Tropikist Beach Hotel Review

[Steve Davis]

Review of the Tropikist Beach Hotel, September 2003.

This is a view of our all inclusive stay at the Tropikist Beach Hotel for one week during the end of September 2003.We stayed in a standard room. Firstly, I would like to remind people that this hotel IS NOT THE HILTON OR THE COCO REEF HOTEL. If you have money to spend or wish to moan about the Tropikist for not being anywhere as good, then my advice is go and stay at these places and then complain about the lack of service etc. I am however, not sticking up for the Tropikist - the hotel does have its good points, but also has its bad points. But remember, so do the best hotels in the world.

The Tropikist is a 3 star hotel.

I thought it maybe easier to breakdown each section of the hotel,
rather than just waffle on.

ON ARRIVAL.
We were greeted by 3 semi-ignorant reception girls, who did their best not to make you fully welcomed, despite giving all arriving guests a non-alcoholic cocktail.These same girls did become better and friendlier as the week went on. We were talked through the all-inclusive plan and then shown to our rooms by the one of the guys who cleans the pool.

THE ROOM.
Our first impression was that the room was a tad on the basic side. This though, was something we were easily able to overcome given the view from the balcony. WOW! a great sea view and a lovely view of the pool, bar and restaurant. The Room had two double beds, tiled floor, shower (the taps were covered in lime scale and didn’t look as if they had been cleaned for sometime), sink with big mirror and loo. We had air conditioning which did sound like a small motorbike was in the room, which had to be turned off at night. (some other guests told us they only had a ceiling fan) a TV with cable TV, no Premiership football though and a fridge. There was a large walk in wardrobe area which we used to put our suitcase as well a clothes.The room maid actually did a great job, especially given the limited cleaning tools we would see her have on days. Rooms were cleaned each day, and we were provided with clean towels, soap, shower gels etc. All in all, given the time you are actually in the room, I would say that it was fine - nothing fantastic, but clean and tidy.

THE POOL
The swimming pool is totally amazing - some guests have said that it’s the best hotel pool on the island - this I cannot guarantee, but it is very good. Complete with a nice 5 seater swim up bar and beautifully landscaped with plants and a rocky waterfall and a child pool. The pool is well furnished and clean, as is the old pool (they have two), which is good for doing lengths and goes up to 8ft in depth. Only sad part is that the pool has lights around it, but is sadly not on in the evening. One extra thing - you are told that there is a free scuba diving lesson on the old pool - this is not at any other point offered to you and none one else was ever seen using this facility. Another penny pinching exercise.

JACUZZI
The Jacuzzi is set on the bay near the pool in between the plants. It has a great view, but unfortunately really needed a clean. Although the water looked very clear and clean, the edges of the Jacuzzi were disgusting - so much so, that someone had written 'clean me please', in the grime just like on a dirty van. The water was only warm, and the pumps weren't very strong. Shame, because this could of been a lovely thing to of used more often. Hopefully though, this is easily sorted with a good clean...lets hope they do it.

THE BEACH
The Tropikist 'beach'. Don't be fooled...this is not a beach, but merely some ugly sandy area going out onto a rocky and strong tidal sea. It’s not for swimming and I wouldn’t recommend using it. For a 7 min walk you can go to Store Bay beach which is really lovely. Stay by the pool and use the beach for a view to watch the sunsets on.

RESTAURANTS
Tropikist has two restaurants. The Bayside Grill and Bar, and the Sunset Restaurant. You eat breakfast in the small and often fully packed Sunset Restaurant. Make sure you are there at 7.30am or risk waiting for a table. It is buffet style and there is a choice of fruits, cereals, toast, pancakes and French toast (only on somedays) and cooked breakfast. The chef serves you the portions of the cooked breakfast that he feels will suit you best and depending what kind of mood he is in. Often he is tight fisted and has the ability to make you feel like Oliver (please sir can I have some more?) when you ask if you can have some more. The same goes for Dinner, which is taken in the Bayside Grill which leaves guest very hot as there is no air con or ceiling fans. This is nice looking restaurant with fairy lights going up the two main beams (only one was actually switched on though), and joins the open plan bar. The whole bar/restaurant is open to the elements, but well covered and even on a stormy night protects all guests. Again though, the chefs serve you what they like in terms of chicken or beef (asking for both can cause a bad feeling) and you help you self to the weak selection salads. Soup is always the starter and is very bland. Dessert is always jelly, 'cake', apple pie, fruit cocktail and ice-cream. None of the choices looked particularly inspiring, and I often went without my favourite part of the meal. Shame, this was one of the worst points about the hotel. Lunch is taken in the same restaurant and is a choice of sandwiches - cheese, tuna, club, chicken etc, and cheeseburger and hotdog - All came with fries. This was actually very nice as a snack, shame that was all that was on offer. Afternoon tea and cakes were meant to be served somewhere, but this was never seen by any of the guests - not that we really wanted them, but we had paid for them all the same, and couldn’t help but
feel that the hotel was penny pinching again.

THE BAR
A lovely rounded bar that joins the restaurant, and is a nice place to spend the evening - that is if you can put up with the local talents who claim to be able to sing! The only good nights were the Steel band and the solo guy (whose name I cant remember). Again, as mentioned by other reviews, the staff are largest ignorant - this goes for all over the hotel. Trying to catch the eye of one of the staff, even if 4 of them are talking together and all looking in your direction is a hard task. People tend to say that this is life in Tobago and the West Indies in general, but there’s way of life, which is acceptable and then there’s total ignorance!! Only one girl, who wore trendy style glasses and had red streaks in her hair is worthy of any credit - she was excellent and does deserve credit, but she is the only one. drinks are usually ok...we had a couple of experiences and so did other guests, that what you ordered can back as something different - the same was when ordered from the swim up bar - a place where it was at times very hard to get served from, as it the actual bar is set back into the main bar, and staff pretend that they cannot see you there. Cocktails were mostly fine, but tended to
vary depending on who was making them. Spirits were often 'out' if one or two of you ordered the same drinks a day or two running - how you run out of Vodka is beyond me!!!

SUN TERRACE
Not very nice during the day, although very popular. Very near the pool and littered with a a poor selection of pool furniture...could do with a paint job. Nice place to go for a drink and look at the stars or to look a the sunsets.

All in all you must remember that this is actually a nice place to stay, especially if you are on a budget. We both agreed that the hotel could do with some major improvements, but all in all is fine. We had a great stay, and would recommend it given what you pay. Don’t expect too much...my best advice would be to go room only and avoid the meals. You only really stay in your room at night, so that’s not such a big deal if its basic - take a travel iron and hairdryer if you are in the standard rooms though. Delux rooms are apparently not really worth the extra money. would recommend the Tropikist, but has made me think of saving more money and staying somewhere more upmarket for our next all inclusive holiday. The Tropikist website state that they offer massage facilities - they don’t.