To Be Avoided At All Costs

[J Scott]

My wife and I arrived at the Tropikist for a four-night stay in January of 2004, having reserved a deluxe room. We had just attended a friend’s wedding in Trinidad, and were set to relax in Tobago for a few days. Upon arrival, we were required to pay the entire amount for our full stay by credit card. In retrospect, this should have been the first clue that something was awry. However, we were eager to check in, and so agreed to have the four-night stay charged in advance.
The deluxe room itself seemed pleasant enough at first – spacious, with a king bed and a lovely view of the water. Regrettably, this was to be the only positive feature I can think of to point out when it came to our dreadful experience.
The front desk neglected to inform us when we checked in that there was no power in our room or the entire building we were in. Hence no electricity, no air conditioning, no toilet, no running water. To seek some relief from the heat, we went back to the front desk to get beach towels to go to the pool. We were curtly informed that towels were a “luxury item”, which seemed to mean that none were available. This, despite the fact that the literature in the room made it abundantly clear beach towels were available to all guests at any time.
Two hours later, we had our power and water back, only to discover that the toilet leaked. Unfortunately, this was only to be the first of many problems we were to have.
The room had a phone, but not one from which it was possible to make an outgoing call. (Try to figure that one out.)
Other couples we stayed with were even less fortunate. The superior and standard rooms were cramped and unpleasant. The wall-mounted air conditioning unit leaked onto one of the two double beds in their room, soaking it through. No cable was available, and no effort was made to fix it. One needed a degree in engineering to discern how to turn on the shower, which once mastered, had ridiculously low water pressure.
The hotel currency exchange rates could only be described as outrageous. The Canadian exchange rate that week at the nearby bank was 4.7 TT to the CDN dollar. The hotel was offering 3 TT to the dollar, or in other words, charging a sickening 57% premium. The US exchange was somewhat less severe, but a still a swindle nonetheless. The result was that after conversion with their rates, it was actually more expensive to stay at the Tropikist than it was for us to stay at the lovely Coco Reef down the road.
Trying to make the best of a bad situation, we went down to the restaurant for dinner. The entree we ordered consisted of an anemic fish with perhaps a few grams of meat on it at most. Amazingly, we were actually lucky to have eaten the pathetic meal—a larger group of about 15 we traveled with ate at the buffet, and half became quite ill the next day.
Exasperated, we felt we had no alternative but to leave after only one night of being there, along with two other discouraged couples. We got up early the next day and attempted to check out. Not only were we refused a refund for the three nights we hadn’t used, (after waiting a full 40 minutes while the clerk consulted with someone in the back room), we were also denied any type of itemized receipt detailing what we had paid for.
I am sorry to report that the front desk staff was exactly as several others have described in their own reviews: smug, arrogant, and rude to the point of utter absurdity.
After a few tears, a phone call to the credit card company, and a great deal of frustration, there was little we could do. We simply chose to go to another hotel, and absorb the cost that the Tropikist had bilked from us. Astonishingly, as we were leaving the hotel, our cab driver pointed out that he regularly hears similar complaints about the Tropikist, and that they frequently try to stick people with phone calls and charges they didn’t incur. (Which I found impressive, since we couldn’t even call out.)
It is absolutely incredible to me, even in a remote place like the Caribbean, that a business this unscrupulous could actually remain viable. I could elaborate at further length about our how bad our experience was at the Tropikist, but we discovered that someone had already stated it more eloquently by etching a few words into the drawer of the bedside table: “This is the worst hotel ever. Good luck here.”

[Paul J Corney]

Mr Scott can I firstly commiserate while at the same time congratulating you on the eloquence of your posting on your Tropikist experience.

If anyone doubted the value of having an independent forum such as MyTobago then your posting should be mandatory reading. When booking my flights a week ago I noticed that the Tropikist was being really pushed by a number of tour operators to the point where packages of a week room only including BA flights were cheaper than BA would do the flight only without accommodation. Indeed I was half considering it for a colleague who is going to the Test in Port of Spain in March.

A number of people going out to the cricket in March might well decide to use the Tropikist (as I would have done and you intended to) for a short spell of R&R. Not now!

I only hope your posting and others which echoed the same sentiments in the past about the hotel and its approach evoke a rapid change of attitude by the owners and indeed a response from them on this forum.

[Andrew Poole]

Hello!
Do you two work for a rival hotel?or a consortium trying to buy the Tropikist cheaply? Just kidding but i dosent sound like the same place i stayed in 8 mths ago, or the place i have recommended on the "Barmy Army" website as a perfect place to stay RO for the duration of the Test. I mean! who would want to stay in POS when its only 20 quid return a day??

If the Tropikist ever got its act together it could rival Coco Reef or the Hilton because its location and setting are superb. It will only be when the airport goes 24 hrs that it may prove to be too close, however that is all dependant on whether you hear the planes over the aircon!! But if it did, then the prices would rival the two aforementioned hotels as well and i feel it is all relative!

