Merville Beach Hotel, Grand Baie

...useful to anyone considering the Merville Beach. To that end I have decided to focus on the Hotel alone, I will not be touching on Mauritius as a destination at all, there are other reviews for that and in time I may contribute to those too. I would like to point out though that although the Official language of Mauritius is English; the most commonly used is French. That said, nearly everyone can at least hold a conversation in English so you won't ...
...Group:

The Merville Beach is one of 5 hotels owned and operated by Naiade Resorts. The hotels in this group are:

Le Tropical - *** Hotel on the East Coast, Trou d'Eau Douce.
Merville Beach - ***Plus Hotel on the North Coast , Grande Baie
Les Pavillions - **** Hotel on South West Coast, Le Morne Peninsula
Legends - ****Plus Hotel on the North Coast, Grande Gaube
Beau Rivage - *****Hotel ... more

In September 2006, My Wife and I (Still getting used to saying that), set out on the longest trip of our lives, to Honeymoon on the white beaches of Mauritius. This is our story!

This is draft number 109 as I'm trying to get the balance between detail and something that is readable and useful! I found it was hard to get hold of much information (or surprisingly many pictures) about the hotel before we went, so hopefully this will prove useful to anyone considering the Merville Beach. To that end I have decided to focus on the Hotel alone, I will not be touching on Mauritius as a destination at all, there are other reviews for that and in time I may contribute to those too. I would like to point out though that although the Official language of Mauritius is English; the most commonly used is French. That said, nearly everyone can at least hold a conversation in English so you won't be stuck if you can't speak French.

The currency is the Mauritian rupee and the exchange rate is around 60 rupees to the pound (£).

~~~~Hotel and Group:

The Merville Beach is one of 5 hotels owned and operated by Naiade Resorts. The hotels in this group are:

Le Tropical - *** Hotel on the East Coast, Trou d'Eau Douce.
Merville Beach - ***Plus Hotel on the North Coast , Grande Baie
Les Pavillions - **** Hotel on South West Coast, Le Morne Peninsula
Legends - ****Plus Hotel on the North Coast, Grande Gaube
Beau Rivage - *****Hotel on the East Coast, Belle Mare

The Naiade Group also has an exclusive island off the South East of Mauritius called Ile Des Duex Cocos. Guests of the Naiade group can arrange to go on the organised day trips to the island, a day trip with a catamaran and beach BBQ thrown in.

~~~~Arrival:

The flights we had were with Emirates and after a Midnight stop off at Dubai International Airport we arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (named after the Prime Minister who was in office 1961 until 1982, leading Mauritius to independence from the UK in 1968, if you wanted to know!) at about 9:30 local time (3 hours ahead of GMT, 4 hours ahead in the summer).

Merville Beach Hotel is a short walk from the town of Grand Bay on the very North Coast of Mauritius. The transfer from Airport to Hotel by Coach takes a little over an hour and a half, a trip which mainly consists of views of Sugar Cane and a glimpse of the capital Port Louis.

We were greeted at the Hotel by a member of the Guest Relations team, who gave everyone a cool towel and brought a welcome glass of Sparkling Wine or Fruit Juice to help you through the process of booking in. The process of checking in takes about 15 minutes and after you have signed your name on what seems like a hundred pieces one of the Hotels porters will take your bags to your room for you.

~~~~The Hotel Layout:

The main Hotel building is at the centre of the complex. The original hotel building contains 74 rooms, "Le Terrace" Restaurant, "Le Badamier" Bar, the Shop, a Gym, and the Pool. Either side of this tall building are the Cottages, which contain another 38 rooms and on the opposite side, the Garden Court comprising of a further 57 rooms, bringing the grand total of rooms to 169.

The Cottages are contained in a nicely maintained and landscaped area. The Cottages themselves are 2 floored buildings (each floor being an individual room), with ample space between each one. Only about 4 of the Cottages have good views of the beach as they stretch back from the beach inland.

The Garden Court comprises 3 floors of Superior and Deluxe rooms, all of which overlook the beach (some feet from the beach, others further away at the side of the building). The centre of this building holds a large pond with mini waterfall and a bridge all within a nice tropical garden.

The foyer contains the main reception desk, a Guest Relations desk, a small seating area and the Holiday Rep desks, along with a bookcase containing information provided by the tour operators. Situated next to the reception desk is the hotels tiny shop. As you would probably expect this is quite overpriced and the choice isn't particularly great, but some good souvenirs can be picked up from here as well as copies of newspapers (UK newspapers printed in Mauritius, so no delays but expensive).

The foyer leads into an area that contains the restaurant and bar, which overlook the pool and Gym. Unlike some other Hotels on the island Merville beach only has 1 bar and 1 restaurant and to be honest they do overlap a little.

"Le Terrace" Restaurant covers the largest area and includes the dance floor and "stage". Towards the rear of the area are the main kitchen and the self service area, which I will come to a little later. Le Terrace is where breakfast and dinner are served, lunch can be eaten here or in the bar.

"Le Badamier" bar is slightly raised from the restaurant and boasts a traditional thatched roof. The bar itself is a large square island surrounded by stools and a number of tables. The bar also has a seating area overlooking the beach, from where you can appreciate the amazing sunsets!

