Grow it

I am posting this review to give a factual account of my experience with Grow It Agro Supplies, managed by Tricia Jacobs. I booked the accommodation for 10 days for myself and my work crew. Before travelling, I advised that I would be arriving with three persons and that another person was expected to join us later during the stay. We arrived in Tobago on the first flight on Tuesday. I had previously advised that we would be arriving early, at approximately 6:00–7:00 a.m., because I wanted to get my workers settled after travelling and then continue with our work for the day. While we were on our way to the property, I was informed that check-in would instead be at 12:00 p.m. I accepted this and took my crew elsewhere to work. Around midday, I was then told that we should check in later in the evening. I explained that we had fresh food that had arrived in Tobago the night before and needed to be refrigerated. I was told that I could bring the food to the property and place it in the refrigerator. When I arrived, I discovered that the apartment was still actively being renovated and prepared for our stay. There were unfinished areas and holes in the walls from work that had recently been done. Workers were still cleaning and scraping material from the tiles. A new stove was only then being brought into the property, and there was no refrigerator available despite my specifically being told that I could bring our food to be refrigerated. I advised that we would return later that afternoon. When we returned around 5:00 p.m., the apartment was still not ready, and we were asked to leave again while they continued preparing it. My crew and I eventually went to the beach simply to pass the time. Shortly after 7:00 p.m., someone contacted me and said that Miss Tricia had said we could return. When we returned that evening, several basic things were still not properly in place. There was still no refrigerator. We were told that the landlady needed to collect her husband before she and her son could collect the refrigerator. Later that night, we actually saw the refrigerator being washed in the backyard before it was eventually brought inside. The new stove was present, but it was not yet usable because the necessary gas connection, hose/regulator and gas tank were not initially available. After travelling and working for the entire day, we therefore had no proper means of storing or preparing the food we had brought with us and had to purchase food instead. The television was also new and had not been set up, so we had to set it up ourselves. A fan also had to be mounted by us. The sleeping arrangements were also inadequate. There were only two beds for four people, and one of those consisted essentially of a wooden bed frame with material placed over it. We also found a rat in the kitchen. The water pressure was very low, the dining chairs were soaking wet, and we remained awake late into the night while basic items that should have been ready before check-in were still being brought in and arranged. The following day, the toilet clogged and would not flush properly. At that point, after the repeated delays, unfinished renovation work, lack of a refrigerator at check-in, unusable cooking facilities, inadequate sleeping arrangements, cleanliness issues, low water pressure, the rat in the kitchen and the toilet problem, I decided that the accommodation was not suitable for my crew and me to remain there. For a property accepting paying guests, these are basic things that I believe should have been completed and checked before guests were told that the accommodation was ready. Based solely on my own experience, the property was not properly prepared for occupancy when we arrived, despite us giving several additional hours throughout the day for it to be made ready. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this accommodation based on the experience my crew and I had.