Little House On The Hill - Review Page 2
Bedroom Accommodation
The 10-foot-square ‘master’ bedroom lies to the front of the property. It has windows on two aspects. The partition separating the bedrooms from the living area, and each other, extends to a height of 7ft 6in, leaving a 3ft gap for air circulation above. The building has no air-conditioning, but by leaving all the windows shutters and internal doors open, we were comfortable both during the day and at night; in fact, it is surprising how temperatures can drop at night. We put an extra sheet on the bed after the first night.
Both bedrooms are provided with full mosquito nets. As already mentioned, we had absolutely no problem with mosquitoes during our stay. I activated our personal Good Knight electric insect deterrent on the first night, but have to confess that it went back into its box after that.
The master room is fitted with a comfortable 5-foot Queen-size bed. The linen, which is changed every three days, was clean and of reasonable tropical-weight (thin) quality. There was certainly no need to use the small electric fan provided in the room.
Bedroom furnishings and fittings include a bedside lamp and dimmable overhead light (the only time I get to read is in bed and there’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to read due to lack of light). Additional furnishings include a single chair, a wall mirror, and a small wardrobe providing 24 inches of half-length hanging and storage space. Given the casual nature of Castara, formal clothes are simply superfluous, so this amount of hanging space should be adequate for most visitors.
At 10΄x8΄9˝ the second bedroom is fractionally smaller than the first and is furnished with a standard double bed. Like the main bedroom, the mosquito net hangs from a rectangular wooden frame so that the net drops vertically around the bed. This gives considerably more room and a less claustrophobic feel than the traditional method of a single fixing point above the bed.This second bedroom is furnished, with nothing but a small chair, two shelves for storage and 18-inches of open hanging space. Neither bedroom has any drawer space or a dressing table, but both rooms have corner shelves which could double-up for use as a dressing table.
The second bedroom has a single window with louvered shutters. The door has similar shutters. Nasal restrictions, possibly aggravated by over-enthusiastic sampling of the local brew, forced Jill out of our marital bed one night. She found the second bed comfortable and the room cool. Sadly the open-roof nature of the bedroom partitions and the echoes from the galvanised tin roof meant there was little respite from my snoring. One advantage was that the raucous cocricos, Tobago’s national bird, fled the valley for a few days.
Bathroom
To the rear of the two bedrooms, leading off the kitchen section of the main open-plan living area, is the single bathroom. Hot water is provided to both the shower and the washbasin. The fully-tiled shower couldn't be described as a power-shower, but it passed the golden test of clearing the shampoo suds from an over-generous hair wash in less than 15 seconds, so passed the ‘adequate’ test in my book.
Marguarite provides good-quality bath and hand towels. These are changed every three days, at the same time as the bed linen. Unusually for this grade of accommodation, beach towels are also available, but only on request.
Kitchen
The kitchen area is well laid out and visitors are provided with the standard set of kitchen features: a propane gas cooker (oven plus four rings, no grill), an electric toaster, microwave and a decent-sized fridge/freezer. All of these were clean and in excellent maintenance order. There was a good collection of crockery and glasses and a reasonable stock of cooking utensils, but a somewhat less generous collection of cutlery. In fairness, you've only got to ask Marguarite for anything you need. It was nice to find that the kitchen sink also had hot water. It is surprising how many Tobago properties offer hot water to the shower, but only cold to kitchen sinks and bathroom washbasins. In fact a surprising number of small local guesthouses and apartments have no hot water - even in the shower.
The kitchen is separated from the main living area by small breakfast bar with fitted cupboards beneath. This offered useful extra storage space. Two tall chairs are provided at the bar.
As you would expect, there is no washing machine or dryer. A small electric travel iron is available and there is an external cold-water wash sink at the back of the property where items can be washed in traditional local manner and hung out to dry on the line down the side of the property. However, Marguarite will organise laundry services when required.
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