Maritim Resort & Spa Mauritius

This hotel and Holiday location was amazing, the hotel met our expection and the choice of food is wow! Normally I don't like the main food areas in hotels, but this is the best experience I have ever had with a great choice of lush food. The service across the hotel was exceptional, the staff are so friendly and want you to have a great holiday. Some of the hotel restaurants you may wish to choose food with extra charges, but it is a choice and the food is great if you don't want to spend extra. The beach is not too busy and sea is lovely to swim in, but to snorkel go to one of the islands where the sea is clear and you have great coral and fish to take pictures of. There are plenty of trips which you can do if your not a beach person such as the botanical gardens and Ile-aux-aigrettes island. Thank you to the hotel staff for making our holiday do so fantastic and memorable Read less

We booked last minute in the BA sale, around two weeks pre-departure (without reading the detailed reviews.) After reading the reviews and checking the weather forecast, we were on the brink of cancelling/switching to another hotel but I’m so glad we didn’t because we had a lovely and relaxing break, the weather was much better than the forecasts suggested and the hotel fully met our expectations. When speakng to the guest relations lady, I asked why there were so many negative reviews (as we’ve travelled extensively and had no serious complaints) and she said that “some people like green while others like blue.” The hotel has a 50% returning guest rate, which clearly speaks for itself. I suppose you could describe the hotel as marmite, people seemed to either love it or hate it, though I’m not sure why. Reception was one department that let the hotel down slightly, the service there was on the slow side (but you are on holiday and not in central London!) we didn’t spend a great deal of time there or require much assistance. Room, we booked a priviledge room (the most basic category.) It was exactly as pictured, clean and well appointed with everything we required. There was plenty of storage space (though worth bringing extra hangers.) The bathroom was large, with a big bath, big shower, twin basins, seperate loo. We had a lovely sea view and nice balcony. A huge bed, reasonably comfortable. The aircon was efficient and silent and a dehumidifier was supplied, which was essential, given the high humidity. Public areas - there is a lot of public space given the number of rooms, you do not feel cramped or overcrowded. Pools and beach - we spend some days by the pool, though it was not always easy to find loungers poolside after 10:30/11am, in any case, we found the poolside a bit too sunny and lacking in shade, we preferred the beach, as we could always get loungers under the many trees, so in the shade, which suited our fair skins better. There were some beach hawkers who were friendly and not unduly pushy. The beach/ pool drinks service was a bit slow but fine, we rarely needed to put out our flag. There is a lunch/snacks service, not widely pushed but you can get fish and chips, basket type meal or a club sandwich brought to your lounger for lunch (or later) as part of the standard all inclusive. There were always plenty of fresh towels, we were always given two each and there was no problem swapping them for clean ones. The sea was gloriously warm (my husband complained that he’d like it a bit cooler!). There is a swim up bar, you ring a bell and they come and take your order. Both the pools and the sea have a lot of space allocated per guest, so never crowded. Restaurants- we had no problem whatsoever booking the a la carte restaurants, our stay was 13 nights and we had dinner in the buffet restaurant 6 times, Le Banyan once, the Beach BBQ twice and La Maree four times. We also had Sunday brunch in Chateau Mon Desire and lunch most days in La Maree. We had breakfast every day in the buffet restaurant, you could have room service breakfast on the standard all inclusive for 150 rupee tray charge (approx £3.) Buffet - we had some very good meals and some average ones. There was a fairly extensive selection at dinner. The soups were excellent, one night we had fillet of beef (which was lovely) there was plenty of choice. Breakfast was as you would expect, omlette station, scrambled eggs, streaky bacon, chicken sausages, pastries, breads, fresh fruit, yogurt and cold meats/ cheeses. La Maree - our favourite (and most people seem to like it best.) Lunch menu changes daily, salad, various pizza, meat and fish. The dinner menu was the same every night but we found the standard all inclusive was more than sufficient, two or three choices for each course. Le Banyan - the only place where we felt the need to ‘top up’ and had a deep fried prawn starter (extra £10) and very nice. The main courses we had on all inclusive were lemon chicken and pad thai, both nice if not remarkable. Creole - we didn’t try, so can’t comment. Beach BBQ - food was