My Tobago Holiday
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 4:05 pm
Steve - feel free to use all, some of none of this report anywhere on your site
My wife Sandra, son Joe (age nearly 3) and myself went on holiday to Tobago between 27th sep and 11th Oct 2004.
Check in/out - we took advantage of Virgins twilight check in service, which was brilliant. No queue at 7.30pm the previous evening and a leisurely 1 hr before flight arrival time meant that we were stress free for the flight. On the return we used the check in chill out service, which meant that we were able to check our luggage in at the hotel and thus enjoy a full day on the last day and arrive 30 mins before departure at the airport. One note – if you travel with young children then you must get a departure tax exempt sticker before going thru to the departure lounge – we weren’t offered one when checking in at the hotel so its worth asking the virgin staff who turn up to do the necessary, otherwise you have to queue like I did outside the terminal to get one.
Flight - 8 hrs 40 mins - uneventful - Virgin crew very helpful, excellent on board entertainment
Arrival in Tobago - having a small child we were ushered to the front of a very long and slow moving immigration queue! The baggage carousel is extremely small, but the handler’s offloaded bags to the side which speeded things up a little, although a short power cut did slow things slightly. Through customs and our Virgin rep was waiting to take our transfer coupon and load us and our suitcases onto a bus, and before long we were winging our way to the REX TURTLE BEACH HOTEL.
Hotel arrival and check in - we had to wait 2 hrs for our room to be ready which was a little tiresome after a long journey (the reason will become apparent later). The reception staff seemed a little standoffish, as was the lady who stuck our all-inclusive band on - branded for a fortnight!
Whilst waiting for our room to be ready we overheard a couple of guests complaining to the manager that a fellow holidaymaker had just defecated in the pool (more on this later)
We went to our room and crashed out.
The hotel rooms - The Rex is approx 30 years old and is very 'tired'. The rooms are large and airy, the aircon is a little loud, although I managed to sleep ok and I must be the world’s lightest sleeper. The decor could do with a spruce up, as could the bathroom, although everything was clean and functional. We had a king-size bed and a single bed. It turned out that I slept in the single and it was very comfortable. Joe and Sandra slept in the king size and the state of the mattress was, quite frankly appalling - it must have been as old as the Hotel - we didn’t complain about it and to this day I don’t know why we didn’t! The high numbers are further away from the main hotel but only a 3-minute walk at most (I timed it!). You are able to keep your room for the whole day on your last day for around £30 – we shared the cost with another couple and boy was it worth it! We didn’t check out until 7pm. No doubt someone else was waiting for 2hrs for their room at reception!
Hotel Grounds - pleasant enough with all rooms only 20 feet or so from the beach and set in coconut palm gardens.
The beach - a lovely 1km or so long beach with clean sand which gets extremely hot during the day so take some sandals to get from the hotel to the sea!
Beach Vendors - not particularly annoying - just trying to earn a living - a polite no thanks is sufficient usually. You must see Henry the leather goods maker - he is very skilful and produces top quality made to measure stuff at a very reasonable price.
Drugs - we saw evidence of drug dealing on the beach and at the fringes of the beach and hotel grounds with some of the younger guests - security and management take this very seriously and I urge all guests who see it to report it immediately.
The Sea - not too rough although some older and younger people could find it difficult to get in and more importantly out of the water if they timed their entry/exit wrongly (every 7th wave is a big one so I was told!) On the last day we saw some jelly fish and a couple of people got stung but the pain lasted no more than a minute and again was more a nuisance than anything else.
The staff - were, in the main wonderful! Having a 3 year old certainly helped break the ice and just about everyone was friendly and chatty, although it was evident that those guests that didn’t make the effort to be friendly with the staff, got the same back.
The food - we went all inclusive (our first time) mainly as we didn’t want the hassle of finding a place when Joe would be tired. Having spoken to other guests who went room only, it appeared that cost wise over 14 nights it worked out to be pretty cost neutral, especially when you then add on taxi fares to your meals out - so you pays your money and takes your choice I guess. The food in the Hotel was in our opinion pretty good. Breakfast was as much as you could eat of just about anything, lunch was a buffet or from the a la carte snack menu, and dinner consisted of around 3 salad dishes, 5 or 6 main courses, rice, local veg etc, a selection of sweets. In the two weeks we were there we never had a complete repeat of the same menu. The executive chef does a wonderful job with only 3 or 4 kitchen staff to help him.
