Coco Reef Resort - Review Page 5
Staff
With all due respect to the Coco Reef Resort and other hotels, I would argue that few people come to Tobago solely for the excellence of the hotels, the efficiency of service, the wonderful restaurants, the coral-sand beaches or the range of activities and sightseeing options. There are finer destinations for each of these features. How is it then that Tobago has this innate ability to exceed the sum of its parts?
The answer is the Tobagonian people. In the context of this report, it is the staff at the Coco Reef Resort. No other medium-sized or large hotel on Tobago comes remotely near in terms of the overall excellence of their staff. Others may be strong contenders in terms of professionalism and speed or efficiency of service (never a strong point on Tobago), but no other hotel offers these factors in quite the same personal way.
The hotel’s owner, John Jefferis, once told me that that the foremost characteristic he looks for when employing staff is personality. He recognises that the staff are actors, playing a part in a drama: someone’s fantasy holiday. You can teach most people to lay a silver service place setting; it is impossible to teach them to smile from the heart.
This ethos shows. The policy is clearly endorsed and practised by General Manager, Eric Feniet. It is the reason that so many guests leave in tears and join the huge club of regular repeaters.
It would be most unfair to name specific individuals, but I’m sure that everyone who has stayed at the Coco Reef will instantly recall the names of at least two or three members of staff who helped to make their stay so memorable.
Despite the hotel’s size, hosting up to 300 guests at peak times, the Coco Reef Resort has managed to retain a friendly, cosy and intimate atmosphere. Not a little of this is due to the hands-on style of Eric Feniet, who truly leads from the front. He demands the best and he gets the best.
Meal Plans
The Coco Reef Resort offers a wide range of meal and accommodation plans, from room only through to All Inclusive. So popular has this last option become that it is now rare to find a guest not on the plan. Do not make the mistake of thinking that this means reduced standards.
According to the room notes, the hotel's All Inclusive package includes the following:
- Full Buffet Breakfast in Tamaras
- Lunch at Bacchanals Restaurant
- Dinner in Tamaras or Bacchanals
- Soft Drinks, Juices, Bottled Water
- Beer, Local Brand Scotch Whisky, Dry Gin, Vodka and House wine by the glass
- Local rum-based alcoholic beverages (Pina Colada, Rum Cooler, Planter’s Punch, Rum Punch, Daiquiris; etc.)
- Sailboats, Kayaks, Pedaloes
- Snorkeling Equipment
- Day/Night Tennis
- Exercise Room
- All Taxes and Gratuities
The package specifically excludes the following:
- Mini Bar
- Any bottled Wine or Champagne /Sparking Wine
- Room Service Delivery Charge and Room Service Drinks
- Champagne, Fine Wine, Liqueurs and Cognac
- Picnic Baskets
- Dinner Supplements
- Laundry
- Telephone Calls
- Crown Terrace Tea and Coffee Service
In summary, the package includes everything one would consider reasonable. You are restricted to house wines and spirits – but these all seemed perfectly acceptable. Now and again lobster is on the menu at a surcharge of TT$200 (approx. $17/US$33). This is excessively expensive, particularly when you consider the fact that we enjoyed large and succulent lobster tails at one of the islands best restaurants, The Seahorse Inn, at a full menu price exactly the same as the Coco Reef’s supplement just a few days earlier.
Shopping
The hotel boasts six small boutiques. The two dress boutiques appeared to offer interesting locally-made quality designs, although prices are far from cheap. There is also a small hairdressing salon which apparently does a good job at reasonable price. Visitors wanting to buy souvenirs of Tobago are recommended to read our Souvenirs article.
Items in the small general boutique were very pricy. These boutiques have a low turnover and have to make a profit, but the prices do seem over the top – particularly given the fact that there are a number of regular shops within a short walk of the hotel.
Security
The hotel provides secure safety boxes in Reception and these should obviously be used to store small valuables and important documentation. However, we never felt that security was an issue either in the hotel or elsewhere – provided that one applied obvious common sense.
Further comment on general security in and around Tobago is available in our Security article.
Communications
The Coco Reef provides direct-dial telephone facilities from every room, enabling guests to telephone home. Be aware that as with most hotels, the mark-up is exorbitant.
The hotel provides guests with Internet access through a computer in the lounge, enabling you to collect and send web-based email. There is also an Internet café (and combined laundrette) immediately adjacent to the hotel. See our article for further details.
Repeaters
The Coco Reef Resort places great store in customer loyalty. And right so!
First-timers occasionally take offence at the ‘special treatment’ given to repeaters. These same visitors often accuse the staff of being insincere and say that their apparent friendliness is all in the hope of being given gratuities. Frankly, words fail me about these comments and many of the people who make them.
Yes, the Coco Reef does ‘look after’ repeaters – and the more often you have visited, the better you will be looked after. Doesn’t every hotel? If not, they don’t deserve regular repeat business.
Yes, the Coco Reef Resort does have a special fast-track check-in system for repeat guests on the two main arrival days. Don’t most airlines and many large car rental firms, etc?
The honest bottom line is that most repeaters are visitors who have “connected” with the staff. Like Tobago itself, it is the very friendliness of the people that makes you want to come back year after year. That friendliness is normally genuine. As such, is it surprising that those very people remember you and make a fuss of you when you come back? The ‘special treatment’ given to repeat guests is not as simple as hotel-imposed policy or good job training; it is evidence of the very characteristics that makes so many of us fall in love with Tobago.
Conclusion
In our last 2002 review, we said….
“In conclusion we would confirm that the Coco Reef Resort is undoubtedly a fine hotel and it is hardly surprising that it is without question the most popular luxury hotel on Tobago. Only time will tell whether the popularity of the hotel will be its undoing and whether or not it can manage to retain the very high percentage of 'repeaters' we encountered each time we stay at the hotel"
So, how did we find it four years later? Well, the hotel looks in tip-top condition and it is obvious that considerable effort goes into maintenance and general presentation. The attention to detail has improved tremendously, with little features like the petal-decorated messages on the bed and towel animals adding a lovely personal touch. The catering is excellent and the staff remain the hotel’s crowing glory.
To be honest, my only reservation – based upon visitor comments in the myTobago forum, rather than personal experience – is the fact that during school holidays, the hotel attracts too many families with young children. Many older guests claim that this ruins the ambience of the hotel. However, if you feel that this might spoil your holiday, then simply avoid school holidays (including half-terms).
I can only conclude by saying that it is perfectly obvious why the Coco Reef Resort remains Tobago’s most popular luxury hotel and why the hotel has won so many awards in recent years.
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