Located on one of the highest parts of the southern area of Tobago, this villa is at the end of a rural road which only has a few other properties on it, not close to the villa. The small cottage next door also belongs to the owner and can be rented separately or together with the main villa for larger parties. A couple was staying in the cottage during our holiday but we were hardly aware of them. They do not use the grounds or the pool.
We stayed as a couple and of course used the huge master bedroom suite upstairs as our sleeping accommodation. This is surrounded by a wrap-around terrace outside so you can walk around the whole of the villa to get spectacular views in all directions. The terrace downstairs faces the Caribbean and the rear garden, which is extensive and contains many trees and shrubs, including fruit-bearing ones which you can pick and eat. The rear views are also lovely, both of the sea and the intervening tropical greenery.
We chose the villa because of its lovely location and its imposing physical appearance which is very attractive; the photos on TA are an accurate record of what to expect. Also - importantly for us - we chose this property because it is near a bird sanctuary area with the promise of great bird watching at the villa. We were not disappointed - we saw on a daily basis Mot-Mots, mockingbirds, spectacled thrushes, various types of tanagers, bananaquits, woodpeckers, woodcreepers, chacalacas, cara-caras, grassquits, wrens, kingbirds, parrots, hummingbirds, smooth-billed anis and many others. A real treat, and easy to see from the many viewpoints around the house. Most of the birds respond well to feeding and are quite relaxed in human company.
Although the villa feels fairly remote, it is only about a 20/25 minute drive from the airport and there are good supermarkets about 10/15 minutes away for stocking up with groceries. It's also a good idea to check out nearby roadside stalls for fruit and veg as they can have better stuff than the supermarkets.
The villa comes with a manager (Greta) and housekeeper (Liz-Ann) (who live elsewhere), but who are available for any help needed. The housekeeper visits 3 times a week and will also cook meals for you on request, which we greatly enjoyed.
We did think carefully before booking about the absence of airconditioning in the property, but I can honestly say that we did not have any problems sleeping in the well ventilated master bedroom. It is usually quite breezy on the hill and that, together with a good ceiling fan kept us quite comfortable. The advantage is that one becomes more quickly settled in the new climate without a large temperature gradient between a cold bedroom and the warmth outside.
Obviously, in order to live here you will need a vehicle for the stay and we were very happy with the service arranged for us by the owner with Angela, a local car hire operator trading as 4A Rentals: one of the smaller firms on the island I believe, but offering a helpful personal service.
In all, we had a very relaxing and enjoyable stay here, one which we'd be happy to repeat in the future.