We loved Castara - after hiring a car and travelling all over the island we were so glad we'd chosen to stay there. We thought it the prettiest bay and we loved the fact that it was so undeveloped, yet had a few restaurants and most everyday essentials.
Castara Retreats is in a lovely location (the view from the terrace is worth the fairly steep uphill walk to get there). It consisted of a spacious terrace with a table and two comfortable chairs (we spent a lot of time sitting there and were glad the owners had chosen comfortable chairs!), one room with bed and mosquito net, plus kitchen cabinets, sink, cooker and fridge along one wall, with a few shelves over. Also in the room were a bedside table and lamp, a wicker shelf unit and a wicker chair. There was a hanging rail under a shelf with a couple of fabric hanging organizers for storing clothes, then a separate bathroom which consisted of toilet, basin and shower area. There were plenty of shelves and hooks in the bathroom.
There were plenty of lights on the terrace and indoors - all lights were dimmable spotlights. The shower was good and strong and there were plenty of pans, cutlery and plastic storage containers provided.
A complimentary home-made loaf of bread is provided on the first Saturday of your stay (delicious) and more can be ordered for TT$10 per loaf.
We found it a bit hot for sleeping at nights sometimes and finished up buying a floor-standing fan which is now available for other visitors, though I've been in touch with the English owners since I've been back and they are planning to put in ceiling or wall fans this summer (Castara Retreats is very new and the owners are still making changes and improvements).
From the terrace we could see stingrays patrolling in the shallows of the bay and saw lots of birds in the trees around the property (better than on the guided rainforest walk - it's too dark in the rainforest to really see the birds clearly).
I hope this gives a reasonable idea of Pelican Lodge for anyone who might be thinking of booking it.
We loved it and would go back tomorrow if we could!
I'll post other bits and pieces on Castara, eating places, sights and our general experiences on other parts of the forum over the next few days as I want to give something back for the useful information I found on this forum before we left.
Linda
at not still being there