Anniversary Party on Tobago.. NEED HELP!

[Qadeerah]

Hello,

I think this site is great, and everyone seems to full of a lot of information.

We are looking to have our 20th wedding anniversary party on Tobago, and I dont even know where to begin.

So I will tell what it is I am looking for, and maybe you all can pitch in and give your opinions on the matter.

We will be about a party of 100.

Roughly 50 people will be coming from the states, and the other 50 from Trinidad, where we are from originally.

As for the party. I want an upscale place with a beautiful setting complete with silver and crystal settings, proper linens, and beautiful centerpieces.

If this place had sea view it would be even more ideal.

As for the food, I dont want "tourist food" catered to the bland Eurpoean Palate ( that is in comparison to Trini palates of course - smile).

Some really nice, high scale spicy local food would be great.

Some of the places I have read about on this forum, but dont really know a whole lot about are.

1. Hilton Tobago

2. Coco Reef

3. Blue Haven

4. Tropikist

5. Le Grand Courland

6. Patinos

7. Seahorse Inn

Which of these places do you think could best accomodate what I am looking for?

Also, if there are any others that may fit the bill that I did not mention, please feel free to add on to this list and let me know.

Also, as far as the guests.

Where ever I have this party, I would like to have my guests stay nearby at a reasonably priced guest house or hotel. We would be needing about 25 rooms, and I am not sure if any small hotels or guest houses in Tobago can accomodate so many rooms at once.

The over night guest from Trinidad can bring their cars over on the boat, so I will let them fend for themselves with accomodations.

It would be preferable if all of my out of the country guests could all stay in the same place, so when we arrange for their transport for sightseeing tours and to the party, it could all be from the same place. Also, I think they will feel better staying in a place where they know the other guests.

I know this is a lot of information to ask in one email, but all opinions and advice are very welcome.

Thank You in advance and I look forward to your responses.

Ann

[Qadeerah]

This email was posted under my ID, because my auntie forwarded me the email, and I thought I was posting it for her a guest, but it came up under my log in.

I guess I did not log out the last time I was on here.

Any help you can offer her ( and me too) would be great.

I feel a lot of pressure coming on because the family knows I am the Tobago Diva.. and they think i know all about Tobago. I do, but not much about the party planning side of it

Thanks,

Qadi

[Bryn]

Being a newlywed (1.5 years) and having planned an exraordinary wedding....I feel that if we were to have our 20th anniversary in Tobago....the Hilton would be my venue of choice. The property is beautiful and well kept, there is enough accommodation (and variety thereof...everything from private villas, condo's and the Hilton hotel itself). The Coco Reef is not, in my opinion, a good choice. The Blue Haven may be worth checking into. It's been updated and I hear it's very romantic. We will check it out on our next trip.

Anyways....Best of luck with your planning and a Very Happy 20th Anniversary to you!

Bryn
Vancouver, BC

[Julie H]

A few questions that came to mind when reading this.

Q. When is the party. Month? Year?

Q. How many nights will your guest stay? In Peak season, some hotels (tourist ones with UK Tour Operators) may have a minimun number of nights stay. For instance over Xmas and New Year. In some instances, a single nights booking means they can't sell the room for that week.

Q. Will some of the guest be families? The Hilton Hotel only takes 2 adults and 1 child in their rooms unless you upgrade to a Suite or look at the villas/condos. Le Grand is 16 years and over only.

I know there are lots of options and I think that with some help on this site you will be able to narrow your choice.

But one thing to condsider is that 25 rooms is a lot for some of the smaller hotels. Blue Haven has about 50 rooms I think. Again most rooms here only sleep a total of 3 people (2 adullts and 1 child).

Some guest could stay close by, for example Half Blue Moon (was the Donkey Cart) is close to Blue Haven and some guest could always stay there (only has a few rooms though) and have the party and some guests, including yourselves staying at Blue Haven. Worth looking into for Hotels that offer options other than All Inlcusive. All Inclusive hotels will charge your guests to enter if they are not staying there themselves!

A good feature on this site can be found at
http://www.mytobago.info/accommodation.php
Where you can do some checking!

Good luck
Julie H

[Qadeerah]

Hello Julie,

Thanks so much for your input.

The party would be next the last week of April 2006 or the first week of May 2006.

My aunt wants to send out the invites by the fall to give people plenty of time to plan.

The guests coming over from Trinidad will only stay one night because they dont have far to go. But they know how to scrounge for their own guest houses, so she will not worry with them.

