I stayed here in August for my Honeymoon. As you can imagine, we were were hoping for a lovely romantic relaxing break in a wonderful setting. Stonehaven Villas surpassed every expectation. The website pictures are gorgeous but don't do justice to its beautiful grounds and wonderfully spacious accommodation. In addition, our Villa had views across to the ocean and every sunset for the 10 days we were there was spectacular.

We were greeted by Charmaine and given a lovely cocktail as a welcome drink and taken up to our villa. We were shown around, given the chance to ask questions and then left to get used to our luxurious surroundings. The whole villa felt like a real home and whilst the distance between villas is quite small, thoughtful landscaping ensures that you are not really overlooked and have a lot of privacy.

There were three bedrooms with excellent air conditioning, large comfortable beds and en-suite shower rooms which were lovely and roomy. The standard was more like a very well equipped house rather than a 5* hotel and, in my opinion, better for it. The whole complex is designed to help you relax and feel like you're at home - not in a shiny 5* city hotel.

The kitchen had all mod-cons and equipment and was kept well cleaned by Earla who was our excellent housekeeper for the duration of our visit. Each villa has a housekeeper allocated for your entire stay who cleans and tidies and does odd maintenance jobs around the villa and, by arrangement, they will cook you traditional food for a small fee - you must take up this offer - the meal she cooked us was one of the best we had on the island.

The verandah was wonderful - we had a barbeque to use as we wished and our own private infinity pool and the whole area was kept immaculately clean - pools were serviced regularly and gardeners were a frequent sight around the complex.

The on-site restaurant was delicious. A few reviews have claimed it to be expensive but my husband and I didn't find it so. We had cocktails, a bottle of wine, 3 courses of EXCELLENT food (lobster thermidor, seared tuna, seafood pancakes and more) and coffee and including service we paid around £70.00 - I've often spent more than this at inferior chain restaurants here in London. We also ate lunch there one day which was as grill type menu and extremely tasty.

The island itself was utterly stunning. There were plenty of reasonably priced tours, extremely pleasant tour guides, and amazing food to be had at every corner. Do not leave the island without trying crab and dumpling at Store Bay, shark 'n' bake at Pigeon Point and doubles if you can find them - our tour guide took us to see a lady who was selling them from the trunk of her car!

We were worried before we went out potentially being the target of crime but we saw and heard of no issues whilst we were there. However, The Villas were extremely secure with 24 hour security guards at the gate and clever landscaping to make it nearly impossible to gain access without your knowledge.

I would advise you not to attempt to change your money at the hotel - they charge very high commission - there is an ATM nearby and taxis will be happy to stop for you. Taxis were all we used to get around the island and we found this quite economical and extremely convenient as well.There is ample parking if you decide to hire a car and taxis can come through the security gate and drive all the way up to your villa.

I will briefly mention the weather as I know that people are concerned about vising out of season. We went in August which is supposedly the rainy season. It rained over night most nights but only once during the day in the whole time we were there. The island was lush and beautiful and drenched in sunlight every day and the temperature didn't go below 80° the whole time we were there. I would go back in August without any hesitation.

All in all, Tobago was a magical place to visit and this was in no small part to the perfect accommodation at Stonehaven Villas - I would recommend this place to anyone - families and couples will be truly at home here. As soon as we can afford it we're going back.

A week long stay in villa 8 just fantastic. This must be the best place to stay on Tobago. Very secluded and spacious. Free wifi to distract you from the views! Breakfast made for you every morning in your villa by the maid. Very comfortable bedrooms - the choice is just which one to stay in! We arrived from Barbados which we love but Tobago is great for a very chilled out time. Would recommend highly

We stayed from 21 jan to 1 Feb 2012. I can only agree with the many positive comments posted previously. The villa had three spacious bedrooms, all a/c, each with its own en-suite bathroom/wardrobe room. The lounge, kitchen, terrace are all large and well equipped. The grounds are beautiful, as are the views over the Caribbean. The estate is well managed by a very friendly and helpful manager, Duane, but really all of the staff were of the same high calibre - warm, helpful, efficient. We had a lovely housekeeper who attends to cleaning, washing/ironing and any other tasks for 5 hours per day. She will also cook on request if you wish. The property is built over quite steep grounds, but this is what gives the stunning views; anyway, you need a bit of exercise to work off all the extra food...The villas are well spaced apart so there is plenty of privacy. Ours was about half way up the hill.
Nearer the top the site becomes narrower, so the villas appear even more private with better views over the adjoining nature reserve as well as over the sea. I think I would prefer one of these next time, but all of the villas look well sited, so it depends if you prefer to get slightly more remoteness or the convenience of being closer to the restaurant/reception area, with its larger pool (forgot to mention that each villa has its own infinity pool). Some guest comments mentioned mosquito problems, but we had none during our stay, either inside or outside. This may depend upon the time of year of course.
The restaurant serves good food, and the service is quick and attentive.We would have preferred to get more local cuisine on site as we like to try genuine local dishes rather than international cuisine; however, that is a matter of taste. For our tastes, we found that the restaurant at Kariwak (Store Bay Local Road near the airport) provided excellent local food at reasonable cost in a comfortable setting and with warm attentive service.
Three other recommendations:
If you like watching the fantastic birdlife, Newton George offers great trips on Tobago and also to Trinidad (where he takes you to Asa Wright and Caroni Swamp in one long but rewarding day)
The Grafton bird sanctuary is just next door and we visited several times. The caretaker,James, is also very good at spotting birds and is a very nice person. The reserve feeds birds at 8am and 4pm so you will definitely see some colourful sights, including the beautiful Mot-Mot
Luise Kimme is a German-born artist who has lived on Tobago for many years. Her work majors on extraordinary sculptures from wood which are life-size or larger based on Caribbean people, legends, ballet, and other topics. Difficult to describe, but quite unique. Her museum and home is only a five minute drive away: from the villas, turn left onto the road outside and then left at the turning just before the golf course (where the Mt Irvine name is displayed). Follow the road up the hill through the golf course and after a while you will start to see signs to the museum on lamp posts. She has open house on Sundays but is happy to receive you by appointment at other times. We went twice! You will feel that you have met one of the world's truly great people.
Overall, a stay here is just perfect for relaxing, birdlife, good food, warm hospitality and culture - what more could you want?

Fantastic time at stonehaven 7-14/January/2012.
Wonderful place to be. Nice people. Very clean. View fantastic. Thank you people from Stonehaven