zzrayzz

damn that sucks.... always felt like this was one of hiltons best hidden gems

Traveler Dave

I emailed the resort, but thought this group might respond faster….the website says the King Beachfront Villa with Plunge pool has connecting rooms. Any idea what room type they connect too?

Thanks
Dave

babyg_wc

You can see them on google maps.. they are two standard beachfront villas with a large connecting "hallways/lobbys" between them... think there are around 3 or 4 sets... .
there are some newer garden once with a fairy large shared pool.. but for me its beach front or bust....

_fly_

Here at Labriz right now, for the 2nd day. So far everything has been pretty great. We are Diamonds on a points stay, got upgraded to Sanctuary pool villa without asking. We do like the privacy and the pool. Beachfront is not so important for us (have had that many times in Maldives) and beach villas do not seem that private at least for the standard rooms.

The resort does not seem very full, which is nice, very peaceful. The weather has been hot and sunny so far, the waves are quite big but swimming is possible. Did some hiking today to the secluded beaches on the south side of the island, must be said this is a very beautiful place.

The snorkeling has not been that great, let's see if there are better spots to find. There are some things to see underwater but Maldives or Bora Bora wins on that front by a mile. The resort restaurants are pretty expensive, not quite Maldives prices but getting close. Executive breakfast (for Diamonds) at Portobello is very nice.

Gonna stay here for couple more days, then heading to Northolme - we'll see how that compares.

VWang1111

Stayed here for 5 nights in early March as a Diamond on a points stay (360k points total. 90k points per day with 5th night free). Upgraded to standard beachfront villa without asking at check-in. Asked concierge in advance for confirmed upgrade and was offered standard beachfront villa for 125 EUR/nt and beachfront plunge pool for 175 EUR/nt which we declined. Property was not full and while all the garden villas were sold out, they were still selling multiple beachfront villa options i.e. plenty of upgrade space for Diamonds. Treatment for Diamonds is definitely top-notch as with all the properties in Seychelles.

Did the helicopter transfer both ways as the price is almost the same as the boat transfer and I get sea sick easily although the water seemed pretty calm this time. Added a 30 minute Zil Air scenic flight on the return which the hotel arranged and charged to the folio.

Did the executive breakfast at Portobello on the first day.


Portobello

menu


mocha

fruit plate appetizer

bread basket

smoked salmon on roti potato

croissant and prosciutto sandwich

mediterranean quinoa breakfast

Buttermilk pancakes

breakfast slider

Homemade granola

Service was friendly albeit extremely slow. Took almost 2 hours to finish breakfast. Had about 3-4 parties in the restaurant some outdoors with 2 servers. Food is definitely high quality although hard to visualize and try a little bit of multiple options.

Ate at Cafe Dauban all the other days as we had a lot of morning activities and wanted to try a few more options without taking hours for breakfast. One time stopped by Portobello in the morning and restaurant was empty and couldn't find a server for 5 min so left for Cafe Dauban. Breakfast pictures over multiple days below.

VWang1111

Teppenyaki: (Made reservations although it was not full. We were a party of 3, one party of 2 were there a few minutes before we arrived, and one other party of 2 arrived half way though our dinner before we left.)



shrimp dumplings

seaweed salad

mis soup

fire show with fried rice


fried rice

grilled veggies

meat lovers

surf and turf

banana crepe

A fun little dinner show although by far the most expensive dinner option. (Diamond 20% off is a nice touch) Food is good quality.

Sakura: Made reservations before we arrived although didn't seem super full. Probably ~75% full when we went.


sushi (fish caught from coastal trolling fishing trip in the morning)

grilled filet (fish caught from coastal trolling fishing trip in the morning)

grilled filet (fish caught from coastal trolling fishing trip in the morning)

Pad Thai

Matcha cheesecake

steamed brownie

Fish was very high quality although when they grilled the fish filets, they lost quite a bit of meat. Almost wasn't quite enough for 3 people when they picked out fish options after the trip. Pad Thai was very cooked very well and nice flavor. The large wok in the open kitchen helped and we were seated directly in the direction of the work so all the smells from the work/kitchen wafted right past our table. Match cheesecake was a little dry but acceptable, steamed brownie was extremely moist and tasty.

