The Calibishie Lodges was very nice stay. The location can't be beat, easy walking access to stores, snackets and restaurants. Also a great wine and spirits shop close by. The on site Bamboo Restaurant was good they make excellent drinks. They made me a custom cocktail that was fantastic. Staff was very helpful and connected us with Jenner, driver/guide extraordinaire! Ask for him, you won't be disappointed. The local people are the friendliest on the island and very helpful. Walk the street at night (very safe) and soak up this great little village. It's poor and rural but I loved the place. Also be sure to visit the Calabas Restaurant just down the street to the west. The room was comfortable with nice porch over-looking the village and the ocean. You can here the waves and an amazing chorus of frogs and crickets. The suite had a tempurpedic mattress and 2 ceiling fans and was more than adequate but nothing special. This location calls out to be enjoyed, if you just want to hang out in the room you may not be totally satisfied. If you have a disability and stairs are difficult, this place is not for you. Direct trail access to the ocean and a fantastic beach. Was very slick when we were there, make sure you have footwear with excellent traction. I also found ear plugs helpful at night because the frogs were so loud. Location, location, location you will love it.

StKittsB makes a many valid points about the Calibishie Lodge and Linda and Chris...however, taken out of context, they do not paint a flattering picture of two very nice people. I agree that the menu is limited and the furnishings are basic. I found Linda and Chris to be two very interesting and personable people. I have always had a tremendous admiration for anybody who has the initiative to move thousands of miles and start a new business; and on that basis, I found I had a lot of admiration of Linda and Chris; their decision to move to Dominica and start this business.

In terms of knowledge and helpfulness, they were exemplary. The menu, while limited, was not an issue if you were willing to walk a quarter mile down the street to the local village and the great (and cheap) restaurants that we found very fullfilling.

The observation about the five stars was exactly right...people do overrate places and this leads to a higher level of expectations-a friend of mine is from Rosseau and and agreed completely with what StKittsB said about the only real five star hotel being in Rosseau.

The Calibishie Lodge hotel is great. Peacefull, relaxing and well appointed on the edge of the village. The Owners and staff are very nice people and do all they can to make your stay "stress free". The restaurant serves a variety of foods that are all well presented, good value and delicious. the bar is pleasant and serves a great Calibishie rum punch, a must at the end of the day.
The rooms are nice and have lovely porches to relax on.
Peter and Lystra can also organise lovely day trips with a local guide who provides transport and can show you some lovely locations.
This is a must call and stay when in Dominica ! Nice pool for kids and adults to cool off at end of day.

Simple, though well-kept property in a beautiful part of Dominica.

The ratings on trip advisor are usually explained by personal 'expectations' and 'demands' of the concerned writer, as well as the pricing of the accommodation in question, rather than a true and unbiased judgment of quality per se.

Five star hotels not seldom get lower ratings than the modest and fairly inexpensive accommodations due to the far higher expectations the expensive resorts carry as well as the fact that visitors of those places set higher standards for themselves. This of course does not imply that the five star resort is worse than the simple lodge, to the contrary. Additionally, Dominica travelers are naturists and as such do not care too much for comfort, but it is a fact that the only good hotel on the island living up to international standards somewhat, is located in the capital, I forgot the name, it is a resort by the water.

My wife and myself were not surprised to see the high ratings, looking at the crowd that visits the place (travelers).. More surprised we were by the good ratings for the fairly simple food (especially the breakfast, always the same and far from generous). The couple that owns the place is a-typical, e.g. they are perfectionists in what they do but we found that they lacked warmth. It seems as if everything is done by routine and discipline, kind of mechanical.

The husband hardly ever smiles, comes across as polite and correct but not true and warm and therefore somewhat unfriendly and cold/sober. He also seems to know everything better, a few things he informed us about we knew for a fact were just not correct, but he does not seem to accept any contra so we didn't bother to enter into any discussion with him, a certain arrogance surrounds him.

All in all, yes they are hardworking people and the place is not bad, though simple with very basic decoration, yet clean overall. Beds: not comfortable, smell of mold in bedrooms and on pillows. Bed rooms: cramped and moldy. Overall furniture: plain (simple Caribbean furniture can actually be very beautiful!). Food: average and not cheap, breakfast lacks any creativity, two choices, always the same, your eggs and juice and anything else is exactly measured and counted. Don't expect anything more than the counted amounts, we found this particularly greedy!

They are basically not doing a bad job in a country that lacks the essentials of any quality lodging, food or standard of service on the international level. If Dominica would offer those services, this place would be at best an average to good hostel/auberge. The fact that Dominica is all about nature does not imply that better hotels and restaurants couldn't make their way here! Maybe some young dynamic creative folks might be able to establish a trendy, quality nature resort on this island as we have seen in other nature destinations around the world.

In short, not for us and we are not jet- setters for sure, but we also know how deceitful ratings on trip advisor are, as we have noticed on many trips around the world.

A Caribbean couple