Mauritius 2025

Mauritius is a fantastic Island with very warm and friendly people and Le Meridien echoes the very best of all of it. This place truly is paradise. If you cannot relax here, you cannot relax anywhere.

Le Meriden is in the North West of the Island and as such is reasonably protected from the wind which blows strongly from the East. For wind activities such as wind and Kite surfing the East side suits better. The West, below Port Louis is where Flic en Flac is located and that is where the nightlife is most prominent. It is also more sheltered and gets very hot in summer. Summer is between November and April and summer is also the wettest season, although when we were there rain had been absent and they were desperate for it. Summer is also very humid and the 32 degrees that we saw had 90% humidity at times which is extremely draining. The sun is very powerful and should be respected even when cloudy it is very easy to burn. The cooling breeze in the North is welcome for sure. The Island is approx 75 Km North to South with the airport in the south East so we had no commercial aircraft flying overhead. There are Heliports in the South and at Le Triolet about 15 mins from Le Meridien in the North where Corail Helicopters operate tours using 4 and 6 seat Airbus Eurocopters. Expensive at £600 per couple (2025 price) but a lovely way to see the Island. Book on line.

Le Meridien.

261 rooms laid out in a line with the Reception and main restaurant, Nomad, in the centre. If you are at the far end you will have quite a walk so should you have difficulty walking, as I do, then ask for a room near the main entrance. There are many electric buggies which you can ring and ask for if needs be. this handily leads onto a cherished topic. Service. Just fantastic. The staff cannot do enough. When we discovered or room was miles away we had a word with reception and they found another nearer. When we checked out we asked if we could keep the room later in the day (checkout normally 11.00am) and..... as there was not going to be a new incumbent, no problem, keep it until 5pm. This attitude just rounds off the holiday and makes one feel special. Wherever you go, the staff are just the most friendly and accommodating.

All inclusive is definitely the way to go - All In is of course, Not. Various foods and various bottles of wine have to be paid for and when a bottle of AIP wine would cost 2100 MUR - Mauritian Rupees (approx £35 @2025), paying each time would become expensive. The Menu shows which items are All Inclusive with an AIP column. We missed this initially and had to pay for a lobster meal - and you pay there and then so it is fairly obvious. There are 4 restaurants. The aforementioned Nomad is a Buffet style and has different themes on different days. Under Nomad on the ground floor is Kumin, which is Indian. Waves is predominantly fish and is on one end, whilst Jade is Indonesian and at the other end of the resort. The food is excellent in all restaurants.

Rooms are well appointed and obviously all air conditioned. The bathrooms are huge and the room we had featured rails in the shower and toilet which were handy as the floor is slippery when wet and for reasons I cannot understand the shower door opened outwards spreading water on the tiles. I don't know if it was a quirk of our room but the water was hot in the middle of the shower setting, lukewarm at on end and cold at the other. Go figure. We had a week of lukewarm showers before figuring it out. The sea view from the balcony was just fantastic.

Pool areas. There were 3 or 4 pools - the main one is in front of reception and there is another adults only pool at the Nirvana end of the resort. We just used the main pool as the kids were just not a problem. There are very many sunbeds and canopies and the stated principle of not allowing people to dump towels and sod off for hours seems to encourage people to not hog beds. We were always able to find beds under shade. the pool temperature is just perfect and you can choose to be round the pool on slabs or on the other side on sand and the sea is 30 feet away. There is a bar you can swim to and/or order food and drinks from which will be delivered to you personally with a smile Just the best. Water skiing, diving and snorkelling is available and a couple of guys will sell you trips to see dolphins and snorkelling around the coast in fast boats. Shipping traffic into Port Louis is far enough away it is on the horizon.

Transfer to and from the Airport is organised by reception using private taxis and is seamless.

You can hire a sightseeing trip via taxi through reception, or go out of the main entrance and there is a taxi rank just opposite. Bargain and you will either pay by credit card, MUR or dollars. reception say they will not take dollars but they will. We did not take or use any MUR whilst we were there. Current rates are 0.017 MUR per£ (2025).

Jan/Feb when we went was hot. Very hot. with the humidity sometimes too hot and the 32 ish degrees feels more like 40 to be honest. It was worst when we had a cyclone near miss, but the rain was really welcome. Things cooled a bit then - the temp stayed the same but humidity dropped. Surprisingly the rainy season is summer and the dry in the winter. I think the best time to go is November or April to avoid the hottest time.

All in all Mauritius is wonderful, the people are delightful and Le Meridien is paradise and I thoroughly recommend it.

As ever our friends at Dial A Flight sorted the travel arrangements and everything went as smoothly as ever regarding flights, bookings and necessary information. They really are the best.