Carriacou is an amazing island - not touristy, you go to any of the beaches and be often the only one there. Locals are charming and no one tries to sell you anything. It is a beautiful tropical island with a relaxed character all its own. If you don't want a big resort , lots of tourist attractions, - it is the perfect place. Bogles is definitely the jewel - Phil and Roxanne are amazing hosts, they are there when you need them. The accommodations are comfortable ,clean and simple- you feel like you belong. The cuisine is amazing - Roxie is an award winning chef. Local stuff caught that day served up at night.along with other choices . Their own beach is wonderful and always changing. They make it a pleasure - We plan to go again. We dove, swam, explored, sailed, went to a boat launching and a local celebration. It was wonderful - we plan to go again. They have a website just type boglesroundhouse - take a look. John Allatt and Cyndy Abel

Bogles stands in a pretty rural location with its own small beach, but is a 15 minute bus-ride to town and the nearest food shops, a problem when you arrive exhausted and find the restaurant closed (every lunchtime) and no "welcome-pack" other than some water, cola and a couple of beers! The restaurant also closes on Wednesday evenings, so apart from breakfasts which are excellent, plan to self-cater and a car (or bikes and lots of muscles) is essential.

We stayed in "Lime" (painted yellow naturally), an upper floor two-bedroom unit with small living area and a balcony. For three people we found it impossibly hot, cramped and primitive, with bedrooms so small it was impossible to even lay a suitcase on the floor to open it. Kitchen facilities were rudimentary with only a hot tap to the sink (water ran ochre), and the "ensuite bathroom" turned out to be an cramped and awkward outside shower cubicle with basin and WC, this time only cold water to the sink. Some of the electrics were also scary and dangerous, but suspect "Lime" was the worst of the three judging by other reviews.

Being immediately adjoining the restaurant there is regular disturbance from late diners leaving, particularly when Bogles' two huge resident hounds, who adopted our balcony as their resident vantage point, gave tongue at ear-splitting volume every time somebody walked past to leave, and we all shot three feet into the air! Great at 1am.

The beach turned out to be very dirty due to recent storms, and we were told by others that local snorkelling was poor as nearby reefs had been wrecked. Shame.

Bogles' trump card is its evening restaurant which is nothing less than stunning. Roxanne is clearly a brilliant cook and diners come from far and wide. The local wildlife is also fantastic, so long as you enjoy seeing lots of birds, two foot-long iguanas prowling the lawns and geckos sharing your house as we did.

To sum up, isolated and unspoilt rural situation with transport a must, fabulous restaurant (no lunches), but primitive cramped accommodation best suited to either fitness fanatics or hippy backpacker types who just want to chill out and don't need regular food easily accessible. Peace and harmony man!

WHAT ELSE TO SAY ?
A most lovely place, a Schlumpf-House in the Carribbean, cannot praise it high enough. Just came by as I wanted to see it.
Was totally sold on it, had all starters, all maincourses and all desserts. Had to rest in the hammock in the garden.
This is an universe away from the hospitalty-industry, this is the real thing, if one likes individualism at all !
Praise to Roxanne !

Overall, we loved the accommodations. Every morning we were presented with a nice spread of fruits, fresh bread, cereal and juice / coffee to dine on while we looked out onto the Caribbean from the patio area of the restaurant. We stayed in the Mango cottage which has a porch which faces Sparrow Bay and the garden area of the Round House's compound (see our pictures).

The Mango cottage was very large and came equipped with a toilet / sink area, a separate shower, a kitchenette area w/sink and then a large living room / sleeping area. The bed was nice and surrounded by a mosquito net (definitely needed it to keep the bugs out at night). There was also a day bed in the living room area. The kitchen is equipped with a small sink, refrigerator, and two burner stove. We cooked one meal there and it turned out fine. It tended to get a little warm during the day as the sun hits one side of the cottage head on. Also, it would get a bit stuffy at night, even with both fans on. The warm water on the shower was malfunctioning, so we just turned it off and showered in cold water during our stay.

The food we ate at the Round House restaurant (all breakfasts, two lunches, and one dinner) were all spectacular. Roxanne is definitely a talented chef and I think she is even has one of her employees learning under her wing. We ate Thanksgiving meal and it was great...only surpassed by my lobster tail lunch the day before we left.

As stated above, there is a nice garden area where the dogs run loose. It leads down some steps to Sparrow Bay. The weather had kicked up during our stay, so the waves were quite large. We did manage to get some swimming in though. One great thing about the Round House is its close proximity to two rum shops. You can go in and get most stuff you would want there. You can also catch the bus quite easily from the top of the driveway.

Downside to the Round House is that it is pretty secluded up in Bogles. You are close to the path to Anse la Roche beach (it will take you at least 45 minutes once you reach the goat track) and some hiking trails to the north. Be careful when walking to Anse al Roche b/c once you turn onto the goat track it is not very well marked (at least when we visited). The cottages / restaurant are about a 15-20 minute bus ride into town...even more if you are headed to Paradise Beach, since you have to change buses. The only regret about our time on Carriacou is that we were not able to get out on the water and explore nearby islands like the Tobago Cays and Union Island. Like I said previously, the weather had kicked up and made traveling on the water kind of hairy. Still, we enjoyed our time there. The staff and owners are great and we met some great people from Scotland that gave us some good information for future visits to Carriacou.

If you aren't staying at the Round House you should at least visit for dinner or lunch one night. The food should not be missed.