myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

We stayed at Hidden Cottage for 11 days in February. We loved all the birds and lizards--we saw far more wildlife there than in the rainforest. The dipping pool was lovely at the end of a beach day. There was lots of hot water and water pressure which we had not had at our previous accommodation.

The downside was that the cottage, although roomy, is not set up for four people. There was an outdoor table and chairs by the pool but no table indoors. We had lots of rain showers, so the table was often wet. There were no chairs on the covered deck, so we were constantly moving the chairs from the pool to the deck. The deck was not wide enough to accommodate the table. As well, there wasn't comfortable seating space for four in the living area.

Also, a few people living on the other side of the ravine (who were fairly close) kept their dogs in small cages. Naturally, the dogs were not happy with that arrangement, so they barked a lot. We are animal lovers and found it distressing.

We were comfortable here, however. It's just that it did not quite live up to its billing. It certainly did not detract from our love of Castara, and we still think about our hours on the deck with the birds.

Hello Valerie

Sorry, I must have missed your original post. In fact I see that it was posted the day before we left Tobago after our 2008 review tour and things were a little manic.

We stayed at Hidden Cottage for six days during our trip. Your comments about the table and seating are perfectly valid. Selvin was over there last month and has corrected various issues that we raised following our review stay, including the matter of the lack of dining facilities. He has just sent me some photos to illustrate various changes, including furnishing the main covered balcony of the larger Apartment with two all-weather tables and chairs for eight people. The plung pool deck now has a new white table and chair with sun umbrella and a similar unit has been provided for the upper studio apartment.

I didn't see the 'dog cages' that you refer to and didn't have any undue noise problems from the property. However, what you say doesn't particularly surprise me. The neighbour on the hillside opposite certainly kept a trio of hunting dogs and it wouldn't surprise me to hear that they were kept in cages. Having said that, they seemed to be loose most of the time and spent their time practising their skills trying to catch the owner's roosters. I'm not sure whether the dogs weren't very good at their job or the roosters too canny for them, but I was certainly rooting for the dogs - the roosters are by far the biggest noise problem in most villages in our experience. However, as a fellow dog-lover, I do sympathise with your views and would equally have found it distressing to see dogs in cages.