago Editor & Chief Anorak
- Posts: 4842
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 11:00 pm
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Post Recreated: Originally posted - 29 September 2002
Hello Dan.
The Sunday Times article must have done the island a lot of good - you’re about the tenth person to mention it, so it certainly got a good readership. I’ve already had reports of villa agents on the island noticing increased enquiries. The only downside is that the article didn’t mention myTobago. Ah, well!
Yes, the Coco Reef is “slightly ersatz”. Let’s face it, every successful luxury holiday resorts is, to varying degrees – and I honestly find the Hilton far, far more ‘manufactured’ than the Coco Reef. The truth is, most of us want our holiday resort to be a little magical, a little bit of a fantasy – totally different to our relatively mundane daily lives. I’m not talking Disney, but I’m sure you know what I mean. I love the ‘back to basics’ places as well, and here in Britain I will never stay at a hotel with more than 10 rooms from choice, far preferring farm guesthouses, etc. Yes, the beach is artificial. I believe some 4000 tons of white river sand were imported from Guyana. But who cares? It’s not as if you dig your toes into the sand and hit solid ground within a few inches. I don’t know the history, but I think that there must have been some sort of beach there before. I’ve seen kiddies digging sand castles and holes in the usual manner and yet have never seen exposed dirt/rock/gravel or anything, so the sand must be very thick. Other than the fact that it’s whiter than any other beach on the island, you really would have no idea that its not “natural”. In her post (Re: Dengue Fever ???) on 25 September, Diana describes the Coco Reef beach as “stale, crowded, shadeless” [her spelling, not mine]. Yes, it can be crowded, because the majority of the guests use it in preference to other beaches on the island. However, it’s seldom as crowded as popular Store Bay next door. Stale – I don’t know what she means. Shadeless – tosh! Whilst there may never be enough palm trees and roundels to accommodate everyone, there’s a damn site more shade than any public beaches.
By the way, referring to Diana’s post – yes, we do favour the Coco Reef above all other hotels on the island, at the moment. The Sunday Times article endorsed our views exactly. However, that is not the total picture. When we decided to produce myTobago, during our visit their last January, the Coco Reef was the only hotel on the island that we had intimate knowledge of. We totally accept that it will not be everyone’s cup of tea (thank heavens), but we had to start somewhere. During our next visit (Jan/Feb 2003) we shall be staying at seven properties of varying type and price range in order to present a more comprehensive set of reviews. However, I would point out that this is a private non-commercial site. We don’t get paid to stay at and review these places and it is our holiday that we are ‘giving up’ in order to provide hopefully useful comment and opinion for the benefit of others.
Hello Dan.
The Sunday Times article must have done the island a lot of good - you’re about the tenth person to mention it, so it certainly got a good readership. I’ve already had reports of villa agents on the island noticing increased enquiries. The only downside is that the article didn’t mention myTobago. Ah, well!
Yes, the Coco Reef is “slightly ersatz”. Let’s face it, every successful luxury holiday resorts is, to varying degrees – and I honestly find the Hilton far, far more ‘manufactured’ than the Coco Reef. The truth is, most of us want our holiday resort to be a little magical, a little bit of a fantasy – totally different to our relatively mundane daily lives. I’m not talking Disney, but I’m sure you know what I mean. I love the ‘back to basics’ places as well, and here in Britain I will never stay at a hotel with more than 10 rooms from choice, far preferring farm guesthouses, etc. Yes, the beach is artificial. I believe some 4000 tons of white river sand were imported from Guyana. But who cares? It’s not as if you dig your toes into the sand and hit solid ground within a few inches. I don’t know the history, but I think that there must have been some sort of beach there before. I’ve seen kiddies digging sand castles and holes in the usual manner and yet have never seen exposed dirt/rock/gravel or anything, so the sand must be very thick. Other than the fact that it’s whiter than any other beach on the island, you really would have no idea that its not “natural”. In her post (Re: Dengue Fever ???) on 25 September, Diana describes the Coco Reef beach as “stale, crowded, shadeless” [her spelling, not mine]. Yes, it can be crowded, because the majority of the guests use it in preference to other beaches on the island. However, it’s seldom as crowded as popular Store Bay next door. Stale – I don’t know what she means. Shadeless – tosh! Whilst there may never be enough palm trees and roundels to accommodate everyone, there’s a damn site more shade than any public beaches.
By the way, referring to Diana’s post – yes, we do favour the Coco Reef above all other hotels on the island, at the moment. The Sunday Times article endorsed our views exactly. However, that is not the total picture. When we decided to produce myTobago, during our visit their last January, the Coco Reef was the only hotel on the island that we had intimate knowledge of. We totally accept that it will not be everyone’s cup of tea (thank heavens), but we had to start somewhere. During our next visit (Jan/Feb 2003) we shall be staying at seven properties of varying type and price range in order to present a more comprehensive set of reviews. However, I would point out that this is a private non-commercial site. We don’t get paid to stay at and review these places and it is our holiday that we are ‘giving up’ in order to provide hopefully useful comment and opinion for the benefit of others.
Steve Wooler
myTobago.info - the definitive Visitor Guide to Tobago
myTobago.info - the definitive Visitor Guide to Tobago