~~~~Food and Drink:

When booking the Hotel you will be given the choice, go Half Board or pay a supplement and go All Inclusive. The difference is:

Half Board - Breakfast and Dinner, Lunch and all drinks and snacks are extra.

All Inclusive - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Unlimited locally bottled spirits, wines, beers and soft drinks (excluding the mini bar). It is worth noting that food and drink in the Hotel are quite expensive and although Half Board is cheaper to start with I would definitely recommend All Inclusive. A bottle of beer for instance for Half Board customers would be £4.05! The Lunch and Drinks menu identify what is included on All Inclusive with *. The majority drinks are included, the main exceptions being a premium spirits and liquors such as Tia Maria etc and a hand full of cocktails.

Breakfast
Each morning the self service area of the restaurant is stocked full of fresh fruit and cereals, as well as a large, if not bizarre, selection of food. You can choose a continental or cooked breakfast or both if you are really hungry! Although the breakfast is self service there were always two cooks at hand to make omelettes and waffles etc.

As well as the standard cooked items like eggs, beans, tomatoes and bacon each day there will also be something odd on offer, we saw sautéed potatoes, chicken curry and pasta to name a few! No matter how bizarre the breakfast choice is good and I never got tired of what was on offer.

Dinner
Dinner is either a la carte or Table d'hotes working on a rotation basis generally one night self service and the next a traditional waiter service. A list of which night is which is displayed in the hotel foyer along with details of what to expect form each!

The a la carte dinners are spread across the self service area and on tables set out around the pool. During our stay these included themes of Italian, BBQ, Chinese and Traditional Mauritian cuisine. The selection is very good and there are always a number of choices available to cater for even the fussiest of eaters!

The other nights are Table d'hotes. They really go to town with these nights and decorate the tables, chairs and walls. On these nights you choose from a list of Starters, Mains and Deserts from a set menu. Again the choice is excellent. However, I don't think they quite understand the concept of Vegetarians. The options for Starters will always have at least one option that is suitable for Vegetarians, but then the main courses will be Beef, Pork or Chicken! As I'm not a Vegetarian this isn't something that bothered me, but I did see other people having made to order meals to meet their dietary needs.

Lunch
The Bar has a snack menu that you can choose from and includes a decent choice of sandwiches, salads and burgers. There was also another buffet available practically everyday. We usually went for the buffet as the choice was usually excellent, with fresh Tuna and Chicken and a great selection of curry's as well as rice and pasta on offer.

Evenings
The evening entertainment in the Hotel is quite poor. Each night there will be a live band or a singer of some sort and on Sunday's they put on traditional Mauritius Saga show. To be honest though, after an hour or so in the bar at night we were pretty bored and tired and ended up leaving early most nights.

Comment on the food.
Although the selection of food is great and there was never a single time during the two weeks that we stayed at the Merville Beach that I couldn't find something I wanted to eat, there was always one small problem with the food.

It isn't the fact that the self service area is inhabited by a number of small birds that fly around looking for any dropped food. The food all has covers that keep them out so they are more a nuisance than anything else.

