I arrived at the one of only two 'hotel's' on Anegada, Neptune's Treasure, on Friday afternoon after a long day in Road Town, shopping for a few things and walking back to my hotel in the heat of the afternoon, hanging about waiting for the ferry, and then a long, bumpy ride across the water from Tortola to Anegada. I was tired, hot, and ready for a refreshing drink and a meal.
When I asked the lovely woman who checked me in at Neptune's about having dinner, she informed me that there were no bookings for that night so the restaurant would be closed. Fabulous. Too tired and hot to be bothered calling a taxi to come back for me and then drive around trying to figure out where to eat, I decided it was a good thing I had taken the time to buy some snack food before I left Tortola (there are no grocery stores to speak of here). Now I will say that the woman (I wish I could remember her name, it begins with N and is very unusual) did offer to make me a salad, but my teeth were not up to salad at that point - still aren't). All turned out well though as Nancy and Walker showed up and took me back to their place for a lovely dinner.
Since arriving here I am the only guest in the entire place. This means that, not only is the restaurant open sporadically - this morning I went to have breakfast and was informed that there was no breakfast today - but there is not a single other soul to socialize with. One thing I was looking forward to on this trip was meeting a lot of people. I have met a few, but not one other vacationer or traveler at this hotel. Granted, there are a few boats tied up on mooring balls that Neptune's owns, but those people tend to travel in groups and so, when they are on land at the bar here (which I think has happened once while I was around), they stick together and don't socialize with others much, or so I have found.
I did get to meet a couple of people the other day at the Cow Wreck Beach restaurant and bar. They were cruisers from the southern states. But the only one who was really talkative or at all social with anyone other than the group they were sailing with was plastered drunk and was completely obsessed with the fact that Walker and Nancy have a beach cottage there and wanted to know how they managed it. She wasn't much in shape for any sort of intelligent conversation, which was a shame because she seemed like she would be really nice and a lot of fun in her right mind.
The staff here at Neptune's Treasure are all really lovely and friendly and I've had a few conversations with some of them, but they are here to work not socialize, so any time I spend with them is very limited.
So the thing that is kind of bugging me is, I am paying high season rates for this room - their low season doesn't start until May 15th, the day I leave. If I am paying high season rates, then there should, at the very least, be high season facilities available such as restaurant meals on the property regardless of how many people are or are not booked in for dinner. I should be able to have breakfast here instead of walking half a mile down the beach, like I did today, to the other hotel - hoping that they are serving breakfast (they were). There's a lovely little beach bar on the property that is closed every day. It looks completely cleaned up and closed down for the season - another amenity that is not available to me.
Also, due to my mouth being so sore, I had asked if they had any soup in the kitchen that I could have instead of their menu and was told 'no'. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a hotel here, after all this is not London and this isn't the Ritz, but to just say 'no' and not offer anything by way of an alternative struck me as a bit abrupt and uncaring. Last night, however, N came to my room to check on me and see if everything was okay. I said my mouth was really hurting so that's why I had stayed in my room, lying down, all day. She said there was gazpacho soup on the menu and would I like to have some, and I said that I would. So I got dressed and went into the restaurant, had a drink at the bar and then had the soup, which was superb. So that was really nice and made up for the other day.
I would come and stay here again, but I wouldn't come this close to off-season. It's just too dead for someone as social as I am. Thank goodness people arrive on Saturday.
If I was to travel here again at this time of year, I would stay at the other hotel - The Anegada Reef Hotel - as it seems to be fully functional with a beach bar that had patrons at it while I was there for breakfast this morning. There's a lot more going on over there than there is here.
I have written to the booking agency, asking about getting the off season rate. I will let you know what they say.
