surftb15

Island Cafe is open 7 days a week. As of now, ocean kitchen is only open 2 days a week. The resort is quite full but they only keep it open 2 days a week. Not sure why.

Chef's kitchen isn't open.

kzap

- What was it like getting to the island from the airport? Does everyone get the private transport?

- Any pictures of the beach or is it more of a pool place?

- Are the staff mostly local or from other countries?

- How long have they been open?

surftb15

most guests don't do the helicopter transfer. You can either the ferry from Mahe to praslin or the domestic flight. Both the ferry and domestic flight cost the same per pax, though the ferry only leaves in the morning. I did the domestic flight and it was perfectly fine. A quick ten minute flight then boat ride, which took an additional 20 minutes.

Staff is a 50/50 mix between local and Indian based.

There are three beaches.. One is really nice. The other two are okay. I'll post pictures later. You can't swim at any beach (right now anyway) as there is a reef around the island and some small waves.

xracer

surftb15: I hope you are having a wonderful time, and thank you for taking the time to post while you are on holiday.

I hate to post anything negative here, but I have to say that my enthusiasm for this place has really disappeared. I was originally thinking of visiting, but now I think I will just wait for the upcoming Four Seasons.

Negatives I have heard are that:

• The beaches are not that great
• Boats docking at the island (and that the top two villa categories actually have limited privacy because of this)
• They have three dining venues advertised online but in reality only have one in operation
• Food is not great (your comments about poor breakfast and that you were denied something as simple as a pizza)
• Service is not great

Granted, some of these may get better with time, but the first two probably cannot be improved. I'm glad that some of the villas are very private, but the same can be said about some of the villas at the existing Four Seasons (our villas were very private when we were there).

I know that there are some here who claim that the private island setting as well as the small number of villas are positives for this place. And that's true, to some extent. But it seems like this is a private island that does not feel very private. And the small number of villas doesn't really matter as much if service is not up to par and if a number of the villas are not private.

livefromtuscany

My thoughts exactly, just that I already have a booking there for November, and reading these comments worries me a bit...

How can a resort of thar caliber deny making pizza?!?

Kagehitokiri

and they did not extend the better discount / free night offer into 2017?

the fact that they are not communicating with booked guests.. (nor website)

snorkeling boats (at all seasonal?) (not good, seems not at north/fregate/FS) make me understand why richard branson did not build any beachfront accommodations on necker island, as there was the rare very small boat there.

the residences might be nice, whenever they get finished/built. depending on categories, may be easier to confirm private villa vs FS? comparing resortmaps, FS does not seem to have any at ends of roads for example. of course categories can change. (upcoming FS has existing non-FS residences that were sold, kind of unclear.)

questionable decision making if they pulled opening staff/management and closed a restaurant.

surftb15

Hard product is exceptional, word class. Soft product needs a ton of work. Perhaps it's growing pains, either way, I would return in a year or so to see how they handle things.
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A cruise ship with 300 guests now parked outside the island.

kzap

How would you compare it to other similarly priced resorts in Seychelles?

surftb15

It's better, if you get the right room category. Panaroma pool villa is the sweet spot. The location is spot on for diving and the hard product is top notch. Soft product requires work but the six senses will never be able to change the boat situation. There was a cruise ship today, for example.

I may return in a year time, I liked the villa that much. I'm at 4S now and, while it's nice, privacy isn't as great. Sure, there's no boats as it's built in a hill, but the villas are smaller and much less private.

surftb15

Things are getting interesting, someone was raped at Zil Payson

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4hAecyfV9

0bsidian

That is insane.

kzap

That is from May 8, 2017...

http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/...+in+Seychelles

http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/...x+assault+case

http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/...l+assault+case

Wonder what the status of the case is now, they certainly knew about it when you were staying there.

vuittonsofstyle

This is not the first time that I have heard about single women on press trips being attacked. I was told, allegedly, that the same thing happened at Velaa in the Maldives. Awful.

surftb15

The case is still being investigated.

The user of this incident reached out to me when I complained on tripadvisor about lack of security at the hotel. While not the same type of event, our pool broke at 2 am. Very loud and water everywhere. Anyway it was impossible to reach anyone at the hotel.. Even after dialing every number multiple times.

So... I don't think things are quite fixed yet w security (and this is a problem, considering the myriad of boats docked outside the hotel).

scented

Frankly, I am horrified by this. Regarding the alleged rape, I would wait for the investigation, if there is one. There are always two sides to the story and from what I read the reports provided conflicting information. But what really concerns me is the tardy reaction from the resort and the non-existent security. This should be made way more public.

May I ask, surftb15, if I read correctly that your pool suffered structural damage? Edit: read the review, pool pump broke. OK... the reaction was horrific and the GM didn't even answer to your point. Frankly I question his ability to run a resort in the Seychelles.