The main problem with the food was that it was never hot. The buffet food was kept over heat to keep it warm, but no matter how early we got to the buffet for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner we never managed to get a meal that was hot. Don't get me wrong it was never stone cold and uneatable; it was just annoying that you couldn't get a nice hot meal.

~~~~Room:

We stayed in a Superior room in the Garden Court with a Balcony directly overlooking the beach (with a table and chairs and sun loungers). The main difference between the types of room is that the better the room type the more floor space you have anything ever a Standard Room also has a ceiling fan.

All rooms include:
A Balcony or Terrace
Air Conditioning (Superior and Deluxe rooms also have ceiling fans)
Bathroom containing bath, shower (toilet obviously) and hairdryer and shaver socket
Telephone capable of making International calls (£4.05 a minute to UK!)
Personal Safe - about big enough for 2 passports and nothing else.
Mini Bar
TV and remote control

The TV itself requires a little more detail. In the brochure it was described as having satellite TV and Radio channels. In reality there are only about 5 channels available and they are not as described, and I couldn't find any Radio channels at all!

1 - Naiade DVD showing all 5 hotels repeated non stop!
2 - MBC 1*
3 - MBC 2*
4 - MBC 3*
5 - Euro News
6 - Canal+ (French Channel)
7 - DVD's in English (French subtitles)#
8 - DVD's in French (English subtitles)#

* MBC Channels. Mauritius has 3 of its own TV channels, although they don't work the same way that BBC and ITV do in the UK. The MBC channels are a mixture of local programmes (mainly news and weather that can be in French, English or Hindu) and a random selection of programmes from African TV. I was watching MBC3 and an advert came on to say the next programme would be the Manchester United Vs. Reading match, so I sat down and got comfy. The next programme was actually a history show on Granite!

# Every 3 hours the hotel shows a different DVD. There is a timetable in the room, and there is a good mixture of old and new films to watch.

Also worth noting is that all the electricity sockets in the Hotel and the standard UK three pin plugs, so don't worry about not being able to plug things in or getting adaptors. Also in the room is the Guest Directory, a very detailed A-Z of everything you could possibly need to know about the hotel, or who to ask if you need to know more!

The décor of the rooms is traditional Mauritian colour schemes, by that I mean greens, yellows and anything bright! We were expecting it to be a lot louder than it was, and although I wouldn't decorate my house with the same colour schemes, it was actually quite nice. The room had plenty of storage space with wardrobes, cupboards and draws, plenty of room to put away all the clothes that I took and never wore! The room was tidied everyday and the towels were changed at least twice a day.

~~~~Pool and Beach:

Merville Beach sits in its own little bay and although I don't think the beach was private, it was always peaceful and there was always plenty of space. The beach directly in front of the Hotel has sun loungers and little thatched shelters dotted all around and we very rarely had any problems getting a seat even during the middle of the day. A safe swimming area the size of a large swimming pool is marked out with buoys in front of the beach. This is good because you can swim safe in the knowledge that a boat isn't going to speed into you, and that there are no sea urchins or other nasty critters for you to step on.

To the right of the hotel is a long stretch of white sand that you can stroll along. This goes down past some private houses, but usually the beach is empty and you can enjoy a nice walk in peace. After a few minutes walk you will come to the end of the beach as it trails off into rocks at the end edge of the bay.

To the left is the Hotels Boat House. The Boat House is the hub of all activity on the beach. Everyday you can go to the Boat House and get fresh beach towels (always really soft!) as well as pick from a good selection of water sports. A lot of the activities from the Boat House are free and even those that do charge are good value.

The list of free activities:
Pedal Boats
Canoes
Kayak
Glass Bottom Boat rides
Water Skiing
Windsurfing
Snorkelling

Chargeable Activities:
Catamaran Cruises
Deep Sea Fishing
Power Boat Trips
Parasailing

As with any beach any where in the world where there are tourists this beach has beach pests. The sit on the rocks by the bar and take it in turns to walk up and down trying to sell anything from parasailing to sarongs and jewellery. Although they are quite annoying, they are friendly and they do understand that it is your holiday. They'll have a laugh and a joke with you even if you keep telling then no, and they won't bother you more than once a day if you let them know "not today".

