This is one of the cheaper hotels on Mahe and offers relavtively good value for money.
I also reccomend that you upgrade to the chalets, which are called the "deluxe" rooms. They are separate from the main hotel on the right hand side (looking from the beach).
The Beach is very nice and gets quite busy over the weekends. Most of the activity is near a public beach park between the Coral Strand hotel (500m north of Berjaya) and the Boathouse restaurant.
The Boathouse Restaurant has a creole buffet from 7:30pm for about 25 EUR. I tried it out of curiosity and although I didn't like style of food much, the waiters were very friendly and the setting is relaxing. The Baobab pizza place is a bit further along the beach and is always full due to the relatively cheap prices and beach setting. In Victoria, there is also the Pirate Arms hotel which was more to my liking.
Breakfast at the hotel isn't great, but it is suffice. Like the rest of the the Seychelles, they seem to suffer from a lack of fresh, quality produce (which I can't work out, since they have the perfect climate to grow everything they need).
Walks from the Tea Factory to Morne Blanc and from Bel Ombre to Anse Major can be done in an afternoon or morning.
The surly staff seems to be a reccurring theme for the seychelles, and whilst I don't feel that they are unfriendly, the locals do tend to be always unhappy and/or apathetic for some reason. Do not expect a smile in return. Of course there are exceptions, and the majority of the staff at the Berjaya were one of these.

We stayed in one of the chalets for 1 week, as part of our honeymoon. Unless you're on a VERY tight budget and plan to spend very little time in your hotel room, I would pay the extra for a chalet. The main block looks like depressing budget student accommodation built in the 60's, but the garden chalets are not bad at all, and have verandas. If you're getting married at the resort, they'll decorate your chalet with fresh flowers and if you're there on your honeymoon you'll get complimentary champagne (and T-shirts for some reason).

Our room wasn't huge, but adequate. It could have done with more storage space for clothes, such as a set of drawers. The air con worked perfectly and there was a small fridge (they call it a 'mini bar' but it's just a fridge), a small safe and a TV with a good range of channels. The fridge is great, as it means that you can get drinks and snacks from the local shops which are much cheaper than the hotel (you need local currency for this). The bathroom was of a good size and clean. We got fresh towels every day and often fresh flowers laid out on the bed.

The hotel is quite big and has several restaurants, which are good (espc. the Chinese). There is also a bar and a shop selling toiletries and touristy things like shells and trinkets. There are car hire desks in the lobby, a diving centre, and water sports. The pool is good and you can get fresh beach towels every day, free of charge. The beach is just a few meters away from the main hotel area, and very nice. There are a few men walking around offering tours and car hire, but they leave you alone once you've made it clear that you're not interested. The hotel has a free shuttle bus to Victoria (advance booking necessary) and events such as bbqs and walks.

We expected this area to be busier and more 'touristy', as it is the main beach on Mahe, but there are hardly any bars and not that many restaurants either. If you walk along the beach, you'll get to a good beach front restaurant (only takes Euros) and a pizza place (quite basic, but good food and they take local currency). We also ate at the hotel quite a bit. The menus at the hotel are in the local currency, but you will get billed in Euros - which is quite annoying as you have to keep converting the prices in your head.

The breakfast buffet is excellent with lots of choice and the staff are very efficient. The earlier you turn up the better, as everything is fully stocked and it's less crowded. If you turn up late, you may have to wait a few minutes for food to be re-stocked.

The staff at the hotel are mostly very friendly and efficient. We rented a car for a couple of days, since there isn't that much to do in the local area, apart from sun bathing.

Summary: one step up from the real budget hotels with polite staff and good facilities.

I can cope with the concept of getting what you pay for but the fact is that for what you get this resort isn't that cheap.

The hotel was opened in 1974 and if you are nostalgic for the seventies this would be a great place to stay as clearly little has changed since then. The rooms in the main hotel are small, badly maintained and old fashioned. I spent one night in a room on the top floor (there is no lift by the way) and was kept awake all night by the sound of rain on the roof- it is made of metal sheets so you can imagine the noise in a heavy rainstorm. The room was not especially clean, with mold in the bathroom, patched sheets and sandpaper towels.

After that experience I "upgraded" to a room in one of the chalets which while still dated and worn are much nicer- and quieter! They have fairly spacious balconies as well, although if you choose to stay indoors the air conditioning units are very noisy.

The hotel has a choice of restaurants. A (poor) buffet breakfast is served in the exotically named "Parrot", although I did find the evening buffet there to be better. There is also a Cantonese Restaurant which I didn't sample and a Pizzeria which gives wonderful views of the sunset over the ocean. Sadly there is little else to recommend it- the food is average and the service consistently appalling. The staff are not only disinterested but are positively rude, despite the fact that the 10% service charge automatically added to the bill must have improved their income no end- I can't imagine anybody tipping them voluntarily. the three stray cats wandering around at least looked well fed, so something appreciated the food. There are probably plenty of left overs. The food in all of the restaurants is ridiculously overpriced for both the quality and service but a short taxi ride or walk along the beach will reveal numerous better and cheaper options for refreshment.

The only redeeming features of the hotel are the excellent beach and the pleasant pool- although once again the staff in attendance are anything but pleasant.

This hotel is significantly cheaper than the nearby five star resorts but it is also significantly worse. Do yourself a favour and save up for one of the better hotels. The island is a lovely spot for a holiday and it is a shame to spoil it with a substandard hotel.

I read some of the reviews prior to travelling and if I had taken note would have never stayed in the hotel. Read on for some important info.

The good things: The hotel is right on the most beautiful beach you will ever see. The hotel offers a choice for meals from the Pizzaria to Chinese to the resturant offering a full evening buffet. The Chinese is a little expensive if you are eating alone. The Pizzaria offered everything I wanted. The local Seybrew beer is quite good too. The weather was hot about 32 dgc every day. It was at the end of the rainy season so heavy showers were around for the first week. The Sun however was really strong.

The bad things: As other reviews have indicated the hotel needs some updating but to be quite honest the garden room I stayed in had everything I needed including Air conditioning and apart from a couple of tiles needing replacing and a shower head that would never stay on the wall was ok. The room was large although limited in draw space for those travelling with kids.

Things you should know: The hotel staff were friendly and would always talk. I travelled on business for two weeks and was always greated with a smile. Recently the hotel has added 10% service charge to everything which must have cheered up the staff :-). The rates of exchange are a little confusing. As a traveller from the UK I was not allowed to use rupees in the hotel and had to purchase items (drinks etc) in Euros (staff always had to go to reception to get change in Euros). Going outside the hotel you will need to have the local rupees which you can exchange in reception (about 11 rupees to the Euro) although you are always touted to change money every time you go on the beach where rates may be better but at a risk. When I came to settle my final bill it was in $US!!!

Location: on the north of the island about 4-5 miles from Victoria. I was working in Victoria and would certainly recommend visiting. The local places to eat were reasonable in price and the food was good. The Chilli sauce will liven up your taste buds :-). The hotel is right on the beach. One end of the beach is the 5 star Le Meridian (which looked quite nice) and the other end is the Coral Strand Hotel. The beach is first class. Because of the time I spent working I never had the opportunity to visit other Islands however other guests did mention how beautiful they were.