Grafton Beach Resort - August 2005

[S Burls]

I haven't stayed at any other hotels on the island so can't make a comparison but I have to say I was pleased with the Grafton. You have to remember that it is a 3*+. If you expect 5* you will be disappointed. The resort itself looks, (and is), quite dated. However, the staff are all very friendly and helpful and it is clean and quite well maintained.

The food in the main restaurant was generally very good and there is enough of a variety to cope with most people's tastes. Staff are attentive and quite quickly become used to where you like to sit and any preferences. We ate at the other restaurant on only one night, (the Neptune), and whilst it was nice I didn't think the standard was significantly higher than the main restaurant. We ate at the beach bar twice and found the standard of food there to also be high, albeit you are limited to 'snack' food on all but Sunday, i.e. burger and chips, hot dog and chips etc.

Service at all three bars, (the main one, the beach bar and the pool bar), is friendly, albeit a little relaxed. You soon slip into 'Tobagonian time' and don't worry about it. Again, they are quick to note what you drink and how you like it. However, if you like snacks with your drinks you will need to supply them yourself. Crisps/nuts etc are not served.

The rooms, like the rest of the place, are dated but clean and the housekeeping service is good. All rooms have air conditioning. Ours was effective, if noisy! There is also a ceiling fan in the rooms and a fridge - very useful for supplies of cold water and nibbles!

There are three shops in the resort and you can get pretty much anything there from sun cream, mossie spray, stamps, water and cigarettes to souvenirs. However, they are expensive! As an example, a large bottle of water there cost approximately 15 times as much as it did when bought 'off resort' - that's probably an excessive example but it's the one I remember!

There is an ATM/cashpoint, small grocery store and pizza place about 5-10 minutes walk which is very convenient, albeit a very hot walk!

It is their quiet time of year, but we were told the hotel was quite full. We had no problems getting loungers either by the pool or on the beach. The beach is not the white sand of Pigeon Point but it is nice and not crowded. You have the usual hawkers both based on the beach and wandering up and down. In all cases they were pleasant if a little pushy. However, they do take the hint - some sooner than others! There were children of all ages on the beach although I'd hesitate to recommend either the pool or beach for very young children unless strong swimmers or in lifejackets/buoyancy aids as they are quite deep, i.e. the pool is quite deep as soon as you get in and the sea becomes so quite close to the shore.

You can use the spa facilities at Le Grand Courlan next door and if you like that sort of thing I'd highly recommend it. The price list in the room, (I think), leads you to think it's more expensive than it is. I thought the prices I was actually charged were extremely reasonable and the lady I got, (Hazel), was fantastic.

My only real whinge is that they close the gates to the beach at 6pm. This means that if you want to watch the sunset or visit somewhere down there after this time you face a very long trek back via the road. I'd like to see the guard presence on the gate until, say, 11pm.

Overall, we were very happy with the hotel for its price range and star rating and met several people who having been coming back for years, even shunning more stylish and expensive resorts in favour of the Grafton.