Porridges Place, March 2006

[R Shah]

Spent one week as a guest of Porridge and Jeanell. All in all had a great time there.

The flat was of a decent size. There was a good sized double bed with a mozzie net round it (this was never used though). There is a CD player / radio (clever me, forgot any CDs). There is a shower, a seperate toilet and a sink. The shower runs luke warm water and the tap is cold water. However neither of this really mattered. There is also a TV, but I never used it. There is a big fan (which I only used a few times). There are no windows, but netting. Blinds let the light in, and I would normally close these at night.

The kitchen has a large fridge / freezer, toaster, kettle (not electric though), coffee maker (didn't use it though) and a gas oven/grill/cooker. The kitchen came fully furnished with all pots / pans / dishes, etc. One thing, some of the pots are a bit old, and would commonly get burnt.

There is a great liitle porch outside for sitting and eating. The sofa was used to keep my bags. There is a safe to keep your valuables. Jeanell cleaned the place once during my stay.

Location of the place is about 10 minutes walk to Castara village. Down the hill is fine, up the hill, takes slightly longer!!! I found it generally safe to walk up and down and often got lifts.

Both Porridge and Jeanell are supertars. They let me use their phone to make local calls and use their internet to quickly check my emails. I went drinking with Porridge a few times which was always a laugh! I also arranged car hire through them.

The place was generally clean, however (as with most places in the tropics) there was always various bug problems!! Nothing too bad though.

This place is not 5 star. But then you are not paying 5 star rates. For the price (US$40) I think the place is great, along with the fantastic service offered. However in all fairness if I go to Tobago (which I probably will!!) I probably won't stay there, as I would like to stay somewhere closer to the beach.

But for anyone who does decide to stay there, they won't be disappointed.