Sands Suites Resort & Spa

My third consecutive year at Sands, and longing to be back already! The hotel pampers me with upgraded room, Mauritian specialties made especially for me, makes me feel at home, and every member of staff is super attentive and so friendly. The multilingual hotel manager Mr. Kamal does regular walkabouts, as does the head chef Mr. Ashok, to ensure everything runs smoothly and guests are happy. The hotel is small, at the peaceful southernmost end of Flic-en-Flac beach, with a lovely tropical orchard in fruit in the summer months, a baby man-made coral reef that makes it super safe to swim, even though the entire 13 km coastline of Flic-en-Flac is protected by a natural coral reef. On the left is a forest with a rough path that leads to Tamarin Beach, and the hotel garden is full of birds. At dusk one can see giant fruit bats from further inland flying about, a beautiful sight just before the sky is replaced by twinkling stars. Small children are catered for, and there is a lot of water sports and excursions (such as snorkelling, game-fishing, dolphin-watching etc.) for grown-ups, not to mention spa treatments, gym and tennis, and there is a library and function room. Read less

Anyone looking to visit west side of the island or first time visitor to Mauritius, make sure you pick up this lovely boutique property. Located at the end of flic en Flac area, hotel boasts all kinds of modern amenities, offers great water sporting activities, and food & beverage options. Its bar has extensive cocktail menu , great breakfast and a dinner spread. I felt really privileged to meet number of team members ( concierge, housekeeping, reception, boat house, food and beverage team) who were always wanted to help. Mr. Kamal (GM)and Chef Ashok made sure to talk to us on number of occasions regarding our stay and food quality which was very nice to see. Tip: this hotel boost great lagoon and there is a small rock formation close to the beach. If you snorkel close enough you will see lots of colourful marine life. Also do not miss the sunset as it is spectacular! Thank you Sands team to make our holiday so memorable!! Read less

The excellence of the customer service during our recent two week stay at The Sands overrode any other niggles (like the water as mentioned in other reviews). Nothing was too much trouble and we were effortlessly made to feel very special and important. A particularly nice thing about the hotel is that all the rooms face the beach and the ocean and as far as I'm aware all have very beautiful views - ours certainly did. The rooms and especially the bathrooms are very spacious and every room has a balcony (or small ground floor terrace). Also, our room looked exactly as advertised which is often not the case with hotels! The design of the reception, bar and communal areas looking across the sun terrace and infinity pool is especially attractive. The grounds were beautifully kept. The location is quiet and secluded but local transport is not too far away, taxis are always at hand and guided tours or car hire are easily available. The reason for not giving 5 stars would be the price of drinks and bar food, the buffet dinner (although the breakfast buffet was excellent) and the hotel's disregard for the ubiquitous practice of guests bagging sunbeds (as early as 6.15am!) and not upholding the evening dinner dress code by a very few guests. Read less

We had good time in this place, it has a nice pool, good beach and few water activities! It is located far away from any shop and only way to get out is by using a car. It is a very clean place they have daily show or music and the restaurant is good as well.They charge almost five stars hotel prices but they are not offering 5 star services. The restaurant & cleaning staff are very nice and super friendly. The boat (water activities) staff (ok not all of them) needs more training how to treat customers! Mainly this guy with glasses, he is so impolite that can ruin your day. They offer 425 ml free water bottle per day and you pay a lot for additional water! Guys don’t make your business model from water, this is so shameful. We had to pay at least 12-15 $ per day for water and we didn’t drink much! The spa service is very expensive! Therefore i give them 3 stars! Read less

I wrote a glowing review of this hotel some 5 years ago. It still stands, although there were fewer exotically coloured birds this time. (Plenty of fruit bats to watch at dusk.) The rooms are extremely large and well-fitted. The staff are all very friendly (with one exception that I note below). The buffet main restaurant offers a huge choice of interesting dishes, but it's not so good as I remember from previously. The tap water is drinkable but the hotel makes a fortune from their bottled water, sold in beautiful thick-glass bottles that contain much less water than you would imagine - only 0.425 litres for £3! These are the bottles that are served by default in the restaurants or bars. They are also the ones left in your bedrooms, with no obvious indication of price. TIP: In the restaurants and bars ask for Vital water. You then get 1 full litre of water, admittedly in a plastic bottle, for the same £3 price. The beach/pool sunshades and loungers are plentiful and of excellent quality. This is so important in a tropical country with a dangerously piercing sun. Now I must describe one unfortunate episode. I booked into an afternoon snorkel boat excursion (free of charge). The other three guys were experts with rubber ankle gear and big flippers. I cannot wear flippers, since I get immediate cramp in my calves. These three went off at great speed with a guide, while I took a few photos on the boat before entering the water on my own. 'Which direction should I swim?' The guy remaining on the boat pointed out into the open ocean (we were a mile or two from the coast). I swam off, not seeing very much by way of fish or coral. There was no sign of the other three tourists and their guide. When I turned back towards the boat, I found the swimming very hard against a current and could make little headway. Eventually I was still around 50-70 yards from the boat and beginning to get exhausted. I waved my arms to attract attention. I continually shouted 'Aidez-moi! Je ne peux pas nager plus!' The guy on the boat was obviously not looking out for me. I could make no headway with further swimming, so I had to concentrate on keeping afloat (no life jacket had been offered or available). After what seemed like a long and worrying time, the boat appeared and rescued me. When I asked the guy what had happened, he told me it was my fault for taking photographs and not going with the other three - as if that was possible with deck shoes instead of flippers. My advice: do not go on the snorkelling trips if you are looking for the usual a tourist experience, swimming around slowly in a group of similarly-minded souls. They will not look after you! Read less