Solana Beach Mauritius

Had an amazing week here with my Mother. We visited the market at Centre de Flacq and went on an all day slow Catamaran trip. The food, drink and guest experience was made amazing by the friendly staff who welcomed us as family and not just as guests. Shoutout to Eléanore who is the life of the party, Kushal and Naomi who create a unique and memorable dining experience and the whole bar team, Krish, Ravi, Aniket, Anthony ( and a few more names I cant completely remember right now). I would suggest taking the all inclusive package. The Lobster night is an optional extra charge, but totally worth it. Read less

Where to start? It’s actually quite difficult to know where to start for this review as there are so many things to comment on. I’ll start with some positives. - The location is superb, all rooms have a seaview and conveniently on the beach. - The staff, by and large are very nice. Some however came across a bit rude but sometimes I think that can be a language breakdown. - Decent enough selection of drinks at the bar. All soft drinks were branded and most cocktails were included. Some have moaned about not all included but I think that’s the to be expected. - Including activities. Took advantage with our package to do the glass bottom boat trip one morning. It was free. - Mini bar included Ok moving onto the negatives. Big deep breath… - This hotel is NOT a 4-star. I would say 2, at best 3 star. Realistically if this hotel was in the UK it would potentially be shut down. This is due to the following: - Pool decking. Lots of uneven panels, rotting, screws loose or sticking out. Massive health and safety issues. - Hygiene. Where to begin!!? - i) Firstly stray dogs are left to roam everywhere inside the hotel. They drank from the pool, urinated up plant pots and rolled around on sunbeds. I’m not against dogs, but I don’t want them around me on holiday. - ii) Birds. Whilst lovely to observe outside, they would routinely fly into the restaurant and gather on tables, chairs but worse, would eat from plates and utensils used for the buffet. Absolutely disgusting and a health hazard. - iii) General cleanliness. The place upon inspection is absolutely filthy. The cinnamone restaurant is so dirty, sides, coffee machine. It’s amazing we didn’t fall ill it really is. Our bedroom shower was covered with mould. The bottom of the pool was filthy and was never cleaned at anytime. The fact the stray dogs would walk in it and drink from it shows it has no chlorine to kill off any bacteria. Food. Well food for us is a major thing whilst on holiday. The enjoyment of new cuisines and everything being done for us is part of the luxury. Getting ready for your evening meal after a day in the sun, lovely. Unless you’re at Solana beach. There are essentially 2 restaurants, that’s it. The a la carte restaurant secrets corner no one eats in and is in a dingy back area off cinnamone, cinnamone itself which is general buffet and then the other restaurant which is menu based. The buffet is atrocious. My wife genuinely thought she might have Covid as all of the food was bland and tasteless! As well as the hygiene issues stated above the food is uninspired and in some cases, horrible but almost always cold! Breakfast was merely passable. They do have a chef station who cooks fresh eggs and omlettes for you which can get by with. I ate so many eggs on this holiday I would be fit for a boxing match. The scrambled egg, beans, hot dog sausages and crumpled bacon, soggy hash browns when available were so disappointing. No fresh fruit platters - occasionally some pineapple, melon but there was instead a fruit stand where everything was whole so if you fancied chopping up your own apples and oranges you’ll be well in. There were pancakes and waffles but unless you’re next to the pan when they’re made they’re cold. Pastries were available but you have to make sure the net is over them or the birds will have them! Nothing like granola or yogurt available either. Lunch was mainly pizza or pasta, occasionally some salad and grilled meats and fish that were cooked fresh. These are their only saving graces. Anything in the vats were awful but things cooked fresh such as meats etc (which they seem to ration at just 2 per person!) were pleasant and pre cooked pasta was mixed and flavoured with your choice of toppings at the chefs station which again ensured a hot dish and something passable. Again they have a pizza oven so the pizzas, if grabbed at the start would be worth having. Dinner. Well this is where the whole day falls short. You want your dinner experience to be enjoyable but quite often ended in total despair and either repeating lunch options - pizza, pasta or salads, loading up on bread or challenging yourself to some truly awful dinner options. A lot of nights were themes such as Indian, Chinese, Italian. Two nights they cooked some steak on the griddle and this with some veg and cauliflower cheese or wedges was an ok night but the rest fell so short of expectations that my wife in particular was in tears with how bad it all was. One night she skipped dinner, the next she ate 4 slices of bread. The pomelo restaurant is certainly better and I believe you can eat here twice in your all inclusive package which we took advantage of and had an above average steak, lamb and chicken skewer dish. If you have the money I would eat here every night and pay the supplement. Other couples we knew raved about the venison at this restaurant. Desserts. Wow, an extremely underwhelming and tasteless selection of mini cakes that essentially all taste of nothing. They are labelled - coconut, almond etc but you’ll be hard pushed to taste anything. Plenty of people had ice cream and I now know why. Very disappointing. Bar. As mentioned above, I feel a more than adequate selection of drinks, branded etc. bar staff were by and large friendly and quite often offered table service or pool side service. There really is just the one bar and on busy occasions can get a little overrun. They really need more staff and another bar to really progress. There is another bar further down which essentially is a converted kids club / kids pool section called Lakasz bar. It’s a rum bar which is not included in the all inclusive package so as you can imagine not a soul is in there, nor is anyone serving. Very bizarre and a wasted space. Room. Great view, spacious but dirty. As mentioned above, shower was mouldy, leaked badly, sink needed plunging and the other sink plug hole jammed. Bed was far too firm but credit to them they did put two mattress toppers on which helped. They rectified the sinks. Mini bar had a little selection of things which was nice but no snacks. It clearly used to be on the list but has been removed. Also no iron or ironing board which was frustrating after a long journey. Had to pay for ironing / laundry service - cheap, only £1 for ironing per outfit but just a clat. Spa. Didn’t use but apparently to qualify to use the sauna and steam room for £10 you need to have a qualifying massage treatment first! £60+ General activities. There is a pool table, table tennis and dart board for when the rain hits! The staff tried on one rainy day to play a little spot of bingo which was a laugh. The reality is the hotel does try and there are certainly foundations to build upon but it falls short on a number of issues and problems. Due to its location, if a bit of money was invested this could be such a beautiful spot but there’s lots that needs doing to improve - food, decking, dogs/birds, pool, bar! Read less

One of the best place i've ever gone..cleanliness on fleek... The staff at indigo bar are the best, they are very professional, their cocktail are simply amazing. After ordering our drink, the waitress and waiters are really quick in serving us. One thing which is a bit disappointing is the food at cinnamon restaurant, they don't have much varieties at the buffet... Swimming superb.... Overall i loved this place.... Read less