We had a really pleasant stay at Four Seasons, which made us feel that we need to come back. We have only stayed for 2 nights and realised that at least 4 would have been best to enjoy all that this beautiful island has to offer. The accomodation is great, beautifully decorated, the stay is really nice and welcoming, and the food is amazing! Especially the Lighthouse restaurant, where we have enjoy a superb meal (and service!).
This place just beats Bawah Island as our favourite private island getaway. We love the relaxed pace of the island, the BEAUTIFUL beaches and sea-life (to be explored either privately or with help of the staffs) and the mixture of nature and amenities. Each of the marked area of the beach that are serviced by the hotel has sports equipment, towels, waters, toilets, showers and radio to contact the staffs. These spots are monitored by staffs periodically to ensure safety and comfort. So even though the places seem remote, they are actually very safe. But obviously, risky behaviours are not encouraged. Our room was functional,, spacious and beautiful. The staffs were helpful, friendly and genuinely interested in making our holiday a success. Shout out to the F&B teams at Claudine: Prakash, Abraam, Melody who welcomed us most mornings and nights. And thank you again for the Rambutans to our room (just because they noticed we love it so much!). Special mention to the front desk staffs who helped my husband with his phone who decided to take a dive in the ocean! Our suggestion is to explore the island with provided bikes. We love the North Point as it was secluded but full of marine life. We spotted turtles, manta ray, sharks and crabs just by walking on the beach. Aquarium beach is perfect for SUP with its crystal clear turquoise water. It is truly as beautiful as the brochures. Another suggestion is to get a half board. I notice most reviews here unfairly complained about the expense. Half board is your strategy! We had it and loved everything the team had to offer. First, structure wise, there's always a theme night every two days so we are not forced to eat ala-carte two days in a row. Also, if one is fed up with generous buffet, the Indian night was actually a set menu, a thoughtful presentation of how Indian cuisine is often served (on a tray with little bowls). The food itself was delicious and thoughtfully prepared. On a slightly negative side, breakfast felt a bit dull after day 5 or 6 just because it was the same and Lighthouse was a bit neither here nor there: it is advertised as grill restaurant but it was more fine dining. Still worth going to soak up the ambiance. This place is truly special.…
The 4 seasons is always a great idea although I have to admit when we arrived I was a bit disappointed with the way they managed our flight delay. Then again once they acknowledged the mismanagement they made up for it. The villa we reserved is beautiful and the view of the ocean is truly mesmerizing. The service is incredible and they actually catered to our needs. I loved the fact they had the WhatsApp service which allowed us to connect directly with the resort wherever we were and place our request at any time. The beach by the main lobby is nice but if the barrier would’ve been removed it would’ve been better. In addition, I disliked that we couldn’t do any island hopping since we were 35min from the main island and lastly the phone connection was horrible. All in all you can’t go wrong with the 4 seasons and we continued our stay on the main island.…
We had the best vacation at the FS in Desroches. It felt like we almost had the island to ourselves and were pampered beyond belief. The hotel design and feel is very much one of understated luxury - you won't find any glits or bling bling but everything is thought through - from the bikes in the rooms, to the cold water, towels and beach chairs that are waiting for you in the beaches across the island... While the service was excellent we wanted to give a special thanks to: - Amro at the front desk who was so warm, welcoming and thoughtful in helping us celebrate the Jewish Shabbat with kosher wine and bread - Donaldson who made a special effort to accommodate out dietary requests and went above and beyond to see we are happy Indeed as mentioned in previous comments the incidentals are extremely expensive so that is worth coming mentally prepared for (given you are on a desert island there are also no alternative dinning options outside the resort)…
This was our first trip to the Seychelles and more specifically to Desroches. We had high expectations, and we can easily say that all our expectations were met, even more than anticipated. The beauty and natural surroundings of this piece of heaven is second to none; the tranquility, the privacy and the presence of Mother Nature is overwhelming. We had special dietary requests and were spoiled from arrival to departure in all aspects. No request was too much for the F&B team and that same philosophy counts for everyone involved in the good running of FS Desroches. The Golden Rule of FS comes to life in Desroches! If you are looking for noisy, 'see and be seen' holidays then this place is not for you. If you can appreciate the finer things in life then this place is second to none and will give you a unique and memorable experience. We have travelled extensively and have never felt the same at any other luxury resort! A special mention to a few exceptional people who so much enhanced our stay. Bianca - our 'old' friend from FS Johannesburg, such a pleasure to see you again and thanks for taking such good care of our reservation. FS Desroches is not the same without your care. Donaldson - no request too much, you love challenging yourself and gave us an appetite to come back :) Javier - always present, always discreet and always with a smile. We are already counting down to our next visit....…
