Having been in the travel industry for almost 12 years, I have travelled at lot. I have stayed in many hotels, resorts, but, my old time favourite is still, Mauritius. However, this holiday I can honestly say, was the best holiday ever!

We travelled in economy class on Air Mauritius. It’s a very comfortable airline, with friendly staff, good food and entertainment. They were on time, so no delays in getting us to our holiday destination. With Mauritius only 4 hours from Joburg, it truly is paradise on our doorstep.

On arrival in Mauritius, we cleared passport control, collected our bags and as we walked through the doors of arrivals, there was a friendly representative waiting for us from Coquille Bonheur, with some cold, scented towels, cold water & a cute little local beach bag for me! What a treat to be met with such service. Now for those of you who have been to Mauritius or for those who haven’t…I just LOVE the scented towels.

As we left the airport, we drew some local currency from the ATM (it’s always best to exchange money at the airport, as you get a better rate).

Our private transfer was ready and waiting for us, our destination, Lux Le Morne for 3 nights. Lux* Le Morne is situated on the beautiful South/West of Mauritius, overlooking Le Morne mountain. It’s about 1h15 from the airport. On arrival at Lux Le Morne, again, we were met with those lovely scented towels and a refreshing cocktail. We were shown to comfortable couches to relax while being checked in. This is one of the great things of Lux resorts, the importance of your holiday ‘time’. You don’t want to waste time standing around on your holiday waiting, so, from the moment you arrive, making most of your time, is top priority. As we arrived quite late, we headed straight to the buffet for dinner. For those of you who don’t know the rule…its compulsory to pick up at least 4kg while on holiday in Mauritius and judging from our first night at the buffet, this was not going to be a problem at all! After dinner, we were shown to our room – the honeymoon suite! What a treat! The room was a holiday on its own, very spacious, private balcony, huge bathroom…and best of all, the bed! That was THE most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. As you lay down, you literally ‘sink into’ the bed linen. It’s as if the bed swallowed you up! (Hint: try booking your restaurants early for every night of your stay, as they do get booked up very quickly. The Thai restaurant at Le Morne, was my favourite.)

The next morning we had breakfast in the most beautiful setting on the deck. We chose the table closest to the sea and had the best view…white sand, crystal clear water…the perfect way to start the day. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to tell yourself ‘I am only having fruit for breakfast’, it never happens. The choice of food was just unbelievable…from fruit, yoghurt, cereals, full English breakfast, pancakes, waffles…the choice was endless.

Although the resort was at 100% occupancy, it sure didn’t feel like it. The stretch of beach it’s located on ensures everyone gets their spot without feeling cramped or crowded. There is also a choice of three swimming pools to choose from PLUS, and this was the highlight for me…a pool bar! We spent many hours just relaxing in the water, enjoying the bar’s many choice of cocktails.

Loads of activities were available at the boat house, from snorkelling, kayaking, wind surfing etc. Not to mention searching for the ‘message in a bottle’ or the ‘secret bar’. These two activities is something unique to Lux resorts and add that element of surprise to your holiday. Once or twice a week, the staff would hide a glass bottle with a message inside somewhere on the resort property. If you happen to find it…you take it to reception and as you open it, there is a surprise treat for you! It could be anything from a special dinner, massage…who knows…until you find the bottle. The secret bar, again, also only happens once or twice a week, and the staff will set up a ‘mobile bar’ somewhere on the resort grounds. If you find it, you can help yourself to as many drinks as you want, and even make your own cocktails, all complimentary!

Our second night, we were invited to a cocktail party, where guests had the opportunity to meet the hotel management. This is definitely not to be missed and a great way to mingle.

On our last day, we made use of ‘Lux Me’…the Spa. This is a definite MUST, and the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit. Our choice of treatment, a couple’s full body massage.

There is a weekly schedule available in your room of all the daily activities you can participate in…or, you can do your own thing -the choice is yours.

Day 4 of our holiday we were transferred, across the island to Lux* Belle Mare. On the East Coast of Mauritius. It was quite a long drive 1h30 minutes; however, it was nice to drive through all the local villages and towns.

On arrival, we were, again met with friendly smiles, those cold scented towels and a refreshing drink. After all the check-in formalities, we were taken via golf cart to our own private villa. No words can describe my excitement of having to stay in a private villa, with your own private butler, private heated pool PLUS your own private beach (for villa residence only, of which there are 12 villas).

While sipping on our sparkling wine, our butler showed us around our villa…ie. dining area, lounge, bedroom, bathroom with outside shower, mini-kitchenette, outside veranda with pool, loungers and private deck…yip, I have arrived, in paradise. And then, we stepped outside on the sea sand…it is THE softest sand I have ever felt! My paradise, just got better.

Again, the hotel was at 100% occupancy, but I would never have said it. There were plenty of beach loungers to choose from, and it never felt crowded.

We spent our days, either lounging on the beach or our villa, enjoying the home made ice-cream, the best coffee ever from Café lux, activities at the boat house and off course, making everyone jealous at home with updates on facebook (free wifi throughout the resort) or if you are a workaholic like my husband…catching up on e-mails.

You can take a taxi to Belle Mare town, its about 10min from the hotel @ Rupees 100 return (about R40). There are a few shops, it took us 15 minutes to walk through all the shops. Or, you can go a bit further 20min from the hotel to the town of Flaq. On Tuesday & Sundays they have ‘market day’ with all kinds of stuff from spices, clothes etc.

Every night we enjoyed a night cap (local vanilla rum) at the bar and enjoy some local, live band entertainment.

