Le Grand Courlan Spa Resort - Review Page 3
Lounges & Bars
The Cocktail Lounge is the hotel’s main bar. It also offers an elegant lounge area.
The hotel’s all-inclusive policy covers all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with the usual constraints (i.e. bottled wine and champagne available at extra charge). Although I am certainly no expert on alcoholic beverages, the bottles behind the bar would seem to indicate that many major brands are available, so guests should be well satisfied with the offerings.
The rattan cane furniture in the lounge was both attractive and comfortable. The room is quite large and the twenty or so groups of tables and chairs discreetly spaced. The layout of the lounge is ideal as it allows everyone to get a good view of the live entertainment that it provided each evening.
The Pinnacle restaurant also has a small cocktail bar, where guests can enjoy an aperitif before dinner, or while waiting for a table.
The swim-up bar in the swimming pool represents a third choice of bar. A two-storey pagoda sits above the end of the swimming pool. Guests can swim up to the shaded bar and enjoy a drink without leaving the pool. The awning of this building was looking very faded and does not do justice to the hotel, but I am informed that this is to be replaced during the coming low season.
As if not already spoiled for choice, guests can also use the Buccaneer’s Beach Bar.
Staff
Almost without exception, the staff were friendly, hospitable, considerate and efficient. They were certainly the equal of any hotel on Tobago. Even the Front Desk staff were happy and smiley and not wrapped up with their own self-importance, as with so many clerical workers on the island.
Due to inherent resistance from Tobagonians to work in the service industry, hotels are increasingly forced to supplement local staff with immigrant workers from other countries. The Grafton and Le Grand Courlan now have a large number of employees from the Philippines. These changes have resulted in a noticeable and welcome improvement at the Grafton, but less so at Le Grand Courlan, which always had the pick of the best staff from the combined resources of both hotels and was therefore always well up to standard.
Dress Code
The hotel’s dress code is no more than would expect at a 4* resort hotel. A welcome letter given to us on arrival states: “The resort carries a dress code after 6:00pm of elegantly casual. Jeans and short pants are acceptable in the Caribbean Bistro only.”
For breakfast and luncheon, ladies are requested to cover their swimwear and gentlemen to wear a T-shirt (no sleeveless tops). Wet swimwear and bare feet are not allowed.
For dinner, the code is ‘elegantly casual’. For ladies, this means no short pants or jeans. Gentlemen are asked to wear long trousers and shirt with collar. Shorts, ¾-length pants, jeans, vests, sleeveless tops and T-shirts are expressly forbidden. Flip flops and athletic footwear (trainers) are not allowed. As with every other hotel, guests are expected to cover beachwear with shorts and shirts or sarong-type wraps when away from the pool or beach.
Long may these standards remain.
Entertainment
Live entertainment was provided every evening, but the frequency does vary over the course of the year, depending upon occupancy levels.
The entertainment was of good standard. The large Cocktail Lounge offers lots of room and allows guests to arrange seating in a complete semi-circle around them so that everyone had a good view. As a result, audience participation was better than I’ve seen at any resort on the island. Having said that, most of the entertainment revolved around ‘Caribbean culture’ shows, which basically means African drums and dancing and these involve very little audience participation. On the one occasion when some real Caribbean culture was provided – i.e. the limbo – the atmosphere was very different. Instead of polite applause, the entertainer elicited full participation and lots of laughter, which in turn brought guests together. Mind you, it meant that the bar had to stay open a lot later.
Activities & Facilities
Young trendies with a tendency toward mechanical self-flagellation will be delighted to hear that the exercise facilities at Le Grand Courlan will ensure that they return home at least as well toned as they arrived, even if they over-indulge in the dining room.
The range of kit in the large air-conditioned gym would have brought a smile to even the most hardened torturer at the London Dungeons. I haven’t the remotest idea what any of it was, or how it worked, but just the sight of it scared me. I pretended to be interested while actually admiring the views of Stone Haven Bay through the full-height windows that extend across two aspects of the room.
Around half of the gym is allocated to the fitness equipment. The remaining area has a teak floor and wall mirrors for aerobic excercise. The gym is open from 6am to 7pm every day and personal training can be arranged. A range of organised activities are provided around four days a week (subject to occupancy levels) and these include power walks, yoga, regular and aqua aerobics, tai chi, cardio karate, body toning and morning stretches. Some of these are held in the gym, others are held in the swimming pool or the pagoda above the pool.
For the more traditional, two hard tennis courts prove an ideal antidote to the fine dining. At the time of our visit, one court was under repair and out of use and the other was in poor condition; suitable for a knock-about, but not for serious play. However, guests who had used the court commented that the court actually played better than it looked. The also added that it was essential to bring your own equipment and not rely on the hotel’s rackets and balls.
The Grafton’s squash court is available to those guests who want a more violent approach to exercise. As much as I love the game, the thought of squash in tropical heat conditions scares the hell out of me. In fairness, the Grafton court is fully air-conditioned.
For a more gentle approach to exercise, the Mount Irvine Golf Course is just a two-minute drive away and the new Tobago Plantations course only around 15 minutes.
Located within the precincts of the hotel are Adventure Eco Divers. This small PADI dive shop may not be one of the leading dive centres in Tobago, but reports indicate that they are competent and offer friendly instruction with adequate equipment. Their customers appear to be largely confined to the semi-captive market of the Grafton and Le Grand Courlan at prices that reflect the convenience of their location. They are probably therefore best suited to the novice or ‘holiday’ diver rather than to serious advanced divers.
Other facilities at the hotel include an Executive Boardroom for up to 22 people, plus three small meeting rooms accommodating up to 20 people each. A variety of tours are available from the Guest Relations Office, including car hire and a “Deluxe limousine service” (a strictly relative term) to and from the airport. Needless to say, the hotels Guest Relations department can make all arrangements for on-site weddings for guests.
A computer with Internet connection is provided for guest use in the Guest Relations office. This was out of operation during our stay. Guests therefore had to use the Internet facilities at the adjacent Grafton Beach Resort. No wireless or other connectivity options are available.
Finally, a large games room is located next to the main lounge and bar. The room is rather dark and uninviting and few guests (including myself) seem to be aware of its existence. I certainly never saw it being used. The room is comfortably furnished with lounging chairs and sofas, a tiny guest library, a huge plasma-display TV set ideal for televised sporting events, a pool table and Fooze Ball.
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