My son and I had the priviledge of staying at this immaculately maintained hotel from 16-18 Dec 2011.From the moment we arrived till sad departure this place was amazing! The staff were very friendly-watch out for chubby waiter -Kieran and reservations lady - Jamie-what a charming young personality!!The food was excellent and wide variety to choose from-entertainment was very good-had the good fortune of being upgraded to a room right on the beach!! the room was very neat and bedding etc immaculate. the grounds were well attended to -so was the beach-boathouse and sporting facilities were professionally handled by a bunch of good guys .We had a beautiful 3 day stay and would do it all over again and again!! congrats to all concerned on a job well done !! keep it up!!

We stayed here for 2 weeks in April 2011. Having lived and worked on the island for 10 years in the 70s we knew the Merville well. The site and location of the hotel were always and, still are, the best on the island. The beatiful beach to the north side which is bordered by a dozen or so villas is secluded and very safe. The coral reef, about a mile out to sea makes water sports and swimming a great pleasure. The hotel itself although, somewhat dated, is very comfortable with plenty of space, a lovely swimming pool and excellent staff. Food, breakfast really good, dinner about average, a disappointment being that it was always a set menu. One of the few downsides was the cost of drinks at the bar, a small bottle of phoenix (very good local beer) was marked up about 10 times local store prices.
Overall, still a good hotel, bathrooms need an upgrade but otherwise excellent.

We decided to stay at the Merville Beach Hotel as it was a smaller hotel and directly on the beach. From the minute we drove in we were well looked after. Our bags were removed from the car for us and we were given a drink and cold flannel to wipe our face and hands with whilst we filled in the paperwork at reception. We were then taken to our bungalow and our bags put inside. Even thought it was a little late (around 9.00 pm or so) we were told to come back and have dinner at the buffet. We went back to our rooms and had a good restful sleep in our king size bed. The breakfast buffet was wonderful - everything you could want for in a great filling breakfast. The chiefs would cook your eggs for you whilst you wait, there were hot waffles and pancakes, fruit, yogurt, breads and toast, cereals (at least four different ones), cheeses, etc, etc. Coffee was served at your table when you were ready.

The waterfront is just brilliant - our bungalow was back from the beach with a little garden through the middle and was so quiet and peacefull. Step down onto the beach and get a towel from the Boatshed and sit yourself on a chair under a umbrella and relax. You can swim there or get snorkling gear from the Boatshed as well as kayaks, sail boats, paddle boats for free. They will also take you out in the boat to check out the fish either by looking in the glass bottom boat or snorkling out there. All part of the service. The beach along this strip is completely backed onto by private houses and this hotel so no-one can wander in off the street - only come in by boat so its very private and not too busy unlike some of the other beaches we saw. Grand Baie is only a short walk or taxi ride away - you can even hire the speed boat to take you there.

The daily entertainment varied - aqua gym, push bikes, etc. which was great but most people seem to want to relax not join in. This place is for people to come and relax and have a quiet break. Not really for kids but its not advertised for kids anyway.

The bar was well tended and we were always served in a reasonable amount of time - this is island time after all. The evening buffets were all good and varied but the New Years Eve one was the best!! We had a table with linen tablecloth on the beach under the marquee and the chiefs cooked our meals on the beach as well - lobster, boar, venison, etc. The firework show put on by the hotel was a great display and we had a wonderful night.

All in all a great place to stay especially for couples and small groups of adults of all ages. We enjoyed the privacy of the bungalows and would stay there again happily. Yes it is an older hotel but it is clean and tidy (esp the grounds - there was always someone tending the grounds) and the amenities were all good. The best thing is the private beach and the limited amount of people on it - we were very happy with our choice. The spa was also quite good - we received a complementry body scrub with our massages as we were in the bungalows - our skin never felt so soft and new!

I'm sure we will come back and stay here again. Happy to recommend. Also try the pizza for lunch - its really good.

I’ve been hyper late to write a review about our wonderful Mauritius trip of August 2011; but I thought "better late than never" =) As we have had an extraordinary honeymoon in Kandooma Maldives in 2009, I was thinking it will be hard to have a better holiday; however Mauritius turned out to be an exceptional one also.

Planning the trip and Vive L’Ile Maurice

At the beginning, planning the trip was quite tough as the travel agencies in Turkey do not know much about this enchanting place. So I’ve sent many e-mails and taken several prices; and ended up having the best price offer for the Emirates plane tickets+hotels+transfers as a package from www.mauritius.com . They are very helpful and they are not getting bored of your endless questions. :) Not only everything just went great with our plans, but also we had a local representative from Coquille Bonheur that we have met the second day and he explained us a bit of everything, answered all our questions. ( www.coquillebonheur.com ) They are having a North and a South Tour that we have enjoyed very very much; as Mauritius is a fascinating country, it’s worth to spend some time outside the hotel, a bit far from these gorgeous beaches also. As we have stayed in two different hotels in 10 days, it worked perfectly for us to be taking the North tour from Merville Beach Hotel and then the South tour from Hotel Tamassa. I have to admit that the price was not low for these daily trips that were including romantic lunches by the way ;) but they were both unforgettable thus it was worth it.

About Merville

We have stayed in Merville for 5 nights in August 2011 and we have only good memories. It has an incredibly beautiful beach and a view that makes you feel simply good; a very nice garden with many birds and beautiful flowers, delicious meals (even for vegetarians there is a lot of choice), tasty desserts and drinks.

Even though the weather was mostly cloudy (for a winter it was still amazing), we have still enjoyed each day fully. We were delighted by all the services we have used in Merville. The staff and actually all the Mauritians that we’ve met were very smiley, warm and helpful although they work for many hours.

I had a Mauritian massage in the Spa and enjoyed a lot this different type of massage with the Sega music. The hotel was just peaceful, filled with many people reading their books, so it’s a good choice for a relaxing holiday but my husband have tried all the sea sports possible :) so if you can’t stay tranquil, it’s up to you, there are enough options to fill up your day. We have also tried scuba diving for the first time in our lives and our instructor was a very helpful and nice guy from Orca Dive Club.

Briefly I would just say that it was marvelous!