The Guests - well what can I say! The hotel consisted mainly of British and German guests with the odd American or two. The Germans as ever kept themselves to themselves and were model tourists, as were the Americans.
The British - well, here goes. Upon our arrival one of the guests who had been there a week had just defecated in the pool and thus the pool had to be closed. It transpired that this person was an alcoholic who had been causing mayhem all week and generally upsetting everyone. There was also a small element of British guests who seemed intent on being as loud, and obnoxious as possible. The hotel management closed the pool and began shock treating it with copious amounts of chlorine. They also got an expert in from Trinidad to do various tests. Anyhow, the pool was supposed to open on the Saturday (the incident happened on the Monday), but unfortunately although the pool was now clear, they then had to balance the chemicals in the water, and therefore there was a further delay of a couple of days. In the meantime a certain element of holiday makers (around 10 - 15 and all British) continued to moan and whinge at the managements efforts (very unfairly in my opinion). In the end this led to one guest physically threatening the Virgin rep because the pool hadn’t been opened when the hotel said it would be. All in all a pretty disgusting display of loutishness and generally pathetic behaviour. The whole mood of the hotel for our first week was fairly confrontational. Luckily for the most part we were enjoying the island. Those for whom the pool was so important merely let the situation wind themselves up and with it the rest of the hotel. What the Germans and other foreign tourists thought of us god only knows, but I felt embarrassed to be British.
The number of English guests wearing football shirts also surprised me – why DO people insist on wearing them on holiday? Does it make them feel somehow ‘hard’ or ‘superior’ – its just pathetic. I could go on and on about some of the guests and their actions but I wont. Suffice to say that the 17 man wedding party that stayed at the hotel were barely better behaved! Perhaps it was poetic justice that throughout their wedding ceremony, the bamboo carving salesman jumped about on the beach shouting Bamboo!!!
The weather – it was hot hot hot ! and very very humid. The locals were saying it was unusually hot for the time of year and that there had been a shortage of rain so far. The temperature in the first week hit around 35C and cooled slightly in the second. My wife got prickly heat quite badly and we had to call the doctor. So my tip is that if you suffer, don’t forget your antihistamine tablets and take them prior to going away.
Insects – the mosquitoes have a voracious appetite and on the odd occasion I stepped out of the room to take a sunset photo without taking precautions they got me! The sand flies are also a menace. Even during the heat of the day they congregate in the shade so its either run the gauntlet in the shade or burn your feet on the sand!
The Rain Forest – spectacular! Due to having Joe with us we decided to ask Peter Cox (a naturalist) to tailor make an hour’s trip for us. The guide he supplied was Wayne Gray of Waynes World Tours. A great guy who is totally passionate about the ecology of Tobago and he deserves your business – you can call him on (868)7807020 or email [email protected]. He does snorkelling trips as well as bird watching and forest walks.Website http://www.waynesworld-tours.com
Car Hire – we prebooked through Yes Tourism and Shermanns. The lady from Shermans was helpful and our car was ok (if a little underpowered – a Proton Wira, Auto). I would recommend using an auto as it is one less thing to have to worry about when a local comes round a bend in the middle of the road and does not look like he is going to move! The locals work on the principle of ‘the road will be clear when I go round that sharp bend’, so beware. The island is only 26 miles long but to drive from the Rex to Charlotteville in the north will take you knocking on 2 hours as the roads are very windy and hilly but in the main reasonably good standard. Petrol is around 30p per litre but there are only about 5 stations on the island and every one we passed as some point was out of one type of fuel so don’t rely on one station having your super or premium – always best to get topped up as you go.
