Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort

Good. Friendly staff made our holiday a pleasant one. Without them we would have come home feeling really let down. Poolside overlooks dramatic coastline, interesting views. Both of these points stopped us checking out early for another hotel. Inclusive drinks were not watered down, and rum punches really did pack a punch. Enjoyed Teds Sunshine Tours island tour with lunch provided at Gemma’s Treehouse restaurant. Book through lovely Monica who was their representative from airport to home time. Try the exciting boat trip out to No Man’s Island with BBQ cooked for us, via POPs tours. Bad. Food was poor quality and/or boring. On an all-inclusive holiday, with no restaurants within walking distance we expected to be better fed for the cost of this holiday. The buffet quality was poor - never been offered chicken chopped up very small (eg thigh into 6 pieces!) with bones still in, which as we know is dangerous. Breakfast offered boring range of food until larger group of Canadians flew in, then additional choices provided. Do it for some guests, then do it for all! After breakfast coffee or tea is an unknown. A flask in reception is not good enough. We don’t all want to stay on rum all day. Room had filter coffee maker, but no coffee making ingredients. Tea needs a kettle. No milk supplied. Salaka Grill kept us fed at lunchtime from a small menu, but changed the evening menu to Pasta night! But no spaghetti! Listed on menu but not available, as were several other listed foods. Made Italian theme pointless. Served cold, didn’t try it again. Pub food was OK but who wants to eat inside on a lovely Caribbean evening? Only one other restaurant open for evening meal – Kali’na - and this offered a ‘fine dining’ menu, but not the one featured on the hotel website. A much reduced one for all-inclusive dining, which proved boring over 10 night stay. Additional menu offered, eg lobster, but whilst we would have accepted a supplement for this, did resent the full cost being charged, ie £400 or so Tobago dollars. Didn’t book for first visit, and could not be accommodated even though the restaurant was very under used that night. So apparently booking is a must even with only a third of hotel or less occupied. Wine choice better here. Not good value for money. But we did lose weight. Ugly. All the building is in need of a good overhaul and decoration. Yes the weather does affect the wood and metal work, but this applies to all hotels we have ever stayed in that are beside the sea! Photos show ‘some’ of the neglect we found. North wing looks derelict. Our stay in the South wing was hindered by the lift not working, and looked like had not been for a while. Broken tile-top table on balcony left sharp edges which would have badly injured a child. No towels left one day, room not made up another day. Cold shower for 2 days. This is not luxury accommodation!! Tired room, though good size. General overview. No entertainment provided except a singer one evening in the pub, but it was off season so maybe the high season gets some. When we grumbled we did get towels or room made up etc. But the food was never going to be good, we knew. Read less

We have had the most amazing holiday at the Magdalena golf resort and hotel. The location is superb, the view from our room overlooked the sea. Lovely to wake up every morning to the sound of the Atlantic sea and watch the sunrise. I had a run around the golf course and plantation every day, the scenery is stunning. We also had a bike ride round the course which was great fun. The staff are very friendly, smiley and helpful. Lystra. Laura-Lee and Pamela are wonderful ladies and such great fun. We had lunch almost every day at the Salaka beach restaurant, the food was fabulous. I particularly enjoyed the shrimp salad with a glass of chilled Sauvignon blanc, spot on. We ate there several evenings too which was lovely. I preferred the Caribbean food. The menu was changed to Italian ehh h was lovely but for me personally I love the Caribbean menu. The food in the fine dining restaurant was wonderful but background music needs to be played to create the right ambience. Music was played mostly but this is minor. Valerie the waitress was so helpful and friendly. We loved going to Robinson Crusoe’s bar, we had a number of fabulous evenings there, dancing and plenty of laughs. Staff again excellent. We especially loved KP. The hotel provides a courtesy bus to Pigeon Point, Caribbean side, 10 minutes away. Stunning beach. This is where you can book your trips with Linley Barry, great guy. We booked our boat trip with him, along the Caribbean side, bbq lunch and onto Nylon Pool. The island tour is definitely worth doing too. Look for L.B’s Tours and Rentals, telephone (868) 702 9451. The hotel pool has been designed to perfection with a swim up bar. Bar staff are friendly. Our room was absolutely fine, the maid cleaned the room every day. Our friends had to change room as the shower door hinge needed to be fixed and they were upgraded to a double room with jacuzzi. You can’t beat that and the management team bent over backwards to make sure they were happy. We highly recommend the hotel and location. Don’t be put off that it’s the Atlantic side as it’s a small island and if you enjoy swimming, the Caribbean is a short journey away. The Atlantic side is brighter without a doubt. We met people who stayed at The Starfish and Grafton and they weren’t impressed. Can’t comment as didn’t go in the hotels. We go away a number of times throughout the year and this has been one of our top holidays. We will be back!! I’d like to come Carnival time around about 25th January. Thank you to all the staff who made our holiday very special and to the lovely friends we have made. Karen and Norman xx Read less