Seychelles Trip Report
 

I'm always pressed for time so I'll probably write this TR over a few days. There doesn't seem to be much on Seychelles so I hope this info will be helpful.

Here is the Summary:

Dept August 16 LAS to FRA in J on AA. Overnight In Frankfurt. Departed August 18 in coach on Emirates to SEZ (arriving 06:30 am) via DXB. 6 nights at the Banyan Tree. Return to FRA on Emirates once again overnight in Frankfurt and then AA back to LAS, arriving on the 27th.

1) Flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt on American Airlines Business. Much has been written about this, so just a few details. Ticket purchased on Expedia for 2300$, which seemed like a great price so I figured I'd save my miles. Departed LAS on time to ORD. 19:30 scheduled departure delayed to 21:00 but they made up 45 minutes in the air. ORD to FRA seats were the shelled flat at an angle type. They seemed narrower than Business class on other flights (Iberia) with a bit less pitch but not bad and at a great price so no complaints.

2) Flight from FRA to SEZ on Emirates in coach. This was my first experience on Emirates and I was quite pleased. TV screens on all seats, and a bit more space than cattle cars on Lufthansa, Alitalia and some other carriers. The movies available were exactly the same on all for segments. DXB was quite a shock as I've seen few airports this busy at 01:00 am! a lot of shopping could be done and quite a few eateries, but its very crowded and hard to find a place to sit down. Also, once checked into your departure gate, you couldn't leave. Pretty annoying, but they seem pretty concerned about being on time.

3) Arrival at SEZ and car rental. Definitely worth it to get a window seat as its a nice view flying in. The flight from DXB was half full so it was easy to find a place. Small but charming airport. We walked outside from airplane to terminal. Passport control took a bit of time, but no problems. The officer asked to see my itenary, but didn't seem to mind that I didn't have it. But I guess its a good idea to print it out just in case. Our luggage was already on the carousel when we got through. The whole world can go to Seychelles visa free, and I really like that welcoming atmosphere.

We walked to the Hertz counter and got my reserved car; a right hand drive Hyundai Tuscon with automatic. Have to go now. Next time, some useful details about driving om Mah'e island.

4) Driving in Seychelles. Mahe Island has very narrow roads with some shear drops on the ocean side, often without guard rails. That said, you do get used to it. Drive slowly and unless you are very comfortable with stick, get an automatic. Of course, you can make do without a car. Banyan Tree is about 30 minutes from the airport

5) Banyan Tree Resort. We arrived at the hotel at about 08:30 am. We did not expect our villa to be ready (and it wasn't) but we were greated with welcome drinks, they apologized for the lack of villa (hardly their fault) and offered complementary breakfast and also took us to a comfortable day room where we could shower and sleep until our villa was ready. They also took our photo on arrival.

We were later taken to our Hillside Villa. Quite spacious bedroom and bathroom (but no living room) The outdoor area had two day beds and a dining area as well as a plunge pool but, alas, did not have an outdoor shower (I grew to love those on Phuket and Langkawi resorts.) There was a good ocean view but partially obstructed by forest.

The grounds were very well kept and the combination of hillside, forest, granite formations and the ocean were magnificent. The lobby had a great view of the ocean and the granite formations that bracket it Walking up to the hillside villa was quite steep and great exercise but buggy service was quick and efficient so you certainly didn't have to walk much.

To be continued

Thanks for posting all this. Have always wanted to go there. Is it possible to do on a budget? I went to Tahiti 2 years ago and kept everything down to about $120/day.

I have just returned from the Seychelles last month, and can tell you that while traveling there on a shoestring is tough, it is possible (if you're willing to forgoe a few luxuries).

Here is how one can save a few Rupees:

* Take the public busses. A cab from the airport to our hotel (Hilton Northolme) would have been about 20-30 Euros. A bus (with one transfer in Mahe) was about 1Euro for the two of us. Sure, the bus is hot and crowded, but it's a unique and fun way to travel (and to mingle with locals).

* Eat outside of the resorts. We had a great meal at the Boathouse (Creole buffet). With a few Seybrews, it cost about 15 or so Euros per person. The same meal at our resort would cost about five times that price

* Change money on the street. For the record, this is ILLEGAL, but pretty prevalent. The official rate when we went last month was somewhere near 5.5 rupees for one $USD. We were able to get 9.5 Rupees per dollar on the street with no problems at all. Note that you can't use rupees to pay for touristy things (hotel, car rental, excursions, etc), but you can pay cash at restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, market, etc

* You can apparently rent an apartment/house/room instead of a hotel, and save money that way. Or, you can chooose the route we took and use your points (Hilton in our case) for your stay. Otherwise, you could spend a fortunte on lodging (our hotel would cost $700+ per night if we did not use points).

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions.

Bostonbali

Does anyone know how to get to Seychelles from india( BOm) using OW aor * alliance or any partnes award tcikets? I am planning to stay in le Meridian Le Méridien Barbarons so any feedback aboyt that woould be appereciated too.

Regards

Aditya

thanks for the report tol ^

It's not easy to get to SEZ...gateways that I can think of include:
Dubai (emirates); Mauritius, JNB, London, Paris (Air Seychelles). From India, you may have to route through DXB

If you stay at Le Meridien, be sure to check on the cash & points option. Both hotels there participate and that seemed the best option to me. I'm heading there in May