Booked through a tour operater the Tropikist is a fairly cheap option and i think some people forget that you get what you pay for, there aint no such thing as a free lunch!

I stayed there with my partner Mimi Donaldson ( who has posted our report ) on a AI basis last June/July and although in hindsight would only stay there B&B or RO in future i dont feel this hotel is anywhere near as bad, as it is portayed. It is not perfect by any means but then nor is the Coco Reef or the Hilton at 3 times the price

I do also feel that the Crown Point area is a great base in which to enjoy this beautiful island and that this area offers lots of places to stay at reasonable prices with the best transfers ever!

But that the Tropikist gets a bit of a raw deal and isnt as bad as some peopl paint it..yes, we had problems, aircon leaking(twice), shower not working(once)' trying to charge us for bottled water(once) and our phone chargers not working (so they lent us one) but they gave us a key for an empty room to solve the shower problem and got it fixed asap as they did with the aircon. The standard rooms are perfectly big enough for two, cleaned every day and have a fabulous view(1st and 2nd floor only)

For the money i felt this was an okay place and wanted to say my bit

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Hi Andrew

It's a tough one isn't it - the dilemma of price v quality, and all is so subjective. I would say that folks do now seem to expect Hilton/Coco Reef levels of sublime luxury and slick infrastructure for B&B money, which is unreasonable in my opinion - as you would agree I think, from your post.

However, there is no excuse for rudeness and customer service failings, regardless of price paid for accommodation - yes you can go cheap, but should people put up with ignorance and rudeness/failure to refund? Not in my book, no matter how cheap the property, particularly when a cheap property/its agents sell it as something it isn't.

regards

[Paul J Corney]

Andrew, would that I had the resources to buy the Tropikist as it could be a goldmine given its location.

I fully echo Glyn's point ref price / expectation / service - it should be a reasonable cheaper alternative to the deluxe hotels that are in close proximity.

For every positive comment on the hotel though there are a couple of negatives and if you go through the forum in more depth you will see that the reviews have been mixed at best.

I'm glad you have painted a contra view to Mr Scott's and your point regarding booking through a tour operator is well made. I wonder whether in hindsight what is emerging here is that you have a better chance of resolving problems when you are at this hotel if you have the active on site support of your tour operators representative rather than staying as an independent traveller?

I guess the conclusion is caveat emptor.

I hope you enjoy the cricket.

[Andrew Poole]

Hello Glyn and Paul,

take your point about rudeness,absolutely. However, i didn't find them rude, just indifferent! I also think the response you get reflects the approach you take! Too many people giving it the "well i'm on holiday" routine. If you're being ignored at the bar..speak up! not sit there moaning to all and sundry about how you're being ignored, you soon get served and they remember! In fact, the only time i had trouble with the bar staff at the Tropikist was when i blasphemed!

I still feel the Tropikist represents excellent value for money, yes the food was "samey" a lot of the time, but it was tasty and warm enough and maybe a little overpriced if you wern't on AI, which is why in hindsight and as a recomendation i would sat RO or B&B. The freeform pool is superb, towels are FREE, the view is awesome and Store Bay is a great place to chill. You're close to some great eateries, Sunday School and the Golden Star.
The setting of the bar and hotel in general is very good and i know they say you cant swim off their beach but i have to say the snorkelling is great
there for reasonable swimmers ( i'm asthmatic and had no problems)

I think if you make an effort, appreciate there are differences, but still be firm, then you can make anywhere a great place to stay. Uncleanliness is probably the only thing i wont accept, there are no excusses for it and again price is relative, wherever you stay. This is not a charge you can level against this hotel.

And i feel that this island is such a superb place that its hard to stay mad for too long.

[Nora]

I too believe the tropikist is a wonderful hotel for room only and I found the staff on reception very helpful - problems were rectified promptly and they were happy to arrange taxis etc. I think you do get MORE than what you pay for. I holiday to greece every year staying in extremely basic but clean apartments. The tropikist is luxurious by these standards and only £1oo pounds more expensive - £567 with virgin holidays for 2 weeks!!! It has an excellent location and beautiful pool - I wouldnt swap it for the co-co reef all-inclusive as you really would miss out on all those wonderful crown point restaurants and bars and be paying over a thousand pounds more for the priveledge. Give the tropikist a break, I had a wonderful holiday and would not hesitate to return again ROOM ONLY!!![/b]

[Nora]

Its me again Ive just read Andrews comments regarding my review of the bar staff at the tropikist. Just to ensure you Andrew that I can SPEAK UP when I need a drink at the bar - infact I have 50 years experience of this in many countries throughout the world, where people are reserved and others gregarious - I can assure you that in the tropikist bar they were just plain rude. The only downside to a truley wonderful holiday