C Mauritius

How big it was and good access to the beach

No town or evening walk near by

Let me start with giving a big shout out to Sevin (the chef at Cpicerie), he went above and beyond my allergy dietary requirements, very much appreciated. Overall the hotel is good, but if you are used to 5* hotels, don’t be fooled by the stars on Booking.com, the hotel is max a 4* rather than a 5* (in terms of service levels, rooms, food, crowds and facilities). We were very excited about the food due to the reviews, but for the us the buffet at the main dinner room was a bit disappointing and the food overall (also in the wok and roll) is ok but not great (quite greasy and not much variation). Rooms were modern, staff is very very friendly and very helpful! The facilities overall are good and we had an enjoyable stay.

Overall breakfast and dinner is chaotic and slow (unless you go really early for breakfast and late for dinner) it’s hard to spot what table is free and which one not, staff forgetting drinks, and its very busy at the live cooking stations so you need to be patience since you have to wait quite long. I mentioned my allergies before we arrived in Mauritius, and they mentioned they noted them down. However at the buffet (despite labels of allergies) I ended up having food that didn’t have any labels, but then only when being back at the table, I found the food had ingredients in it I cannot eat. Buffet for me therefore was hard to navigate, when asking staff to double check certain ingredients, most of staff walking around had no clue and I got comments like “could be old label”. If you have a very severe allergy, food might be difficult here. There weren’t enough sun loungers on the beach and despite having signs saying “we will take stuff away if reserved” the hotel doesn’t really follow their own rule, people would still end up reserving spots and not showing up for hours after (although this might say more about certain guests rather than the hotel..) In terms of taxi, hotel is charging a premium vs local taxi companies, keep that in mind (fi they charge 1800 one way whilst local companies charge 2500 for a return) The hotel asks for feedback during stay through QR codes. We filled in the survey during the stay with similar feedback but did not receive any response

Rooms, cleanliness, restaurants.

Windy.

The setting is beautiful and right on the beach. The buffet food was genuinely very good with a nice variety, and that part felt like great value. Anastasia was also a highlight. She organised a surprise birthday cake for me and was warm, thoughtful and made a real effort to welcome us.

The service felt inconsistent. We were asked to show our wristbands quite a lot, and more than other guests around us. It made us feel uncomfortable and a bit singled out. I understand checks are needed, but the way it was done didn’t feel welcoming. Some staff came across quite cold, and at times it felt like we were being judged for not fitting a more “traditional luxury” look. That didn’t match the hotel’s relaxed and playful branding, which is what attracted us to it in the first place. We were charged for a dinner that should have been included in our half board package. We raised it and were told it would be checked with a manager, but no one ever came back to us. After that, we felt like we had to double check everything we had signed, which isn’t something you expect to do in a hotel like this. The minibar and anything outside the package was also very overpriced. With half board, not having any drinks included with dinner made it feel quite limited and bit unfair (given half board is simply the same version as all-inclusive but half the services) There are some really good parts to this hotel but the experience didn’t feel consistent and overall it didn’t feel like good value for money. We’ve had much warmer and more welcoming stays in less high end hotels. Because of that, we don’t think we’d return but thanks to the staff who did act professionally and were warm and friendly.