The Oberoi, Mauritius

The Oberoi Mauritius, I can't believe more people aren't raving about this hotel. One of the most stunning hotels we have ever stayed in and with such beautiful friendly staff. My husband and I travel over the world and have stayed in luxury hotels in Bali, the Maldives and Singapore, to name a few locations. We enjoy good quality food and enjoy adult focused hotels. The Oberoi in Mauritius was up there with one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. The positives: - The staff could not do more to help you, they are friendly and attentive, yet will leave you in peace if that's what you prefer. - The hotel grounds are absolutely stunning. The winding paths amongst a beautiful established planted garden with flowers and trees is relaxing and stunning. It made the short walk to breakfast every morning a delight. - Each room is an individual villa with a Balinese theme, so no big block of hotel rooms. The villa's are large, spacious with a huge 4 poster bed, walk-in wardrobe and a large ensuite with both sunken marble bath and separate shower (even their cheaper room has all the mentioned facilities.). Each room has either its own patio with sun loungers looking out over the gardens and sea, or its own enclosed garden with a private pool (depending on your room budget). - There are two large pools (in addition to the villas with private pools). One pool is heated, the other is not but is still plenty warm enough to swim in. Both pools have staff who serve you to your sun lounger. They often come around with free treats of nuts, crisps, fruit and ice cream. - Location is quiet and at night there was no noise from nearby hotels or roads. - The restaurant food was phenomenal. No canteen buffet, instead all restaurants were a la carte dining with table service with great menu choices which changed throughout the week. There are several restaurant choices; The Restaurant, On The Rocks, The Gunpowder Room and The Herb Trail. - Hotel is on the coast with free water sports. We used the canoes one day to go along the coast, we used the SUP and also went on a short boat ride to see fish. There are lots of other activities we did not use. - The hotel put on free events throughout the day and evening such as a weekly champagne and canapes event with local cultural dance performance, star gazing, rum tasting, yoga... the list goes on. - It's not a hotel full of Instagram/social media posing wannabes! A huge bonus!! The negatives: - If you are after long white sandy beaches this is not the hotel for you. While there are several lovely beaches of yellow sand and access to the sea, the beaches are not this hotel's strongest feature. The beaches are nice and there are sun loungers on the beaches, but if you are after a beach holiday, I'd look elsewhere. For us, we are pool people who like the occasional dip in the sea, so this was not an issue for us. - If you like exploring on foot outside the hotel, there is very little/nothing within walking distance immediately around this hotel. That said the hotel will organise personal excursions or taxi's if you want to explore the island. But the secluded location is also why the hotel focuses on providing such a great choice of restaurants and food. - The hotel is the 'go to' for visiting celebrities, politicians and other VIPs. This is because of the impeccable service and the option of individual villas with private pools. I've put this as a negative only because it gives the impression of a snooty hotel, however with the exception of one guest, all other guests were so lovely and we met some great and really interesting people. - There is no 'all inclusive' but they do have 'half board' which includes all breakfast and evening meals. Drinks and lunch are extra. We would have a late breakfast and early dinner, so this again was never an issue for us. But for people who want to drink all day and to know their budget upfront, this might not be the hotel option for you. - Expensive.... but in my opinion worth every penny! Overall, I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. I was genuinely sad to leave, it led to us looking up other Oberoi hotels around the world for our next holiday. Whether you are on a honeymoon or just a sun seeking holiday, this should be a serious contender for anyone thinking of visiting Mauritius. This was one of two hotels we stayed in during our trip to Mauritius, the other being Chalets Chamarel which was very different but equally beautiful in an entirely different way (more about that in another separate review). My advice is just book the Oberoi, you won't be disappointed.

Those resort is totally beautiful and so special, the gardens are beautiful, setting and beach beautiful, outstanding service all around, absolutely 5 star. I would highly recommend this place, breakfast every morning was fantastic and staff so friendly and welcoming.

We had a great stay for a week here. The rooms were great, gym, spa etc were top notch and the hotel in general is a place where you can spend a week easily without getting bored/uncomfortable. The views from the room and each of their restaurants were awesome and the activities including water sports, bicycle renting, something to do each day (star gazing, magic show, cooking classes, visit to nearby temple, boutique stores etc) that the resort organizes, just stole my heart. I did not think I would enjoy them but turned out pleasantly surprised. They also arrange some tours and those were pretty cool too. They even arranged a table fan for us since we were used to the white noise and couldn't do with just the AC in that weather. Given the fact that going out of the property anywhere to just eat is very cumbersome, there are really no options around and it is in the middle of nowhere, the hotel should really not charge separately for other meals and rather find a way to absorb that cost into the price of the rooms. Most resorts in India that offer similar styled accommodations come with all meals included since guests will rarely step out or it is not feasible to step out for meals. The menu that is on offer is extremely limited for vegetarians and the prices were very high and by the third day, we were already bored from eating the same fare about 6 times. Being Oberoi, we were expecting a little more Indian variety - like basic curd rice being available would have made us really happy. One of the main motivations in choosing an Indian brand hotel in a far-off place is the expected availability of familiar treats but this was missing. Somehow survived eating the same Dal Makhani and Paneer Makhani on alternate days all week with a sprinkling of pizzas - same ones, for lunch every other day. F&B is certainly an area to improve both in terms of meal plans (existing half-board plan is ridiculous) and available options. But whatever was offered tasted good, and no complaints there. I was a big fan of Bois Cheri after the first sip and brought home several flavours from the local store, thank you for the introduction! ;)

It's the best place to unwind and relax. The staff remember every tiny details of your requests and go above and beyond to make the stay even more memorable. The property is lush green and has access to a boat club with beach access. It's truly special

We stayed at The Oberoi for 4 nights and the stay was amazing, starting from initial welcome and throughout the 5 days spent there. The staff are extremely friendly and we're very helpful, from taking us to see dolphins post breakfast to chefs making food following our recommendations. The chefs Deepak and Kishan are amazing. Kishan gave our family a Creole cooking class and Deepak cooked us amazing Indian food based on our requests (pani puri, aloo chat, tandoori chicken, biryani, paneer etc). The chefs really enjoy making items which are not on the menu, which is a really good touch. We stayed at the hotel for our 10 year wedding anniversary and the hotel made it extremely special by decorating our room, providing a cake and personalised slippers which was a nice touch. Their general manager Pritam was very helpful throughout our stay! My daughter has a wonderful time at the kids club with Shamra, who made bracelets, did henna, hair braiding and took her on a pedal boat. I would recommend this hotel, probably the best service and hotel that we've stayed at. Other notable staff members (who I can remember) were Naina, Natacha, Ashna. I couldn't remember them all but they were all amazing!!