Undeliverable mail to Coconut Inn Hotel

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Hello Tobago addicts,

After one year of only reading in this forum I decided to
register myself and become a member to this group of Tobago junkies.
It is an excellent opportunity for me to learn English and read
news about one of my favorite places to be at the same time.

Since 1999 I have been on Tobago three times. We always stayed
at the “Coconut Inn” in Bon Accord because of its centrical and the combination of the self-catering appartements, a budget guesthouse and the Copra Tray bar on the ground.

Now to my concern: A friend of mine tried to make a reservation at
the Coconut Inn by e-mail but the message to the mail address [email protected] returned undeliverable.
Does anybody know whether the Coconut Inn still exists? The only information I have is that the hotel belongs to a Norwegian woman called Anne since 2001.
Any information would be welcome!

[Patrick Dankou]

Hello Roland,
The Coconut Inn is still operating but it is in receivership, in other words the banks own it now.
They keep it going in order to get some money back.
Needless to say that there is no money to maintain the previous standards, so you might find it not as nice as it used to be.
Anne is the girlfriend of the ex husband of the deceased owner and runs the place now. I guess that they would accept bookings over the phone or by fax only, the number is : 868 - 639 8493 (tel.) and
868- 639 0512 (fax)

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Hi Patrick,

thank for your reply. I will forward your information to my buddy.
I hope the situation of the Hotel will increase again because we
like the location very much and I´m planning to visit Tobago
next year. Please keep us updated if possible!

[Marten]

We stayed at the Coconut Inn for 1 night in the begin of November 2004. We stayed only 1 night because we were going to Trinidad the next day.

The room was very spacious. It were actually 2 rooms divided by a door. The first part was a very simple kitchen (with a big fridge) and a table with some chairs.

The bedroom part was pretty big with 2 beds. Outside was a balcony with some seats.

The bathroom was simple but OK.

The room was clean with clean sheets and towels etc.

There was a nice garden with pool area.

One part of the hotel was abandoned or not finished renovating probably (couldn't tell really, but it couldn't be used as hotel anyway).

The restaurant was closed at the time, because they were renovating the hotel and restaurant.

We didn't really check out the neighbourhood but the location of the hotel isn't really good for visiting beaches and restaurants as far as i could see. It was only a 5 minutes drive from the airport by car, but no beaches or restaurants within walking distance, i think.

Concluding: For people on a budget who just want a clean and spacious place to stay this is a good hotel, but don't expect a luxury resort or something like that.

Note: The place is being renovated, so it might be different in a few months.

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Hi Maarten,

Thank you very much for your update of the hotel situation. Good to read that the Coconut Inn is back in business! We liked the small size of the hotel very much. No problem to get in contact to staff and other guests within minutes. The remote location to the beach wasn´t a real problem as they offered free lifts to Store Bay, Pigeon Point and sometimes Mt. Irvine and return. Hope the management keeps this service. There is also a guesthouse with 6 rooms and a large common kitchen on the ground for travellers who are on a budget. It would be interesting for me to know whether you have booked the room in advance by mail. If so, which email address did you use?

[Marc Jones]

"Learn" English? Damn fine as it is mate!

[Cornelia Montgomery]

Your command of the language is better than that of Dubya.

[Marten]

Roland:

I booked the room in advance by email.
I used the email address they named on their site: [email protected]

It took some time before i got a reply on the mail (5 days or so).

I don't know if they still offer services like you describe, as far as i could see during the one night we stayed there, there wasn't much staff around (only saw the person from the reception) and only a few rooms looked occupied...

[Roland Siebenhorn]

It seems that the Coconut Inn is closed at the moment….. Does anybody have information whether it’s closed forever or just for refurbishment? We would like to stay there during the second half of our holiday in December, if it would be open again. Thanks for any information!

[Steve Wooler]

Hello Roland

I've been asking the same question, but nobody seems to know. If it has been sold, then it will obviously open eventually, but its anybody's guess if it will be this year. Why risk it? You've got plenty of alternative choice, so why risk and unknown?

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Hi Steve, of course you´re right. I don´t wanna wait until December just
to find out that the hotel is still closed. I had the idea to ask again because we liked our former visits there very much.
But no problem - I will crawl through your accommodation list and
I´m sure to find another nice location in the Bon Accord / Crown Point area.
Greetings, Roland

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Out of curiosity I walked to the hotel during our stay in December. The hotel is sold now to the new owners from Trinidad. I had a chat with George, the new manager and he showed me the hotel ground.

The apartments are again available and the pool is in good condition. At the moment they work on the completion of the old apartment shell construction behind the pool. George told me also that the next step is the renovation of the Copra Tray bar, but as it is on Tobago, nobody knows how long does it takes. All in all it seems that the Coconut Inn
is now really back in business!

Here are the contact details:
Phone: (868) 639 8493
Fax: (868) 639 0512
Mobile: (868) 620 7908
email: [email protected]

[Steve Wooler]

Thanks for that update Roland. I have updated our records, so the Coconut Inn will now appear in our listings again.