Prince Maurice
The Prince Maurice is certainly a member of the Mauritian hotel royalty. It's not as opulent and extravagant as some of its more glamorous rivals, nor is it as large and expansive as some of its competitors which occupy the east coast of the island. But it is an elegant and welcoming place suitable for couples and families of any age.
It needs to be said up front, that the hotel does not have a great beach, nor does it have a beautiful view of the ocean stretching out onto the horizon. Instead, the hotel is set in a small lagoon creating the feeling of a lakeside residence with a distant view onto the adjacent 3 star hotel. No waves crashing onto the shore, no ocean view sun rises and no long meandering beach walks to enjoy. I couldn't hide my disappointment to have travelled for almost 18 hours only to see that the Prince cannot deliver the idyllic Mauritian beach experience.
Once my disappointment had subsided, I began to enjoy the Prince for what it did offer:
Firstly, the food at the hotel is exceptional. There is one main restaurant with inside and outside seating and a separate dining area near the beach which sometimes offers the same food as the main restaurant, and at other times hosts beach BBQs, fresh Lobster, etc. It is hard to recall a better "everyday" hotel restaurant which offers the quality, elegance and variety of food served in the Prince. Dinner is almost always a la carte and when the occasional buffet is produced, it is spectacular. Although service can sometimes be a little slow (particularly by the beach) there is no doubt that the hotel's greatest strength is its ability to deliver great food every breakfast, lunch and dinner day after day. We stayed over Christmas and New Year and the effort and investment made by the hotel in delivering memorable evenings in terms of food and entertainment was quite outstanding.
The hotels offers a separate restaurant "Barachois"' which is tucked away in the lagoon. For me, this restaurant was disappointing, both because the food is not significantly different to the main restaurant, and also because the floating platform on which you sit made me feel quite nauseas. There is also no view as it is pitch black and there are a lot of Mosquitos in the area.
The hotel is small and therefore if you stay for a meaningful period of time, you may feel a little claustrophobic. Nevertheless, there are a number of activities offered to entertain yourself, notably:
- fishing in the lagoon
- snorkelling on the reef
- numerous waterspouts
- golf at the nearby Belle Mare Plage.
The rooms are good (but not spectacular) with adequate space for a family of 3 or even 4 with a baby. Like most hotels, some suites are better located than others, so ask to be moved to one near the beach or at least with an ocean view if you're not happy.
The spa and gym at the hotel are also excellent.
The pool itself is large, very nice and easily able to accommodate the needs of kids and adults without impacting either. As the beach is not great, the poolside seating area can sometimes come under some pressure as there are no more than 25 sun loungers around the pool to account for the capacity c160 guests. It would probably make sense to deconstruct part of the seldom occupied "bar" to create a little more room to enjoy the beautiful pool.
Staff here are very friendly and the intimate feel of the hotel is reflected in the attitude of the staff. All very helpful, attentive and thoughtful.
Our family (2 kids) really enjoyed the Prince and we all appreciated what the hotel had to offer. Would I come back though? Probably not, as despite the great things about this hotel, the absence of a truly memorable and enjoyable beach makes Mauritius a long way to come to sit around crowded pool...
- Le Prince Maurice Hotel
- Le Prince Maurice
