Only went to the hotel to access the beach (for which they charge) and for tea (for which they overcharge!) I think we paid about £40 for tea for 4 which was supposed to include sandwiches and cake but they 'didnt have any bread' (!) and we were charged the full amount anyway! They cake was not even home made! We enjoyed seeing the birds, which is of course what one is really paying for. The beach offers great snorkling but we were hassled by a young guy in a torn T shirt for the beach fee. The hotel didnt even provide him with a uniform shirt or any ID or receipts to give out. Incredible to think this was once one of the best hotels in Tobago. The place was deserted, the pool dirty, and I feel so sorry for unsuspecting couples booking a honeymoon here - its awful!

We recently visited the Arnos Vale resort and was disappointed by the shabby area and most disrespectful and discourteous owner. The experience simply put was horrible. Our group of 8 young adults were totally dissatisfied with the facility and weren't inclined to stay even for 20min. We simply returned to our vehicles and left for the most gorgeous Top of Tobago experience where management would be more appreciative of our TT dollars. I would strongly advise any visitor to stay far away from Arnos Vale Resort and the extremely distasteful swimming pool . Its not worth the time, energy and money and the website is an exaggeration of the reality that is. Thank God we did not pay the 20tt entrance fee that was requested to enter the compound. That would have been even more painful.

As others have said - this is like Twilight zone - The Movie. We are Trinidadians and I in particular was looking for peace and quite and birds. When we got there, we could not get the room we ordered because of recent break-ins. So we were given a "suite" on the beach for a higher price. This was not what we budgeted for. This hotel has a nerve charging anything more than $30 USD/night, and they took $175 for the upgrade we did not order. At the very least, given the state of the place and the fact that THEY could not deliver our room, we should have been moved at the same price.

While we were not the only ones there (more local staying too), it felt like an abandoned old haunted house. Poor Ann-Marie, the manger come receptionists come cook come head of security. She was the one shining light in this horrible experience having to hold her head up knowing the disgust we had for the situation. Green water pool?

Anyways, we checked out the next day because the biggest concern was for safety. When the staff warns you not to go in the room you wanted because it may be broken into, it is time to go.

Stay away at all cost. The brochure pictures on the hotel's website is all lies. What a sham. Got a few good pics though the next morning after booking into the Turtle Beach Hotel and coming back up just for pics.

William

I am a Trinidadian living in the UK and my husband is British. My parents had booked a 4 day stay in Arnos Vale hotel as our Christmas present. The brochure we were presented was beautiful and we looked forward to a wonderful stay in Tobago. Arnos Vale arranged a pick up from Scarborough. They had sent a taxi driver in a run down old maxi taxi (a method of transportation used in that region which carries around 15 people). Not exactly the luxury we were promised. As we turned into the driveway, the grounds looked unkept and their was a dirty rag hanging on the front gates. It took ages for us to check in as our room was not ready. So we waited for near an hour.

What was strange was that there were no other people staying in the hotel so how could the room not be ready? When we got to the room, there was a dirty bucket and mop at the front door and the staff who let us in had the wrong key. They did not exactly look rushed off their feet. When we finally got into the room, the room was dusty and there were dead mosquitoes everywhere and also some live ones. The balcony door did not open and the air conditioning did not work. The room was dated and the floor was sticky and slippery at the same time. Quite a few lights did not work.

We eventually had to wait for another hour for them to try to find the right key for the balcony door which they did not find.

We requested another room which they had to prepare and it was like deja vu. This room was only marginally better but was closer to the hotel and had a double bed unlike the other which had twin beds.

This room however had the same issues as the other room and the fire alarm needed a new battery. Instead they just removed the alarm. The phone was also ripped out. The air conditioning in the room did not work either.

We were still in good spirits so we decided to head down the stairs to the beach and the pool. The pool was disgusting and all the chairs were broken and rusty. There were dirty mops everywhere. It was a disaster. The staff were sleeping everywhere. We were told the bar was open which it was not. So we made our way to the beach which was rough and dirty as well. However, there were loads of people there and at closer inspection, they were the locals.

I am from that country so I am familiar with how unsafe this could be. We made our way back to the hotel thoroughly disappointed but looking forward to lounging near the bird feeding which is one of the attractions of Arnos Vale. It took ages to get a drink and at first we very much enjoyed the birds. After an hour though, they started attacking us so we gave up and made our way back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had to let them know well in advance if we wanted dinner that evening. Once there, we ordered the food and the service was friendly but sloppy. The cook was also the waitress and in true Tobagonian style, it took forever to get anything and when it was served the service left much to be desired.

The food however was absolutely delicious. Whilst sitting there, we noticed lots of bats, then more and them some more until there were hundreds. Arnos Vale staff had left the bird feed out and we were inundated with bats who kept flying extremely close to us nearly knocking over our drinks. The owner's son came out to convince us to visit their other restaurant and kept pushing us book for the night after. He was sweating profusely and wore a dirty t-shirt. By 7:30 pm, the cook came out and suggested we go back to our rooms as she wanted to close up. It was ridiculous. There were no other guests there. We spent the evening on the balcony relaxing but I had the feeling we were being watched which I told my husband about.

The next morning the groundsman gave us a lift to pigeon point and I mentioned this. He decided to confess and said he was watching out for us. That surprised me as our baclcony looked out on to the sea and there was quite a forested precipice there with a small lit path which I would have thought any security would traverse if keeping an eye out. So this guy had to have been hiding in the bushes.

Breakfast was shabby and we did not have dinner there again. We stayed away from the hotel as much as possible. The next day, we hired a taxi driver and she asked us what we thought of that place. I was shocked to hear her relating to us some of the stories she heard from other guests who stayed there that was remarkably similar. We mentioned about the groundsman and she said he was well known for conducting shady business at the hotel and we should be very careful.

When we got back to Trinidad we called the owner Mr Bronson and related in detail all of this which he promised to fix and refund some of the accommodation. He seemed grateful for the feedback but never returned any monies.

Arnos Vale may have once been a beautiful place to go but it like something out of the Twilight Zone now. Avoid at all costs. There's a lot to see and do in Tobago but you do want a nice safe place to go to at the end of the day. We were uneasy all the time.