Guest Report

[Marsha Boone]

My husband, myself and our two very young children (1 and 3) stayed at Hibiscus Heights for 10 days over Christmas and New Year's Eve 2010 along with my husband's entire family. There were 13 of us in total. It was a lovely house in a great location; we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the service that Paul and Gill provided.

The Owners, Gill and Paul:
Gill handled pre-arrival communication with us. She was very responsive and helpful. Paul took care of us once we were in situ. He picked us up from the airport and later did us the favor of taking us to the grocery store as we didn't have a car. He also gave us a short and helpful tour of the surrounding neighborhood--into the village and down to the beach etc.--and gave us the names of very reliable drivers and tour guides. Paul was also very helpful in figuring out sleeping arrangements and moving beds/cribs for the young children involved.

The House:
As far as I know everyone was very happy with the part of the house they stayed in, but we were on the top floor of the main house so it's the part I know best and it's the part I will talk about. It was lovely! The top floor is surrounded by a very wide balcony on three sides. There is a dining table on the balcony, as well as hammocks and seating areas. The balcony has a great view of the ocean in the distance (about a ten minute walk from the house) and lots of lovely green tropical foliage and the village of Pleasant Prospect down below. The pool is on this floor, too, and is very clean without smelling of chlorine. The kids (ages 1 through 12) LOVED the pool. It has wide steps in the shallow end that the 1 year old happily monopolized and the "deep" end was deep enough for the 12 year old to enjoy.

This floor is clean and well-maintained. The furniture and beds are comfortable. All the rooms are well-appointed. Cool, clean tiles, louvered wood "windows," mosquito netting around the beds--very nice. The bedrooms are spacious and the common areas are PLENTIFUL and spacious. We cooked most of our meals and the kitchen had everything we needed. Dixie the housekeeper is wonderful and helpful.

As for the rest of the house, from what I could see, it was lovely too. My mother and father in law had a charming little patio outside their front door and my brother and sister-in-law had a great little private balcony, too. And the landscaping on the property is lush, flowery, and well-maintained.

The Location:
Hibiscus Heights is located in the very tiny village of Pleasant Prospect. (The walk from the house to center of the village is about two minutes.) PP consists of a fruit stand, a village green with a swing and some benches, a bar, a restaurant (spendy but very good), a "Pizza Boys" (which serves surprisingly good pizza as well as espresso drinks), a small grocery, an ATM machine and maybe a few other businesses, but these didn't seem to maintain regular hours. The bar played music loudly and late into the night and could be heard up at the house. It never bothered us, but particularly light sleepers might want to bring ear plugs. We felt safe at Hibiscus Heights and safe and welcome in the village.

We spent a lot of time at the beach that's walking distance from the house. It's a beautiful beach and great swimming for older kids and adults. There's also a good open air beach bar and restaurant down there. (For the smaller kids, though, we did find it well worth hiring a driver and going to Canoe Bay Beach for the day. Very shallow and tiny little waves--perfect for a 1 and 3 year old!)

For large families wanting to vaction together:
If you are a large family wanting to vacation together, Hibiscus Heights is PERFECT. We loved that HH felt like a cohesive house, but in actuality, the house can be divided into three units, plus the separate cottage (above the driveway) is a fourth. I hesitate to say unit because again, we still definitely felt like we were all in the same house, but for simplicity's sake let's just say each "unit" has its own kitchen and bathroom. This was a fantastic feature for allowing our multiple families to have space, privacy and amenities but yet feel that we were all "together." For example, we all usually made and ate dinner together on the top floor of the house, but my son would go "visit" Gramps and Grandma down the stairs on the first floor in the afternoons.