Guest Report

[Allison Owen]

We booked to go to Tobago with Virgin - we like the Caribbean and thought Tobago sounded excellent. When we found this site it confirmed everything we thought Tobago would be. On arrival, we were not disappointed. The hotel, although a bit dated and tired, was very welcoming and the staff friendly and cheerful. The bar service was a little slow (at times) but you got used to it. The steps leading down from the toilets to the pool were very slippery. I slipped and cracked my head on the steps and had a huge bruise on my backside - we saw plenty of other people do likewise. The food was good - some nights it was a la carte but mostly it was buffet. We were travelling with our 10 year old daughter and feared that she would survive 2 weeks on a diet of chips but she (and we) tried and ate everything they made. The mint sauce served with a lamb dish one night resembled something from a nuclear power plant but generally the food was hot, very tasty and the service was always pleasant. The restaurant area was lovely, sitting and watching the sea from almost every table in the place. We had lunch at the beach bar twice and could not complain - the only issue was it was a bit run down - they need to spend a bit of money "tarting" it up but the beach itself was immaculate and we were not approached by too many beach sellers. We didn't eat in the fish restaurant (my husband and daughter don't partake) but we did have a special meal at the Seahorse Inn. It seemed strange to have to take a cab to a restaurant that was less than a 2 minute walk away but once the gate to the beach is locked at 6pm, you have little choice. The meal there was fabulous - it costed up for three of us at around £150 but we didn't skimp on anything - they have the most brilliant wine list, so if monies no object, its THE place to eat. We hired a car twice and went out to Speyside which was beautiful, saw the waterfalls, drove to Charlotte (which wasn't much to write home about) and got lost for hours in the rain forest. The wildlife and birds amazed us - wherever we were. We did stop in at the Coco Reef - WOW - it was fabulous - we had lunch there (my daughter proceeding to throw a whole tray of drinks over our waitress) before heading over to the Hilton for drinks. We wanted to see the diversity of the hotels. We didn't like the location of the Hilton at all - middle of no-where. As for the Coco Reef, too close to the airport.

Overall, the Grafton met with our approval. We have stayed in some very upmarket places but found this to be, for the money, everything you could expect and a bit more. The rooms were OK, kept very clean, the airconditioning was noisy and leaked at times but so long as we could escape the heat, we didn't care. The downside was at that time of year (September) there were very few children for our daughter to play with and no kids activities. The pool is reasonably small and although the hotel was less than half full, it would be difficult to cater for so many people in such a small pool. There were cats / kittens around - they kept my daughter amused for hours and everyone had "adopted" them - they are a good way of keeping rats at bay so complainers think about that .. if you don't like cats, don't feed or touch them. The games room was a bit jaded and could do with a new pool table and a revamp in terms of decoration. There was a wedding party there on the middle weekend - as there were so few of us staying it became like an extended family - they had a good time, a few of them ended up unconscious on sunbeds and after the wedding itself they were very quiet (hungover we suspect!!). The Virgin "check-in, chill-out" was a great thing and we lazed around on our last day until about 2 hours before the flight took off. We went straight to the airport, through the gate and onto the plane. That was fantastic.

Depending on what time of the season you go to the Grafton, it will either be very quiet or packed - there were plenty of 2nd / 3rd timers there who love the hotel. For us, we would definitely return. For the cost involved, it meant that you could afford to go out and eat a couple of times without feeling like it defeats the objective of all inclusive. You never get to see anything if you don't leave the hotel and live a little.