Toucan is So So
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 3:47 am
First off, I'm a Trini expatriate based in the US. We stayed at the Toucan Inn in July for a few nights. We had a quiet garden room, which was clean and had a beautiful decor (dark wood furniture and similarly framed french doors and walls, opened up to a beutiful garden. The red clay tile floor was a nice touch also). But the amenities were poor; Tobago is very beautiful and so is my spouse, but together they weren't enough to make up for the lack of cabletv in the rooms 
Also the shower and sink, were pathetic (water conservation?) the single nightstand was across the room from the bed, the switches for the wall mounted bed side lamps were not reacheable from the bed, and the bed itself was uncomftable, and we got 2 twins, though we asked for a full. Given most guests we saw at the hotel were couples, I find this inexplicable. We never used the pool though it was a nice back drop to the restaurant, the food at which was fair; the roasted foul was excellent, but the bacon rapped chicken wasn't as good, breakfast was a dissapointment; why isn't fresh squeezed orange juice without ice possible on a caribbean island where the fruit is grown The staff were polite enough but we were slighted (ignored) by the manager at the "meet & greet" This slight was made all the more evident when, at a later night, we had dinner at the Kariwak Village restaurant, and the owner came over to our table to thank us for dining there and invited us to tour the grounds 
. If you plan to be out most of the day and night, and simply need a clean place to rest your head for a few hours, and an ok dinner, then Toucan is your place. Toward that end, a car is a must, don't delude yourself , 5 mins walk to the beach? I don't think so. Plus you can beach hop and sight see at your leisure, Just stay on or near the coast roads or you might get lost as we did, Higlight of our trip though. My $.02 FWIW. Have fun.
Also the shower and sink, were pathetic (water conservation?) the single nightstand was across the room from the bed, the switches for the wall mounted bed side lamps were not reacheable from the bed, and the bed itself was uncomftable, and we got 2 twins, though we asked for a full. Given most guests we saw at the hotel were couples, I find this inexplicable. We never used the pool though it was a nice back drop to the restaurant, the food at which was fair; the roasted foul was excellent, but the bacon rapped chicken wasn't as good, breakfast was a dissapointment; why isn't fresh squeezed orange juice without ice possible on a caribbean island where the fruit is grown The staff were polite enough but we were slighted (ignored) by the manager at the "meet & greet" This slight was made all the more evident when, at a later night, we had dinner at the Kariwak Village restaurant, and the owner came over to our table to thank us for dining there and invited us to tour the grounds . If you plan to be out most of the day and night, and simply need a clean place to rest your head for a few hours, and an ok dinner, then Toucan is your place. Toward that end, a car is a must, don't delude yourself , 5 mins walk to the beach? I don't think so. Plus you can beach hop and sight see at your leisure, Just stay on or near the coast roads or you might get lost as we did, Higlight of our trip though. My $.02 FWIW. Have fun.
