I stayed at Roxy's in March, 2008 for three nights as part of an 8-night visit to Dominica, all of it in the Roseau Valley. I did not have a car, and I wanted to go hiking, so I wanted a location where I could walk to many different trails. I booked my trip via the internet. Roxy's did not demand a deposit like so many other hotels, they simply booked my reservation, which I appreciated. When I left, they also booked me a private taxi back to Melville Hall airport, about 90 minutes away, for $60 (US), which I felt was reasonable given that a private taxi from the airport to Roseau is often $40- or more.

I was offered a wide choice of rooms when I arrived and ended up with a very attractive room on the second floor, at the end of the hallway, facing out into the Laudat and Roseau valleys, with a private veranda. The room was quiet and appealing, with a comfortable, clean bed and a mosquito net. I slept with the veranda doors open every night and was never bitten by bugs- and it was very rainy out. The hotel was otherwise empty except for some French hikers. Only one problem- the shower faucet leaked, creating a Chinese water torture-type dripping noise that I could only dampen with some ingenuity.

Roxy's is owned by the descendants of the original owners, but it is not managed by them. The management is friendly, and cooks excellent breakfasts and dinners for moderately high prices ($7/$20/meal), but the absentee ownership has led to some dilapidation of the property. The grounds are unkempt, with an empty pool/pit in the front yard and an abandoned "tour car" being taken over by vines. The interior lobby/dining hall is clean, but there is no organized library or lounge- books are piled in the corner, and the staff were watching the TV all day the entire time I was there. There was supposedly an internet-capable computer somewhere on the property, but it was broken. There were at least three dogs and a cat roaming the premises and begging at meals. All were friendly and cute, but many travellers would be annoyed.

Roxy's is located in the village of Laudat, at about 2,000 feet. This is the highest village on the island, and it is remote. Laudat itself is not an appealing place- it is poor, there are many abandoned homes, and there are only two tiny stores, open in the evenings, if at all. This is not a place for nightlife, or even for eating out, unless one has a car and can drive the very twisty roads down into Roseau. However the village is very safe, as were all of the villages I saw in the Roseau Valley, and the residents very friendly.

But Laudat is a very good place from which to hike several of Dominica's best trails. The Middleham Falls trailhead is a short distance down the road, the Freshwater/Boeri Lake Road and trail system are about a mile away, and the Titou Gorge/Boiling Lake trail are directly accessible. Roxy's arranged a very good guide for the Boiling Lake for myself plus 4 others, for $40/head. is a guide necessary? Not really- some hikers did not use them- but the trail is long, steep, rainy, and hard. If you are not very fit and very confident, it's a reasonable idea to hire a guide. None of the other trails, however, require them, whatever the guidebooks say.

Dominica is a wild, green, steep, poor, very beautiful, and very rainy place. Laudat is the heart of the wilderness, and the last outpost of civilization before the rainforest. If you really want to experience nature, and are willing and able to get away from contact with outside world for a few days, Roxy's is the place to do it on the island without paying over $100/night.