Dominica - Evergreen Hotel/ new loud reggae club next door?

[diverrex]

We're booked for a week mid June at the Evergreen Hotel. Was really looking forward to staying there (in the Sea View Hut) then we came upon this recent review in Trip Advisor (and copied below) about a new and very loud all night Reggae club right next door. I don't mind people having fun but when I'm on vaaction I really don't want to listen to loud music all night long, particularly when I'm getting up early each day to dive. Anyone have any recent experience or knowledge about this? I'm looking for some unbiased feedback before I contact the hotel directly to ask about it.



From Trip advisor:

Next door to the nightclub from hell. Expect to get no sleep.
Evergreen Hotel

Stoat71
New York
Mar 7, 2009

1/1 found this review helpful
For three days of my stay, I was very pleased with the Evergreen hotel and my opinion concurs with some of the other reviews on Trip Advisor. This is a pleasant hotel with nice views of the bay, friendly staff and a good restaurant. However, the experience of the fourth day ruined our stay.

Whilst normally a quiet, tranquil place, Evergreen is located next door to the Island's largest outdoor Reggae Club. We live in New York City and are used to a dealing with some noise, especially on the weekend; however this level of noise here was something completely different. The deafening music started at 8pm and continued to 6.30am in the morning. The bass was so loud. the windows in the room started vibrating. I tried to block out the sounds from the club by putting on my Bose noise cancelling headphones and turning on some some more mellow tunes on my ipod. Even with ipod on maximium volume I could still hear the music from the night club. Most of the guests in the hotel left during the night, I think we were possibly the only people who made in through till morning.

If you're staying here when the club is open (Fridays and some Wednesdays) then you can expect to get absolutely no sleep. We were so tired the next day we had to cancel our divings plans for the next day and basically lost a day of our vacation.

I did try and complain to management of the hotel but they were unresponsive. Initially the assistant manager suggested we would be compensated but at check-out, the manager told us the noise wasn't there fault and there would be compensation.

Its completely incompatible to have an all-night club next door to a supposedly quiet hotel. One of them has to go. Unfortunately for Evergreen Hotel, it looks like to club is winning and is going to send the Evergreen hotel out of business.

Until the club next door is closed, I can only recommend AVOID THIS HOTEL AT ALL COSTS. Such as shame as the hotel was potential to be a delightful place to stay.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

We saw the same post on Trip Advisor and sent it off to the Evergreen to see what their reply would be. I can PM you the reply. It sounds like it's a Friday night thing. The guests who wrote the post were staying during Carnival. We actually changed our reservations to leave on thurs and go to Piccard Cotteges in Portsmouth Thurs and Fri nights. We had wanted to see that area and do couple of dives there especially the night dive at the pier. I'm not worried about a thing. Dominica was very peaceful, quiet, and beautiful when we were there last June. Have a great trip!

 

[RTRski]

I remember the huge nightclub building kind of across the street from Evergreen (inland vs. shoreline side) - name escapes me but I want to say it was somehow related to a frog or lizard or something (or maybe that was just their sign 'mascot'). Anyway, when we were just up the street @ the Anchorage, and frequently hiked to Soufriere, that club was shuttered and vacant.

If that's the place you're talking about...guess it re-opened. Either that or Al-Dive has a reggae club???

 

[RTRski]

oops - internet burped

 

[reefexplorer]

Thanks for you trip report. I have put together a group to dive Dominica in August and another trip in November/December. Since the Evergreen was in contention for the November/December trip, I want to thank you for saving a lot of people lost and sleepless nights. Bouyon is a percussive beat seemingly indiginous to Dominca and it stays with you even after the music stops. Carnival concerts and even weekend concerts are great and I love Triple Kay - but since I'm not a 20 or 30 something anymore, for me doing a concert and getting up at first light for a full day of diving is no longer compatible.

 

[diverrex]

Thanks for you trip report. I have put together a group to dive Dominica in August and another trip in November/December. Since the Evergreen was in contention for the November/December trip, I want to thank you for saving a lot of people lost and sleepless nights. Bouyon is a percussive beat seemingly indiginous to Dominca and it stays with you even after the music stops. Carnival concerts and even weekend concerts are great and I love Triple Kay - but since I'm not a 20 or 30 something anymore, for me doing a concert and getting up at first light for a full day of diving is no longer compatible.

Since I started this thread I feel obligated to I point out I was only repeating information I became aware of on Trip Advisor. I do not yet have any first hand information since my first visit to Dominica will not be until June. Rescue Diver68 is going to stay at the Evergreen in May and hopefully will report back accurate and up-to-date information. I suspect I will still stay at the Evergreen in June with the idea that the noise mentioned in the Trip Advisor report was more of a Carnival related event and not a regular nightly or even weekly occurrence. By all other reports those that have stayed at the Evergreen have really enjoyed their stay.