Ariel and Tom

Hotel Paradiso

Interests: Travel, reading, the arts, flower gardening, swimming, golf, landscape gardening, movies.

Ariel and Tom found their own “Hotel Paradiso” by answering an ad in The Caretaker Gazette. “We actually thought most of the ads seemed interesting but just wrote to two situations, based more on the climate than anything else.” As fate would have it, one letter was returned because they didn’t put on enough postage for overseas delivery.

Tom is a builder and Ariel is a teacher. Both wanted a break from their current lifestyle and the cold Midwestern winters. They exchanged letters and phone calls with the owner of a guest house in the Caribbean, then took a short trip to check out the situation before accepting.

They were responsible for caretaking a rustic guest house on a small Caribbean island, on a hilltop covered with trees and flowering bushes overlooking the ocean. Their duties were extensive but enjoyable: yard work, carpentry, plumbing, painting, cleaning, greeting guests, cooking and bartending, and taking care of the animals (they assisted at the birth of Scout, a new horse, while the owner was away).

“We like the concept of caretaking, as it is an exchange of services for housing, based on the barter system. It also seems to be ecologically conscious, as shared housing requires less housing.” Ariel and Tom, pooling their skills and experience, were able to find and enjoy their “Hotel Paradiso.”