Misleading headline alert: I do indeed deem Villa Being the most fabulous villa on the Caribbean island of Tobago. But in fact the uber-chic property actually feels not like one villa but many—a collection of marvelous mini-homes that seem to have miraculously sprouted in the hills of a lush tropical rainforest, obliterating the line between inside and out.
Villa Being, Tobago
The property is just 20 minutes from the airport, in the town of Arnos Vale , but you’d never know it; 180 feet above the Caribbean Sea, nestled amid the mangoes, coconuts and papayas of a five-acre organic-fruit estate, Villa Being is not so much otherworldly as no-worldly: Stay here and suddenly there is no world but this very lovely, very faraway one. The décor is essentially Caribbean chic—think bright tropical colors, vivid Carnival CCL -0.61% masks and Caribbean culture books scattered about—but postmodern-pastiche touches, like church-style spires and a bit of Spanish hacienda flair, are playfully perfect. Behold the best features of this best villa:
THE BEING SCULPTURE It’s the first thing you lay eyes on upon entering the villa gate: a blue-tiled square in the midst of a grassy terrace, surrounded by four white pillars. What is it?A Yoga pavillian? A funky walk-in sculpture? The caretaker said something about Feng Shui and “cleansing energy” and morning meditation, but whatever it is, I love it.
THE POOL It’s said to be an engineering marvel: the only pool in the Caribbean built entirely on stilts. And it feels like one, so precipitously perched over a seaside cliff that every time you swim in the salt water—no chlorine here!—you imagine you’re about to plunge directly into Caribbean waters.
Infinity pool at Villa Being
THE ROMANTIC ROOM Villa Being has three separate bedrooms, a glass-enclosed living room, a high-tech kitchen and several open dining areas, all connected by stone walkways and grassy lawns. But the “Romantic Room” is the crown jewel of them all. A four-poster bed is surrounded by a dozen doors opening to the sea; a charming loft overhead provides access to a private-pool terrace, and the spacious bathroom is in its own luxurious cove next door.
THE SHOWERS Each bedroom features an outdoor shower. Not just any outdoor shower: Like the pool, all hang dramatically over the cliff, as if suspended in mid-air. I waved to passing yachts while washing my hair.
THE SOUNDS Nature’s orchestra can be heard at all times, from anywhere in the villa. Cicadas in the bush, frogs in the mini-pond, wind whistling through banana trees, and, most prominent of all, the 220 native species of birds that make Tobago a birder’s paradise: it’s nothing short of a Villa Being symphony. Being-tobago.com
(Forbes)
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About the author, Baz Dreisinger
I am: writer, globetrotter, professor, culture-hound. Born and raised in New York City, with one foot fixed in the Caribbean, I have written about travel, the arts and identity politics for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and many more; I produce on-air segments about global music and culture for National Public Radio (NPR). I am ceaselessly curious, fearless in my journeys, relentlessly ravenous to see and learn more. My global routes marry luxury with local, which is the essence of this travel blog: Welcome to a place where wanderlust meets culture-lust, where otherworldly high-end meets rootsy down-home.
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