nice, though it is a bit odd because you can have steak on the standard all inclusive, while a burger is an additional £20 per head. Trestle tables and you are seated with others, we quite liked that and ate with two delightful, friendly couples but maybe not for honeymooners! Chateau Mon Desire - not part of the all inclusive (you pay for everything, even drinks.) Having paid for ‘all inclusive’ we would have begrudged paying approx £200 for dinner for two with wine, so we opted for the Sunday brunch to try it, which was £70 ish for two, all in. Very nice, if a bit ‘fake American posh,’ reminded me a lot of Sandals in the Caribbean. Ridiculous amount of food on offer, we left rather stuffed and had to sleep it off on the beach. Drinks ‘All inclusive’ - we both like a drink and had no problem on the standard all inclusive. The wine is mainly South African, you won’t find a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or an Argentinian Malbec. We opted for the Gladiator brand, the red was fine, white was just about drinkable. (The mini bar white is entirely undrinkable!) However, my husband who likes a G & T, was happy with the Brigadeer gin or the local Phoenix beer and I was happy with the spiced rum. Post prandial, they do a lovely Creole coffee and also a nice Sambucca, also a Hennesey brandy. If you want a Cointreau or a Drambuie, expect to pay around £10 per drink. Quarterdeck Bar - Dylan is a huge asset to the hotel and very attentive and friendly. In summary - we had a lovely holiday. The hotel is about to close for a year long refurb, undoubtedly the prices will increase and it will be more 5 star glitz. We looked at changing to the Shangri la, it would have cost an additional £1,400, just for half-board (and I’d assume around £25 for each round of two drinks.) You get what you pay for. The hotel is currently probably a 4.5 star and very nice too. We Brits are big complainers.....we heard people complaining about the beautiful big fruit bats, the bullfrog noise, the slow service....maybe Butlins in Bognor Regis would suit some of us better but we loved it! Read less

My wife and I stayed at the Maritim for 13 nights for some Winter sun. After reading many conflicting TA reviews we very nearly changed our booking, but, in the end didn’t. We were glad that we didn’t as we had a lovely relaxing break. We had very mixed weather with a nearby cyclone affecting our weather for 3 days, very heavy rain and very high humidity, the temperature was in the low 30s but felt like mid 40s with many sunny days too. We stayed in a premier AI BA package, the AI package was slightly confusing at first as there were 3 types of AI! AI does not mean AI!! That said, we soon adjusted to what we could have rather than paying additional costs whilst in the resort. Room: The resort is having a total refurb next year and will be closed for a year. IMO the room was spacious with a huge bed (mattress was a bit too hard and pillows were lumpy not as you would expect for a 5 star hotel) twin wash basins, decent walk in shower and free standing bath. Mini bar stocked daily with Beer, coke, orange, water, white wine all free, other snacks and drinks payable. A balcony with a table and 2 chairs. Wifi was good (generally good across the resort) AC was very good and quiet and a dehumidifier in the room (filled up daily!) Maid service was good. Good quality towels and bathrobes and a large safe in the wardrobe. We didn’t notice any bugs or mosquitoes on the 3rd floor but maybe more apparent on the ground floor. There are no lifts so maybe tricky for those that are not so mobile. Check in: We arrived at 3pm after a 12 hour flight and an hours drive from the airport plus driving UK side; we were tired and just wanted to go to our room quickly. We were met with a friendly welcome but were kept waiting along with other check ins for 30 mins, not ideal! We booked our own airport transfer using TaxiinMauritius cost 1300 rupees half the price of BA transfer cost. We used them again for our return to the airport, would highly recommend. Facilities: There are 2 pools with loungers, loungers are sometimes difficult to acquire but never mind there are loads of loungers on the beach and we never had a problem finding one. Hawkers are regular but not too pushy. There are lots of water sport activities, many are included in the AI package such as Water Skiing, glass bottom boat, boat trip for snorkelling, sailing. Scuba diving, speedboats, parasailing, and doughnut rides at extra cost. There is a golf course free to use but you need to hire clubs, bring your own balls and tees. Mini golf Archery Horse riding - at a cost Tennis - at a cost Spa - we didn’t use Gym - we didn’t use So plenty to do including water aerobics and volleyball. Dining: There is a strict dress code and all of the restaurants less the Beach BBQ mean long trousers and Shirts/polo for dinner, you can dress as you wish for lunch and breakfast. The buffet was generally very good for dinner with plenty of choice, the