The island itself with miles of white powdery beaches is nearly perfect. Madame Zabre beach is the most perfect beach that we’ve ever been to and is never crowded. The Four Seasons staff are always friendly and quickly learned our routine so it wasn’t long before they knew what we wanted without even having to ask. The villa with the private pool was wonderful. This would have been our favorite resort in the world if it weren’t for the average food and astronomically high food prices that make the food a very poor value. For example, a hamburger at lunch is over $50 USD, a can of Coke at dinner is over $12 USD, the cheapest steak on the menu is a Strip Steak from Poland for $115 USD, and bottles of wine start in the $150 USD range and go up from there. Due to this, if we had eaten like we normally do, the food bill would have equaled or exceeded our room rate each day. Fortunately we knew how overpriced the wine was in advance so we stopped at the Seychelles Duty Free store between immigration and customs and purchased good quality wine for the entire trip at 7 euros per bottle. We also purchased snacks there as the $35 small jar of gummy bears in the mini bar mentioned in a prior review is accurate. Four Seasons ended up charging a 30 euro per bottle corking fee per bottle of wine but it still saved us a huge amount. Breakfast was included in our room rate and was a good size buffet so we ate a lot at breakfast and then skipped lunch. At dinner, instead of our normal four courses, we just got entrees (dinner still cost over $100 USD for two people with some of the cheaper entrees despite this). We’ve been to Four Seasons Bora Bora and Four Seasons Maldives and the food there was better and not so outrageously priced. The island itself and the service are worth the room rate. I just wish the food was better and wasn’t double the price that it should be. On prior review responses, the manager has made excuses about the cost of importing food, but our high quality German Riesling purchased at the Seychelles airport cost 7 euros versus a similar wine at Four Seasons costing about twenty times as much so I don’t think that is an adequate excuse. The food is priced so high simply because they think they can charge that amount as there is no alternative option on Desroches Island.…
We stayed here for 7 nights in an Ocean Villa, the Villas are extremely large with a large outdoor pool and decked area. You feel like you are castaways for the week, rarely seeing another person, unless at a dining outlet. The food was beautiful, especially the Wagyu Beef and Yellow Finn Tuna. You can arrange a picnic to take to the secluded beaches. Thank you to all the staff and to Seyexclusive who made trip possible.
Without question, the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in. Desroches Island is epic - the beaches are picture-perfect (well stocked with water, towels and loungers, but otherwise often empty of people), the sea itself is amazing, the cycle tracks across the island and through the forest are fun, the wild tortoises roaming around etc. But what made our stay even more special was the quality of the hotel itself. Our accommodation (admittedly an upgrade) was fantastic: spacious, with a pool and private beach access, beautifully decorated. The communal areas and the restaurants, especially the lighthouse, are great and we also really enjoyed the activities - stargazing on the airstrip is a must, but we also did kayaking, yoga and meditation, lots and lots of snorkeling (unaccompanied mostly - you just borrow equipment from the Ocean Club and ask where is best to go!)... Perhaps the restaurants could offer a little more local Seychellois food, but a minor gripe on an otherwise 6* experience. Highly recommended…
We've been super lucky to travel to the best resorts in the best world destinations (Maldives, Seychelles, Thailand,...). Therefore, our expectations are super high when it come to reviewing a resort and we are really paying close attention to all the small details. Four Seasons Desroches really ticks many boxes that we'd except in a luxury resort to spend the best possible vacations. The big pros of 4S Desroches : - The staff - as always with 4S, the staff is excellent and the service they deliver is truly 5 stars. This is something we really love about Four Seasons resorts in general, and Desroches did not miss on this one. - The island - it's ABSOLUTELY beautiful. I'll attach a few pictures to give you a quick overview, but believe me that it's actually much better when you're there than on any picture you could see online. In front of our beach villa, we had the most "Maldives-like" beach and lagoon that we've ever seen in the Seychelles. It's absolutely perfect for families with children as it's a super quiet beach (on the Pool Beach Villa side) which is pretty rare in the Seychelles where the sea is quite often agitated. - The spa is beautiful with excellent massages. - The food was super good ! Not to the level that you can find in many great 5* resorts in the Maldives (where food is really top notch) but still very very good ! - The villas are beautiful. Not super big, but big enough, and with an EXTREMELY comfortable bed. I totally loved it. - The gym is not super big, but well equipped and perfectly Air Conditioned (very important for me !). Also, the cold towels in the fridge is one of the many small attentions that really make the difference. - Even though there are 70 villas and it was almost fully occupied when we were there, you NEVER felt the crowd, even at breakfast or at any buffet. This is something we value a lot, as we do not really like "big" hotels where you feel like in a cheap 4* Cancun resort. - There is a tortoise sanctuary that you can visit whenever you want. There's even the oldest