winter15

Someone asked about construction...Their was a lot of construction on the south side of the resort. Same owner of the hilton property but it sounds like it will not be part of the resort. I never once heard any noise from this either in my room or at the pool area/bar area. You can also not see any of the construction from any of the resort vantage points. If you are concerned get a beach villa (the waves hitting the rocks below will make it impossible to hear anything) or just request to be on the north side of the resort. My opinion is that this should not in any way effect your trip.

A5Globetrotter

Thanks for the response! Good to know - thought I saw them in process of charging that in slow-mo. And agreed about the compulsory NYE - it just would've been expensive anywhere - my complaint is that they're not including drinks...so I brought duty free.

I just came from Mauritius (+ Comoros, Mayotte, Reunion, Zanzibar) - feel free to DM me w any questions.

Adam1222

Disappointing update on this property. Booked 3 nights cash advance purchase and 1 night points a few weeks ago for a pretty penny for a stay at the end of February.
On Saturday, received an email from the Hilton:
"We wish to hereby inform you about construction works close to the property of Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa. The construction is situated next door at the far end of the resort, not direct on the hotel premises and will take place from 20 January to 01 September 2014."

They offered to move us to the Labriz, and would throw in free breakfast (even though Im a Gold anyway) and free boat transfer to the island. I wrote back as I would prefer to stay at Northolme so we aren't stuck on a Hilton-run island for 5 days, and the Labriz was going for 70 EUR less a night, to see if there was anything else that could be done, and was offered free daily boat transfers and was told they are "recommending" guests move to the Labriz.

I have the feeling the hotel is oversold, as they are saying that 8 of the 40 villas are now closed due to the construction. They sent a fact sheet on the construction, and it doesn't seem that it will ruin the stay, but if anyone has experiences in the next few weeks I'd be curious to hear. We will likely stay at the Northolme.

orbitmic

Sounds a bit worrying. Booked to go there in three weeks...

nissan720

I will be the Northolme in one week. I will post some feedback of what is going on with the construction.

nissan720

Well, I have been here at the Northolme for a short while now.

Construction starts around 7am and continues until around 5-6pm (they do work on Sundays as well). At 7am they began moving what sounded like metal scaffold poles (if you love the sounds of wind chimes maybe you could pass it off as wind chimes). At 9am they started with some form of drilling machine or jackhammer that continued until late in the afternoon. There was a definite lunch break around 1pm so you could go outside and relax for a short while. Other than this expect to hear construction noise if you are unlucky and in either of the first 2 rooms listed below.

There are 2 rooms that are directly against the construction and if I was Hilton I would not put anyone in these but I know they are occupied . These rooms include #114 (Ian Fleming Suite) and #201. The view from these rooms is construction out of almost all of the windows and the balcony (or the big metal fence they put up to try to block off part of the view).


Also for anyone else that is going to visit the resort I would fight against being put in the following rooms due to the location of the construction:
One more tip. They didn't tell me which room I was going to be in during check-in. They walked me to my room. Be sure to ask and try to avoid the rooms above.

nissan720

Just reread some of the posts above and figured I would add the following:

Once you get away from the block of rooms that I listed in the above post you could not hear or see the construction from anywhere on property. The main group of hotel facilities, the restaurants, pool, spa, and bar are located on the other side of the hotel.

Adam1222

Yuck. Really seems outrageous that they are charging full rates and still have no notice on their website. Thanks for sharing. I will hope to be on the other side, and will perhaps email the property in advance.

jacisme

Thanks for the update nissan720. This construction is isolated OFF the property, and not related to the Hilton, right? I ask because I'm curious if the construction zone is going to gradually move to other rooms.

Furthermore, would you recommend staying here in April, if I can avoid the bad rooms you mentioned? Or would it be better to book Le Meridien Fisherman's Cove or something else?

ma91pmh

I can tell you from experience Le Meridien Fisherman's Cove sucks

Adam1222

I just completed a stay and my villa (108) didnt experience any noise. My understanding was that it's an expansion of the hotel, so it would be "related" to the hotel, but it isn't going to come closer to the villas that are already built.
I will note that internet was knocked out for 2 days for 6 villas (including mine) and I suspect that construction may have knocked down a wire.
That being said, when I lookes at the Le Meridien, it was the same price for a room there as a villa at Northolme. From driving by Le Meridien, Northolme is far more luxurious.

wcj

I just returned and can confirm tht the construction is on an adjacent property or far end of the Hilton property so it will not spread to other rooms. We were in 224 and had no idea the construction was ongoing other than using it as a landmark to finding the Hilton when returning to the hotel.

VandyBDL

Here's my two cents having recently returned. I had high expectations but must say this hotel is a really nice treasure. We were in a hillside villa and thought that the view was superior to some of the beachfront villas. Our view of the sunset was out of this world. We would sit on there and have drinks then head out to dinner off property. The staff are all very friendly and willing to help. The beach/pool attendant is awesome! He is always willing to run to grab you a drink, bread to feed the fish, and is very nice about the water toys and snorkel gear. I also loved that it was free because otherwise I never would have rented the kayak. Its nice to not feel like I'm being nickeled and dimed all the time. The head server at the breakfast is great as well.

TIP: I would rent a car if I were you. We used it every day to go the the Beau Vallon beach just down. That offered less expensive dining options, and it allowed us to buy food and drinks for our villa instead of paying the resort prices. That beach is also much better for walking as the beach at the hotel is tiny, but still nice.

I loved sitting on the deck at the Ocean View bar for a night cap. They light up the water below and with the waves crashing underneath you it makes the steep drink prices worth it.

I also thought the rates for the currency exchange were very good, which surprised me.

I did note a few minor downsides:
-The housekeeping staff was sub par for a hotel of this caliber. The hotel told me their policy is to change the sheets every other day, which is needed at a sandy beach location. I had to ask late on our third night for them to be changed because they had not been changed since our arrival.
-It would be nice if you could buy a drink at the gift shop instead of paying restaurant or mini bar prices. The gift shop was also closed at some times that it said we normal open hours, which was a little frustrating on our last day when we were leaving and it was supposed to be open.
-There is always maintenance and painting going on, which takes away from the relaxation for me since that reminds me of my business at home. I suppose it's part of maintaining a large oceanfront property . The good thing is you get used to it and all of the painters/maintenance workers smile and say hi and it endears you to them.

VandyBDL

Second that. Was going to spend a night there to save HH points but cancelled when I got there.

ChuckMango

any updates on construction ? still ongoing id I'd imagine?