As it was our fortieth wedding anniversary we decided to go long haul and were undecided on the Caribbean or Mauritius. After half an hour with Chris at Bath Travel we had decided on Dinarobin, travelling with Beachcomber.
Well for once in my life I did something right, never have we enjoyed a holiday so much, and been so relaxed at the end of it.
We arrived at Heathrow 3 a touch early and sailed through, no queues anywhere.
We hadn’t realised that our seats were allocated at the time of booking, had we known we may have tried for the best possible, but saying that we had good ones and were quite pleased that we hadn’t spent the money to upgrade to Business. The flight was fine, even though 12 hours, and the food was as good as airline food can be, with plenty of wine to send you to sleep.( We opted for night flights both ways – definitely a good move, especially as there were quite a few young children on the way back, and because they darken the cabin it helped them sleep ).
Arrival at Mauritius was all good, everyone was very polite and friendly, and a nice little duty free shop in arrivals ( get your local rum and other spirits here ( litre Jamesons £13.00 ), as the hotel drinks can be expensive, if you are not expecting it.
Expect to pay a minimum of £5.00 for any drink – glass of wine, small beer.)
We reported to the desk and were given a couple of bottles of water and showed the directions to the transport. Within 10 metres a porter took our bags, welcomed us to Mauritius and showed us to a chauffeur driven BMW.

The driver was brilliant, showing us all the sites on the hour long drive to Dinarobin, and he stopped at a couple of shops to get us some tonic water to go with the DF gin ( why don’t airports sell the mixers ).
We were greeted at the hotel with cold flannels and smiling faces, bags were taken onto a buggy and we were welcomed by the concierge, Bertie ( when booking we upgraded to a beach front suite, which gives you unlimited access to “The Club at Dinarobin”, this is well worth the money as you can visit as often as you want from 8am – 8pm for drinks and snacks, champagne or water, take your pick.

Bertie took us into the club, offered champagne and sandwiches and explained all the ins and outs of the hotel.
After a suitable rest to enjoy the champers, we were driven in the little golf buggy to our suite.
This was a first floor ( only ground and first ), with a beautiful view out to sea, we said at the time that this was the only place we had stayed that actually looked better than the brochure. From the seven foot bed to the ice bucket with champagne, fruit & nibbles, little presents of candles and teashirts, and the massive bathroom, everything surpassed our expectations.

FOOD

We were half board, and stayed 11 nights.
There are two main restaurants, L’Harmonie, which is the general one, and Saveur des Iles, for which you pay a substantial supplement.
The food was that good in L’Harmonie, that we didn’t bother with the other one. You can also eat at Le Paradis restaurants, which we didn’t, but were told were very good.
This was a five course Michelin style meal, every night!! – beware the wine, the cheapest is £25.00 a bottle. So a couple of aperitifs in the Club before dinner, at no cost, was quite welcome.

Breakfast was more than adequate, with an abundance of fruit and juices, bacon and eggs, omelettes and much more.

For a cheap lunch, turn left onto the public beach, about 500 yards, and go to the little kiosk, which sells all sorts of chips, burgers and local snacks – lunch will cost you less than a fiver each.


THE CLUB
This is like a colonial gentlemans club, cool from the sun, leather chairs and unlimited drinks and snacks, very sedate and relaxing.
The staff, namely Arnaud and Ram, will look after you extremely well,
welcoming you each time by name and remembering your favourite drink.
These guys epitomise the Mauritian hospitality.

The duty concierge is always on hand if you need to organise anything or book restaurants, golf etc.

THE HOTEL
Despite it being quite a large place, we always had the feeling that we were the only ones there. The long white coral beach was almost deserted most of the time.
Evening entertainment was limited to local dancing and shows, and a few duos of singers and piano players – most of them pretty good.

Need to go the Golf course or the Spa, phone reception and they send a buggy to collect you.

Golf Course is amazing, with sea on two sides at one point.

Without exception, all of the staff were extremely friendly and courteous, nothing was too much trouble for any of them, smiling faces everywhere you looked.


This is a fantastic hotel in a fantastic location, staffed by a fantastic crew.

We have nothing to complain of!!!