Staff Educational: Beachcomber Mauritius
Date Posted: 05/01/2024
Harry from our Product Marketing team recently returned from a once in a lifetime trip to Mauritius! From luxury hotels and pristine beaches to wildlife spotting and zip lining, we caught up with Harry to find out all about his amazing trip...
"After our direct Air Mauritius flight from London Gatwick, myself and 19 other agents from Hays landed on the beautiful island of Mauritius. We were transferred only 10 minutes away to our first hotel stay, the Shandrani Beachcomber Resort & Spa. Our day was mostly at leisure to fight the jet lag, but we still managed to squeeze in a hotel tour & inspection of the Shandrani. We were shown the many rooms the hotel has to offer, all beautiful and spacious, we were shown the beautiful beaches, bars, & restaurants, & also the fantastic gym and spa facilities. For the night, we had a wonderful private dinner with the hotel’s general managers & directors which really showed us how friendly & hospitable the staff were. We then had an early night, ready for a busy day ahead!
Day two was a day of excursions as we explored more of the island. On the way to our first attraction, we stopped at some beautiful temples in the Riviere Des Anguilles area that boasted beautiful colours & eccentric designs. Seeing the temples gave us a taste of the amazing culture & diversity that the island of Mauritius holds. Our first excursion was to the La Vanille Nature Park where we got to see crocodiles, iguanas, & the famous tortoises the park is known for. The park has a fantastic tortoise reserve section, where the animals can roam freely, away from any cruelty. Being up close to such amazing creatures was truly amazing, as I’ve never seen the beauty of them before in person! There was even one tortoise that was 115 years old!
After a little while at the park, we ventured up to Savanne where we visited a historic colonial house & it’s massive green house. Here we toured the green house that held hundreds of plants & spices, including vanilla which is known to be fantastic in Mauritius. Included in the visit to the colonial house, we watched some traditional creole dancers in their traditional garments & they helped us make some spiced rum that we could take home. My rum included pineapple, cinnamon, & vanilla! Because we made our own rum, we also got to sample many of the rums the island has to offer – and they were fantastic. We ended the day leading into the night where the Shandrani hosted a private beach buffet & bar where we even had inhouse cocktails inside coconuts! As the night went on, we were able to take in the great entertainment the hotel had to offer & even got to sample the hotel’s night club!
Our third day was just as action packed as the second as we visited La Vallee Des Coulers Nature Park. Here, we had the choice to either go quad biking or zip lining. Me being an adrenaline junkie, I decided to go zip lining across 6 zip lines that spanned the nature the park. Because the park is situated in a lush tropical forest like setting, it rained all day, but we loved it! It was a perfect opposite to the dry heat we had in the South. After our thrilling day at the park we headed over to the Victoria Beachcomber where we would stay for 1 night. Here we toured the hotel & it’s separate bookable part of the hotel, the adults only Victoria for 2. The Victoria for 2 had swim up rooms that were truly out of this world.
Day four we were transferred to the Trou Aux Biches Beachcomber Resort & Spa where we spent the next 2 nights. Here we had a tour of the hotel & had some time at leisure to enjoy the wonderful pool & pristine beach. The rooms here were huge & modern & I even had an outdoor shower (which I used multiple times)! For dinner, we drove to the Canonnier Beachcomber & also had an inspection of the hotel. This hotel really caught me by surprise as it encompassed both the historic & traditional Mauritian culture but also the modernness & chicness of the Beachcomber brand. We then had an early night so we could prepare for the next day.
Day five was something we never expected… We spent the morning at the Mauricia Beachcomber Resort & Spa where had a beautiful breakfast & had a tour of the hotel. Our trip leaders then advised us we were going to be taking part in a treasure hunt. We were split into teams of 3 & 4 on a quest to find certain things in the local town. These included picturing a certain temple, buying a souvenir that was touristy & Mauritian, grabbing a drink at a certain bar, and asking for a cigarette from a local. This sounded simple until they told us we had to make our own way back to the Trou Aux Biches – with only a certain amount of money – the equivalent of £2! The exercise was to show us how friendly the Mauritian people are & how fond they are of the tourists that visit year-round. We ended up hitchhiking, catching a bus, & I even spoke some French to locals to ask for directions! We all ended back at the Trou feeling courageous & ecstatic that we managed to complete the treasure hunt. The rest of the day was spent at leisure so we could get ready for what the night held. Beachcomber surprised us with a sunset catamaran cruise where we relaxed, drank some cocktails, & watched the sunset over the Indian Ocean. This was a fantastic way to end an amazing, quite tiring day.
The next day we were checking in to our next hotel, the Dinarobin Beachcomber Resort & Spa. Before this though, we visited two of the biggest statues on Mauritius, the statue of The Lord Shiva, & The Statue of Durga Maa. Many locals & tourists come here to marvel at the sheer size of the God & Goddess. After a quick stop to admire the statues, we headed up the mountains to a restaurant overlooking a huge part of the Mauritius coast & ate some food to fuel the rest of our travels. When we arrived at the Dinarobin, we first had a tour of the Paradis Beahcomber which is connected to the Dinarobin via a short buggy ride. These two hotels are the pinnacle of luxury. They boasted a huge golf course, massive beaches, & top of the range food and service. We learned that if you stayed at either of these hotels, you had access to the other hotel’s facilities which is an amazing bonus.
The whole trip was such an amazing experience and provided me with memories I'll treasure for life!
