Spent 3 nights at Patatran Village la Digue in Oct 09 and loved every minute. I my opion the best possible location for good beaches and snorkeling on the island, although 1,3 km from the main village. Everyone cycles and we found it relatively easy to cycle everywhere (in our 50's and not very fit!). For those who need it, taxi's are easily arranged by the hotel or by your local travel agent contact (you will see the lovely Creole transport Services ladies and gents everwhere in Seychelles)
Patatran Village consist of one large hotel like building - (the reception, restaurants and pool area) and several apartment blocks and bungalows nearby (see my photo taken from the sea to get the perspective)
Patratran was everything I expected - stunning views of the sea from our superior room, lovely snorkelling, good beaches nearby. I have read all reviews, thus expected slightly run down rooms and mediocre service - well, happy to report our room was beautiful, and staff was outstanding and very friendly! The breakfast was also totally satisfactory but we did not lunch or dine at Patatran. I can report that their buffet was slightly more expensive than the restaurant at L'Ocean hotel 2 minute's walk up the little road.
A word of warning: I especially booked a superior room to ensure a breathtaking sea view. Instead, on arrival, we were allocated a room behind the hotel - the only view was of the hotel roof and some horrible telephone and electricity cables. It also had a shared balcony with room next door. I expressed my dissapointment and asked to be re-allocated as I have booked 8 months in advance. The very friendly manageres said she would see what she could do and very shortly therafter we were shown to a wonderful seafront room. See review of Feli8351 (German) there is a picture of the view on the hotel roof, same thing happened to them. Thus when you book a superior room, make sure you stipulate you want a sea view and a private balcony!!! Perhaps advisable to confirm this again before arrival..
Our lovely room was called "Bousson", ask for it if you can. I can also recommend "Orchide", adjacent to Bousson. Our superior room was equpped with mini bar, travelling kettle (but you need you international plug or fetch one from reception to be able to plug it in) hair dryer, telephone. Bring your own coffee and milk (or you can buy in the village) as they charge you for using the sachets in the room. There also is a lounge nook with sofa and table and two nice patio chairs on the balcony as well. We rented bikes for the 3 days from the hotel, much easier not to have to return it to the depot at night.
We loved snorkeling around Pataran and adjacent beaches - every day a different place. Also did scuba with the diving school operationg from la Digue hotel - lovely!
Patatran Village was alive with people when we went, mostly in couples and there was is a constant coming and going of pedestrains and cyclists in front of the rooms, gives a lovely atmosphere. Mostly Italians, also French and German with English the minority during our stay. Everyone very friendly, greeting one another whilst doing your own thing.
I wish one and all a hppy stay at Patatran!

Just arrived home from a 17 day trip to the Seychelles. The most amazing vacation ever! My boyfriend and I stayed 5 nights at Patatran Village in La Digue Island. The hotel is absolutely fantasticly located with an amazing panoramic view over the sea.

The hotel and room:
The hotel is located just by a little beach - though not good for swimming or snokling. Maybe is is better on other times of the year. It was too windy in June. We had a superior room with seaview (you can pay a little extra for seaview). We loved our room. Vey romantic on the top of the hillside. The room was not big, but fine for us. The bathroom was huge! It was always clean and decorated with fresh flowers every day:-) The balciny was very nice and had the most fantastic view over the beutiful sea and beach. We loved it! We enjoyed sitting at the balcony listening to the vawes of the sea. A single gecko in the hotel room, which is to expect in the Seychelles. They eat the smaller insects so thats fine:-)

Staff:
Good service in restaurant. The lady in the reception seemed not to smile at all. But who cares!:-)
The restaurant staff in the Seychelles in general is not as serviceminded as they could be. They are not smiling as we are used to from Denmark, however they are fast to come take your order, get your plate etc. So that's just a cultural difference.

The restaurant:
We often ate lunch at the hotel, which was very good. We had halfboard, so dinner was included. Very good also. You always had 4 courses, so you were stuffed!:-)The prices were a little cheaper than Danish prices, which are very high. We had feared that food was more expensive, put it was quite OK compared to Danish prices. You could eat lunch for about 30 euro for two persons including drinks (soda, water and beer).
The breakfast buffet was in the great breakfast restaurant with a fantastic view over the sea:-) You could get: eggs, omelets, pancakes, fruit, white bread, crossiants, marmelade, juice etc.
The restaurant close at around 9.30 p.m. which was quite early. No bar. However after a long day in the sun you don't mind going to bed early. There was an amazing quietness at the hotel which we really loved and appreciated. No entertainment, however probably because it was not high season in June.