Snorkelling – Arnos Vale was good ( although I have to say ive been spoilt by the Maldives, great barrier reef, south pacific and Kenya). Turtles were regularly seen in the water there as was a turtle hatching the second to last day we were there (although we missed it by 2 hrs!). Due to heavy rain showers which turned most of the bays brown with the run off from the hills and the Orinoco river from Venezuela the water wasn’t perhaps as clear as you would expect to snorkel and therefore on this front it was a little disappointing. The sea generally tho is pretty clear and warm.
Beaches – the ones I would point out as being excellent and very quiet are:
Canoe bay, Arnos Vale, Culloden, Castara, Englishmans bay, Charlotteville, and my two favourites, Buccoo Bay and Pirates Bay (not marked on the maps by name but just a 20 min walk from Charlotteville and bloody fantastic!
One note about Pigeon Point – it costs $20TT for the day but if you just tell them on the gate when you get there that you want to have a look around, they refund the 20TT on the way out providing you stay for less than half an hour, which to be honest is probably enough, as whilst the beach is fantastic, it does seem a little manicured and touristy. But go take a look and get your photo!
Free Car Hire- Yes you read it right! Here's how you get a days free car hire. The exchange rate in the hotel is 8.5 TT to the £. In the banks it’s 10.8 TT. A 21% difference. If you exchange £200 at the bank instead of the hotel then the saving to you is $460TT, which is by coincidence what it would cost you to hire a car for a day! Good or what?!
Summary – Tobago is a lovely island full of friendly chatty people going about their business not upsetting anyone. The Rex is a tired but functional hotel, which with a little TLC could be a belter, but as it stands is adequate and no more. If you are used to a European standard of service and level of comfort then not only is the Rex probably not for you, but neither is Tobago (even guests we spoke to staying at the Hilton complained about the food!). If however you accept that you are visiting a developing country, with differing standards and approach to life than we have here in Europe and accept that not everything is going to go right then the Rex and Tobago make an excellent choice of holiday destination. It would be easy to pick fault as did a lot of holidaymakers whilst we were there, but my advice would be to get out of the hotel, explore, talk to the locals both in the hotel and out and you will experience a lovely holiday. Would I go back to Tobago and the Rex? Tobago possibly (although we have never returned to the same destination twice – the world is too large!), the Rex? No – I think Arnos Vale would by my choice.
My wife Sandra, son Joe (age nearly 3) and myself went on holiday to Tobago between 27th sep and 11th Oct 2004.
Check in/out - we took advantage of Virgins twilight check in service, which was brilliant. No queue at 7.30pm the previous evening and a leisurely 1 hr before flight arrival time meant that we were stress free for the flight. On the return we used the check in chill out service, which meant that we were able to check our luggage in at the hotel and thus enjoy a full day on the last day and arrive 30 mins before departure at the airport. One note – if you travel with young children then you must get a departure tax exempt sticker before going thru to the departure lounge – we weren’t offered one when checking in at the hotel so its worth asking the virgin staff who turn up to do the necessary, otherwise you have to queue like I did outside the terminal to get one.
Flight - 8 hrs 40 mins - uneventful - Virgin crew very helpful, excellent on board entertainment
Arrival in Tobago - having a small child we were ushered to the front of a very long and slow moving immigration queue! The baggage carousel is extremely small, but the handler’s offloaded bags to the side which speeded things up a little, although a short power cut did slow things slightly. Through customs and our Virgin rep was waiting to take our transfer coupon and load us and our suitcases onto a bus, and before long we were winging our way to the REX TURTLE BEACH HOTEL.
Hotel arrival and check in - we had to wait 2 hrs for our room to be ready which was a little tiresome after a long journey (the reason will become apparent later). The reception staff seemed a little standoffish, as was the lady who stuck our all-inclusive band on - branded for a fortnight!
Whilst waiting for our room to be ready we overheard a couple of guests complaining to the manager that a fellow holidaymaker had just defecated in the pool (more on this later)
We went to our room and crashed out.