Turtoise of the Seychelles, Georges, which is around 200yo ! :o - And as it's never too much to say again : the island is BEAUTIFUL! Now, is it perfection? No. We've never ever visited a resort that reached perfection, as it's just not possible (at least, with our level of expectation where we'll fortunately (or unfortunately) always find ways of improvement). So what can be improved? - A little bit more personalized service. What does this mean? Having the waiters know your habits at breakfast, know your villa number without having to ask again and again,... This is something we've quite been used to in many resorts we visited where after just 2 days, the waiters already knew our habits at breakfast, knew our names and villa number,... - Having cold towels when you 1) Arrive at a restaurant 2) Arrive at the spa 3) Are about to leave and waiting for the plane in the "outside lounge". It's always super hot in the Seychelles, so having a fresh and perfumed towel in these occasions would be highly appreciated. - A better timing for the room cleaning. We've maybe been super unlucky, but 4days out of 5 the cleaning was done at the exact WRONG moment. This means it started just before we came back to the villa...or right after. But when you come back from 2-3h outside the villa, you'd expect it to be ready. Again, this is maybe just a lot of bad luck, I do not think this is something that actually happens so often at Four Seasons. - The buggy service. SUPER long - the island is super big so many people will not always use the free bikes to roam around the island but they'll use the buggys. Yet, they can take AGES to come (understand more than 20 minutes). Unfortunately, this is really too long and there's a big margin for improvements there. Finally, 2 more things that are not really ways of improvement but just facts that you should know : 1) The island is BEAUTIFUL, this, you know by now. But it's also SUPER big. To reach the beach at the end of the island, count approximately 25 minutes. This is absolutely no criticism, just a fact. We love biking, so that was absolutely no problem for us and we really enjoyed exploring the whole island (it's particularly great for running as well, you can run 7-9Km easily without going twice on the same path). 2) The activities / food prices are extremely high. No surprise here, we knew it and were aware of the prices in top-end resorts in the Seychelles. But prepare yourself to easily pay 300$ per night for 2 people without alcoholic drinks. All in all, Four Seasons Desroches is an EXCELLENT property that truly deserves its position about the best resorts we've ever visited. Even though it's not perfect, it really ticks all the important boxes that matter for us. If the few ways of improvement could be solved, we'd go back 100%. ...and maybe that even if they were not solved, we would very likely still go back because everything there is amazing ! As a conclusion, note that, for Seychelles standards, the prices of the villas are VERY competitive. Yes, all other activities will be expensive, as anywhere else at this level of luxury, but the rooms are priced more than reasonably. Do we recommend Four Seasons Desroches : ABSOLUTELY ! You can book without any second guessing, you won't be disappointed. Sarah & Flo…
We greatly enjoyed Desroches Island Four Seasons. I especially liked the room! The bed was very comfortable in our villa. I loved the privacy of the outdoor area with pool. Outdoor shower was fun to try. There was an upstairs balcony area as well and a large sitting area. There were resort maps and information about Desroches left in the room to help you navigate the island. Also they welcomed us with a chocolate tortoise and some ice tea! Minibar snacks were pretty crazy (35 Euros for gummy bears), so bring your own if you want to snack in the room beyond the complimentary welcome chocolate. Minibar soft drink prices were more reasonable. Also, there was no bottle opener in the room and some bottles in the minibar you needed one for. Food was overall good. Breakfast buffet was probably the highlight with an amazing array of options, more than I've seen anywhere else in the world. Be aware the "deli" is actually sushi and not what I would consider a deli (sandwiches etc.), but you can get sandwiches on the main lunch menu. Creole night was interesting but expensive. Riding bikes around the island was a fun way to explore. We also enjoyed the conservation talk and the area with all the conservation/wildlife posters and information. Madame Zabre was actually our favorite beach although small, it had beautiful views and nice swimming options as well as SUPs/Kayaks for using at will. All the beaches have showers, towels, water, and a bathroom, so you don't have to lug stuff around the island. The gym was also spacious, clean, and not crowded at all. We worked out every day and it was so nice to keep our bodies moving and in shape. Staff was great overall...sometimes even a little too attentive at dinner as they refilled my water every 3 seconds...but that's kind of the vibe. I liked that they bottled their own water in glass bottles to cut down on plastic waste. They restocked the villa twice daily with water bottles and you could also get them at most beaches. They also had re-fillable shampoo/body was in the villa which avoided wasting bottles. Surf instructors were super friendly and seemed to enjoy their jobs. There were lots of scheduled resort activities on daily schedule or you could just explore ad lib. Overall an amazing and unique experience at the end of our Seychelles trip. Would definitely visit again and wish we could have stayed a few days longer. I'd say 4-6 nights is really ideal! Thanks to all the staff. We were blessed to get to enjoy Desroches island for a time!…
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