seychellesbound

If you are Diamond, you can pretty much bank on a beachfront upgrade for free, unless occupancy is super high. I have not inquired as to a cash upgrade beyond this room type, to a beach or hillside pool villa.

m0s1n0

Regarding upgrades, I'll happily report about my experience (don't get worried about my low post number, I've just registered a few days ago to help someone with the new Curio in the South of France as I'm a very active member of the German Vielfliegertreff and just a regular reader here). I've been to Labriz in June last year with my girlfriend and sent an E-Mail prior to my arrival asking for an upgrade to the Hillside Pool Villas as we were looking for utmost privacy and a nice plunge pool. The request was noted and a day before our stay the upgrade was already visible in the app. So, asking as a Diamond member can definitely help.

Other than that, I can second the other comments here, particularly the review of Timo. I loved the a la carte breakfast in the Italian restaurant (Steak & Egg, ...), which was better than everything I had at any other Conrad (including the likes of Koh Samui, Hong Kong, Algarve, ...) and found the further benefits (complimentary bikes all day, massage to be quite nice). There are also a couple of complimentary activities including tennis, yoga (not all classes) and so on. Everything else is a little overpriced in my opinion, from the transfer to the hikes to the food, but I think that's what you get into when you are booking a villa on a rather private island. As noted above, the hotel doesn't feel "ultra luxurious", but very much down to earth and the location is just great.

I'll happily answer any questions if there are any

Dsm2m2

Thanks for the info. I am a Diamond member, however the trip is planned right before the Christmas holiday which I imagine falls into the 'high occupancy' category. The goal is to upgrade into a poolside villa which I realize is at least a two category bump, which is why I was looking into paid rates.

lightwalker

Thanks for the infos!

We are actually going to Labriz on Monday, March 12th. Looking at the current weather report for the coming week it doesn't look that good (scattered showers and thunderstorms).

Did you experience this kind of weather on the Seychelles and do you think we'll still get our moneys worth in the Labriz Resort?

I hope the ferry ride there won't be that bumpy...

zzrayzz

I went last September and loved the resort/island. Really not much to do when it rains/thunderstorm but that is like that everywhere

Ferry ride was quite bumpy to/from island. I can handle boat rides no problem, but this one made me feel extremely sick both times. Best to sit upstairs which is not enclosed so you can get fresh air. Limited seating so be ready to run upstairs when they open it.

m0s1n0

I can pretty much second zzrayzz here, the ferry ride is one of the bumpier ones out there (my girlfriend got quite sick on the way back). It's not horrible, but it's not for everyone.

Regard the stormy weather: I doubt that it will be too bad, our forecast wasn't great either, but the bad weather was more of a temporary thing. If it's raining, there's really not that much to do, but I'm sure you'll be able to relax quite a bit nevertheless

sebseb

Normally it does not rain the whole day. Don't worry about it and cozy up in bed for an hour.

The boat ride can be bumpy - as zzrayzz said, asap they open the boat run up and reserve your seat!

And regarding the high prices: We stayed there for seven nights and could negotiate good rates for activities at the Manager's Night.

lightwalker

Thank you guys! We are now back from our Seychelles trip and the first week of that we stayed on Silhouette. It was the best beach (compared e.g. to Anse Lazio on Praslin, which was nice, but too many people and small in size) and even the bad weather on the first three days was not really bad, as you guys predicted. The raining time was always very short and it was still warm. It was quite windy in that time and we only understood on our last day, when the weather turned around, that the magic of the Seychelles really shine in calm sea and sunshine: suddenly we could just walk through the water at the beach and many kinds of fish surrounded us.

So, while we still loved the Hilton Resort on Silhouette: in windy weather we wouldn't have really seen it all if weather hadn't turned around.

The only negative that could be improved was the ride to the island on the ferry. Very bumpy, as you guys said, very old boat having not enough space upstairs where Diesel fumes make you feel as bad as the waves. I handled the swinging quite well, but my girlfriend felt really bad and needed a few hours to recover. I spent some time in the captains chair and this was the best seat: swinging didn't feel bad and no fumes. Hilton: get a new boat

Btw, the return ride was the total opposite. No swinging on the calm sea at all.

Anyway, next time gotta save for the heli ride...

Brighterside

Any hints and tips for Labriz welcome - travelling on the new direct BA flight so will arrive early morning and hoping hotel will take this into account for car/ferry transfer. Booked King BCFRT on room only basis with basic Honors status so expecting some major credit card damage for food - are the previous links to the menus/reservation office still valid please.

Edit:- PDF for food seems to be for April 2018 so pretty current.

lightwalker

You can expect major damage to credit card. We ended up spending between 130 to 230 USD per day for food/drinks (total for two). I also made the "mistake" to look at the menu prices beforehand and already planning: "Ok, I am gonna order this and that, so we should be under 100 USD per day." ... no When I am there, I am gonna spend more. I just can't fight it
Add massages and activity charges to that.

We arrived at about noon, so can't comment on early morning arrival. But I guess they have those fairly often. One EK flight was also early morning.

But anyway: it's all worth it. Paradise awaits! Have fun!

Brighterside

I have had conflicting advice about the currency to use in the Seychelles - some people say Euros some say Seychelle Rupees does anyone have any thoughts please?

lightwalker

I didn't bring Seychelles Rupees and that was totally fine. They accept Euros everywhere. And also USD as far as I remember. Mostly they'll give you Rupees as the change. I also used an ATM sometimes, which was no problem as well.

corporate-wage-slave

When I was recently in Seychelles I just took out enough Rupees for my immediate needs from one of the several ATMs in the airport - in my case the one from Barclays Bank - and used only that currency throughout. ATMs are certainly all over the Mahé, every village will have at least one ATM. Prices were often quoted in Euros by local traders to visitors, but only on the basis that they would think it easier for to understand. I didn't want any excess Rupees left at the end so I just used ATMs little and often. Euros will be accepted by any tourist related trader (e.g. taxi drivers) though they may not be able to handle change except via Rupees; but it is better to use Rupees in local shops / supermarkets.

Neiltoo

lightwalker

I finished my review of the Hilton Labriz. Find it here on my blog if interested: Hilton Seychelles Labriz - Continental Traveller

An FT hotel review will follow.