Plage Resort Belle Mare

Totally loved the Belle Mare Plage. Such a beautiful hotel, everywhere is immaculate at all times even though you never see them cleaning. Fresh flowers are everywhere, even in the toilets, around the sinks etc. Very pretty and beautiful.

We had great weather practically the whole time we were there. The breeze was lovely, a welcome relief. Sunbathing was possible without getting too sweaty and it gets cooler at night so you can actually wear make up without it running down your face and no frizzy hair moments due to the low humidity!

The restaurants are amazing. The deserts at the buffet are to die for. I think the record was 7 in one night! There is something for everyone with the food being sectioned off into Asian, Fish, Mauritian, English, Italian, Salad bar, etc. The choice is endless and varies every night. One night there was sushi and sea urchins! The Deer Hunter is a lovely fancy restaurant which is also included in the half board. Very nice but make sure you book as we couldn't get in a 2nd time since the weekends are booked up quite far in advance. The Blue Penny Cafe is an amazing gastro restaurant, we had our wedding dinner there in the private room at the back (there were 9 of us and it was just the right size) and we couldn't have wished for anything better. They even personalised the menus for us and the service was impecable.

The beach is lovely, the sunloungers have padded removable headrests and the watersports are great.

We got married at this hotel and Rivans our wedding co-ordinator was most helpful and kept me calm. He provided everything we asked for and more and even came in on his day off (the wedding day) to make sure it was all ok. They provided the private function room for us at no extra charge and gave us a free room upgrade. The honeymoon breakfast in the room was huge. No one could eat even half of that amount!!!

Some of the drinks are expensive but I didn't think champagne was bad at 40 euros a bottle. It is a good idea to go into Belle Mare (5 mins in a taxi) to one of the small shops and buy water etc to keep in the fridge in your room as it costs just pence from these shops.

We always used the taxi rank directly just outside of the hotel gates, haggled with them a much cheaper price and went all over the island. There is so much to see there and nowhere is more than ann hour away. We went to see waterfalls, coloured earth, temples, tea plantations etc. Everyone is very enthusiastic to tell you about their country.

If I had to say one bad thing about it then it would be the birds at breakfast time. Maybe this is just me though as I don't like birds, some people may not be bothered by this. Most of the buffet food is covered over but the birds are always trying to get to it. They were in the seeds and the scrambled eggs which does seem a little bit unhygenic. They are all over the tables permanently flying around trying to get food. This is only at the breakfast buffet though and not in the evening.

The room was gorgeous and always clean. The turndown service was great especially the little weather report on your pillow for the next day.

There are 3 pools and even though the hotel was to full capacity while we were there, it never seemed that busy and sunloungers were always available.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone, especially couples as it is very romantic.