Five Tips for Trinidad’s Guesthouses

‘You don’t throw your used, dusty, old and ancient furniture in a guesthouse while you buy contemporary, chic, stuff and put it in your house.’

HOORAY! Time limits to stay at the beaches and rivers in Trinidad and Tobago are gone! We can’t play music, drink or cook food, but at least we can enjoy the cool breezes anytime (with our masks on, sigh).

This leads me to my topic today… the generally disappointing and sometimes deplorable standards of our Trinidad guesthouses, villas, beach houses, resorts and the like. (I’m going to collectively call all of them “guesthouses”.)

I’m talking about the small business owners of these guesthouses, not the chain hotels, resorts and Airbnb lodgings because this latter group has standards they must adhere to. And I’m not talking about Tobago guesthouses either. I believe our sister isle is doing a fantastic job in comparison to the Trinidad offerings.

Here’s a short, but fascinating list of a few things I’ve seen or experienced at Trinidad guesthouses, that rank from the odd to simply bizarre!

1. No water. I know for many areas, (Manzanilla, Mayaro, Lopinot and Grand Riviere, to name a few) water shortages are a sore issue. But I cannot understand how guesthouse owners expect paying guests to be pleased when they do not have water to cook, bathe or flush the toilets. I once was part of a group that left a guesthouse at midnight because the water didn’t even last from 3 pm to then. Investing in water pumps and sufficient water tanks to store water for guests needs are a must!
2. Dirty pools. I learned a long time ago that if you can smell the chlorine in a pool, it is very dirty and it may be a sign the pool is not being cleaned properly. That’s apart from the visual signs of course, like brown sediment in the pool floor, hair and other debris. Maintaining pools are expensive, but sometimes the pool is the main attraction of a guesthouse. So, to the guesthouse owners, remember, dirty pools make people sick. And we won’t come back ever again or recommend your place to anyone.
3. Bad rooms. Let’s start with room colours. Colour is nice, but owning a guesthouse is not an excuse to use up every leftover can of paint you can find. Neither is the furniture. You don’t throw your used, dusty, old and ancient furniture in a guesthouse while you buy contemporary, chic, stuff and put it in your house. Paint colours need to be coordinated. The furniture should be clean, comfortable, sturdy and bear some resemblance to the style of your guesthouse. This norm we have going in Trinidad to put the oldest, cheapest couches, tables and chairs, beds, mattresses, bedsheets, refrigerators and air conditioning units need to stop. We’re paying guests! It’s a huge turn off! Bathrooms without shelves to put your toothpaste, soap, shampoo, towels etc are not okay. Neither are using water lock-off valves for shower handles and an open PVC pipe for the showerhead. Guesthouse owners don’t seem to understand the need to provide clean towels and mats, as they’re usually non-existent.

4. Crazy rules and arrogant language. I can understand the need for rules, but I think Trinis take things too far. Eg, “No Eating or Drinking On The Pool Deck.” Seriously? I can understand no eating or drinking in the pool, but unless you provide somewhere else to “lime”, where else is this going to happen? Then there’s the arrogant way the owners go about expressing their rules for staying at their guesthouses. Guest owners, please tone it down. If you have an unusual rule, it might help if you politely explain why the rule exists.
5. Laminated photos of their kitchen drawers stuck to the kitchen wall. Apparently, there is a trend in guesthouses that provide full utensils, cookware etc. to do this. It can prove helpful to know which drawer to put things back in. But guesthouse owners have stated the photos are there to help them figure out if the guests took anything with them. For that reason, I think it is a slight to guests, by making us feel we are all potential thieves. After all, the owners usually take hefty caution fees upfront. I don’t see what evidential value the photo on the wall has. It is far better than a guest sign something agreeing to the contents in the kitchen. Then if something goes missing, deduct the loss from the caution fee. So, please take the photos off the walls.

I am curious as to why the standards of our guesthouses seem so low in comparison to the other islands in the Caribbean and even, Tobago. Is it that we accept it and don’t complain? Or that the substandard culture is so pervasive, nothing short of legislation regulating the industry in minute detail would effect change? What do you think? Be safe Trinidad and Tobago!

Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C is a Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.

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