Africa - Holiday in Mauritius

Hi all,

Thanks to this forum over the years, I have got some awesome flights :cool:

I am planning on taking the other half to Mauritius in Jan 2012 and thought I would ask people who have been before which hotel they would recommend?

Additionally any tips?
Full Board recommended?
etc...

Thanks

Flying from which country?
Always a good starting point, if you'll pardon the pun.

Perhaps a look at the Destination Guide (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-dining-destination-world-438/)could help. Where's Mauritius?

Hi all,

Thanks to this forum over the years, I have got some awesome flights :cool:

I am planning on taking the other half to Mauritius in Jan 2012 and thought I would ask people who have been before which hotel they would recommend?

Additionally any tips?
Full Board recommended?
etc...

Thanks

You need to tell us more what type of hotel/holiday you're after. Are you a young couple, older couple, family, fun-loving, boring old farts, swingers etc etc :D

For a Family Hotel, the Shandrani is wonderful. We stayed there last year and the food and service was great. Its an All Inclusive.

Kicked out on 3 F redemptions to MRU in March 2010 and stayed at Legends - which was a high end all inclusive. Lots to do but perhaps not for younger children. Fabulous restaurants and facilities. Of course it became notorious later in the year when a British tourist was murdered by a staff member.

Full Board recommended?


It's been a while since I was there but from what I remember the coast is lined with resorts and you can't really walk out of the one you're staying in and find the streets lined with alternative dining opportunities. From our experience the all inclusive deals were a good option.

Where's Mauritius?

Between Reunion and Rodrigues?

Between Reunion and Rodrigues?

Ummmm ... copied :confused:

Launches Google Earth, spots small dot in Indian Ocean, returns to being a "boring old fart", as Paralytic describes it!! :D

Ummmm ... copied :confused:

Launches Google Earth, spots small dot in Indian Ocean, returns to being a "boring old fart", as Paralytic describes it!! :D

Translation : Mauritius is a southern hemisphere tropical island in the Indian Ocean between South Africa and Australia, famous for the now extinct Dodo, the giant tortoise and a cluster of decent to good Hotels in a warm climate that's a fairly convenient overnight flight out and overnight flight back from the UK. In short, a very good alternative to a Caribbean island for a vacation in January 2012 - I'd go again if I still lived in England.

:)Thanks for the replies so far. We are a young couple with no kids. Just wanting to chill in MRU for 5 days and just want advice on a great hotel near or literally on top of the beach. No sitting around a pool for me

Thanks, bernardd ^

I'll stick to Jamaica for next January, just for the nostalgia element [having been educated there in the 50's]. ;)

The 2013 Winter Break may see different options, provided there is no disco and no guests under 21 :D
[oops ... sorry, mikey2124]

:)Thanks for the replies so far. We are a young couple with no kids. Just wanting to chill in MRU for 5 days and just want advice on a great hotel near or literally on top of the beach. No sitting around a pool for me

It sounds strange but I think Mauritius is relatively good for short stays because you don't have to contend with a lot of jet lag in either direction.

My experience is a old, though we stayed at the Maritim that still gets good reviews. It's on a kind of lagoon behind the coral reef so you can windsurf or waterski in relatively calm water. It's not a great Hotel to dance the night away unless they've change it a lot. I don't know about others but I've found 80% of reviews on TripAdvisor to be broadly correct - I try to discount the lunatic rants and the obvious hyperbole.

I'll stick to Jamaica for next January, just for the nostalgia element [having been educated there in the 50's]. ;)


Hah, I wonder if I should go back to Libya?

Thoughts filed away, bernardd ;)

The prospect of a 10+ hour LGW-MBJ, with added jet-lag, sends me again to TripAdvisor. I agree entirely on the hyperbole ... I only ever read the 'average' reports. Dick Hick would give 5 stars to a Holiday Inn under a freeway, and California Dreaming will give one star - because he can :D

OT ... I'm fascinated, like a rabbit in the headlights, by the reviews of a place we know well, and have used over the last 10 years. IME, excellent ratings arrive when the roof doesn't leak, you don't get serious food-poisoning, and you aren't burgled or worse. I do get the feeling some people have never used a hotel before!

:)Thanks for the replies so far. We are a young couple with no kids. Just wanting to chill in MRU for 5 days and just want advice on a great hotel near or literally on top of the beach. No sitting around a pool for me

I'd definitely check out Shandrani - only 15 mins from the airport and 3 beaches, on a marine park so great snorkelling, and great all inclusive!

Stayed at the Beau Rivage in MRU and I thought it was very good. This was back in 2005 mind you so things could have changed. Looking at TripAdvisor reviews are good. Food is excellent by the way.

We'll move this thread over the Africa forum. Thanks, Petrus.

OT ... I'm fascinated, like a rabbit in the headlights, by the reviews of a place we know well, and have used over the last 10 years. IME, excellent ratings arrive when the roof doesn't leak, you don't get serious food-poisoning, and you aren't burgled or worse.

