I have never seen a horrible place like this, wherever in the world. The "room" had dirty sheets, dirty towels, dirty curtains, dirty forniture and it was full, really full, of spiders and webs. The bathroom had not been cleaned before of our arrival, the WC had undoubtfully been used by someone else.... The narrow shower was broken, the sink was dirty and rusty. At dinner (we had booked 7 nights with 7 dinners!!!) we had a fish cooked with its entrails in dirty dishes and dirty glasses. At breakfast we had toasted bread and butter full of ants. There is not a manager to complaint (actually there is not a hall or a desk for check in). Our key was given us by a teethless, long-long and thin-thin native maid, who knocked at our door asking for some cigarettes!!! (cigarette is the only english word she knew). Fortunately we found another room in a clean, standard hotel at Grand Anse at 110 euro/night, but we had to spend two nights in such a hovel at 95 euro/night, sleeping on our beach towels in order not to touch the sheets. For only 15 euro/night more, now I can remember Praslin as a paradise and not as a nightmare. The manager of the hotel at Grand Anse explained us that Villa Flamboyant was a very nice hotel in the past, in a wonderful garden on the beach, but when the old owner died, his daugther (Rosemary) did not care about the hotel and left its management to her french assistant (Michel) who doesn't care about guests and cleaning. During those horrible two days, the other guests were a couple of italian guys and a german family of 3 people and all of them were complaining for dirtiness and absence of service, looking for some other accomodation. Lonely Planet suggests this hotel on the guide and I wrote them to camplaint, because it is really a shame: travel guides should pay more attention to their suggestions!

Rooms are nothing special, a bit run down. There were tropical ants in our bathroom.
There's nothing outside villa, beach isn't good for swimming, if you'd like to eat out you should get a car or bus to get somewhere. So if you are looking for solitude and unpretentious concerning rooms this place will be ok.
Though unpossibility to swim is not so important, cause the best beach on Praslin is Lazio, and there're no hotels near there. You can get to Lazio from the villa by bus, the busstop is opposite the villa. But then fom the busstop you should walk about 1,5 km to the beach)

This stay was not like our previous wonderful visits to Villa Flamboyant. Sadly we won't be returning unless there is significant quality maintenance and more attention to detail. Natalie is welcoming and knowledgeable about how to get around. The chef was also very friendly and hard working.

Sorry in advance for the length of this... :-)
My husband and I have just returned from the Seychelles for our honeymoon. I don't usually review things online, never have in fact but I couldn't wait to sign up on here and review Villa Flamboyant as I just could not believe the place. We had booked 6 nights,...we got out of there after 2 and changed to Rosemary's Guesthouse on the Cote d'Or. So here we go...

Firstly, Location: Extremely isolated, on the ''wrong'' side of the island. If this is what you want, grand. But you'd definitely need a car if you want to go anywhere. Nowhere to eat anywhere in walking distance, so you're stuck eating in the hotel. The garden could be nice but seems totally untended and unmaintained, a shame.

Secondly, The beach: Deserted yes, because it's absolutely COVERED in dark stinky seaweed, the whole thing as far as you can see. I couldn't believe it, you do not come to the Seychelles for this. Maybe it's a seasonal thing...but if you only have a few days, AND if you have seen the spectacular beaches of Mahé, La Digue and the other side of Praslin, you will be disappointed.

Rooms: We had room 3...very very dark and basic. Terrible bathroom, dirty, dilapidated and covered in little ants all over the walls. (Of course in a tropical place I expected insects, but still) No air conditioning but that was no problem, as the room was very well ventilated by the strong strong wind coming in off the beach 24/7. Bedlinen that smellt old and musty.

Food: The breakfast was fine. The dinner was nice, we had 2 dinners, both fish, both nice. Served with your feet in the sand, v cool, but also served under awful white fluorescent lights which ruined the atmosphere. The citronelle served afterwards is nice too, but try asking for a tea instead and you may as well have two heads! (Though myself and a Northern Irish girl did manage to get it!)

Price: Very reasonable, we paid 95 E for Half board. But we still felt overcharged seeing the decay in the place and when you factor in taxis to go ANYWHERE, it adds up to more than it should be for what is provided.

I just do not understand the positive reviews of this place. It was totally different to what we were lead to believe by the website and our (French) guidebook. It's a real shame, as my husband and I were both convinced that the Villa Flamboyant was clearly once a lovely place...but it has not been touched in about 30 years, and there is an air of "we don't care" throughout. As for the famous hospitality of the staff...well, we found them strange and distant. We didn't meet the famous friendly Rosemary, who was NOT happy when we told her we were leaving (by phone...she was nowhere to be found) but to be fair she didn't make us pay anything for leaving. Four dirty wild dogs, who barked and fought each other all night. Our fellow guests, (Italians, English and French) were equally dissatisfied, but had paid in advance, which is apparently a common trick used in V. Flamboyant...luckily we hadn't so we were able to GET OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaagh!