Overall, this hotel—with its great staff, excellent food, and peaceful, scenic location—made for a wonderful 10-day holiday. This was our first time visiting Mauritius, and we were not disappointed.
... read more />
I’ll start with the hotel itself. It’s located at the very beginning (or end) of Flic en Flac Beach. After walking along most of the beach, which is truly stunning, we were actually glad our hotel was positioned where it was. Some of the other hotels further along were quite loud, and the beach becomes very busy with tourists & locals at the weekend. Here, however, you feel removed from the crowds—close enough to walk over and enjoy the atmosphere if you want, but far enough to truly relax.
The hotel grounds are beautiful, and you’ll see gardeners out every day maintaining them. The infinity pool is lovely, and we never had an issue getting a sunbed on the man-made beach or around the pool. To be honest, the hotel almost felt adults-only at times, as we hardly saw any children. That said, it is very much a quiet, relaxing-vibe hotel with not much to entertain kids. There is a games room, but both times we went in hoping to play pool, it was stiflingly hot with no air-conditioning, so we didn’t end up using it.
Accommodation
This was the one area that wasn’t great. We booked through Blue Bay Travel and were promised an upgraded ocean-view room. While the room did face the sea, it was extremely old and tired. After exploring the hotel, we realised that the more modern accommodation is actually the block surrounding the infinity pool. These rooms looked newly built with fresh paint and LED lighting—more like 5-star rooms—whereas ours felt more like 3-star at best. So we definitely felt like it was a down grade from our tour operator not an upgrade as promised. (See pics)
We were on the ground floor with a small patio, but after two nights of hearing the guests above dragging chairs around at night and having an issue with our shower drain, we asked reception if we could move. The receptionist was lovely, and within 10 minutes she called us to say a new room was available. It was still in the same block but on a higher floor, and this made the rest of our holiday much more enjoyable.
The minibar was included in our all-inclusive package and restocked daily with 4 cans of soft drink, 2 cans of beer, and 2 large bottles of water.
WiFi is not great at all and we were so glad that we had purchased a data only eSIM before we arrived as this was a life saver. Also hardly any reception in your room on the TVs. We had BBC news for a couple of days then it disappeared and we didn’t have any other English Channels. It was OK as we don’t go away to watch TV but if we didn’t have the great weather and ended up in our room more we might have felt differently.
Food
Most meals are served in the main buffet restaurant near reception, and I have to say this was some of the best food we’ve ever had at an all-inclusive resort. Everything was fresh, varied, and delicious. There were beautiful salads and soups to start, followed by a large Asian-inspired section with rice, noodles, curries, and meat and fish cooked fresh in front of you. There were also pizza and pasta options.
If you prefer very plain food or expect things like burgers and chips in the evening, you may be disappointed—those are only available at the burger bar at lunchtime.
Breakfast offered plenty of fresh fruit, cheese, croissants, cereals, hash browns, beans, and an omelette station.
Activities
On our third day, we booked a catamaran trip through a third-party company (though I’m sure you could arrange something similar through the hotel). It was absolutely one of the highlights of our holiday. A taxi took us to the other side of the island near the airport, where we boarded the boat. Within 10 minutes, a family of dolphins appeared and swam around us. We stopped for snorkelling, then sailed up an inlet to see waterfalls and monkeys on the rocks. After lunch on board, we visited the beautiful beach on Île aux Cerfs before returning in the late afternoon.
At the hotel, there’s a natural sea pool right in front of the property with steps for easy access. (See pic) The snorkelling here was incredible—we saw fish in every colour imaginable and went in most mornings before breakfast.
There were canoes available on the beach, which we were hoping to use, but each time we asked, the water sports staff told us the water was too choppy or the tide too low. In our entire 10-day stay, we didn’t see a single person using the canoes or pedalo boats. I’m not sure if this area is run by a separate company, but the staff there didn’t seem very engaged—quite the opposite of the rest of the hotel, where the staff were absolutely amazing. Everyone—from bar staff to waiters, entertainment, and reception—worked so hard and always greeted us warmly with a smile.
Overall
This hotel, and Mauritius in general, was exactly what we wanted: beautiful surroundings, peaceful days in the sunshine (29°C most days), and the chance to relax and recharge before heading home for Christmas.
I apologise if this review is a little long, but I wanted to give an honest and informative overview so you can get the best out of your holiday.
Our stay at anelia was very pleasant. The service was impeccable. Our package included breakfast and dinner and both times the food was plenty catering to all cuisines. The room... read more 
