Anise review
From the moment we checked in it was as if we had friends with an ocean front villa, and we had come for a visit.
The location is stunning, with a hillside infinity pool overlooking the Atlantic, but the food may even outshine the view. Having travelled extensively across the US for business in the past five years, I've eaten at many gourmet restaurants. Every single meal here at Anise has topped them all. If you love great food along with beautiful surroundigs and an ocean front seat, Anise is the place.
There are three full meals each day, plus an afternoon snack. (Meals, coffee and tea are included in your room price; mixed drinks, beer and wine are additional) Depending on the number of guests on property or the menu itself, meals may be buffet style or served plated by course (usually four). But by no means were the buffet style meals inferior in any way. All were excellent and ranged from traditional Trini cooking to gourmet fare, with many meals blending the two seamlessly.
And if you love to cook, they are more than happy to talk food with you. Not only did I get a tour of their kitchen gardens where they grow all of their seasonings including three types of thyme, more basils than I can remember, mints, chives, chadon beni, seasoning peppers and Congo peppers, but also the adjacent property where plantains, avocados, corn, okra, passion fruit, tomatoes and more herbs flourish. It reminded me of my grandparents vegetable gardens years ago.
One night of our stay we were the only couple left on the property, and Krista took me in the kitchen to teach me how to make a proper curry (before this trip I didn't think I liked curry, but I'd just never had curry like this!). And they set up our table that evening poolside with a fresh cut ginger flower bouquet under a gorgeous moon with the waves crashing in the background. It was stunning!
The only thing I can see that some foodies might find lacking was the was the wine selection. (It should be noted that shipping wines to a tropical destination is a gamble in itself due to the risk of heat spoilage in addition to the already high shipping costs, and this can make prices prohibitive for small restaurants, so when it wasn't an option I really didn't think twice about it). The house wines were good, though, and the remainder of the bar selections were excellent.
The resort really felt more like a large villa that had been converted to a small hotel. The downstairs guest rooms either open to outdoor areas near the pool deck or the restaurant. Upstairs rooms open into a spectacular common area that is furnished in classic Caribbean style with multiple seating areas, books, games, and an upstairs area for coffee and tea service. A porch with outdoor seating runs the length and one side of this room, and the sliding doors can be opened to let the trade winds blow through. It was so relaxing to sit there in the mornings before other guests woke up as the sun rose. Meals were served in an open air dining room just off the pool deck area.
Our room was the nicest we've ever had in a tropical location, whether in a hotel, condo, or boutique resort. It is apparent that someone with great taste designed and decorated it, as it remained comfortable while still looking very put together. We had reserved their honeymoon suite, the Lavendar Room, as this was an anniversary trip. If you love roomy showers and big four-poster beds, you won't be disappointed. The lighting was also well planned and soft--no glaring lights when you went back to your room after an evening spent sitting by the ocean.
If you are not from Trinidad, let them arrange for your transfer from the airport. Sans Souci is two hours from Piarco in good weather--a tropical shower stretched our trip there closer to three. And the cars are right drive, on the left aide of the road. This isn't terrible at first as the roads start off as a four lane divided highway, but the smaller and curvier they get, the closer to Anise you are. The local drivers also know when to slow way down for the mammoth potholes that could easily blow out a tire or break an axle. Paul answered tons of questions both coming and going, and he was a trooper on the way to the airport stopping at least four times at roadside stands to find local honey for me to take home.
There is not much to do on the property but eat, relax, have a spa treatment, and lay by the pool and watch the ocean--which was perfect. They were happy to arrange drivers for you if you wanted to see other things in area, though. When we had not seen a leatherback turtle by our last evening there, they took us to a nearby turtle research facility (and we saw four!). The hot stone massage was excellent, as well, and the spa area was very well appointed.
The beach below has the most gorgeous and powerful waves we've encountered in the Caribbean, and there was always a number of surfers in the water taking advantage of them. We were advised not to swim there unless we were very strong swimmers, and a cove down the road was more sheltered. The water would be clear, but the waves are so rough that there was always sand churned up in them, so we skipped snorkeling.
One warning, however, if your experience in the Caribbean is to fly into a major airport, take a cab 15-20 minutes to an all-inclusive and never leave the property. The hotel is not in a resort area at all, but on the edge of a small village on the north coast. You will fly into a major city with subdivisions, commerce and industry, but in less than 30 minutes you'll be seeing how rural Trinidadians have lived for decades. Many people still do not work at formal jobs, but fish and raise the food they eat right on their own land. I am also a huge animal lover and seeing the 'community dogs' roaming the streets bothered me a great deal (spaying and neutering your pets apparently hasn't gained traction in the Islands based on our experience here, St Martin and the Dominican Republic).
But the flip side is that on both Trinidad and Tobago, we met the friendliest people we have ever met while traveling. They are genuinely glad you're here and want to talk to you about everything. When Neville was driving us back from our turtle trip, he made it a point to show us the house he was born in. Interestingly, it seems to rub off on the travelers around, too, because I'm not sure we've ever gotten to know this many people on one trip.
Krista and everyone here go completely out of their way to make sure you are relaxed. If you want to talk and find out more about their country (it was our first visit and we did), or if you wanted to be left alone, your wishes were accommodated. And like being at someone's home, the kitchen was the hub of everything. If you didn't immediately see someone, just pop your head in the kitchen and ask.
Before this trip, we had a very short list of two places we definitely would return to for future vacations. Anise has now taken the top spot on our list.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