Yes, I'm trying not to get carried away and frighten Eastwood357 - The Maritim was being used to film a Bollywood movie, wet sari, dodgy electrics and all, plus Mauritius got a glancing blow from Cyclone Daniella (early Dec 1996) while we were there. Despite all that, the food was good (we celebrated the Hotels 25th anniversary in a storm shelter not at a grill on the lawn) and the German managers marshaled the staff to replace the beach the morning after the cyclone had gone. These things happen and the management at that time did a GREAT job - they were probably like the proverbial ducks paddling furiously under the surface!

I believe it was Sir Colin Marshall who said something like "customers expect things to go wrong from time to time; the big test is what you do when things go wrong", which wisdom BA would do well to remember.

We stayed at the Oberoi for our honeymoon in 2008. Not got any similar hotel stays to compare it to, but it was a very peaceful, attractive location, and great service. We were on half board which helped as it was pricey!

Was at the Four Seasons in May this year. It is on the East coast, so a short run from the airport.

Restaurants and beach superb, free golf on a great on site course, terrific spa, nothing bad to say at all.

We will be going back.

Flight is long, but very little jet lag.

Stayed at Le Touessrok a couple of times. I'd recommend it. Service is excellent and their own private island is a fantastic way to spend a day.

Haven't been there for 5 years now. Fond memories of stays at Le Saint Geran, Le Touessrok, Hilton.
Been at La Piroque as well but not on par with above.

I'm going in a few weeks time for a nice two week holiday. Here's a couple of tips that may or may not help.

I'm flying using miles so the flights are cheap. However, booking hotels without flights has proven tricky for me. Previous holidays I'd go to the big websites (Expedia, Orbitz etc) and get good deals ... for Mauritius the deals seem to be with the smaller specialised travel agents (harder to find and often without web booking). Often the best deals include airfare. I can suggest a few sites if you want but obviously most of them are untested by me and most are UK based.

I'd go for whatever dining package the hotel offers (not all hotels offer all-inclusive espcially the nicest ones). From what I can tell food and especially drinks are very expensive (and this includes soft drinks at some hotels). This is another reason why a travel agent is better as the typical Expedia deals don't offer food/beverage packages.

If you're after a luxury hotel then obviously the Four Seasons, St Geran, Maradiva, Oberoi and the Prince Maurice are some of the best. The Beau Rivage seems to get very good reviews, as do The Sands and Legends (which are much more affordable but still luxury). We decided to split our time between the east/west coast as they apparently are very different (which is suprising for a relatively small island).

We're actually staying in a villa for our second week. It's something worth considering ... it works out cheaper than our hotel (the villa is about £700 a week) and, while basic, is on the beach. If the concept appeals to you then perhaps comparing the cost of a hotel to a villa might be suprising.

Thanks for that Marble. Didn't think of a villa will investigate. If you have some websites you mentioned will take a look. We will fly in from SA as we are on holiday there but am UK based.

Thanks to everyone else for their replies.

The best sites I've found for price:
1) agoda.com (very good prices)
2) hotelology.com (we have booked through their sister site destinology.com)
3) netflights.com (small choice but were very cheap ... part of Thomas Cook)
4) mauritius-seychelles.com (had some good prices but I wasn't sure about it ... tripadvisor forums suggest it's fine)

There are a few others I keep a check on but haven't had much success with - virginholidays.co.uk and hayesandjarvis.co.uk.

I've booked my transfers with taxismauritius.com and a car for my second week from car-hire-mauritius.com (both untested but seem to get good reviews on tripadvisor forums).

My only warning is that some sites still advertise the Grand Mauritian ... it went up in smoke about a month ago so is likely to be a little disappointing right now.

Marble,

Thanks for the sites. Not sure if you use www.topcashback.com ? Thanks for pointing me to netflight.com managed to get 9.27% cashback on my hotel booking in maurtius^

www.topcashback.com is great for those things. get nearly £200 a year back.

:)Thanks for the replies so far. We are a young couple with no kids. Just wanting to chill in MRU for 5 days and just want advice on a great hotel near or literally on top of the beach. No sitting around a pool for me

Five days is about right.
After one week the missus and I had done the entire island and were bored silly.
If you like holidays enclosed in secure hotel compounds then Mauritius is fine but as an all-round holiday destination we found the reality didn't live up to the concept.
But I recommend a visit to the racetrack at Champ de Mars in the capital.

If you are young, you may be bored.

I particularly didnt care for Mauritius - I m glad it was a mistake fare to get there - or would have regretted it.

It seemed like everyone was 50+ and stayed in enclosed hotel compounds.

There was very few young independent travelers on the island.

Cant recommend a hotel because we stayed at a small guesthouse in Grand Bay, and took a bus to the public beach.

Hi all,

Thanks to this forum over the years, I have got some awesome flights :cool:

I am planning on taking the other half to Mauritius in Jan 2012 and thought I would ask people who have been before which hotel they would recommend?

Additionally any tips?
Full Board recommended?
etc...

Thanks

http://www.le-beachclub.com/eng/index.html

FWIW - we stayed here.
It's one of the few really good budget options in Mauritius and literally right on the beach.
Unusually it's also in an area that's not an upmarket enclave and has reasonable dining options and a couple of bars.
There's also a bus stop right outside which is the easiest way to get around.
I would recommend it but get a seaview room.