My husband and I satyed at Les Pavillons on a half board basis. The hotel, rooms, beaches and the people were fantastic and I had one of the most memorable holidays there. There are a lot of activities provided as well for the hyperactive amongst us for example: water skiing at no additional charge. If I ever returned again, I would go for full board because otherwise it really does add up (the cost of lunch for 2 ppl was c. £25, so you can imagine after 2 weeks...). There are no shops or supermarkets close by.

Had a fantastic time at Pavillons in Mauritius. Great beaches, very friendly, reliable staff who would do anything for you without constantly harrassing you like you get at some of the 'posher' resorts. The food was good (though we were only there 8 nights and I can imagine it could get a little tedious after 2 weeks), and the accommodation exceeded our expectations, depsite maybe needing a little updating. It was great place to spend part of our honeymoon and the few extras we were given were very much appreciated. It suited us and we realised it wasnt a 5 star hotel but a good 4 star - so the relaxed and informal atmosphere was welcomed but the way the staff treated us also made it feel out of the ordinary. Its juts a shame the bar closed at 12.00am! I would definitely recommend the all inclusive. All in all it was spot on.

We know that Les Pavillons as a hotel will need the projected revamping and upgrading. We were told, on arrival, that we would be amongst the last visitors to this hotel for about a year, such is the projected time for refurbishing, and this was confirmed later by the management staff at the obligatory cocktail party. However, despite the slight tiredness of the decor, the worn woodwork (in places- that
might have brought the anger of Britain's health and safety crowd- LOOK, WHY DON'T YOU!!!!), we had a fab upper pavilion room, with access directly on to the coral beach. Comparing with the other hotel in Mauritius, where we had spent our first week, there were some differences noticeable, especially in the attitude to the "all- inclusive" allowances. OK, everything we had were adequate, but there was need to select the appropriate items, not doing so could lead to embarrassing costs, always dealt with in Euros, that had to be
dealt with on departures.

BUT

Le Morne is beautiful. The beach is coral and protective footwear has to be used. The reef is fantastic, as are the surrounding walks. We were very much looked after by the cleaners, beach staff and the dining room staff, who really did deserve their "pourboires". It could
be me, but I never found fault with reception or the "Relations" team,
and the Gym and leisure gang were equally polite and helpful.

I can only hope that come the 5* that is aimed for by carrying out the
refurbishment, the ambience we experienced is not lost, and that the staff are able to upgrade their skills to cope with 5* customers. I also hope that the 5* guests do appreciate the efforts made by the said staff to make their stay as comfortable as that experienced by my
wife and myself.

Well Done everyone, and all the best for the future.

Isn't it wonderful when you are hoping for a great holiday and it exceeds your expectations? That was Les Pavillons.

We were there for a week in December 2007. As with our previous Mauritian holiday (that one in Sugar Beach) we found first and foremost excellent service, and this hotel is in a great location with a beautifully scenic backdrop. Your first impression on walking in is "paradise", as you are greeted by the view of a rim flow pool seemingly melting into the ocean with palm trees fringing the scene!

Staff were very friendly without being intrusive. Service at the restaurant was very good except for the last morning (more of that later) and I have to say that the quality of the food way exceeded our expectations. They have a different theme every night, which extends beyond the food to the decor, waiters' outfits etc - I guess they are trying to remove that "same old" response one gets to eating in the same place every night. The only quibble with the food was that the children's menu is very limited but there was no problem with our daughter eating off the main menu, which she did nearly every night. Others have mentioned the birds, maybe being from "Africa" we didn't find them nearly as pesky as say seagulls in waterfront destinations, but a warning - do NOT leave food unattended on your table at breakfast!

We were particularly impressed by the fact that the night we arrived both the flights from Johannesburg were delayed and we arrived at the hotel about 2 hours later than expected, at 11pm - the hotel was aware of this (they seem to have excellent co-ordination with the package operators) and kept the restaurant open later than usual so that the new arrivals could have dinner. On the morning that we left, with many people having very early departures, the restaurant was open from 3am for breakfast! I really did think these accommodations to late arrivals and early departures were great. Service on the last breakfast (at 5am!) was not great, it seemed like they were maybe using hotel school students, but the overall restaurant experience was excellent.

The beach has loungers with cushions and it seems to be the practice to 'book' your spot with your beach towels. The beach extends the length of the resort and most people seem to choose a spot in front of their rooms which is highly convenient - for us it was less than 10 metres to our room. Waiters are on the beach all day to bring drinks and you can order lunch from either of the restaurants to be brought to you as well. The lagoon is calm and warm, like a huge swimming pool. Some may prefer to wear waterproof shoes in there though, there are lots of bits of coral which can hurt, but you can get away with bare feet.

The hawkers are mildly annoying but do go away if you are firm. Remember to bargain with them - their initial prices are way over the top. We found that the one we did buy things from was happy to accept either rands, euros or dollars too - no real need for rupees here.

Mini bar and hotel drinks are expensive, but note that (1) the Epicure shop inside the hotel sells a range of drinks and snacks for far less than the hotel prices, and even better (2) if you walk along to the public beach on the other side of the boathouse (not very much further at all) there is a restaurant kiosk there with a large selection of drinks, snacks as well as food, Rupees or credit cards accepted, at much cheaper prices than anywhere inside the hotel. This kiosk is closed on Mondays though.

We took a half board package and there is no way we would have been able to make decent usage of the full board supplement. I can only assume that the people who find that useful drink a significant amount of alcohol, but note also that not everything is covered by full board (eg some vodka i had never heard of was, but Smirnoff and Absolut are not).

We were happy with the boathouse selection of activities, the only thing is that they will not let you use snorkelling equipment other than on their trips (2 per day out to the reef, all included, highly recommended). If you have your own snorkel and mask, there is another reef just inside the demarcation of the swimming area that has a lot more fish than you would expect! You can buy snorkelling equipment from the beach vendors (not sure of quality or price as we already had) as well as at the boutique shop but the prices there looked expensive vs what we had paid at home. They have waterskiiing (with a fixed bar to the boat for beginners which is great), pedalos, kayaks and sailing all included as well. Scuba is extra.

We booked a standard room but ended up in a superior one, it was great to be so close to the beach but the standard ones are not much further away and I am not sure it would be worth paying the extra just for that. Quibbles with the room are the obviously dated bathroom and cupboards, and this would have taken our review down to 4 stars except that we know the hotel is being refurbished so these will be dealt with. I am very fussy with clean rooms, and found nothing to complain about on that score.

The children's club is relatively flexible, if there are only 1 or 2 kids there they will sit with them and entertain them with various activities, if a group they may take them around the hotel. There were a number of families with children and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. The pool is a favourite get-together spot for the kids, for obvious reasons!

The hotel has a daily list of 'activities', including cycling trips to nearby villages, creole and sega lessons, various usage of sporting facilities at the hotel etc. If you have young daughters the sega lessons are a must, and be sure to take in the sega shows when they happen in the evenings too!

All in all, we had an absolutely great holiday here and it is highly recommended!