Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort

What sets it apart

The list of included activities is long: glass-bottom boat, snorkelling, kayak, pedal boat, stand-up paddle, tennis, beach volleyball, table tennis and pétanque cost nothing extra. The Navasana spa opens onto the ocean, with treatment rooms, a seaside area and a cabin reserved for couples. Four pools share the grounds: one for adults only, the main pool, a children’s pool and the Plantation pool.

The mood

Dining runs from the beach bar, Le Bleu, for pizzas, paninis and burgers by the pool, to Mercado, market-hall dining with open kitchens from Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia and India, by way of Edgewater, poolside and facing the ocean, and Rouben’s Wine Room, a wine cellar that hosts private dinners with tapas. The Voyageur47 club is reserved for suite guests during the day, with its private pool, and opens to all for dinner, with Mauritian fusion cuisine. The Coral mini club looks after children during dinner, leaving the evening to parents, and its activities make room for henna and sega.

Highlights

• Inside the Bel Ombre nature reserve, directly on the beach
• Four pools, one adults-only and one for children
• Included activities: glass-bottom boat, snorkelling, kayak, pedalo, paddle, tennis, beach volleyball, French bowling
• Navasana spa at the ocean’s edge, with a cabin reserved for couples
• Coral mini club for ages 3 to 12, which looks after children during dinner
• Three golf courses in the south, two of them championship

Good to know

• The room rate includes fifteen per cent tax and service charge. The tourist tax, three euros per person per night, is added and paid on departure; children under twelve are exempt.
• A compulsory dinner applies on 24 and 31 December: 65 euros per adult and 40 euros per child aged 4 to 17 on Christmas Eve, 80 and 50 euros on New Year’s Eve.
• Cancellation terms change by season, from three to thirty days before arrival: read them before booking.
• The hotel has no cash machine, and cash payments are made at reception.
• Laundry and dry cleaning take twenty-four hours, and every room has an iron and ironing board.
• Le Château golf course and the Bel Ombre nature reserve are next door, with guided hikes, quad bikes, buggies and four-wheel-drive outings.

Getting there

The address is Allée des Cocotiers, 61002 Bel Ombre. The international airport is 43 kilometres and a 45-minute drive away; it is best to leave the hotel three and a half hours before a flight. Check-in is at 2 pm and check-out at noon. To have the room before that time, the previous night must be booked. Parking is free and reserved for guests, and Wi-Fi covers the whole hotel.