The hotel rooms - The Rex is approx 30 years old and is very 'tired'. The rooms are large and airy, the aircon is a little loud, although I managed to sleep ok and I must be the world’s lightest sleeper. The decor could do with a spruce up, as could the bathroom, although everything was clean and functional. We had a king-size bed and a single bed. It turned out that I slept in the single and it was very comfortable. Joe and Sandra slept in the king size and the state of the mattress was, quite frankly appalling - it must have been as old as the Hotel - we didn’t complain about it and to this day I don’t know why we didn’t! The high numbers are further away from the main hotel but only a 3-minute walk at most (I timed it!). You are able to keep your room for the whole day on your last day for around £30 – we shared the cost with another couple and boy was it worth it! We didn’t check out until 7pm. No doubt someone else was waiting for 2hrs for their room at reception!
Hotel Grounds - pleasant enough with all rooms only 20 feet or so from the beach and set in coconut palm gardens.
The beach - a lovely 1km or so long beach with clean sand which gets extremely hot during the day so take some sandals to get from the hotel to the sea!
Beach Vendors - not particularly annoying - just trying to earn a living - a polite no thanks is sufficient usually. You must see Henry the leather goods maker - he is very skilful and produces top quality made to measure stuff at a very reasonable price.
Drugs - we saw evidence of drug dealing on the beach and at the fringes of the beach and hotel grounds with some of the younger guests - security and management take this very seriously and I urge all guests who see it to report it immediately.
The Sea - not too rough although some older and younger people could find it difficult to get in and more importantly out of the water if they timed their entry/exit wrongly (every 7th wave is a big one so I was told!) On the last day we saw some jelly fish and a couple of people got stung but the pain lasted no more than a minute and again was more a nuisance than anything else.
The staff - were, in the main wonderful! Having a 3 year old certainly helped break the ice and just about everyone was friendly and chatty, although it was evident that those guests that didn’t make the effort to be friendly with the staff, got the same back.
The food - we went all inclusive (our first time) mainly as we didn’t want the hassle of finding a place when Joe would be tired. Having spoken to other guests who went room only, it appeared that cost wise over 14 nights it worked out to be pretty cost neutral, especially when you then add on taxi fares to your meals out - so you pays your money and takes your choice I guess. The food in the Hotel was in our opinion pretty good. Breakfast was as much as you could eat of just about anything, lunch was a buffet or from the a la carte snack menu, and dinner consisted of around 3 salad dishes, 5 or 6 main courses, rice, local veg etc, a selection of sweets. In the two weeks we were there we never had a complete repeat of the same menu. The executive chef does a wonderful job with only 3 or 4 kitchen staff to help him.
The Guests - well what can I say! The hotel consisted mainly of British and German guests with the odd American or two. The Germans as ever kept themselves to themselves and were model tourists, as were the Americans.
The British - well, here goes. Upon our arrival one of the guests who had been there a week had just defecated in the pool and thus the pool had to be closed. It transpired that this person was an alcoholic who had been causing mayhem all week and generally upsetting everyone. There was also a small element of British guests who seemed intent on being as loud, and obnoxious as possible. The hotel management closed the pool and began shock treating it with copious amounts of chlorine. They also got an expert in from Trinidad to do various tests. Anyhow, the pool was supposed to open on the Saturday (the incident happened on the Monday), but unfortunately although the pool was now clear, they then had to balance the chemicals in the water, and therefore there was a further delay of a couple of days. In the meantime a certain element of holiday makers (around 10 - 15 and all British) continued to moan and whinge at the managements efforts (very unfairly in my opinion). In the end this led to one guest physically threatening the Virgin rep because the pool hadn’t been opened when the hotel said it would be. All in all a pretty disgusting display of loutishness and generally pathetic behaviour. The whole mood of the hotel for our first week was fairly confrontational. Luckily for the most part we were enjoying the island. Those for whom the pool was so important merely let the situation wind themselves up and with it the rest of the hotel. What the Germans and other foreign tourists thought of us god only knows, but I felt embarrassed to be British.
The number of English guests wearing football shirts also surprised me – why DO people insist on wearing them on holiday? Does it make them feel somehow ‘hard’ or ‘superior’ – its just pathetic. I could go on and on about some of the guests and their actions but I wont. Suffice to say that the 17 man wedding party that stayed at the hotel were barely better behaved! Perhaps it was poetic justice that throughout their wedding ceremony, the bamboo carving salesman jumped about on the beach shouting Bamboo!!!
