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Style: A gracious, plantation-style hillside retreat with wooden floors and some antique furniture, ideal for nature-lovers and pure peace and quiet. Suits mature couples or families seeking utmost privacy
The Beach: A small tidal beach is located down the hillside (120ft down), accessed by a steep path from the gardens. It has good snorkelling but is suitable for experienced swimmers only
The Rooms: Three bedrooms, one en suite and two with shared bathroom. Master with magnificent hand-built four poster bed
Key features: Wonderfully private Tobago villa, two storeys with wrap-around verandas, polished wooden floors, some antique mahogany furniture. Swimming pool, cable TV, VCR, CD system, gas barbecue. Next door to sister property Sugar Mill, 4-bed villa with pool – discount if booked together.
Children: Welcome
Staff: Maid service (6 days per week), resident caretaker/gardener/night watchman (keeps a dog) shared with Sugar Mill. Cook on request. |
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Description
Mot Mot Villa is a delightful three bedroom house set in attractive gardens high on a ridge on the north coast of Tobago. It is a modern house that has been designed using the best of traditional plantation house style – with gingerbread trim, hardwood floors, antique furniture and doors that open wide to allow a natural flow of air. Were it not for the location, which gives excellent views over the island’s north coast but is unexpected for an estate house, you might almost think that it has been there for a hundred years. As it turns out the house was built in the mid 1990s. It combines a very modern liveability with the grace and elegance of a much older lifestyle. Interestingly, the villa has a natural partner in its sister house next door, which is a near authentic reproduction of a Caribbean sugar mill (please see our Review of Sugar Mill Villa).
Like many plantation houses, Mot Mot Villa has a square plan onto which a veranda is added on two, three or four sides. Its central core is 30 foot by 30, which is cut into by large French windows on three sides, giving wide access onto its verandas, which in turn are decorated with traditional criss-cross balustrades on both storeys. The house’s double-pitched shingle roof is topped with twin, needle-shaped finials in true Trinidadian style. It even has a ‘skirt and shirt’ effect, with render on its lower storey and clapboard on the upper floor.
Inside, the house has the elegance of an old plantation estate house. The floors and the stairway are made of polished taurinauro wood and the French doors, topped by semi-circular fanlights to flood the room with light, are mahogany. Furniture is wicker or tropical hardwood including mahogany, and there are pieces bought around the world by the owner. The colour scheme of the house, royal and navy blue, reflects the sea, the sky and the colour of the swimming pool.
The front of the villa looks north over the Caribbean Sea, but actually you enter from the side, the natural approach from the drive. The kitchen is immediately on your right, at the ‘back’ of the house. Then there are the stairs to the bedroom floor, and beyond them are a day bathroom and a laundry room. The main living room is to your left, through the pillars of an internal archway, at the ‘front’ of the house. This has a sitting section to one side, with hardwood sofas and armchairs covered in blue material, and a dining table on the other with chairs for eight. Around the walls are glass cabinets displaying local artefacts and the decoration is in keeping with the plantation theme of the villa, with traditional prints and maps.
The room has several tall French doors, which make it very light and give onto a veranda on three sides. There is comfortable outdoor furniture and a dining table on the front veranda, so you will no doubt eat some meals out there, but you are also likely to spend quite a bit of time on the eastern side of the house, where you walk out onto the pool deck. The pool is large and there are loungers on the tiled deck that surrounds it.
Beyond the pool and all around the house are the gardens. To the front of the house is a low wall, through which a path leads down to the small beach. At the rear there are lawns, flowering bushes and the occasional copper boiler, again in reflection of the plantation house theme. The gardens rise into the upper ridge at the rear and among the substantial trees there are ponds and benches where you can sit in the shade. One of the strongest features of Mot Mot Ridge, as the name might indicate, is the birdlife. You can expect to see dozens of species including owls, parrots and of course many passing seabirds riding the updraught and the onshore winds.
Back in the villa, the three bedrooms are upstairs. Like the lower floor, the upper storey has wooden floors and is furnished with a mix of antiques and more modern pieces. There is a veranda on three sides with the same criss-cross balustrade, accessed through arched doorways. The staircase itself is made of polished wood and has ‘open’ treads, passing a bookshelf on the turn half way up. As you arrive on the upper floor the master bedroom is to your right. It has a four poster bed with a white canopy, its own walk-through dressing room and a bathroom with a shower. The second bedroom is on the left at the front, with veranda access on two sides. The third bedroom, which has twin beds is at the rear of the house but also has access to the veranda. All the rooms have light and bright material on the beds.