Gran Kas: (Made reservations 15 minutes before going) seemed to only be half full throughout dinner.


place setting

menu

Bread basked

Smoked chicken and Papaya salad

creole style octopus salad

Silhouette Octopus Curry

Oven baked marinated job fish in banana leaf

Roasted Pork Filet

coconut nougat (coconut ice cream subbed since they ran out of rum and raisin ice cream)

pumpkin creme caramel

chocolate and chili tart

smoked chicken and papaya salad was delicious with very fresh crispy crunch papaya. Octopus salad was ok although there was a slight hint of fishy taste/smell with the octopus.

Octopus curry is a highlight and recommended by multiple staff options. Quite tasty and very unique in typical creole style and very different than Indian style without much spice. Ordered some chili sauce on the side which was delicious and combined together with the rice took the dish up another notch of flavor dimension.

Pork filet was good, well cooked and tender but the chili sauce also amped up the flavor profile.

Job fish was tender and flavorful.

Dessert was a mixed bag. Coconut nougat didn't have much flavor and very small portions. Pumpkin caramel was soft and fluffy but not particularly impressive flavor profile. My favorite was the chocolate tart and was a little dense but full of chocolate flavor.

Four Degrees:





Didn't order anything off the menu as we at the fish that we caught from the Silhouette fishing trip the night before. We caught a hefty red snapper (~10lb) which we had grilled in full rather than filleted. A smaller red snapper was made to sashimi.

Sashimi was not the best, texture wasn't that great (chewy), not sliced very thin, a little bit of a fishy taste. The full grilled snapper was extremely impressive and more than enough fro 3 people if you were careful about eating all the meat with some leftover.

VWang1111

Tennis: making same-day reservations for 3pm since 4-6pm was booked. No one ended up showing up during the time block though so we kept playing from 3:30-5:30pm. Used our own equipment and balls which made the court usage free. Court was pretty good although the shade doesn't settle in until 4pm (2 hours before sunset). 3pm is a bit brutal with the strength of the sun.

Hot tub/Sauna/Steam room at E'forea Spa: Hot tub was adequately warm but not particularly hot to be ultra relaxing to get the blood really flowing. Steam room produced plenty of steam although it wasn't very warm inside. Sauna seemed to be broken as it wasn't on and the control panel was broken with no display/lights. Didn't bother getting staff to come and fix as we didn't spend too much time/had to get to dinner. There's also a small swimming pool which was empty although views are nice.





Gym: Decent options although not particularly large, 24 hour access and mostly empty



Silhouette Fishing: 5pm-7pm. Did the group option which another party of 2 joined our party of 3.






ended up eating the big red snapper and the small red snapper for dinner at 4 degrees the next day. Quite fun, water was mostly calm with a few small waves.

Guest cocktail event: free happy hour at Aria starting at 6:15pm although not every day where the management staff mingles with guests and chats. Saw the executive chef at one of the tables along with a few other managers from different areas. They serve some small finger foods. Free flowing alcohol with a choice of a rose or white wine with unlimited refills. Also a sparkling juice option as an alcohol-free option. Really fun and ended up chatting for over an hour.

Hiking: My personal favorite thing to do on the island.



Anse Cimetitčre: Dropped off by buggy at the Jetty. A short 10 minute walk to the trailhead. About 30 minute walk total each way from the trailhead. On the way there, relatively easy 5-10 minute up hill section followed by 10 minutes of slow descent, followed by 10 minutes of mostly flat walking past the burial site to the beach.

