Rooms on the fly

[CliffordTC]

Hello Steve,

First off I would like to compliment you on this fantastic website I have been able to plan my honeymoon( my wife is looking forward to more pictures as you post them) entirely from this site, the forum has been invaluable on a variety of topics, many that I would never have even considered! Thanks for the info on tipping I would not have thought of that until we were on the Island. As for the forum about being charged different prices from tourist to local, well the rooms (except for the resorts) are so inexpensive that spending a bit xtra for a meal or what have you will not be a problem for me. If everyone is satisfied with a transaction regardless of price then it was fair, besides I tend to think of it as an initiation fee to understanding the Island a getting a feel for the local flavor. OK I have a question and will not continue to ramble. My wife and I will be on Tobago from Nov 15-Nov 28 of this year, the first six nights we are staying at The Crown Point Hotel (I think) the next 7 nights we want to stay near Buccoo, we will have a car. My wife wants to book ahead I want to wing it and find a place once we are there. Would this be a bad idea as rooms might be hard to find. We were thinking of booking rooms at either Enchanted Waters or The Grange (if available) if we book ahead. Steve this might be better suited for accomodations forum, I wasn't sure so I will let you decide. This is not a major crisis as I have a flight booked already so I know we are coming and that really is all I was ever concerned about. Thanks.

Cliff Cosgrove

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Cliff

Thanks are primarily due to the contributors to the forum – Jill and I are simply the catalyst.

Bed availability far outstrips airlift on Tobago, so you will always be able to find somewhere, even over Christmas/New Years – it simply might not be your first or second choice. Saying that is a tad irresponsible, I guess, because the only really sound advice is to arrange accommodation beforehand. However, you will never have to sleep on the beach (mind you, that’s not such a bad idea).

November isn’t the peak of the high season, so don’t hold a gun to my head, but you should be perfectly OK to wing it and visit a few places during your first week before deciding. You could always email the places that take your fancy and explain that you’re interested, but would like to pay a visit first. Honesty is the best policy and nobody could take offence at this – or if they do, then you wouldn’t want to be staying there anyway. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to co-operate, keep you informed about availability and encourage you to stay with them (financially, as well as in other ways).

Incidentally, my comments about local pricing only applied to hotels. Dual-pricing is not common in restaurants and other businesses/shops/services. In fact, any restaurant that practices this policy should be named and shamed (like the barbeque place next door to the Pelican Reef in Crown Point that charges visitors twice as much as locals).