Stayed at Roxy's for four nights. Good place, clean rooms, attractive balcony. Excellent location for hikes (that said, there is nothing else to do around there).

Only real compliant was the price of breakfast - 25EC *per person* for some fruit, bread, jam, and egg. Dinner was a lot more reasonable.

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.

We spent 4 nights at Roxy's in February 2007. Despite the view from the room (a seemingly broken down van, and piles of wood) we found Roxy's to be a comfortable and relaxing base for the majority of our hiking trips in Dominica. The food at Roxy's was filling and tasty, and the staff was always helpful (if not a little confused by our requests).

With our Jeep we were able to get to Freshwater and Boeri Lake within 20 minutes, Trafalgar Falls in about 30 minutes, and MIddleham Falls in 15 minutes. Titou Gorge and the start of the Boiling Lake trek were a 15 minute walk from the lodge - ask about the shortcut.

The guide Roxy's set up for us for Boiling Lake, Calvin aka Kello, was super informed and offered all kinds of insight on flora, fauna, politics, and anything you'd like to discuss.

We stayed at Roxy's for 5 nights using it as the base for all the excellent hikes near by. The Hostess Joann( if I remember right)was very helpful in getting a guide for the boiling lake hike. The food there was delicious! We brought our own bug net and were sure glad that we did, as the bugs were out in full force at night. The couple in the next room weren't so lucky - they were bitten badly. Roxy's supplied coils to burn but they really don't do much but stink up the place.

The bed we had was a 3/4 and being used to a king size at home, we couldn't move. So I snored and periodically received an elbow in the ribs from my partner who insisted that she didn't snore! LOL

All in all it was a great experience, we enjoyed our stay at Roxy's, did some amazing hikes, met some really nice local folks and fellow travelers. We will definitely return, someday!

Happy Trails!
Alex

ps: at the store up the road you can reserve a loaf for bread for the next day, it makes for a good lunch w/ cheese and fruit bought in town. If you rent a jeep it is always nice to give a local a ride into town, they don't have a lot of money for taxis. It makes you feel good to give a hand.