The guest from the USA are the primary concern, and they will be there anywhere from 7-10 days.

Yes, some of the guests would be families. I estimated 25 rooms, out of the 50 USA guests, most will be couples.

I will look into the Half Moon Blue for some guests. I have stayed at the Blue Haven before and I found it to be outstanding. The room was lovely and the view could not be beat.

The only thing with that, we paid close to $200 USD per night, and I know some of the guest may find that to be too much, especially since they have to fly all the way tobago.

We were trying to keep the guest accomodation within the range of $50 - $100 USD per night, as not to drain them.

I will start combing thru all of these accomodation places to see what I can find for them, while my auntie calls the hotels to ask about their party menus.

We are going to Trinidad for my Grandmother's 85th birthday party in 2 months. We are trying to narrow down the choices now, so that when we reach Trinidad, we can spend one good day in Tobago talking to the reps at the places we have narrowed down.

Thanks for your input and if you have any other suggestions let me know.

We will call the Hilton and I will let you know what they say.

Thanks

Qadi

[Qadeerah]

Hi Bryn.

A lot of people have already told us to scratch Coco Reef of the list for a host of reasons, so I think we will steer clear of there.

Will call the Hilton and see what they are saying, and I will let you know how it works out.

Thanks for your input.

Qadi

[Bryn]

When we visited Tobago last year we went with another couple and rented a villa in the hilton Lowlands. It had 4 bedrooms, each with ensuite and our own pool. The cost was $1,200 US for a week. Four couples easily could have shared the villa and the costs would be reduced dramatically. It pays to shop around and offer what you'd like to pay. The worst they can say is no. Villa living is much easier on the wallet than hotel as you can self cater and cut costs that way.

Just another suggestion for you.

Bryn

[Qadeerah]

WOW,

Now that is a great idea!!!

$1200 A WEEK, divided by 4 couples it only $300 USD a week.

I mean you cant beat that at all!!

SO did you go thru the Hilton itself to look into renting the villa, or is it owned by some outside entity, and the villa just lies on the same grounds with the Hilton?

Thanks so much for all of your help!

Qadi

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Qadeerah

Villas could be the way to go. Check out the Advanced Search section of my Eat & Sleep/Accommodation page. You can search for property by number of rooms and by price - so you could search to see all properties (of all types, i.e. hotels AND villas) that have more than a certain number of rooms and are less than a specific price. It just takes a bit of digging, but the answers are all right there.

Good luck!

[Bryn]

If you check the accommodations (eat, sleep) section of this site you can see all the villas. The one we stayed in is called Villa Sans Souci. There are so many in the Lowlands. It would also be nice to have all your guests in one area...makes for great socializing! Some can stay in villas, some in the smaller condo's and some in the hotel.....depending on their travel styles and budgets. I like that side of the island (Atlantic) because it is cooler (breezier)...hence less bugs (mosquitoes). The Hilton (Plantaitions) compound is very secure....bike security going all hours and the villa had an alarm system and security safes to store personal effects.

Happy Planning!

Bryn

[Qadeerah]

Hello Everyone,

This is just to give an update as to what is going on.

We contacted all of the places that I had listed in the previous post.

Only 2 have replied. Those were the Hilton and the Coco Reef.

Coco Reef said that they would prefer not to accomodate so many guests at that time since it was their busy season, so we did not get far with them.

The Hilton responded within 24 hours which I loved and asked some further questions, which we answered right away and emailed back.

Within 24 hours of our return email we had a quote for the guest rooms, venue option on their property for the party, and a list of menus in hand.

They were really on the ball.

The Guest room rate they quoted us was $160 USD per night per room.

They even give the options of the guests doing all inclusive.

We have done some preliminary talking with the family to find out if this price was something reasonable they could do on top of airfare and other expenses.

Well of course just like with any family, weare working with a range of budgets.... some said GREAT, and some said NO WAY HOSEA!!!! LOL

So we are still checking into the villa options on the Hilton's grounds as a cheaper alternative for the guests

Also, a friend in Trinidad had her rehearsal dinner party at Patinos ( a place that I love), and her wedding and reception at Sea Horse Inn.

She said a her lot of her guests stayed at I think Golfview Inn and Grange Inn near the Shirvan, Buccoo, Aushenkeosh Road junction.

She said both of these places were very cheap, like $50 USD a night and within easy access to both Patinos and Seahorse Inn.

So if anyone has any advice on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

I will contact these places tomorrow and see what the deal is.

Will let you all know.

Thanks.

Qadi