We stayed eight days on the east coast at Rosalie 3 Rivers Eco Resort, and then eight days at Caribbean Sea View Holiday Apartments. We had booked the Royal Palm apartment well in advance and had an email from Ellie, the Manager, telling us to arrive after 2.00 p.m. when either she or one of her staff would be available with the key. We arrived well after 2.00 p.m. but neither the staff nor Ellie’s relatives had the key. We waited for about half an hour in a rain shower before Ellie arrived. She said she had emailed asking us when we would be arriving. We received no such email. Ellie told us to phone her if we wanted fresh towels. There was no suggestion that the sheets would be changed during an eight night stay. After the welcoming friendliness of the people at Rosalie 3 Rivers, the reception we received at Caribbean Sea View Apartments was in stark contrast. Instead of an apology, we were told we could leave if we wanted to! We felt most unwelcome. We saw little of Ellie thereafter.

We found the Royal Palm apartment spotlessly clean. It was furnished and equiped to a high standard. The kitchen had all the equipment one could ever need, including a coffee percolator, fridge freezer, full oven and microwave. The dining room could be easily converted to a bedroom by way of a pull down bed, neatly concealed as a cupboard. The lounge area was comfortable. The bedroom had a four poster bed, and fan (no air conditioning), and plenty of cupboard space. The bathroom was clean and modern with a walk in shower. There was a small uncovered verandah. This was overlooked from the verandah above so was not so private.

It was our 25th wedding anniversary. We had hoped for privacy, but the property seemed to have paper thin walls. We could hear clearly people’s conversations in the apartment above. It was particularly so when we were in our bedroom and to a lesser extent in the lounge, because one of the verandahs to the apartment above was just outside our bedroom window.

The apartment looked out towards the sea and the garden. It was glorious to see and hear all the birds which were attracted to the garden.

Towards the end of our stay we did meet Ellie’s father and his wife, who were friendly. They gave us mangos and grapefruit from their garden. Their friendliness made up for the initial unwelcome reception we had received on our arrival.

On arrival it turned out the host, Ellie, put us in a much bigger and much more expensive room for the original price of the smaller one we had booked. On being questioned for the reasons behind her decision, we found out she simply had no other guests and wanted us to feel as good as possible. AMAZING! How often do you come across THIS kind of attitude? Hardly anyone can believe me when I tell them this story.

Apart from that, everything was top-notch. If I were to go back to Dominica, I would choose this place again, without a second thought.

Thank you, Ellie, for this wonderful time in your house. And let's hope to see each other in the near future!

We spent the final week of our 3 week Dominican holiday at Caribbean Sea View Apartments, week 1 in Calibishie, week 2 Roseau Valley.
We were in Sea Breeze Apartment. Its huge - comfortable,spotlessly clean, well equiped, amazing view from the massive balcony of sunsets over the caribbean. Great for relaxing breakfasts and chill out evenings. No air-con but to be honest that wasnt a problem for sleeping as bedooms have standing fans & that with fly screened windows open made things perfectly comfortable.
Garden and area around was suffering from serious drought, in fact the whole of the west coast from below Portsmouth to Roseau was and a huge contrast to the rest of the island. In fact in many ways quite Med. looking.
We bought in a some food supplies, mainly for breakfasts, but there are not many stores around. For evening meals we tended to book in to Connies Beach Bar on the Mero Beach just below the apartments. You need to do that in the morning so that they can cater for you and chose between chicken or fish meal. You dont get choice beyond that and its not a fancy restaurant but its good well cooked local food and the atmosphere when the locals are there, particularly at end of week/weekends is a great experience. Its also great value with 2 meals plus drinks and a couple of excellent rum punches after - less than £15 UK total.
So for people on a tight budget a mixture of apartment coupled with Connies for food is ideal.
We hired a car, initialy for 10 days (Courtesy Car Hire were very good) having had most of week 1 in Calibishie using buses and thoroughly enjoying that experience. But to see more of this wonderful island, a car is essential. When considering taxi fares between accomodation and then at the end to airport, actualy the car hire price was good value. Although Mero is on the main bus route from Portsmouth to Roseau is is quite a treck to either and then very difficult to get anywhere inland from that mainroad. Our car should have been returned a few days into our Mero week but we realised as we drove past it on route to Roseau from Portsmouth that transport wasnt going to be easy, so we extended the car rental until the end of our trip and returned it to the airport. We were pleased that we did. having a car also means that you can more easily stock up on supplies in Portsmouth or Roseau markets.
Ellie the owner is a lovely host. Doesnt hassle you at all but is available for help and advice if you need her. Just how we like it.
We had an amazing 3 weeks, all very different and enjoyed every minute of it. Our thanks to Ellie for playing her part in that special experience.

We stayed here for 3 nights in April, 2010. I will agree that Ellie is very nice and the grounds are beautiful but Mero is not very conveniently located. It is a 20 and 25 minute drive to Portsmouth and Roseau respectively and it is definitely not a nice drive to do at night. It does feel very isolated at night as there is not much in the area.

The apartments are big and relatively clean but our apartment didn't have screens on the windows which allowed bugs into the room at night. We closed the windows and found it very hot. Screens would solve this problem.

We stayed in the Royal Palm room. It definitely has it's positive sides but it needs some work. The shower door was a bit rickety and it didn't feel super clean. Maybe for Dominica it is a luxury apartment but I thought it fell a little short of that.