We stopped over here for 6 nights on our way to stay with family in Sydney, it had to be on a beach, good value for money and be well recommended, this hotel ticked the boxes but with several poor trip advisor reviews we were wary.
we arrived about 10am, well before normal check in time, we were offered some breakfast and a room to change, good first impression after 2 flights and a 45min taxi ride!
Our room was on 2nd floor of a small block overlooking the pool and gardens (no 209) which was only 200 yards from reception/bar and 300 yards from the restaurant and beach. The rooms are very basic but clean, standard double bed, tv with about 10 channels, mostly french but a good movie channel and 'snowy' news channel, I asked staff to look at fixing it but was told they had poor satalite reception. shower was good size with separate toilet. Air con worked well but struggled after a while due to the high heat and humidity.
read so many complaints about the bland food and lack of choice but I believe we got exactly what we paid for, we booked all inclusive and ate all our meals in the main restaurant. The choice was OK, always fish, chicken and either beef or lamb plus veg, rice and lots of salad options, all the food was well presented and well cooked with different evening theme nights including chinese and BBQ. I can see a 2 week stay getting a bit boring but that would be the same anywhere. The staff did a brilliant job and helped make our stay enjoyable. I requested a special surprise dinner for my wifes birthday which the hotel was happy to organise, I met the chef and agreed a menu (4 courses with grilled lobster at an extra cost) and a spot outside on the beach, they did a brilliant job and made such an effort to make it special for us both.
Lots of reviews mentioned the superb cocktails mixed by Monty the barman, they really are that good and Monty is a real character. The hotel had entertainment on a couple of nights, it suited us to stay in the in but if you want some lively nightlife you will need to get a taxi into Flaq or further.
The beach was great, very clean white sand and a choice of sun louges with towels provided. take some 'jelly' shoes as the sand off the beach is coral and will hurt your feet getting in and out of the water which is clean, clear and very warm.
You only get what you pay for and here we got that and more, it is a 3 star and delivers everything it promises but it could do with a makeover and a little money spending on it but then I guess it would charge more....would we go again? absolutely!
- Bougainville Hotel Mauritius
