We picked this hotel to end a 10 day stay in Dominica. Even though we read the reviews about noise, we were not that concerned as we stayed here a few years ago at the end of a previous trip to Dominica, and had a good experience.
Unfortunately, our experience this time was not the same, and ended up putting a damper on an otherwise great trip to Dominica where the Evergreen could not compare to the wonderful experiences at the two other inns we stayed at prior to arrving at the Evergreen. The only reason why we did not leave and go somewhere else was because we had only booked in two nights here this trip, and it took us the first night to realize that the quality had gone down hill, and we then felt it wasn't worth the effort to move to a different hotel for our one remaining night in Dominica.
First, the good things about the hotel--the main thing is it is totally convenient to going to Champagne Bay, Scotts Head or Roseau. The views, and the food, in the restauarant are good. In fact, it seems like they have put way more effort into maintaining the restaurant than the hotel. And the staff that we encountered were pleasant and helpful.
Now, the problems. When we walked into the room, it smelled incredibly musty. The decor in the rooms is garish, and anywhere there is white paint, it is yellowed as it has not been painted in many, many years. The linens are all threadbare, faded, and yellowed, and not particularly comfortable. There seems to have not been any maintenance done in the rooms as screens, if they are present in a window are ripped, on some windows the handles are broken, and in our room we had two patios but one of them the door did not open, and when we finally forced it open, the curtains fell off:) Because of the situation with the windows, we could not sleep without running the air conditioner. This was because there are mosquitos present and also because at least in the ocean view rooms, which are the more expensive ones there, while we did not hear noise from the outdoor nightclub, there was noise from the road and also music from the hotel's restauarant. We also did not have any hot water for the entire time we were there.
It was a disappointing experience as opposed to a truly miserable one, but it is not something you want to happen when going on a vacation when you have great expectations and limited time. And the Evergreen is not cheap for a room in Dominica, and what you get is so lacking in quality compared to many of the other wopndeful places to stay there, that we felt it just not worthstaying there.
