The Ravenala Attitude

We stayed here for 10 nights and it was amazing. There is a warm welcome whilst being checked in and given towels and a herbal drink to revitalise us after a long journey. The er are numerous restaurants on site and we tried most of them. O beach for lunch was great - ate the crab salad a lot. Kot Nau was a traditional Mauritian restaurant that was our collective favourite and gluten free. Madam ming was lovely. My tip would be to go to the restaurant booking desk when you arrive and book them all in straight away as they have limited spaces. We took part in some activities such as aqua aerobics which was put and also table tennis and pétanque on the beach. For trips, steve on the beach did an a,a zing trip on the speedboat to snorkel with turtles and dolphins - the only thing I would say here is that when lots of boats arrive, the turtles can look a bit distressed so we left at that point. The hotel catered well for my wife's gluten free condition and the rooms were large and airy - the loo was a bit of a squeeze but the total bathroom is large but that aside no complaints. Wthere are tennis courts and when it gets dark you can see bats flying overhead. The gym was good as well, would definitely return to this beautiful island. For taxis we booked via the hotel as they were much cheaper than virgin but have a look at the Facebook groups as lots of good tips in there. Read less

When we arrived at the Ravenala, the staff were very welcoming, we were offered refreshing drinks and cool flannels. Check-in was quick and easy, with porters to assist with luggage. The family room was a nice size and the travel cot for the toddler was already set-up in the master bedroom area. The 15 year old was on the bed in the living area. There was a sliding door separating the two areas, and a blind to the side & blinds on the bathroom rather than a solid wall - which would have been no issue if our eldest child was much younger. As a teen he felt a little awkward but we managed it quite easily and he showered when we left the room, therefore we felt this type room was probably better suited to younger families. We liked having a proper bath and separate shower - this was great for the toddler. The balcony area was a generous size and the fridge was well stocked on arrival too. The swimming pools were good, especially the kids ones. Not too deep and plenty of space for the children to play. They were a little chilly first thing but soon warmed up in the sun. Plenty of sunbeds around. A couple times a day the pool seemed to over flow and flood the corner making the tiles a little slippy but it was fine as everyone seemed aware and wearing water shoes helped too. The deeper pools had swallower areas for the younger children too, so all the family could swim together. The kids club allowed under 3s to go in and play on the equipment, as long as a parent supervised, which the toddler loved. Outside was a swing, slide, and climbing frame and a selection of toys indoors. The beach area was great for the teenager. A big selection of boats/paddleboards, along with beach games and organised activities for older teens. There were a couple days we hardly saw him! The beach wasn't huge but big enough and the toddler had fun making sand castles and paddling in the sea. The buffet restaurant often had a nice selection of food, the odd occasion the veg wasn't hot but the staff were cooking a lot of the meats as you selected what you wanted. Not bad in terms of a buffet. The a la carte restaurant 'The Bistrot' was fantastic and we would thoroughly recommend it. All 4 of us cleared our plates! I could have had a second helping of the pork ribs! The far end of The Bistrot was also a sports bar but not very well advertised. We had a couple of evenings where it was only us in that area. The young man behind the bar was lovely and a credit to the team (we think his name was Kirin-K). The beach bar gave you an awesome spot to sit and watch the sunset, with a nice cold drink. Whilst staying at the hotel we had a leak on our air conditioning one evening, the maintenance man came straight out. Took the unit apart, cleaned it, and it was all good for 20 minutes. It started to leak again but the little one fell asleep before he arrived back. He didn't want to disturb her so told us to let the receptionist know when we were awake and they would come back first thing. True to their word, they came back and 3 of them managed to get it working - no further issues, which was great and didn't really affect us too much. The manager, Ismail, was very apologetic and went above and beyond to make sure we were happy. He sent us complimentary drinks the next day and offered to change our room but we were happy so he upgraded us to full board. This meant the children could have lunch at the buffet restaurant, which was far more than we expected - we were just pleased the AC was working properly. The departure lounge bathrooms were a good size and very well looked after. Overall we had a great stay at the Ravenala and we would recommend it, as a good place to stay if you are looking for somewhere to stay in the north west. Read less