Of all the reviews, of all the places we have stayed at around the world this I fear may be the hardest to write.
We were booked in for 8 days and on day 1 we were frantically searching for somewhere else to stay!! But by day 8 we were so glad we had stayed. Now we will explain why!!
Firstly it's not the easiset place to find and frankly without a car you would be stumped.From the airport follow the east coast road, you will turn inland, at the police station signposted Bayan Tree turn left this is Intendance road. The bungalows are about 1.5 km down this road on the right- look for a sign on the tree saying Cote Sud and possibly and old man who seemed permanently sat on a rock by the property!!!
On entering the bungalow it was like being transported back to 1976...............Let's start with the lounge!!! There two 'sofas' a 2 inch matress over wooden slats- hard as rock and covered with an old sheet. These would form the beds of bedroom number 2 but I doubt you would enjoy sleeping on them. The Tv is from the 80's with a choice of two stations both of which were unwatchable. There were about 4 remotes non of which had batteries in. The satelite decoder box is not connected to a satellite dish!!! Really not bothered about TV on hols but if you have one at least let it work or just don't bother having one. The room was littered with assorted 'junk' previous guests books, magazines and not to mention a VCR film of Forest Gump in Italian- good luck with that one as there is no VCR player!!!
Right the kitchen....... the units appear to have been there for the last 30 years as has the tiled work top. The cupboards and drawers some of which were broken don't close properly. The comi oven door didn't close properly and it had to be wedged shut. The crockery is a mish mash of different designs, no two match and many chipped or cracked. Reasonable collections of pans. The wooden chopping board was black at one end of frankly looked gross, so much so we bought a plastic one from the supermarket. The strange lights above the cooker worked for a couple of days before they gave up the ghost. A couple of strange 3 legged chairs in the kitchen that were very wobbly!!
The bedroom was decent size, plenty of wardrobe space. A/C was ok. Clean bedding and a comfy bed. The bathroom was serioulsy 70's no where to put your toiletries, a pink double sink unsurprisingly cracked. An old bidet and old fashioned red and white tiles. The shower was large with two shower heads, the one that worked was ok. The only mirror in the bungalow is in the bathroom and the built in lights don't work. The light in the shower worked sometimes.
There are no glass windows in the bungalow just wooden shutters (originally slatted but now boarded on the inside) This means there is no natural light in the property what so ever which leaves you wondering whether it's light or dark outside when you wake up. In the event of a power cut(we had two) it's absolutely pitch black, keep a torch or a phone by your bed.
The property offers free wifi........... one page per hour!!!! It is sooooooo slow!!!!!
Outside on the veranda 4 white plastic patio chairs and table and also 2 single and a double garden sofas. There is a large BBQ grill should you want to use it. The pool is a plunge pool not a swimming pool but clean and plenty big enough to relax and cool off in.
So here's the enigma..........The bungalow inside drastically needs updating. We have never stayed anywhere so dated. I doubt the owner has done anything but the bare minimum since they were built.However since you will spend most of your time sitting outside on the patio on the comfy 'modern' patio furniture and not inside '1976', it doesn't matter so much. It is easy to completely relax in the very beautiful garden area listening to the birds, lizards and the crashing waves of Intendance beach- very picturesque. It is a dilemma to write what reads like damning review at a place, where we really actually enjoyed staying. It is off the beaten tourist track, peaceful,quiet and relaxing as well as being right beside what we feel is the best beach on Mahe, Intendance beach. Not a busy beach despite it being the location of the upmarket Banyan Tree Hotel. If you are lucky you will get to see a turtle coming out of the sea to lay her eggs!!!!
Gemma the landlady does a good job with what she has,but with the property full of assorted junk she would be all day dusting it!! She does clean and tidy to a good standard. She is happy to do your laundry and help in anyway she can. If you stay here and are not happy at first, bear with it as the setting and location will compensate for the interior.
This review is for the smaller double bungalow of the 3 bungalows on site.
If the owners were to spend some time and money updating and modernising the bungalows they could charge double for the beautiful and peacful location that it enjoys.