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Style: Unusual and utterly charming hillside hideaway set in a replica Caribbean sugar mill. Local stone and murals. Romantic air, ideal honeymoon retreat
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: 4 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, 2 in main house, 2 cottages
Key features: Unique Tobago villa featuring trompe l‘oeil and Italianate murals, roof deck and observatory for stargazing, swimming pool and Jacuzzi. Next door to Mot Mot Ridge, a 3-bedroom plantation-style house with pool – discount if booked together.
Children: Welcome – not suitable for small children. Extra two beds available for 2 children in addition to 4 adults
Staff: Maid service (6 days per week), resident caretaker/gardener/night watchman (keeps a dog) shared with Mot Mot Ridge. Cook on request |
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Description
Sugar Mill is a unique and charming holiday house set in a replica Caribbean sugar mill high on a ridge on the north coast of Tobago. It has four bedrooms, two of which are attached to the central cone of the mill, which is built of local stone, and two in cottages next to the pool deck. The house sits in seven acres of gardens profuse tropical flowers and trees, making it a lovely hideaway.
The design of the house is playful. It is decorated with Mexican pottery, sailing ships, fish and other marine motifs and – unexpectedly in the Caribbean - trompe-l’oeil murals in rustic Italian style. The interior of the mill is decorated as though it were an Arcadian ruin, with murals of stone walls garlanded with vines and fence posts that lead up the stairs as though they were a garden path. There is even a Tobagonian tree of life set into the paving next to the swimming pool.
Sugar Mill was built as a home in the millennium year 2000 and has therefore been designed with modern comforts in mind. All the same, the mill has been constructed to an authentic plan, albeit with walls slightly off the traditional 15 degrees - at 11 degrees instead, in honour of Tobago’s location at 11 degree north of the equator (and of course to make it more liveable). Otherwise it looks like an original sugar mill, complete with block-stone walls. It even stands close to a faithful reproduction of its natural partner on a sugar estate, Mot Mot Villa, a plantation house that was built by the same owner (please see our Review of Mot Mot Villa). In a way, the two of them together are a comfortable and delightful Caribbean folly.
The approach to Sugar Mill is on a long uphill drive which gives into a garden compound. The entrance to the house itself is through a small sitting room that then leads straight into the lower storey of the mill. Here you will find a large kitchen with an island worktop and a wooden breakfast table. This is the room in which the mural is painted onto otherwise white walls, setting an Italian country scene. The walls are decorated with faux stonework in ruin, with vines trained around the lintels of the doorways and windows. There is even a painted alcove with a watering can full of flowers. The floor of the kitchen is laid with ceramic tiles, but the general appearance is pleasantly rustic, with wooden cupboard doors and chairs and a table covered with a bright blue cloth. It has a very easy, friendly feel to it.
The stairs to the second floor wind around the wall of the kitchen, on the interior of the windmill shell. They are ‘open’ with no banisters (making the house unsuitable for small children) and they lead up onto a wooden floor above. Here, suspended between the upper walls of the mill, you will find a small sitting room with a television.
Two bedrooms lead off the sitting room. The master, above the entrance to the house, has a large four poster bed with a canopy, a chaise longue and a huge armoire to go with its polished hardwood floor. It is brightly decorated with yellow and blue material on the beds and curtains. Across the hall, the second bedroom has twin beds and is similarly decorated in bright yellows and blues. This second bedroom can sleep as many as four in single beds. Both bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms, the first decorated with sailing ships and the second with motifs of fish and shells in blue and white.
From the sitting room the stairs continue upstairs to a roof terrace. By day you can sit up here to sunbathe. It might interest stargazers that the rooftop can be set up for a telescope. The owner is happy to give permission to professional astronomists to use it to look at the tropical night sky.
There are two further bedrooms at Sugar Mill, set in cottages that you will find through the small dining room opposite the entrance. The style of the villa changes once you walk outside on this side of the house. Instead of cut stone, there are wooden buildings and steps and the walls around the pool are set with hefty Tobagonian river rocks. You descend a stone stairway and the rooms are right there, in their own cottages. These have been built in a more recent Caribbean tradition, with clapboard wood, gingerbread trim and wooden shingle roof-tiles. They have the names of local birds, Bananquit and Jacamar, and their floors are made with green and purpleheart wood from Guyana. Jacamar has been furnished with a four poster bed and some pieces of antique furniture but both are decorated with bright colours, mainly the same yellow and blue as the main house. The bathrooms have a similar marine theme of whales, fish and starfish.
The deck around the cottages gives straight onto the tiled surface around the pool, which is surrounded by a classic Caribbean criss-cross balustrade. There are spouts into the water from the rock wall and on a separate deck above the pool there is a raised Jacuzzi tub.
The gardens at Sugar Mill are large and full of trees and there are several places from which you get an excellent view of the coastline. The birdlife is also excellent. In addition to the jacamars and bananaquits of the cottage names and the mot mots of Sugar Mill’s sister villa next door, you will see the many sea birds that range the shoreline, riding the thermals and the updraught on the cliffs. |
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Beach & Swimming
The pool at Sugar Mill is set on its own deck just below the main house, within a skip and a plunge of the two cottages Jacamar and Bananaquit. There are steps into the shallow end and above the pool, on its own deck, is a Jacuzzi. There are loungers to one side.
You will find a small stretch of sand on the coast beneath the villa, which is accessed by quite a steep path. This area of the shoreline is tidal and there are currents, so it is recommended for strong swimmers only. There is also snorkelling there. You should take your own equipment.
There are many coves with beautiful beaches along this area of 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, Joy.
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 in Tobago diving of course. |
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Locality
Sugar Mill 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 extremely attractive, 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 | | Sugar Mill 1-4 guests 5-6 guests 7-8 guests | 280 300 325 | 450 450 450 | 380 405 430 | 280 300 325 | 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 Sugar Mill and show you around the house and pool. He will also give you an 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 as well as 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 Sugar Mill 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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