Just as I thought our holiday can’t get any better…we booked a breakfast on the beach (@ Rupees750 per person, approx.. R250 per person). You guessed it; they set your breakfast table up in the water. So you enjoy your meal while having your feet in the sand and the sound of the waves, literally at your feet.

We were in for yet another treat, on our last night, we were moved to the honeymoon suite, with a private, romantic dinner on the balcony. A five course lobster menu…again, I was speechless.

Both Lux* Belle Mare and Lux* Le Morne has so much to offer. My experience above hasn’t even scratched the surface. …actually, they have many reasons to visit them!

Will I return to Mauritius = YES

Will I return to Lux* resorts = YES…we never did find that message in a bottle or the secret bar, so I have to return (soon) to find it!

HUGE THANK YOU to the entire team of Lux…from the reception staff, to the waiters, chefs, butlers, beach boys…all of you are super stars and truly made my holiday so special and memorable.

Special thanks to Geraldine & Rocco from Lux* Le Morne, and Ashesh, Suren, Dave, Shandon & Roa from Lux* Belle Mare – you guys rock!

I can go on and on about the all you can expect (and more) from Lux* resorts, but that is for you to go and experience yourself.

After the plan for a holiday was set we zeroed in on Mauritius as I am in love with beaches and my wife wanted to just a relaxing holiday with Spa and sleep. As it was our first visit to Mauritius we chose the Luxurious property at LUX* Belle Mare.
In one word, it was INCREDIBLE, from the arrival experience to our room allocation. The service was excellent, and the staff amazing. Always with a great smile and a kind word to make you feel at ease. The beach was fantastic, with a calm and shallow blue lagoon, ideal for diving & also for walking along. There is a good selection of restaurants and they have the best resort coffee I ever tasted (specially the tailor made ones).Special attraction is the Roasting machine they have right behind the café. The food in the restaurants are terrific, so tasty and yummy and also of high level. Some days there are theme night, where you can enjoy yourself on the live band music. We really enjoyed the whole experience there and would definitely recommend this hotel.
Arrivals
Received a warm welcome by the General Manager and front office manager, along with some lovely team members. The cold towel was a mood enhancer considering we checked in the afternoon.It is good to see the management completely hands-on. The same experience is felt across all areas of the resort, whereby, making any request easier and smooth.

Restaurant:

Truly amazing. Delicious and a huge variety to choose from. The staff in the restaurant were just incredible. Not sure how, but they remember your name and your likes. I did not have to order my coffee on the second and subsequent days; it came exactly, how I like it. The smiles on the faces are so genuine and you can make out that they are happy. They are enjoying their job!!! A very good selection of restaurants along with the choice of food.
The beach restaurant has an amazing setting which gave me the best memory of the stay.They had a special setting for Valentines Day (naturally we had to pre book considering the 97% occupancy) and customized menus were printed with Guest’s names printed on the menu. That was so thoughtful. You get to choose from several different cuisines and certainly the best Pizza ever!!!

Spa :

The SPA treatments were heavenly. We had a Balinese massage,Relaxing massage and a Wrap treatment which really de-stressed us.

Housekeeping:

Once again, very friendly and lovely team members. The room was always crisp clean and they also took care of our requirement. If we used something extra, the housekeeping staff used to place an extra of that in the room, each day. This kind of special touch made our vacation very special and we could recommend LUX Belle Mare to all travelers, should they wish to stay different.

I also undertook the PADI certified diving course in the in house diving centre which was an out of the world experience. Surely recommended.

We certainly came as guests and but left us family.
Looking forward to come back soon as our second home.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 6 night stay at the Lux. The very pleasant, friendly and efficient welcome by Andrei set a high standard which was maintained. We loved the setting of the hotel around a beautiful garden with gazebo and fish pond, just behind the beach. Breakfast offered a very enjoyable wide range of cold and hot food, served in The Kitchen, the attractive main restaurant where evening buffets are also served, which we chose three times. The three a la carte restaurants offer impressively attentive service and generally excellent food. One limitation of the situation on the windy east coast is that setting tables outside is not feasible. A highlight of our stay was the exciting Sega show, which lasted an hour and where all the musicians, dancers and male vocalists seemed to be enjoying bringing us into the spirit of Mauritian culture. An Indian sitar / table performance was also given on another evening. It has been said that the Lux caters for young families, which is certainly true. As a mature couple we have no problem with young children, but it was unfortunate that too many parents allowed, perhaps even condoned, their little ones wandering around amongst the performers and equipment. The hotel staff should perhaps consider firmer guidelines on this. The appeal to children was also evident at the pool, most of which was too shallow for adult swimming. Overall though we loved the Lux and it ensured that our holiday in Mauritius will be memorable.

We just returned from a 10 day holiday at Lux Belle Mare. We found it was one of our best holidays ever. The rooms were very spacious, always clean with lovely views. The layout of the hotel was was superb and right on the beach. The hotel and gardens were lovely and spacious and it never felt crowded, in fact it was very peaceful. No loud music at the pool either which you may find in other hotels. It was well catered for couples and families. Staff were excellent, very attentive, food was plentiful and very tasty and fresh and very well presented, we could not fault it. They had a spa and gym which was small but good, yoga lessons and free water activities if you are on All inclusive. Being on All inclusive is well worth it as the prices are quite expensive if you had to pay everything separately, we booked half board first but then changed before our trip and were really glad we did. Nothing was ever too much for the hotel staff, we just needed to ask. We were sad to leave!