We stayed in a sea-view villa as a family of four in the month of August, which is supposed to be low-season in Mauritius. The weather was simply perfect, with temperatures around 24-27 degrees during the day, and cooler evenings. We had only a couple of hours of rain in two weeks, and plenty of sunshine.
Accommodation:
the Villas are designed and built with luxury in mind. They are big, and decorated in style, with quality and comfortable furniture, and with all the facilities you would expect in a luxurious property: large area to entertain guests, multiple bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, kitchen, laundry area, and a garden with private pool and a covered area for 'al-fresco' dining. The accommodation is impressive, although it felt a bit 'dated' and in need of some refurbishment.
Each Villa has its own dedicated butler, who aims to take care of all the guests' needs from breakfast, to afternoon tea/aperitif, to turndown service. The butler is supposed to be in the villa from early morning until noon, and he comes back in the afternoon for 4 more hours. In our case, having a butler for so many hours was mostly unnecessary, as we spent time each day practicing sports and joining the many activities available in the Club. We would have preferred to have more privacy when we came back to the villa, even if the butler was extremely courteous and keen to take care of our requests.
Overall, we think the butler service was great, but we would have liked to have more flexibility with the presence of staff in the property, as I personally don't like planning all my activities with a strict routine when I am on vacation.
Overall, the Villa experience was excellent and we just have to signal that we would have liked more attention to cleaning of the room. When we spoke to Yves (the Villa manager) about some concerns we had, he immediately and efficiently followed up on our requests, and everything was set to the high standards we expected. He did a fantastic job, together with Jean-Marie.
Restaurant:
We ate in the main restaurant every day. The food was even better than at a 4T resort up to a very high standard, with a lot of variations and desserts to die for. The servers were all very attentive and friendly and seeing to any needs one might have had.
The club is run like a well oiled machine by chief of village JB, who was partly on annual leave whilst we were there, and Geoffrey who always had a friendly word for us. Good luck in China!
Activities:
This was definitely the highlight of our holiday, and we have plenty of positive feedback to report. We are a fairly active family and we took advantage of the many activities available in the village. Here is a brief overview of our experience.
Tennis:
My husband is a keen tennis player, and considers himself of average quality. There are daily group lessons which are a great opportunity to meet other guests and socialise whilst learning this sport, and my husband took private lessons with Kavi, the tennis pro. These lessons can be tailored to each player individual needs. In the case of my other half, he went for rather intensive sessions: he and Kavi were hitting hard balls for a full hour, and they both look exhausted at the end of the session. My husband loved this practice, and he got a lot of tips and suggestions for improving his strokes from Kavi who is always friendly, kind and available to all guests. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced player, you will probably love a session with him.
Trapeze
My daughters and I have become passionate about the trapeze activity whilst practising at Club Med. The team at Albion have proved to be simply fantastic: Kyle is an experienced flyer having worked at Cirque du Soleil in Canada, and he has all the patience to teach you a new trick, irrespective of your level. Adelphe (aka Adolfo papasito) is one of the nicest GO in the village and the whole of Mauritius. He was always smiling and extremely welcoming: our girls loved going to the trapeze every day, and it was a party any time we were there. Good luck in Cancun!
Avigail and Julia are extremely professional and we’d like to say special thanks to Avigail for training with our oldest daughter for a static trapeze number in the mini club show. These are experiences the children carry on for live. We couldn’t ask for more and the trapeze team made our stay really memorable.
Archery: our girls loved to go in the afternoon to see Emmanuel ‘Robin Hood’ and play a round with 2 friends they made at the club.
Sports management: It was great to meet Tarik again after a few years, he’s doing an outstanding job as sports manager with a fantastic team behind him. I wish I had half of his energy and commitment, he will surely go places within Club Med.
Shows: Pedro (Tito) did an amazing job with all the shows, is a fantastic choreograph and a wonderful person. We were in awe of your talent!
Bar: All the bar staff was really friendly and helpful, but special mention to Manu, my favourite, for mixing such yummy drinks and being so nice and welcoming.
Public relations: We spent quite a lot of time with Allegra & Ashley, PR ladies extraordinaire. You girls rock! We had met Ashley at club med in Marrakech a few years ago and it was great to see her again, Club Med feels like a family sometimes.
Our girls ended up not going to the mini club as they made friends in the resort regardless, but still we would like to mention Hans and Madison.
I really do hope that I haven’t missed anyone out that we wanted to mention, if so, we do apologise. We all wish we could go back again soon!