The weather – it was hot hot hot ! and very very humid. The locals were saying it was unusually hot for the time of year and that there had been a shortage of rain so far. The temperature in the first week hit around 35C and cooled slightly in the second. My wife got prickly heat quite badly and we had to call the doctor. So my tip is that if you suffer, don’t forget your antihistamine tablets and take them prior to going away.
Insects – the mosquitoes have a voracious appetite and on the odd occasion I stepped out of the room to take a sunset photo without taking precautions they got me! The sand flies are also a menace. Even during the heat of the day they congregate in the shade so its either run the gauntlet in the shade or burn your feet on the sand!
The Rain Forest – spectacular! Due to having Joe with us we decided to ask Peter Cox (a naturalist) to tailor make an hour’s trip for us. The guide he supplied was Wayne Gray of Waynes World Tours. A great guy who is totally passionate about the ecology of Tobago and he deserves your business – you can call him on (868)7807020 or email [email protected]. He does snorkelling trips as well as bird watching and forest walks.Website http://www.waynesworld-tours.com
Car Hire – we prebooked through Yes Tourism and Shermanns. The lady from Shermans was helpful and our car was ok (if a little underpowered – a Proton Wira, Auto). I would recommend using an auto as it is one less thing to have to worry about when a local comes round a bend in the middle of the road and does not look like he is going to move! The locals work on the principle of ‘the road will be clear when I go round that sharp bend’, so beware. The island is only 26 miles long but to drive from the Rex to Charlotteville in the north will take you knocking on 2 hours as the roads are very windy and hilly but in the main reasonably good standard. Petrol is around 30p per litre but there are only about 5 stations on the island and every one we passed as some point was out of one type of fuel so don’t rely on one station having your super or premium – always best to get topped up as you go.
Snorkelling – Arnos Vale was good ( although I have to say ive been spoilt by the Maldives, great barrier reef, south pacific and Kenya). Turtles were regularly seen in the water there as was a turtle hatching the second to last day we were there (although we missed it by 2 hrs!). Due to heavy rain showers which turned most of the bays brown with the run off from the hills and the Orinoco river from Venezuela the water wasn’t perhaps as clear as you would expect to snorkel and therefore on this front it was a little disappointing. The sea generally tho is pretty clear and warm.
Beaches – the ones I would point out as being excellent and very quiet are:
Canoe bay, Arnos Vale, Culloden, Castara, Englishmans bay, Charlotteville, and my two favourites, Buccoo Bay and Pirates Bay (not marked on the maps by name but just a 20 min walk from Charlotteville and bloody fantastic!
One note about Pigeon Point – it costs $20TT for the day but if you just tell them on the gate when you get there that you want to have a look around, they refund the 20TT on the way out providing you stay for less than half an hour, which to be honest is probably enough, as whilst the beach is fantastic, it does seem a little manicured and touristy. But go take a look and get your photo!
Free Car Hire- Yes you read it right! Here's how you get a days free car hire. The exchange rate in the hotel is 8.5 TT to the £. In the banks it’s 10.8 TT. A 21% difference. If you exchange £200 at the bank instead of the hotel then the saving to you is $460TT, which is by coincidence what it would cost you to hire a car for a day! Good or what?!
Summary – Tobago is a lovely island full of friendly chatty people going about their business not upsetting anyone. The Rex is a tired but functional hotel, which with a little TLC could be a belter, but as it stands is adequate and no more. If you are used to a European standard of service and level of comfort then not only is the Rex probably not for you, but neither is Tobago (even guests we spoke to staying at the Hilton complained about the food!). If however you accept that you are visiting a developing country, with differing standards and approach to life than we have here in Europe and accept that not everything is going to go right then the Rex and Tobago make an excellent choice of holiday destination. It would be easy to pick fault as did a lot of holidaymakers whilst we were there, but my advice would be to get out of the hotel, explore, talk to the locals both in the hotel and out and you will experience a lovely holiday. Would I go back to Tobago and the Rex? Tobago possibly (although we have never returned to the same destination twice – the world is too large!), the Rex? No – I think Arnos Vale would by my choice.
