Naturalist Beach Resort - Review Page 3
The Main House
The two-storey main house of the Naturalist Beach Resort was designed and built by Ancle. The building has the look and feel of an Alpine chalet and is quite unique in a village large consisting of wooden houses of traditional Caribbean design.
Ancle and his family live on the upper floor of the house and are therefore always available to help guests resolve any issues or other matters. The ground floor of the building is given over to the five modest self-contained studio apartments.
The Naturalist is very popular, particularly during the high season months. Early booking is essential. The apartments were fully occupied during our stay. We were unable to photograph and report on each as we would have wished.
In general, the five apartments share common features. They are all of an open-plan studio layout with a partitioned-off private bathroom and a small kitchenette area. Warm water is provided in the shower, but the wash basin and sinks are only plumbed for cold water. All five apartments have modern remotely-controlled split-unit air-conditioning units. These should be both efficient and quiet in operation. Furnishings are similar to those described for the Blue Marlin Suite and likewise, the five apartments benefit from daily servicing with towel and linen changes on alternate days.
These apartments can be broadly divided into three groups:
Anchovy & Jacks: These are the smallest apartments (Anchovy was 5 x 3.4m gross) and best suited to the solo traveller or a couple. Anchovy looks out over the rear garden and Jacks has windows facing out over the front courtyard.- Bonito & Salmon: These apartments are a little larger and allow for the addition of a fold-up divan bed for children. Salmon has windows on both the front and side aspects of the property whereas Bonito has windows onto the side and rear garden.
- King Fish: Measuring 5x4.4m, this family apartment is equipped with two Queen-size beds. Windows on two aspects provide views of the rear garden and out to the beach. The apartment also has a lovely covered private patio area facing the beach. The patio is furnished with padded chairs and a recliner.
Café Delight, Dining & Shopping
Immediately adjacent to the Naturalist Beach Resort and built directly on the main beach is Café Delight – Ancle’s fruit and juice bar and air-conditioned Internet café. Open for breakfast and lunch most days, this small café provides wonderful views of the beach and bay. There is a lovely spot to lime, or to sit and enjoy a hearty cooked breakfast while watching the fishermen pull in the seine nets, or children splashing in the sea. The menu is short, the fare simple but it represents excellent value in a village almost devoid of alternatives.
Each Thursday morning, the café offers a Tobago breakfast featuring local delicacies like chocolate tea (from coffee beans), smoked fish, salt fish and smoked herring with coconut bake floats and vegetables.
During the high season (mid-December to mid-April), the Naturalist also provide a barbeque buffet each Sunday evening, featuring live music from a traditional tambrin band. The tambrin band originated in Tobago and consists of fiddles, a steel triangle and goat-skin drums.
Castara has six small local restaurants, all within easy walking distance of the Naturalist. Most serve variations of the same basic Creole dishes. There will be no menu. It is simply a choice of chicken, fish or prawn (shrimp) with local vegetables in a Creole sauce. Bear in mind that you do not go to Castara (or Tobago) for haut cuisine catering. In recent years, a more upscale, but expensive, restaurant offering European-style cuisine has opened on the outskirts of the village.
Other Features & Facilities
Café Delight incorporates a small air-conditioned Internet Café. Boasting four computers with webcams and Skype facilities, the café utilises a local ‘high-speed’ broadband wireless connection giving speeds embarrassing by European/North American standards, but a lot faster than the dial-up speeds available in most other facilities outside the main Scarborough/Crown Point area. Wireless connections to laptops can also be provided.
The café also has a small stock of sun beds and sun shades for hire. We were particularly impressed by the way that the entire beach area is swept daily and kept very neat and tidy.
As already mentioned, Naturalist Rentals has a small rental fleet of cars and SUVs. The very new-looking vehicles appeared clean and well-maintained.
Conclusion
Apart from the island’s big resorts, Tobago has precious few hospitality establishments that can truthfully claim to be situated beside a nice sandy beach with decent swimming. The Naturalist Beach Resort can undoubtedly make such a claim. Not just beside a beach, but beside one of the most beautiful beaches on Tobago.
The Naturalist offers simple, but comfortable, budget accommodation in a stunning location. The sheer number of repeaters is testimony to visitor satisfaction with this property. Half the residents during our visit had stayed there before and, in discussion, gave every indication that they would return next year.
Without question, the location of the Naturalist is its prime feature. Yes, the fittings and furnishings may be simple, but simply look across the beach and out to sea and be grateful. Very few people will have the privilege of such an experience; not because they can’t afford it – but because the Naturalist only has six apartments.
Within a few weeks, we shall be reviewing/re-reviewing some of the island’s best hotels and most luxurious rental villas. I have a strong suspicion that my darling beach-babe wife Jill would happily switch any or all of them for a week or two longer at the Naturalist’s Blue Marlin Suite.
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