We stayed at Grand Bay Suites for 2 weeks. It is comfortable, convenient, close to beaches, restaurants, shopping and excursions and excellent value for money. It is only 3.5 star but this is mainly to not having a restaurant on-site.
It is well furnished with all kitchen facilities available making it ideal for self catering. Everything you may possibly need is provided although a full length mirror would be a handy addition. The photos posted here are exactly as the place appears and we did not get any unwelcome surprises. The pool area is nice enough and not too busy. The sofa bed was comfortable enough for my 18 year old son to sleep on, but it is only suitable for one adult or two small children.
We were on the second floor and it certainly is best for privacy with only two units per block on each floor. We had both units, one for us and one for the three teenage kids. The only person to come up to our floor every day was the very polite and courteous cleaning lady. There are no lifts but we had little difficulty getting our suitcases up the two flights and were helped by the hotel staff.
Having read a lot of review complaints, they are mostly valid but easily rectifiable to ensure a pleasant stay.
The Wi-Fi is certainly poor and for the first week it was very slow for general browsing even from the balcony. During the second week the modem was upgraded and this improved the speed and range. However it would cut out every 5 minutes so any streaming was not worth attempting. We got a 3G sim from Emtel and that worked really well.
The TV's were 37" but had only four channels with BBC World News as the only English service. The TV's did have HDMI and VGA connections so you could easily plug in your laptop to watch your own content.
We did not have anyone going through our belongings (as other reviewers have stated) and were given access to the laundry room which we used frequently over our two week stay. This was free of charge but we obviously did need to buy our own detergent.
There are certainly small lizards in the rooms but we learnt from experience that this could be reduced by closing all windows in the evening. Ants weren't too much of a problem as we kept everything in the fridge. However if you are particularly susceptible like me, don't sleep with the balcony door open or the mosquitoes will attack you with a vengeance. This also made sense as the other guests can be loud at night and on Saturday nights we could hear the nightclubbers. However downside of the closing the balcony door is trying to sleep with the loud noise from the A/C which you must have on instead.
We brought our own chopping board and knife but this was not needed as a large chopping board and knife set is provided along with kettle, toaster and microwave oven. An iron was also provided but an Iron board would have been welcome.
The staff are very friendly and helpful. Ram is the Hotel Manager and gave us good advice on excursions and restaurants. Mary and Robin are on the Reception/Security desk and were very approachable and chatty. They were NOT at all pushy about booking restaurants or excursions for you.
We hired a car online and this was cheaper than what GBTT offered us. We also booked our own excursions directly with the local operators including Horse Riding and Parasailing. We also visited the Botanical Gardens, Black River National Park, Seven Coloured Earth and Casela Safari Adventure park.
La Cuvette is the closest beach and walking distance from the hotel but it is quite smalland gets crowded. Pereybere beach is 2km away and also quite busy. Mont Choisy is the longest and most sandy of the beaches but is 15 mins drive. Balaclava beach was even further and bordered on a private resort. The beach we loved the most was Cap Malheureux in the north. It is also about 15 mins drive and had stunning views of Coin de Mire and other islands. There is also a picturesque chapel there called Notre Dame Auxiliatrice which is definitely worth seeing. We recommend buying some amazing hand-crafted bracelets from a beach vendor called Sanjeev. They were very good value and better that those from the local bazaar in Grand Bay.
Food shopping was best from Super U which is 5 mins drive away but Store 2000 next door was always useful if you forgot something. The Mall at La Croisette is modern and has many fashion outlets. The cinema there shows movies in English at 6pm.
There are many good restaurants around La Croisette and Super U but also on Royal Road in Grand Baie. We would recommend Luigi's, Le Tandoor and Malibu Hotspur.
In summary, we had a very enjoyable stay at Grand Bay Suites and have no reservations in recommending it to everyone.
