Hibiscus Heights - Review Page 3
Warm Breezes (Part 2)
The bathroom is long and narrow. It is attractively decorated with sea shells and other tropical knickknacks, like the rest of the apartment. The washbasin is set into a tiled vanity unit, with ample space for toiletries and bathroom essentials. The washbasin suffered from low hot water pressure, unlike the shower which was excellent. There was always lots of hot water and showers were always a pleasure.
Visitor comments about hotels and other accommodation on Tobago often comment that bathrooms would benefit from upgrading. Many people fail to appreciate how corrosive the salt-laden tropical sea winds are, and how much damage they do to buildings and fittings. Plated bathroom fittings are invariably the first thing to go. They rapidly become pitted and green as the underlying metal oxides. In this regard, Hibiscus Heights was better than average, but it is the one area where the age of the building does show a little.
Other bedroom facilities include an electric shaver socket and a hairdryer. Nice, soft, clean towels, including beach towels, are provided and changed regularly. 
The same applies to bed linen. The apartment was serviced three times a week at the time of our visit, but this has now been increased to six days per week (daily except Sunday). This applies to all three apartments. Guests in Warm Breezes also receive one other ‘extra’ however: new housekeeper Peggy cooks guests a complimentary meal during their stay. Her cooking services are available, at local rates, to guests in all three apartments.
At the other side of the living room, bedrooms two and three are not quite as spacious as the master bedroom, but are still more than adequate at 4x4m (16sq.m.). Both are furnished almost identically with four-poster Queen-size beds with decorative canopy and rattan bedside tables, lamps and a chair. Each bed has a bedspread in a different colour, so every room has its own personality. It really gives one the feeling that someone has thought about the décor of these apartments, rather than simply taking a simpler and cheaper ‘hotel’ approach.
Both these bedrooms have adequate wardrobe and storage space and each has direct access onto the main balcony.
Sandwiched between bedrooms two and three is a shared bathroom, measuring a spacious 2.5 x 2.7m. It is finished and furnished in similar style to the en suite bathroom in the master bedroom and likewise equipped with washbasin, toilet and a large walk-in shower.
Each of the bedrooms has a genuinely whisper-quiet Toshiba split-unit air-conditioner. The unit in our room totally endorsed the view I have expressed in a number of reviews; Toshiba and Mitsubishi undoubtedly produce the most desirable air-con units that we have found. They quickly and efficiently bring a room down to the required temperature and then maintain that temperature in almost total silence, particularly when switched to ‘silent’ or ‘economy’ mode.
In addition to the air-con, the master bedroom has a free-standing floor fan and two large overhead fans. The other bedrooms each have a single overhead fan. In practice, we found that the deep roof overhang, strong breeze and shuttered bedroom windows all worked together to provide conditions that hardly required mechanical cooling.
Similarly, although all beds are equipped with mosquito nets, they are more of a decorative feature than a necessity. Our stay was during a rather wet period of the so-called dry season and whilst mosquitoes were present, they were not enough of a nuisance to consider using the nets. Electric bug-mats and burner pads are provided in every room, together with electronic mosquito traps. The latter items look like small tennis racquets. It may be childish, but I confess that I had great fun playing ‘mosquito tennis’ with my son-in-law; scoring points each time either of us zapped a mossie. A full game took about the same time as on a tennis court, but with a bat in one hand and a bottle of local beer in the other, our version was much more suited to the tropics.
Up to two additional small divan beds can be provided for guests with small children. A high chair and crib/play-pen are also available for guests with infants.
Each bedroom has direct access onto the wrap-around balcony that runs around three sides of the house. This is undoubtedly the place that visitors will spend a lot of their time whilst at the house. Apart from two very comfortable hammocks, the balcony is furnished with a dining table and six chairs and a cosy seating area comprising of two comfortable padded rattan settees and an armchair. The views over the bay are quite beautiful. Not to be outdone, the grounds of Hibiscus Heights may be compact, but are a riot of colour, with every inch of ground covered by mature tropical plants.
Continuing around the balcony, guests are likely to be quite surprised by the sight of the open-air swimming pool and patio area extending across the back of the house – something you simplydon’t expect having climbed to the top of the house. Screened by high walls and offering almost total privacy, the 5.7 x 3.2m pool (depth: 0.62-1.1m) may not be exactly Olympic size, but then it hardly needs 
to be when you have the beautiful beach and turquoise waters of Stone Haven bay just a few minutes’ walk away. If you don’t mind resembling a leashed dog on an icy road, a fascinating tethered swimming aid is available that enables you to swim on the spot.
The pool deck is furnished with six padded sun loungers and an all-weather table and chairs. The deck area is also home to a gas barbeque unit – an invaluable piece of equipment given that the Mt.Irvine fish stalls are just a couple of minutes drive down the road. You can buy fresh fish directly from the fishermen most afternoons, from around 4pm.
NEXT: The Artist's Studio, Sweet Nest, Conclusion
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