Coco Reef Review

[Alison Meyers]

Hi There (hello June!)
We returned from Tobago on Tues 29th (Boo!). In summary Tobago is a wonderful place, and Coco Reef had fantastic food, lovely staff and a great atmosphere.
We stayed in a deluxe ocean view room, which had everything we needed and was extremely clean. Yes the air con was noisy (not really noisy) , but as long as they work, which they do, then what’s the problem? (especially when it’s 35-40 degrees its welcome whether its noisy or not). The staff were outstanding, yes they do all ask “and how are you today” in the main restaurant at breakfast and evening meal, and sometimes it does feel like they are reading from a script but it’s the way they have been trained and they are all just doing their job, they appreciate being asked in return how they are as well. We never found the staff surly, formal yes, that is until you asked them how they were or made a little conversation and then you got that fantastic Tobagan smile and some great conversation. For those people who complained about the staff, perhaps there were one or two who were surly, I didn’t encounter that at all in fact every member of staff I spoke to (which was many) was welcoming and friendly and I didn’t find anyone staying at Coco Reef when we were who thought they were surly or unfriendly either. Perhaps like us they have good and bad weeks – or get to that stage of feeling like they need a holiday too !!!
Drinks on the beach- one or two of the negative comments mentioned that you would ask for a drink from the drinks waiters who came up to you on the beach and then have to wait “hours” for it to arrive, well yes that’s true, not hours though. Bear in mind however that the beach possibly has between 50 and 200 people on it and only 2 drinks waiters to take the orders, go and get them at the bar, deliver them, and it’s very very hot and tobagans understandably don’t rush themselves, then your drink won’t arrive in 5 minutes. It takes closer to 30 minutes for the drinks to come, but for us it wasn’t a problem, if we were really thirsty we’d go to the bar and get it ourselves (all of a 5 minute walk away at the most) or think ahead !
One post called the beach Benidorm in high season - well the hotel is relatively large and as people tend to go to Tobago for the sun, then in high season the beach will be busy, if you want a beach to yourself get out and about as there are plenty of quieter ones or book into a smaller hotel!
In the first week we were there it was necessary if you wanted one of the fixed beach parasols to be up early to get one (bearing in mind there are only approx 20 fixed ones) but in the second week there were always one or two of these free if you needed. Also the hotel now has other beach parasols which you can help yourselves to if you need one and there was always more than enough to go round, apart from the days where we had been out for the day and wanted one at 4ish, but again understandable. We only bothered on a couple of occasions to put towels on a sunbed before breakfast as there were always loads available and always a beach parasol if we needed shade. I’d say it depends on the nationality of the guests and how busy the hotel is whether you need to put a towel down to reserve a bed. Although what was interesting was actually it was mainly Brits reserving the beds and fixed parasols (perhaps a hang over from those holidays in Benidorm !!). Notably though, and understandably, those with children that wanted shade for them for later in the day were the main offenders.
Finally you probably won’t get a room to use on the last day, but you have until 12 to leave the room, then you can leave luggage near reception and can book a shower slot for the end of the day to enable you to freshen up.
All in all in our opinion most people staying at this hotel will like it, a lovely hotel, good service, fantastic food, great staff. And also all the comparisons with Blue Waters in Antigua are unrealistic as its approx £1000 pound more to stay at Blue Waters so although the star ratings might be the same the cost isn’t and as we all know you get what you pay for, I thought for the price we paid Coco Reef (AI – although this still didn’t stop us from eating outside of the hotel) was very very good value for money.

[Dave B]

Interesting read and puts my mind at rest after some not-so complimentary comments about the Coco Reef recently. Particularly interesting as we're off on Monday to get married there and have a two week holiday!

[Alison Meyers]

Dave

You'll have a fantastic wedding there, we saw about 4 or 5 weddings at the Coco Reef and they were all lovely, the weddings were really well organised and the staff couldn't do enough for the wedding parties. It is a lovely place to get married. Have fun

Ali.

[Dave Fisher]

We have just returned 5th April from a lovely holiday at the Coco Reef.
We went in some trepidation after reading some really negative posts and having arrived and having room 243 looking over the beach were pleasantly suprised. However the first morning we were woken up at 0630 by some small children running up and down the corridor shouting and screaming. We recieved a call from the manager that evening asking if everything was ok and we confirmed that apart from that mornings problem it was.He promised that security would keep an eye out for the problem and indeed we were not bothered again.
The food was excellent in the main restaurant and the salad bar at lunchtime in the beach bar was really good value. Having read about the robbery we put our valuables in the hotel safety deposit box which was a bit of a pain having to keep retrieving money or cards regularly.But it was better to be safe than sorry!
To sum up dont worry about others comments, go with an open mind and I am sure you will enjoy yourself.