Mot Mot Villa, which was built in 1995, was designed by British architect John Newel Lewis. The owner, a Trinidadian, asked him to give him ideas for a family house. To his surprise the architect took out his sketch pad and presented the design there on the spot. The house has settled into the location now that the garden has grown up around it, but to the architect’s credit, even when it had just been built it seemed in place. The name Mot Mot Villa comes from the cheeky and very attractive Tobagonian bird, the mot mot. It is extremely distinctive because of its blue crown and its extraordinary ‘racquet’ shaped tail feathers. |
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Beach & Swimming
The pool at Mot Mot is large and has steps into the shallow end. It is surrounded by a tiled deck with loungers and garden furniture.
There is a small stretch of sand on the coast beneath the villa. It is accessed by quite a steep path from the front of the property. The area is tidal and there are currents and so it is recommended for experienced swimmers only. There is also snorkelling there. You should take your own equipment.
There are many coves with beautiful beaches along the north coast of Tobago. If you want to spend the day on a beach with facilities then your best bet is probably Arnos Vale which is within walking distance. Otherwise you can try the busier, better known public beaches farther west like Stonehaven Bay, Mt Irvine Beach and Pigeon Point. |
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Sports & Recreation
The advantage of being this far east on the island is that you are better positioned for two of Tobago’s excellent activities, hiking and bird-watching. The countryside is particularly pretty and there are paths around the area, but if you would like to contact a guide for either activity then this is possible too. Ask the housekeeper, Jo.
There are two good golf courses on Tobago, the Mt Irvine course further west along the coast and the Tobago Plantations course on the south side of the island. Boat trips, to Buccoo Reef and other sites, are very popular and mostly take place out of the western tip of the island around Crown Point and Pigeon Point. There is excellent scuba diving of course. |
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Locality
Mot Mot Villa is on the north coast to the east of Plymouth. It is an extremely pretty area of the island, where the western flatlands begin to crumple into mountains and there are very pretty, steep sided coves. While you can get simple groceries in the town nearby, the main supermarkets are further west, either in the Bethany area south of Mt Irvine or in Scarborough. Most of the restaurants are also to the west of Plymouth. |
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Useful Hints
The villa will be stocked with basic provisions on your arrival (and the bill will be given to you for payment on island). Joy the housekeeper will do personal laundry for an extra charge. If you would like villa to be fully stocked or you require specific items, you should ask your travel organiser or the management company directly to make the necessary arrangements. You will be billed for these items by the villa management company on arrival. Joy also cooks and a simple welcome meal can be prepared on request, again food items and her services will be charged for.
Rental rates for villas in Tobago do not include ‘tips’, about which you will find advice in the guest information book at the villa. |
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Rates
| | Low Season 01 May-15 Dec 2009 | Peak Season & Jazz Festival 16 Dec-06 Jan 2009-10 | High Season 07 Jan-30 Apr 2010 | Low Season 01 May-15 Dec 2010 | | Mot Mot 1-6 guests | 300 | 475 | 425 | 350 | All rates are quoted in US$ per night per villa. There is no tax on villa rentals on Tobago and no service charge has been included. All rates are subject to change without notice. A deposit of 25% of the total rental is due on booking with the balance payable 4 weeks prior to arrival. If the booking is made less than 4 weeks prior to arrival, full payment is required. The deposit is non-refundable. The balance is refundable up to 2 weeks prior to arrival. A booking form and wire transfer details for the deposit will be sent to guests and the booking confirmed on receipt of the returned form and deposit. |
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How To Book
If you wish to book direct, bookings should be made through the local managing agents, Caribbean Estates Lands & Villas by using the WEB, TELEPHONE OR DIRECT E-MAIL links at the top of this review. You will need to send a deposit equal to 25% of the total rental fee to confirm a reservation and payment of the remaining 75% is required 4 weeks prior your arrival. If you are booking within 4 weeks or less prior to arrival, full payment must be made to secure the booking. Deposits are non-refundable and balances are refundable up to 2 weeks prior to arrival. Read a review of Caribbean Estates with details of their services. |
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UK Tour Operators
If you wish to book through a tour operator or travel organiser, please follow the TOUR OPERATOR link below.
See List of UK Tour Operators
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Airport Meet & Greet
If you are booking direct with the villa management company you will be met by Kelvin (the resident caretaker) on arrival in Tobago. He will escort you to Mot Mot Villa, show you around the house and pool and will also give you the information guide. If you would prefer to be taken care of from the minute you arrive at the airport with a range of services that can include a personalised Concierge Service and transfers, please see Yes Tourism.
If you are booking through a travel organiser, it is likely that their representative will be at the airport to meet you. This service and your return airport transfers are usually included in the cost of your holiday if you have made a flight inclusive booking. Please check at the time of booking. |
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Getting Around
Because of its location you will need a car when staying at Mot Mot Villa. You will have to collect groceries for your stay and then a car also enables you to explore the island by day and visit restaurants in the evenings. Book car hire via your travel organiser or direct with Thrifty Car Rentals and ask for your vehicle to be delivered to the property 2-3 hours after your scheduled time of arrival on Tobago or perhaps the following morning. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. |
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