review on tropikist beach hotel

[Toine & Lia]

Let us start by saying that we’re Dutch and that writing English for us is a bit uncommon. So, please ignore the spelling and in some cases the bad word choice.

We stayed at the Tropikist from the 25th of September till the 9th of October en we really loved it!! We definitely would recommend it to everyone who is looking for ‘no nonsense’ accommodation in a perfect location.
Being a 3-star hotel, don’t expect the comfort en service of a 5-star hotel and realize that your in Tobago, not in a developed European country.
Don’t ask us about the food they serve. We we’re on a breakfast only deal.
We we’re a bit worried about our holiday and the fact that we booked the Tropikist after reading some of the reviews and comments on this forum, fortunately we had a total different experience.

Something about us. We’re a young couple ( 31 and 43) that likes to be in the Caribbean enjoying our spare free time. We have done our share of travelling and been in many different places all over the world. All these places have two things in common; good fishing and good diving. This is our fist time in Tobago (and it won’t be the last…).
Professionally one of us visits and/or stays a lot in hotels, B & B’s and holidayresorts. So we have got a clear reference of what’s being good or not when it comes to accommodations.

This is what we experienced:

On our arrival it seemed we we’re overbooked. The alternative was a condo on the other side of the street. For us, that was no problem. A bed and a shower were all we needed at that time. We found out that the condo was still being built and some issues weren’t available (mirror, fan, etc..). But, who cares. It’s only for one night. The hotelmanagement offered us a dinner and a bottle of wine for the inconvenience.
The next day we got one of the superior-rooms for the rest of our stay. Flowers on the bed and a welcome-note on the table. The room was spacious and clean. Two kingsize beds, a TV-set, cooler, airco, fan, phone, seaview, great balcony and so on. We couldn’t be happier with this sort of accommodation. We really don’t know if that’s the hotelpolicy in case of overbooking to put people in a nice room after a some hassle with luggage from one place to another, but we liked it.
The cleaning of the room, changing of the towels and sheets we found out to be sufficient.
What we really liked was the pool towel-service. Everyday you can pick up some clean/fresh towels to take to the pool or the beach, without being charged for it. Not many 3-star hotels have this kind of service.

Being people who love to see and do things while on holiday, we have tot admit that we we’re hardly in the hotel during the day, except for taking a dip in the marvellous pool, a shower, change clothes and put away fishing of diving gear.
The stories we read, telling that the service was slow or people being completely ignored by employees at the bar or restaurant, can’t be underwritten by us. We got what we wanted, when we wanted it. Without asking twice.
At the breakfast buffet we once asked the cook to prepare us some cooked eggs instead of scrambled. From that moment on we could have cooked eggs when we liked. The guy asked us every day if he should cook some.
We felt that most of the people at the reception and bar we’re showing interest in the way we filled in our holiday; asking what we we’re up to or what we had done. Okay, we, once in a while, looked at each other when we saw somebody being very lazy of doing things very inefficient. But, you have to realize that you’re not in Europe. The culture and the way of life in this part of the Caribbean isn’t the same as what we find normal.

The thing that we liked best about the hotel was the sundeck in the late afternoon. It’s probably one of the best places of the whole island to watch the sunset, enjoy a cool drink and get into a romantic mood.

It’s a pity that the seafloor in front of the beach is filled with rocks and corals otherwise it would have been perfect. It ‘s however possible to swim or snorkel at the high tide but beware of the waves that can smash you onto the rocks and the currents that can run close to shore. Don’t go barefooted in the water and use fins. The flats in front the beach can show some amazing things likes schools of tarpon and green turtles. Early morning snorkelling can reveal abundant sealife.

In all. We had nothing to complain about. We have experienced nice and friendly people, like Joanne who did about everything to makes us feel comfortable, a nice place in an almost perfect location. When we get back to Tobago and need a to book a hotel, the Tropikist can expect us to call for a room.

Kind regards,

Toine & Lia

[Steve Wooler]

Hello Toine & Lia

Thank you for taking so much trouble to give us all such an exhaustive report of your stay at the Tropikist - and my compliments on your excellent English.

There is increasing evidence that the management of the Tropikist have been putting considerable effort in customer relations this year, following the spate of bad reviews on myTobago. Your report seems to confirm this, so my compliments to the Tropikist.

The major areas of complaint about the Tropikist have been the catering on All Inclusive and management's attitude and reaction if and when you complain about anything. Did you have any experience of the catering at the hotel, other than breakfast?

[Toine & Lia]

Dear Steve,

As we mentioned before, we were on a breakfast only deal. But we did have dinner at the Tropikist. We can't complain about the food and service. There was a buffet the time we ate there. Enough choice of food and everthing very tastful.

So on our behalf, the service at the restaurant and the bar and the food were good.

Greetz

Toine & Lia

[Steve Davis]

Although I agree with Toine and Lia about parts of the hotel, there are other parts (see my review) that are not so good. I stayed at the Tropikist in the same week.