same venue for lunch and breakfast (breakfast occasionally some items such as bread were slow to be restocked.) La Maree a la carte was our favourite lunch venue (on the beach) with a daily changing lunch menu, dinner menu whilst good was the same menu every night. Service excellent. La Banyan an asian A la carte dinner restaurant, lacked choice and many of the options were at extra cost. Beach BBQ, we were sat on communal benches with no real view of the beach! Food was average and a little strange that you could have a steak at no charge but a burger would cost £20!! Creole restaurant we didn’t try. Chateau Mon D’esir is a fine dining restaurant and expensive, we didn’t have dinner there but we did go for a Sunday Brunch (£35) it was excellent and the only dining experience with Air Con. Bars: La Maree on the beach with beach waiter service, service was sometimes very slow. All local spirits, wines and beer were part of the AI package as for the other bars too. Quarterdeck bar, the biggest bar near to the pools. Service not always great with staff gathering around the bar chatting to each other rather than waiting tables; special mention goes to a young waiter Dylan who was superb and a real credit to the hotel. If you like Sauvignon Blanc go for the Gladiator the red version was also good. The phoenix beer was very drinkable and the local spiced rum was my wife’s favourite drink, gin of choice was “brigadier.” We booked a South Island trip and booked TaxiinMauritius our driver Dirim was charming at a cost of 2800 rupees well worth it. We also used a Hotel shuttle to visit Port Louis for a couple of hours, it wasn’t really worth it at 1000 rupees to witness a dirty smelly market in intense heat! Overall we had a great holiday, very relaxing with mostly nice middle class guests, it is not an adults only resort (which we would prefer) and would be keen to return. All inclusive does not mean “All inclusive” and for a 12 hour flight maybe the Caribbean at 8 hours would be preferable. I would rate this Hotel as 4 Star not 5 Star, maybe the reason for the planned refurb? Read less

Well we had a superb time here, two ladies together.We felt safe and very well cared for. Yes there are a couple of issues that need attending to and I will point them ou later in the review. but first I must concentrate on the positives. The food overall is good. La Maree being our favourite place Ishwaree and Ramesh run this like a dream, the trainees Sweta and Neeson add compliments to this also, but you can tell when they are missing from service as it can be somewhat chaotic! But I understand this is being addressed. There are a lot of ‘trainees’ but they are learning and people need to give them the time to do this (after all we all started somewhere!!) overall the staff are courteous polite and very helpful. The buffet restaurant food was a bit of a mixed bag but again the staff were their strength there. We did not really like the barbecue as it was not to our taste. The Banyan Asian food was very good indeed in our minds as we dine a lot out at Asian restaurants, however the service is slow as there are very little staff on duty to serve who run theirselves ragged trying to please. This restaurant lacks atmosphere and is very hot if you do not sit under a fan!!...All if the AI menu choices are very easy to understand but we ate breakfast at La maree most days at a cost of 600 rupees for the two of us which we personally felt was very good value indeed. The room was fine for what we required clean and well appointed albeit a little dated and we had the beds made up as singles at our request. We were on the BA early Morning arrival flight and we were in our room by 10.30 excellent and thank you to the welcoming no receptionists. The hotel was somewhat quiet when we arrived but filling up as we departed. There are several babies at the hotel which did not bother us at all but we did see some guests looking a little irritated! The pools are nice but as we were departing so me guests had large inflatables in the pool, which is not big enough for these and there is a sign saying so, sadly this does not seem to be enforced!....The swim up bar was a bit hit and miss service wise and there were several wasps around. Beware as my friend got stung twice when we were by the pool on our first day! No fault of the hotel just wanted to point this out. The waiter service on the beach and pool was good. As in all tropical climates we had the peverbial downpours and the hotel did its utmost via the cleaners to clean up and signpost where possible. One point I need to mention as into our second week my fried slipped down the little step from the toilets in reception, the staff were very helpful but if the sign warning of the step was a little more prominent perhaps this would not have happened? We understand that the hotel is soon to undergo refurbishment which I am sure would be a good thing....however please do not let this very nic lirpttoe hotel loose its colonial charm! Read less