Coco Reef Resort review

[Harvey]

Post Recreated: Originally posted - 18 December 2002

We are very grateful to you for running this site and having studied everything before we booked we found that things were closely as expected.

Statues apart (!) the secluded atmosphere of the beach was so attractive that we hardly ever left the hotel. Palm trees on the beach are still in their infancy and the shortage of shades led to "German practices" when the hotel was very full during the first part of our stay. Our fellow guests seemed to be 99% European and 90% British. This meant that (dearly though we love our numerous American friends) we were spared the background twang of the North American matriarch which sometimes features in holidays in this part of the world. It also led to some women in a wide age range sunbathing topless. Being completely out of sight of all Tobagans apart from the occasional waiter we are sure that nobody minded. The beach drinks service while good was a bit much for one waiter and sometimes there was a long wait between rounds.

Bacchanals restaurant would be more attractive in the evenings if the evening menu changed occasionally or offered some daily specials. We noticed this more through staying 14 days than would have been the case if we had gone after 7 or 10 days. This restaurant also cannot really cope with showers, which often led to disruptions and hastily gathered dishes. We could not fault Tamara's. The daily smiling greeting at breakfast was always a good start.

Entertainment was generally good and some quite excellent but scheduling sometimes led to pan music from 7pm to 11pm. We never understood why the entertainers were regularly left without light out on the Crown Terrace where it must have been difficult to see their music and instruments. Without a lighted area to feature the artistes and encourage people to dance the audiences were none too lively. It would have been good to go with a crowd of friends who would be unafraid of showing themselves up!

We had a very well situated front downstairs room next to the pool but with everyone passing by we had a choice between no privacy and darkness, for there were no net curtains. We mentioned this and the Bacchanals menu in our comments report to the hotel.

The twice-weekly one-hour tours with Delia Figueira the Chief Horticulturalist are not to be missed even if one is not interested in the subject. To see everything it is necessary to go on two consecutive tours. She is a born entertainer and highly knowledgeable.

Excursions: We were content to tour by car, walk around the neighbourhood and go to Pigeon Point by taxi. One of us having been there in 1981 PP seemed a bit littered with development. Spoilt by the hotel beach we were content to go to PP just once.

We probably won't go back, because there are so many places we have yet to visit but Coco Reef will be strongly recommended (alongside Rasa Sayang in Penang) to all whom we meet.

Thank you again for the website and for giving us this opportunity to express our experiences.