Le Prince Maurice, Belle Mare, Mauritius
Le Prince Maurice 5 Stars
"A Relais & Chateaux member and a top Mauritius resort, Prince Maurice overlooks a secluded lagoon on the northeast coast."
Hotel Overview
Review of Le Prince Maurice, by John Borthwick
Located in the Indian Ocean, the island of Mauritius has a history that sounds like colonial musical chairs. Fortunately, the French left their stamp on matters of cuisine, love and language. Had the British lingered too much longer the five-star luxury resort, Le Prince Maurice, might be known, rather less elegantly, as The Prince Morris.
The facilities
Pools and lagoons, thatched roofs, marble bathrooms, more great seafood meals than it is elegant to count, fitness centre, regal architecture, spectacular waterfront: Le Prince Maurice can count many attributes in its claim for true seraglio status. Situated on the northeast coast of this cane-clad, rainbow-gened island, this luxury resort can tempt you to just stay put, to read, snooze, or do nothing more strenuous than practice your French (or Creole) with the staff. There's a saying that Mauritians have such sweet dispositions because so much of their country is covered in sugar and it really is worth leaving the luxury resort's Edenic ambience for a look at the rest of their island.
L'Archipel restaurant, located in Le Prince Maurice's main building, overlooks the pool and the beach. Meanwhile, the floating Le Barachois restaurant, surrounded by mangroves, overlooks a large natural fish reserve and enjoys unspoiled views of the mountains. Le Prince Maurice also does a wicked line in entertainment, especially its Sega Show. Out of Africa - and almost out of its skin - Mauritian sega dancing, accompanied by frenetic drumming, starts somewhere around the pelvis and doesn't stop until the dancers are limbo-arched backwards in a wild, shake-that-thing convulsion. The Tahitian hula done on Viagra would look prudish compared to this.
The rooms
Accommodation at this luxury resort consists of 76 junior suites, 12 senior suites and one massive Princely Suite. Le Prince Maurice enjoys 60 acres of private land, ensuring maximum privacy to its guests. Its tropical gardens are full of rare, luxuriant vegetation and exotic fragrances. The setting alone makes this luxury hotel worth checking out, but the five-star hotel accommodations don't hurt a bit.
Facilities
Awards
"Gold List", Conde Nast Traveller 05Who stays here?
Michael Douglas, Giorgio Armani, and Rachel Weisz have all stayed here.Come for...
- The sunset-facing chalets
- The Guerlain spa
Not Suitable for...
- Party seekers
Children
The hotel has a mini club with supervised activities for children aged four to 12. Children's menus are also available on request.Eating in
The Restaurant offers a delicious range of Mauritian-influenced and international cuisine.The Press Say
"The location, on an east-coast peninsula, with stunning views across a lagoon, is the most beautiful of any hotel on Mauritius. The hotel is also the island's most beautifully designed." Telegraph 06"For bookish visitors, the main attraction is the library with parquet floors and extensive range of travel literature and novels." The Independent 05
Reviews
Review of Le Prince Maurice, by Sue Carpenter
Asia meets Mauritius at Le Prince Maurice, the most stylish luxury hotel on the island. This luxury hotel is designed in contemporary zen by the Amanresort team and the first glimpse of the lobby is dazzling - a soaring timber-framed cathedral with polished marble floor, creamy stone urns spilling water into a pool and artistic low lighting. Beyond, the lobby appears to drop into the glassy swimming pool, which in turn appears to drop into the ocean - until you see waiters in orange coats and straw hats bobbing across the horizon.
This luxury hotel is in an unspoiled position on a secluded 60-hectare promontory, with a turquoise lagoon and its own salt-water lake surrounded by mangroves. The scenery makes this a prime location to take a sunset cruise in one of Le Prince Maurice's silent electric boats. There are three beaches with sand almost as white as snow located by the lagoon. As you flop onto your teak lounger, a member of the staff promptly arrives with towels, cold mineral water and an iced flannel.
The facilities
The country house-style library has novels, coffee-table books, glossy magazines, CDs and DVDs. Le Prince Maurice also boasts two tennis courts, a squash court, boutiques, a putting green, mountain bikes, a spa with beauty salon, a sauna, steambath, jacuzzi, gym, and two double massage rooms which are half-open to the elements. My delicious aromatherapy massage was a firm Swedish with a dash of Shiatsu and reflexology, using rosemary oil to stimulate circulation. The beach boathouse offers free sailing, waterskiing, windsurfing, snorkeling, kayaking, pedalos (pedal boats), glass-bottom boat trips, plus, at an extra cost, banana and super tube rides, parasailing, speedboats and deep sea fishing. This luxury hotel is also family friendly, with a kids club for 4-10-year-olds which has a TV room, a small pool, a swing set, a slide, games and a restaurant. Activities for children include fishing trips, glass bottom boat trips, pedalos and pony rides.
L'Archipel is the chic main restaurant, overlooking the pool, with exquisite East-West cuisine, under chef Lionel Auvray (ex-Le Taillevent, Paris). Guests will be overwhelmed right at the start of the day with the decadent array of breakfast items: there are yogurts, preserves, pancakes to order, smoked salmon, hams, cheeses, and dreamy breads and cakes like walnut bread, pain au raisin, carrot cake and banana cake to name a few. Le Barachois is the romantic floating restaurant which has a fresh catch-of-the-day menu, giving guests a chance to truly immerse themselves in the local culinary culture. Guests walk into a nautical scene on entering Le Barachois, with its teak decking, rope railings and waiters dressed in Breton-style striped T-shirts. There is no impeding music playing in here, instead the guests listen to the natural soundtrack of rustling leaves and water lapping. After dinner, the guests can enjoy a sophisticated evening at the Laguna Bar which is always filled with great jazz music.