Turtle Beach by Rex

Just got back from a 2 week holiday at the Starfish Tobago and there’s a lot to be said about this place. Firstly, unless you’re willing to purchase an eSIM or pay for mobile phone data do not go to this resort, they advertise as WIFI available, ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE, the WIFI does not work anywhere it is completely useless! My son got an eSIM and the rest of us sometimes got WiFi when we out of the resort in bars etc. The hotel rooms do not have phones in them so you cannot call reception if you need something, or call each other’s rooms, and minus the WiFi this made communication very problematic. The resort is located on a beautiful beach with lovely views, however the stray dogs and chickens, as well as flies and other insects made relaxing on the beach quite uncomfortable. There’s no motor sports available such as jet skiing etc. so it can get a bit boring, but other than that the beach and sea is clean, seaweed free and very nice. Apart from the main buffet restaurant the only one other restaurant onsite is the The Bay Grill on the beach. All inclusive foods here are limited, if you want more variety you have to select from section of the menu that costs. The food here is very average and the service is painfully slow, not ideal when you just want a quick snack. There’s no other snacks available in between meals unlike other resorts so it’s no wonder people fill up their plates at meal times, much to the annoyance of staff who carry out ‘Portion Control’ by turning the food tray handles out of reach preventing self serving. I was actually told this by one of the managers, he said it was to ‘avoid people taking too much food and to avoid food wastage’, still this didn’t sit well with us. The pool is cleaned daily, however the floor around the pool was dirty, plus the curtains surrounding the sun beds were very grimy and smelly. The swim up bar was nice and bar staff were friendly and very attentive. The guests are friendly, nearly all are from Trinidad, there are very few British or from any other countries. The staff are welcoming and polite, the managers are very chatty and friendly, however the few waitresses wearing blue who were more senior than the ones wearing yellow uniforms were quite rude, bossy and watched everything you ate, often looking at your directly and chatting amongst themselves making you feel very uncomfortable. The food situation was a complete shame! The food trays were turned around at the buffet restaurant preventing you from opening them and helping yourself to food, this is NOT how an all inclusive buffet restaurant should be run. You’re left standing there, plate in hand waiting for food like a school child, and worse of all the servers would often disappear off somewhere and you’d be left standing there with an empty plate waiting for food. Food trays were hardly ever replenished, when you did ask for the trays to be replenished you’ll be given a terrible stare and mumble as they walked off. The food trays would take ages to be replenished and by then we would have lost interest and given up! You were made to feel like you were on a food ration the whole time, this was very off putting. The food was tasty but there was a very limited choice, and it never felt as though there was enough to go around, the food trays were often empty which I found very annoying. For 2 whole weeks we ate the SAME food day in, and day out, and was constantly watched if we went up for more and while eating. The hotel itself and rooms were falling apart, very outdated and in extremely poor condition, no maintenance or upkeep has been carried out since the resort has been built, which looks like over 40 years ago! The bathroom taps and sink plug holes were beyond disgusting (photos provided) our toilet wasn’t working properly, we had to lift the cistern lid each time to get it to work, maintenance ‘repaired it’ but it still wasn’t working properly, so we just gave up. The rooms were not cleaned properly, we had to ask for our bed sheets to be changed, and the floor was mopped with a dirty mop moving dirt around the room and nothing else. I dropped a small hairpin on the floor 2 days into the holiday, it was still on the floor at the end of 2 weeks, confirming that the floor was never properly cleaned at any given time. Tobago is a lovely country, and so are it’s people, we went on many tours and traveled the whole island with friendly tour guides who gave us really good deals, they went out of their way to make us happy and explain historical areas with pride and enthusiasm about their country which I really liked. I definitely would consider going to Tobago again, but not to this hotel, it’s outdated and the restaurant situation is a huge problem that needs changing. All in all, a lovely holiday, the weather was great, a few down pours of rain but it’s to be expected this time of year. Would I recommend this resort? No. Go to Tobago but avoid this resort, there are many more on the island, yes they would be more expensive but you definitely get a better experience by paying that bit more.

We had a lovely stay at The Starfish resort in Tobago. We went to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary, having had our honeymoon there in 1988..The hotel has changed its name,it used to be Turtle Beach. Very appropriate, as nesting turtles come to lay their eggs on the beach,right outside the hotel . We were lucky enough to see this last week and in 1988. We also saw the baby turtles making their way to the sea . Incredible. Our stay was very relaxed. We asked for a quiet room and we definitely had that. The hotel was very quiet for most of our stay. Just before we were due to leave there was a Bank Holiday weekend and some local tourists came to enjoy that. There were always plenty of sun beds available on the beach and at the pool. At times we were the only ones there . A whole beautiful beach all to ourselves. The hotel is 3 star,perfectly fine for us . The food was varied ,plenty available. Lovely choice of drinks. Low key entertainment. We celebrated a birthday and they brought out a lovely cake and sang "Happy birthday ". On our anniversary the bed was decorated for us ,very nice. We swam every day in the sea and pool. Both were lovely. The weather was varied,rainy season has begun. Very warm . We had 2 lovely trips with Daryl,from the beach. A tour around the Island, feeding hummingbirds was extraordinary. A boat trip to The Nylon Pool was a return visit for us . Sipping a cocktail, in the middle of the ocean. In clear warm water . Definitely this is a fabulous trip. We met the management at the hotel,at a welcome meeting. They were all very nice and friendly. In particular ,Mr J,who was very kind and would chat to us daily,on this wonderful holiday. We are home now,missing it already . We would definitely recommend this beautiful Island and hotel.

Just spent 3 nights at Starfish, it was delightful. Arrival was easy and very friendly reception staff were lovely and friendly. Our room standed double with sea view was very clean and had all ameneties with a tropical sea view.. Hotel grounds well maintained lovely large clean pool with swim up bar and jaccuzi. All inc food T&C and bar from 10-10. Beach area lovely to walk, swim or just people watch. We only did 3 nights as was visiting family in Trinidad but would visit again. Been to Tobago several times it is A lovely Island with lots to see hire car essential if you want to see it all. Only negativd was queing for food over weekend due to being busy. We would stay again