Mary's Hill Lodge, Tobago

This beautifully built wooden lodge is situated on a hillside off the quiet Scarborough to Plymouth road. It looks out over mature trees across the valley to the green hills on the other side, and at the rear of the premises there’s a garden laid to lawn with pretty shrubs, at the top of which is a chain link fence and a line of palms giving privacy to the house, its garden and pool. A concrete walkway leads to the pool with its large deck - ideal for barbeques and al fresco dining, a wooden deck along the back of the house, is where you’ll find the washing up area. The deck is roofed, and the large eaves of the house protect it from the heavy rains that are part of the Caribbean experience. The other, much larger part, of the Caribbean experience is the heat and as a result houses need to be airy and breezy. To this effect the main room has a large ceiling fan and at the front there is glass louvers, giving a lovely vista of green trees and hills. Similarly the bedrooms all have fans and a large area of louvers and lattice allowing the rooms to be breezy but protected from rain and private.

The main room comprises a sitting area with comfortable armchairs and sofa, dining area with pretty wooden table and four chairs and kitchen with countertop separating the latter from the sitting room. Both kitchen and sitting room are well equipped with appliances including toaster, kettle, fridge/freezer, cooker, stereo, and wireless internet. There are two bedrooms, one either end of the main room. The large ‘master’ bedroom has an en suite bathroom with a large shower, washbasin, toilet and a baby changing space. Inside the bedroom there is a mosquito netted double bed (4’7” x 6’3”) and a single bed (3’ x 6’3”). The room also has two large louvered doors leading onto a deck, which looks over part of the garden containing two large mango tees. There is a hammock at the end of the deck.

The other side of the sitting room is the second bedroom with a double bed and bunk beds (same sizes as above), all again mosquito netted. Two of the walls have louvered windows and doors, the latter opening onto a deck from which you can step down to the pool for your early morning swim! On this deck you will find the second bathroom. There are stairs from the kitchen area leading down to the third bathroom and a small double bedroom (4’7” x 6’3”), which has louvered doors opening onto a deck. Also downstairs is the well-equipped laundry area.

The pool is absolutely lovely. 20ft by 10ft with two depths (3’6” x 5’), it looks out over mature trees and the hills and is, like the house, a very private space. Both the pool and decked area are fenced off for safety and below the deck is a pool pump room and a pool storage room.

To get to the house there is a small road off the main road, which leads to a concrete driveway running alongside a retaining wall at the base of the hill on which the house is built. There is a gated driveway off this same concrete track, which takes you directly up to the pool area, There is a also a second small gate and steps up to the back of house and the entire garden is surrounded by wire mesh fencing making Mary’s Hill Lodge a great place to stay for families with young children.