Rex Turtle Stay - 22nd Mar-5th Apr

[Jan C]

My husband and I returned from a great holiday to Rex Turtle beach 2 weeks ago. Before we went we were scouring this and other forums trying to settle our minds we had chosen the right hotel. For the benefit of those people with future holidays booked I'd like to give the benefit of our experiences.

On arrival at the Rex we were warmly greeted with a refreshing peppermint face towel and cold drink...after the long journey this was very much appreciated! We didn't realise when we booked that we'd be required to wear AI wrist bands (bright green at that). Both myself and my husband refused to be branded in such a way - I believe we were in the minority, but it was something we felt strongly about....it just meant we had to sign for everything.
From the reviews we'd read we were expecting the rooms to be fairly basic and in need of some attention, so it was no surprise to see just that. The bathroom was in need of some TLC, but it was clean and that above everything was the main thing. The air con was extremely noisy, however with the very comfy beds the noise didn't actually keep us awake - in fact it helped us get to sleep!
The food was tasty. We were a bit disappointed that food was buffet style every night, although there was a limited ala carte menu available...same food each night - the steak was excellent.

The beach was nice. The first week the sea was too rough to swim, but by the second it had calmed down. There are a few vendors scattered along the front of the hotel, but they weren't any bother. The only annoying one was a guy who plays guitar and sings a song which ends in what colour note (money) he'd like you to give him. I had my nails painted by a lady called Rachel.....how many places can you have your nails painted on the beach?
Before booking Rex we were tempted to stay at the Coca Reef Hotel, so during our two day car hire we paid a visit to see what we were missing. We were shown around and OK the rooms were pure luxury, but watching the residents crowd onto the tiny beach (which has imported sand and is an un-natural white tone), each sun bed is regimentally lined up and it was a relief to get back to our spacious rex hotel.

Whilst there we were lucky enough to witness 3 turtles laying their eggs...

Rex's swimming pool is very impressive - it's also good for children as it only has one depth all the way around. The swim up bar is a nice idea but service is very slow.

Summing up our stay I'd say we had a great time and met some nice people. The Rex is a really nice hotel and with a little more TLC could be wonderful....

f anyone has any questions please let me know...

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Jan

Glad you enjoyed your holiday and thanks for such a comprehensive report.

The guy with the little guitar who serenades you is "Mr Blue". As you say, he ends his song with a request for a “blue”. If you don’t catch on, he will start demanding that you give him a “blue”. The colour is, of course, TT$100 - about £9. You must be joking!!! With a national minimum wage of TT$8 he only needs one sucker a day to give him a "blue" and he is doing well in comparison to all those bartenders, waitresses and cleaning ladies. Mind you, during the course of the day he can travel from Turtle Beach right the way round to Bacolet Bay, mainly on foot.

Visitors should be wary of Mr Blue. He can become increasingly aggressive in his demands. We had a real problem with him once. Having refused to give him anything, he sat on an adjacent palm, just five or ten metres away from us, and glared at us for well over an hour. He occasionally made comments and certainly made us feel more than a little uncomfortable with the situation. My advice is to politely say “No” the moment he approaches you – but be warned, he’s so quick that he can be in full flow before you even realise what’s happening and the moment he’s opened his mouth, he will expect payment.

Fortunately there are so few of these rogue itinerant beach hustlers on Tobago that they are easy to identify and warn people against.

[Marc Jones]

I'm going to be as decent and pleasant as is humanely possible when I visit, but he best be wary of trying to hustle someone who grew up in South London on a council estate

[Steve Wooler]

Alright, Marc - so I'm a wimp!!!

To be honest, Mr Blue is an old, rather wizened guy and even I could probably blow him over with one rum-laden breath.

[Marc Jones]

Not at all Steve, in fact my girlfriend would die laughing if she read this thread, it's her that I'd send over to him if anyone!

I just meant that I've been hustled before.

It's the only thing I think could be a problem, my brother went to Barbados and said he had a torrid time with vendors, but his masterstroke was making friends with one of them and the rest left him alone.

I just don't fancy paying a busker a tenner, you could see a whole gig for that!

[Steve Wooler]

You are so right! The silly thing is that if he moderated his demands and became Mr Purple (TT$20 = £1.75), he would probably get a 50% success rate, rather than a 1% success. Ah well, at least there's so few of them - although I admit they are on the increase. I was quite shocked at how Store Bay has deteriorated over the last year in this respect. They sometimes come at you like flies to honey when you arrive in the car park. At least they're always friendly and 99% of them take a polite "No" without hassle.