Hilton Tobago Golf & Spa Resort - Review Page 1
Reviewed by Steve & Jill Wooler in February 2005
When the Hilton Tobago Golf & Spa Resort opened in November 2000, critics doomed it to failure. Tobago had more accommodation than could possibly be filled by all current direct air flights to the island. Where 
was the demand for a new hotel with 50% more capacity than the largest existing hotel on the island?
More than four years later, the jury is still divided. The difference is that critics are now mumbling, rather than shouting. The Hilton continues to be the subject of strong opinion, but then what well-known accommodation isn’t?
Good hotels are not born overnight. It takes many years to hone a great establishment and for that reason, we refrained from reviewing Tobago’s largest hotel. However, we enjoyed a detailed tour of the facilities in 2004 and decided that the hotel would be of age by our next visit. When we confirmed our reservations for February 2005, we anticipated that the hotel would be no more than 65% occupied during our stay. None of us could have foreseen the devastating and tragic effects of Hurricane Ivan and the Tsunami and how it would fill every hotel on Tobago.
So how did this relatively new hotel cope with a full house?
Location
The Hilton is located on Tobago Plantations, in an area known as Lowlands, just 15 minutes from the airport.
Tobago Plantations is the largest development project on the island. 750-acres of former sugar and coconut plantation are being slowly (well, it is Tobago) developed into a huge holiday resort, consisting of the hotel, a golf course and private villas. A shopping mall, marina and other facilities are planned for future years.
The Hilton is situated on 20 acres of rocky headland facing the Atlantic Ocean. To one side is Petit Trou Lagoon, a 60-acre protected mangrove swamp and increasingly important habitat for sea birds. To the other side is Little Rockley Bay, with its 5,000 metre firm dark-sand beach.
It is this location that divides opinion about the Hilton. The end of the bay on which it is located bears the full force of the brisk north-east trade winds as they blow in across thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean. On the positive side, the Atlantic coast can be noticeable cooler than the Caribbean side. The negative side is that the sea conditions are often choppy and the constant wind tiring.
To get the best of Tobago, it is essential that you have your own transport. This applies regardless of where you are staying, but is
particularly true of Tobago Plantations. There is absolutely nothing within walking distance. Dining is strictly limited to the facilities of the hotel, or the excellent Rouselles Restaurant [Update: Rouselles have closed and will be replaced by La Terrazza from January 2006] at the golf club. Similarly, shopping is restricted to the few offerings of the hotel boutiques.
With your own transport, every restaurant, shop, beach and facility inside the main Crown Point-Plymouth-Scarborough triangle is within a 20-minute drive. Similarly, you are perfectly positioned for tours around both coasts of the island. Taxis are permanently based at the Hilton, of course.
Architecture
Life at the Hilton centres around a very impressive multi-storey main building. A circular driveway passes a water feature and up to the front portico of the hotel. Passing through the open entrance, you arrive in a highly impressive (3,400 sq.ft.) entrance lobby with high vaulted ceiling. The back wall is entirely glass and provides wonderful views over the freeform pool and sea, two flights below. If you want glitz, you’ve got it. Your holiday fantasy starts here and for the next week or two you can imagine that you are living a celebrity lifestyle.
We stayed at the Hilton during the week following carnival. The entrance lobby was totally dominated by a spectacular costume; winner of the 2004 Queen of Carnival award in Trinidad. The corridors and public rooms were similarly decorated with smaller carnival costumes. It was a refreshing change to visit a hotel that shouted Trinidad & Tobago.
The restaurants, bars and public rooms of the hotel are located either side of the lobby on two levels. Stretching out on each side are the two and three storey accommodation blocks, arranged in zigzag formation along the beachfront. Personally, I think that the main building has an Oriental look about it, but the accommodation blocks are more Colonial. The ivory-coloured rendered walls blend nicely with the attractive white balustrades, and the buildings are capped with the same light green roofing used on the main building.
Disabled access is adequate and lifts (elevators) are available. Anyone with mobility problems would be advised arrange for a room near the main building as they may not appreciate the four-minute walk from the furthest rooms. However, the end rooms obviously benefit from no passing traffic, so are the quietest (not that noise was a problem, even in our room, just 30-seconds from the main building).
The Hilton was cut from an area of tropical mangrove. A good number of original trees and bushes have been retained and a massive amount of additional landscaping undertaken. It is all starting to mature. The grounds are looking very attractive and well-maintained. What we particularly liked was the neat labels informing visitors of the species of each tree, shrub or plant.
We like the appearance of the Hilton Tobago and think that it will continue to improve with age – but management have a massive job if they are to keep the good looks. The winds whipping in from the Atlantic are saturated with seawater. Although you can't see it, the buildings are permanently coated with sea salt. The original screws and fittings are corroding and leaving brown rust stains down the walls and roofs of the building. Frankly, those responsible should be banned from any involvement with the building industry. I feel truly sorry for management. They are doing their best, but keeping this place maintained to the high standards they expect will take a massive slice of all profits.
Don’t get me wrong, the hotel doesn’t look bad. In fact, just the opposite. A superficial glance is bound to do nothing but raise complimentary comments. It is only when you look more closely that you see the effects of the corrosion. So, don’t come to the Hilton expecting the pristine appearance of multi-star hotels in Dubai. Mind you, if you come to Tobago expecting that sort of property you are going to go home sadly disappointed, regardless of where you stay.
The interior decoration of the hotel is superb. I amdelighted to say that in stark contrast to some of the American Hiltons, they have managed to achieve an interior design that provides just the right level of ‘glitz’, while remaining tasteful and reasonably sophisticated.
Clientele
As Tobago’s largest hotel, the Hilton needs to be all things to all men. The hotel is the island’s premier business hotel, with convention, meeting, ballroom and business facilities to match. Readers of this review are more likely to be concerned about the other side – the resort hotel. As such, it has almost everything that a holidaymaker could ask for, including the best facilities for youngsters.
Given these factors, the clientele is obviously more than a little mixed. During our visit, the guests predominantly originated from the UK. The second largest group were Americans. I guess some 90% of all Americans visiting Tobago stay at the Hilton, which is hardly surprising given that everything about the hotel is highly Americanised (although the Hilton international chain is actually British owned). Over an above these two groups, I think I must have heard at least half a dozen languages being spoken. We stayed at the hotel during the UK half-term school holiday, so there were quite a number of families with children and babies of all ages.
In truth, it is very difficult to get a handle on the clientele, or even how busy the hotel is. It isn't like a typical all-inclusive resort where all the residents congregate in the same deckchairs, in the same place, at the same time every day, only leaving the resort once or twice during a two week vacation. The Hilton stretches along a vast area and you can always find a private, shaded little corner of beach amongst the mangrove trees bordering the beach and imagine yourself to be alone on a desert island.
Because of the location, a substantial percentage of residents go elsewhere during the day and also dine out. The restaurants were never over-busy and there were always empty sun loungers around the pool and on the decks. The hotel never felt busy, but we spoke to two different business travellers who mentioned that they had been unable to extend their stay and were having to move to other hotels, proving that the hotel was full.
We missed the weekly Manager’s Cocktail Party, which is a great way for new arrivals to break the ice and make friends. However, despite the size of the hotel, we found the atmosphere friendly and were nodding and chatting to others within a day of arrival. Obviously this entirely depends upon the mix of guests at that time and is largely a matter of luck, but large hotels can compare to living in a city, rather than a village.
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