VWang1111

Anse Mondon: Did this trail without a guide. Very straightforward, well marked/signed trail in the beginning to middle although near the end close to the beach the trail does become less well defined. Going to the beach was more straightforward, coming back was in a hurry and missed part of the trail for another part of the trail that was also walked on but used all trails app/GPS map to get back and join the main trail that I used getting to the beach. In a rush since started on the trail a quarter to 3 and needed to get back for the 4:45pm fishing trip, ended up taking 1 hour each way if you're in good fitness. Activity center said 2.5-3 hours each way which is more accurate if you're at an average fitness level and needed to take a lot of breaks/sightseeing/pictures along the way.














Grand Barbe: Did this trail as a private tour arranged by the hotel. 2 person minimum for this activity but after a while I was able to convince them to do this as a 1 person guided hike after threatening to do it by myself without a guide. Eli was a fantastic guide and we were able to do it faster than anyone in his recent memory. Took us 2 hours each way a few water breaks along the way. Also ate some wild mangoes and wild jackfruit. When we got to the beach we then walked to the end of the beach and scrambled up the rock face which was fun. Went exploring with the guide (Eli) since he himself had never been up those rocks.
































Drank 3 fresh coconuts and ate the fresh jelly flesh of 1 young coconut. Had a tasting flight of coconuts of differing ages which had different flavors. Fed an apple to the 118 year old tortoise was absolutely amazing. Was looking forward to this for months before and was not disappointed, absolute highlight of the trip and must-do IMHO. I think it's still possible to do the trail without a guide but it's not well signed although the path is mostly straightforward. I think if you followed along with all trails/GPS map you'd be mostly fine. Having a guide made it trivial though and would recommend as you don't get the full experience of fresh coconuts, wild jackfruit/manoges, flora/fauna explanations of wild vanilla, cinnamon, etc. finding the tortoise, and many others. The private tour is best especially if you're a relatively fast hiker as being held back by a slow group would be so frustrating. Although it took myself and the guide 2 hours each way, he said it routinely takes slower groups 3.5-4 hours each way.

Snorkeling/Diving: 2 double dive trips and a snorkeling trip and it's not particularly impressive compared to Maldives/French Polynesia. Coral is not colorful although there's a decent number of fish and was able to spot a sea turtle swimming along when they took the boat out to the north shore.

VWang1111

After passing through customs/immigration on arrival, greeted by a Zil Air representative who took us via van to the Zil Air base a couple minutes drive away. Short 15 minute helicopter with some free sightseeing along the direct path.












Beachfront Villa:

Property Map given at check-in

bath tub/outdoor shower

Diamond welcome gift

Beachfront view

mattress

Departure: 30 minute scenic flight around Mahč

Fly613

Stunning pictures

newEUer

Has anyone booked recently? Looking at 3 nights end of January in a beach villa on the semi flex rate and noticed the following language:

This reservation requires a credit card deposit of 1,541.75€ EUR Which will be charged to your card.
This is slightly different to other properties where it doesn't directly mention it will be charged.

Question being - will this actually be charged? I would like to book now but the deposit in euro is not possible currently.

Cheers

mreynolds767

Fantastic review and pictures!

Wizard_of_OZ

For those who have stayed in early December (looking at 1-6th or 5th-10th etc.) in past years how busy was it for upgrades? I am looking at Labriz vs. Northolme vs. Mango House (don't want to spend points/cash to stay at multiple of them). Labriz seems to have the highest probability of a meaningful Diamond upgrade and the beaches look the best (plus never done a private island).

witthuus

Which Hilton resort to choose ?

We are travelling end Jan/mid Feb for 3 weeks. I have Diamond status and have currently booked
5N at Northolme in a standard room ( 95.000 points/night, 5=4 ). I wonder if I should book the Mango House instead ? Would be 60.000 points more and rooms seem to be smaller
3N La Digue ( non Hilton obviously )
3N Praslin ( non Hilton obviously )
5N at Labriz ( Beachfront with cash ) Don't want to take the chance not getting an upgrade and ending up in a Garden Villa

I did not get into transfers yet and wonder if this is doable ? Any advise ? Thank you

witthuus

Not sure if still relevant. I booked and got the same message. It was never charged so I guess I will pay upon arrival/departure