The pool is raised up from the beach and during the 2 weeks that we were there, although the water was warm and the pool always gets the sun, it was never too busy; we always managed to find a sun lounger each. The advantage of the pool is that you can avoid the beach pests as they won't come up into the hotel itself. The pool is a reasonable size and is maintained daily. There are some cracked tiles and you can see some repair work that has been done along the years, but that isn't a big problem. The pool is clean and safe, what more can you ask for?

The Bar operates a free (if All Inclusive) beach service and whether you are in the pool or on the beach one of the staff will never be too far away and will go and get you anything you want from the bar.

The Hotel also has the following facilities:

Tennis Court
5-a-side football pitch
Table Tennis Table
Bicycle Hire
Internet
Spa
Gym

The Bike hire costs something like €2 (£1.35) for 30 minutes, and although the bikes are quite old they are all road safe and come with a bike lock so you can go exploring on your own. There were no safety helmets though.

The Internet access is in the main reception, but don't use it! The Hotel charge €5 (approx. £3.38) for every 15 minutes on the Internet. The Internet Café at the Supermarket in Grand Bay charges 30 rupees (£0.50) for 15 minutes and then 2 rupees (£0.03!) for every extra minute or 120 rupees (£2.00) for an hour. Add to this the fact that the Hotel only has one PC and the Café has six that are newer and faster, and it is easy to see that it is well worth going to use the Café in the Super U supermarket!

What looked like a quite new addition to the Hotel was a Spa that was right on the beach. The massage beds were in little huts facing the sea so you could get a nice view while being man handled! I didn't actually see anyone using the Spa in the time we were there, but I wasn't really paying much attention to be honest. A full price guide was available in each hotel room, but I can't comment on the prices as I don't know what the going rate for a bikini wax is anyway!

~~~~Our Experience of Merville Beach:

Every member of the hotels staff (must be well over 100 staff in all), go out of their way to make your stay as welcome as they can. Unlike some hotels I've stayed in over here, every member of staff will make an effort to say hello or have a quick chat with you. I did have a few slight language breakdowns, but there was always someone around that could figure out what strange request I was making!

The Hotel is quite old, and although it has been renovated it doesn't have the same visual impact of the Deluxe Hotel complexes such as the Beau Rivage. That said I think that for the money we paid we got fantastic value for money. Mauritius has plenty of attractions and sights to go visit, but essentially this is a beach holiday. We were in Mauritius from mid to end September, which is the end of the winter and the beginning of summer, but we only really had 2 days when it rained and this wasn't even for the whole day.

Although Grand Bay is a reasonably large town, there isn't really much to see or do there. The town has a number of decent bars and restaurants and a reasonable selection of shops, but there is nothing there to keep you more than an hour. A Taxi to the Supermarket in Grand Bay is 100 rupees (£1.67); some taxis will wait for you and still only charge 200 rupees for the return trip and waiting time.

The majority of the guests are couples, either Honeymoon or wedding anniversary, although there were a number of families with small children. I wouldn't recommend the Merville Beach to parents with young children, as I don't think there is enough to keep them entertained as the only provision the Hotel seems to make for children is a baby sitting service!

Overall the Merville Beach is a good quality ***Plus hotel. When we booked we read some good and some indifferent reviews of the hotel and didn't really know what to expect when we arrived. A 12 night stay will cost slightly over £3,000 (Depending on time of year etc.) and as I've already said I think we got good value for money and I have no regrets about choosing to stay at the Merville Beach. If you are in a position where money is no object then you might want to look at a four or five star hotel like Legends or Beau Rivage.

If though you don't mind excellent service, you aren't put off by a good selection of food and drink and wouldn't be too distressed sitting on a glorious beach with spectacular views of the clear blue Indian Ocean, maybe you should give the Merville Beach a try. I have tried to be impartial, but I really enjoyed my stay and didn't want to leave, I just hope that if you are considering this hotel that some of this information will be helpful to decide whether this is your sort of hotel or not.

(Incase you missed the Dodo reference, Mauritius was the only know location of the legendary Dodo) 

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