The beach:
Great beach - however not good for swimming. Generally the beaches are not good for swimming at La Digue this time of year. On one side of the island you are not allowed to swim because of the dangerous currents. On the other side of the islands there are often rocks or corals in the sea so it is hard to walk out. And also there are som vawes and some of the beaches. Fortunately the pool at our hotel was nice and not many people used it this time of year because it wasn't high season.

The Island:
Very local and quiet. We enjoyed cycling around the island experiencing the local culture and atmosphere. About 20 cares on the island.

Trips:
We didn't go on any organized trips since there were only some snokrling trips. The sea seemed very windy so I didn't want to go out sailing. We instead enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL beaches, walked up to the top of the island and relaxed by the pool.

We would recommend this hotel to everyone! Probably the best location on the island if you love a great panoramic view of the sea and beach.

Best regards,
Camilla

Third leg of our trip in the Seychelles Island, we had 2 nights booked in this hotel, or bungalow villages.
Kind receptionnist, but the bungalow (Hibiscus I) was in a bad need for a renovation ... the bathroom was "very 70s or early 80s".... I wont mention the stains on the wall (mildew?) and on the sheets.
The bikes (8€ a day) were awfull, but I managed to get them for free arguing they were in bad shape.

On the + side, the breakfast was great (pancakes, cooked on the spot eggs, fruits, cakes) and the location very good. The swimming pool was nice too.

La Digue is imho a "must visit" if you go to seychelles, but maybe a day trip is the best option. People are very nice there (well, they were in Praslin and Mahé too) and there is something special on this Island.

I read the review of the last reviewer and must say that I think he/she is definitely underestimating this hotel. I also stayed here this August and:

1) this is La Digue: do not go to this small island and expect to find Mahe Hilton type of hotels. Like they say of Seychelles, each island is 10 years behind the other when the size of the islands get smaller, so understand this or stay only at Mahe! And

2) this is a small island where you need to respect scarce nature resources, and particularly this August there were signs posted everywhere (also on other islands) that water was being regulated due to the lack of non-salty water. This is a known problem in Seychelles, and we as tourists should respect that. I wanted to respect this and voluntarily took all my showers cold and short - the cold water really wasn't cold at all, just normal and good after a long hot day.

That said, I must say that this was excatly what I was waiting for, except for the room being better that what I had expected, based on TA reviews. This is by no means a luxury hotel but a nice hotel with amazing views.

We had a villa at the hills which was large, clean and nice, with a terrace to the sea. There were some minor things (few of the lightbulbs were out) but nothing that bothered me. We even had a tub but did not want to use it because of the non-salty water restrictions of Seychelles.

Hotel beach is small but it was really good for snorkelling (due to the coral pieces, do not forget to take swimming shoes, you will need them at this beach and many other Seycelles beaches too, including the great Anse Source d'Argent).

The pool is nice too, though during our stay it was rather windy so you really did not feel that much like hanging out by the pool.

Restaurant is ok, ok food but nothing that will blow your mind. One thing is true that the service people here really do lack the "service attitude to sell" (although they were all polite), there we many times that they could have sold us way more food, beverages etc. if they had just come and ask whether we would like to order something more...

This is La Digue so you need to rent bicycles, and taken from the hotel they cost 8 euros per person. Reserve yours the previous evening and they will save you good ones for the morning. Bikes are mostly "male models" but ok to drive for a woman too, no problem.

It makes me laugh hard that some one would say that it is a long way to Anse Source d'Argent. If you are not into bicycling, La Digue is not for you. In La Digue it is not a long way to anywhere! From the hotel it is a very short bicycle drive to La Passe (the center of La Digue, nice place to visit but I would not take a hotel from here). And from there another short bicycle ride to anywere else.

From all the hotels I saw at La Digue, this one had the nicest location by far. I would rate this as 3.5 hotel. I will post some pictures later.

Ps. Take the bicycle ride to Grand Anse (not safe for swimming), it is a nice route and the Creole Buffet in that restaurant on the beach is a truly great experience. We also climbed to Petite Anse (it is a climb over the rocks from Grand Anse) which was really pretty, had almost no people and even though not good for swimming, it was a blast to play with the huge waves.