Caribbean Estate Land and Villas

In Depth

Caribbean Estates Lands & Villas is owned and operated by Natalie Mahabir, who has been in the property development business in Tobago since 1992. The company was set up in 2000 and has now established itself as one of the leading villa rental and real estate agencies in Tobago.

Natalie,  a Trinidadian who has been in Tobago since the late 1980s,  is married to a leading Trinidadian architect John Otway. He has designed a number of villas in Tobago, including Villa Ohana,  a spectacular villa built almost entirely of wood in Balinese style.  Natalie herself started out doing project development in England, later working alongside John in Tobago and then setting up her own project  management company in 1992.  Some five years later, she moved into real estate sales and went into partnership with her first real estate company.  At the same time, villa owners asked her to manage their properties and a villa management business began to develop.  In 2000 Natalie, set up a new company on her own and the offices of Caribbean Estates, Lands and Villas in Canaan, are well located, being on the main road to the airport at the western end of the island.

The villas are also situated mostly at the west end of the island. They include villas in the residential estates in Mt Irvine, Bon Accord and Tobago Plantations, but there are also others which are independent, among them Villa Soleil in Arnos Vale (also designed by John). Their high standard and diversity in styles make them an interesting and highly rentable portfolio, meaning that clients can be fitted a suitable villa for them. All villas have public liability.

Keeping the portfolio selective and small means that it can stay manageable, enabling Natalie to concentrate on providing a high quality service.

Services

Caribbean Estates provides a full management and maintenance service for villa owners, as well as villa rentals.

Natalie runs the villa rental side of the business herself and takes all bookings. All houses are checked over by Natalie herself although she now has help in the form of her two villa management agents, Marie and Marleis, who both know the drill and are very fastidious. Between them they check over each villa before rental guests arrive to make sure that everything is just right. Once guests have settled in either Natalie, Marie or Marleis will telephone to make sure that everything is OK. They will also visit if needed and offer a 24 hour emergency contact service.

Grocery Supplies

A complimentary starter pack is provided with all rentals through Caribbean Estates Lands and Villas. Each starter pack is customised for the age (adults, children, infants) of guests and dietary requirements (low fat, low sugar, high fibre) and always includes breakfast and drinks – she customises packs according to the age and type of guests. She will also stock villas with food according to your particular requirements so all you need to do is to send a shopping list.

Cooks can be arranged at a cost of US$15 per meal. If you require staff to shop for you during your stay and they are able to do so, a US$15 service charge will be added to shopping bills.

Staff

Generally staffing in the villas on Tobago is quite low-key. You should not expect the full levels of service that you might find in, say, Barbados, St Lucia or Anguilla, with butlers and chefs. In most cases villas are staffed with a housekeeper, whose hours are usually 9am–1pm, six days a week (excluding Bank Holidays).

Cooking is charged at US$20 per meal. Housekeepers do general cleaning. Laundry is available at US$5 per load, and ironing costs US$1.50 per item. Babysitting is arranged with the housekeepers at US$5 an hour with a minimum of 3 hours.

Rental rates do not include service charges so you are encouraged to reward your staff appropriately. Natalie will advise on this.

Meet & Greet

Caribbean Estates, Lands and Villas have their own dedicated meet and greeter who will meet you at the airport and arrange your transfers. Where transfers are not included in the villa rate, this will be billed to your account. The meet & greeter can also arrange car hire and will accompany you to your villa.

We do not recommend that you take a general airport taxi to villa accommodation because the driver is likely not to know how to reach the property itself. Taxi drivers arranged by your travel organiser or Caribbean Estates, Lands and Villas will keep in telephone contact with the villa staff or Natalie in case of late arrivals.

Check In/Check Out

Priority is always given to preparing the villa for incoming guests and unless you make specific alternative arrangements at the time of booking, the check out time is at noon. If villas are not booked back to back, however, there may be the chance of some flexibility.

As most flights arrive late in the afternoon, check-in time is generally 4pm. If your arrival on Tobago is earlier, please make sure that you tell your travel organiser or Caribbean Estates, Lands and Villas so that suitable arrangements can be put in place.

Departures

If you have a hire car, you can choose to return it at the airport (making sure the luggage will fit, or order a taxi to help you out) or have it collected from the villa prior to your departure. If your travel organiser hasn’t already made the transport arrangements to take you back to the airport, you can book a taxi through Caribbean Estates.

Booking Conditions

If you wish to book direct, bookings should be made through the local managing agents, Caribbean Estates, Lands & Villas. 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 your 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.

One night’s villa rental is held as a damage deposit. The damage deposit must be sent with the final 75% payment.

Weddings

A villa wedding is a lovely option and offers you the sort of privacy and ‘made to order’ experience that you would not be able to achieve at a hotel. Canboulay villa is one of the best of Caribbean Estates properties to encourage weddings. They will allow a maximum of 35 guests. If the group is definitely under 20, most villa owners could be persuaded, although the damage deposit would be increased at Caribbean Estate’s discretion.

Caribbean Estates will happily liaise with your travel organiser and the island's only professional wedding organiser, Tobago Weddings to ensure that everything goes smoothly on your wedding day. You may choose to wed at your villa or if you wish to marry in a church or at another location, you can have your reception at the villa. Again, this would be subject to you or your travel organiser working through Tobago Weddings, and all the arrangements being vetted and approved by Caribbean Estates and the property owner.