My family and I have visited Mauritius twice, and on both occasions we stayed at the Beau Rivage. Our most recent trip was at the beginning of January 2007 and we stayed for a week.
The Beau Rivage is a family hotel. It's catered for families. It is a 5 star hotel, but it is not quite up to the very very high standard of the other luxury hotels on the island. It's a very good resort style hotel, but it lacks the cutting edge you would experience in the other 5 star deluxe hotels. However, I believe they are building a new wing with butler attended suites, so as to challenge the top end
hotels on the island. And if it is 5 star you want, the Beau Rivage is the most price efficient option. It is considerably cheaper than its rivals. Look out for very good deals, usually available all year round such as buy a week, get a week free. However, do make sure you book a half board meal plan- drinks and meals are very very expensive.
Overall, it has all the facilities you would expect of a 5 star resort. It boasts one of the largest pools on the island. It's mostly a shallow pool so it's very child friendly. There is a tennis court, kid's club, spa, gym and games room, plus a dedicated animation team to motivate you to take part in a game of beach volleyball or such.
But the hotel's biggest advantage is its fantastic strip of beach. It must be one of the best beaches on the island. Very clean, white sand, clear water and little rock pools. It really is postcard stuff. If you are looking for a beach holiday, then this is the hotel for you. In comparison, the Residence Hotel next door has a crumby beach in comparison- narrow, rocky and uncomfortable to walk on. In terms of beach, the Beau Rivage has the edge over its rivals.
Rooms are huge and airy. Much bigger than a standard UK hotel room. Big beds, wonderfully oversized bathrooms with separate bath and shower. Each room has either a balcony or terrace and every room has a wonderful sea view.
There are a few negatives which means the Beau Rivage just fails to match the super luxurious mega resorts. The food is good in quality but the main restaurant is lacking in creativity. Guests on the half board plan eat in the main restaurant, which provides different themed buffets. However, the chefs seem to prepare the same type of food each night even though one night maybe asian themed, and one night may be round the world themed. After 3 or 4 nights it became uninspiring and boring. There are some other quality restaurants but you have to pay through the nose to dine there. There's a lobster restaurant, an asian fusion restaurant, and in the summer, the beach restaurant.
And that's what is the main problem we had with the hotel. The prices are outrageous. One night there was a Mauritian night at the beach restaurant. There was to be drinks, a BBQ and some entertainment. But it was something like 40 or 50 euros per head not including alcohol. Considering it would cost a family of four 100 euros to eat lunch, it really is an expensive hotel if you are not on half or full board. It can add up. The other negative is that everything is priced in euros, which became very confusing when we were trying to work out how much we were actually spending. You can pay in rupees but this even confuses the staff and can be a long winded process. It must be noted that this hotel has a very European clientele- there are usually a few British families, but the majority of guests that stay here are French.
The last thing is that service could be better. All the staff are friendly and eager to help but often at dinner time, the waiters can be come a bit confused and slow. But the Mauritian way is laid back anyway. But if it's service you are looking for, you won't get it here. They do have a lot to learn if they want to compete with the big hotels. Overall it's inefficient and slightly frustrating, but it in an endearing sort of way.
So overall, the Beau Rivage is a very good hotel. The facilities are excellent, staff are friendly and the beach is fantastic. It is quite rightly a 5 star hotel, but not 5 star deluxe.
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A very good first review- always pleasing to see! Welcome to Ciao. Fionaxx
sottovoce82 17.06.2007 02:58
Great first review! Rita
jomarannetyn 17.06.2007 02:02
i did look at going to mauritius this year but decided to stick with what i know and go back to the maldives so maybe next year, lovely review though. x
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Advantages: Beautiful beach, excellent service, friendly, great in every way Disadvantages: weather not extremely hot in our summer, but it is still nice
Advantages: Beautiful beach, excellent service, friendly, great in every way Disadvantages: weather not extremely hot in our summer, but it is still nice
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