Latest Reviews for Balaclava

Hotel looks nice when you first arrive but as you walked through and were taken to your rooms, it was obvious that the hotel needed updating to warrant a 4 star, rooms basic, satellite tv ok if you could speak french or italian!! beach standard, very busy at weekends with local people, snorkeling very poor, had to take boat to reef, not many fish when you arrived there! Beach bar and restaurant good but on the all inclusive only a couple of set meals which became a bit repetitive, main restaurant food poor. Entertainment pretty much the same every night.

On our last day, we had to pay for food as the all inclusive finished at 12 noon on day of departure, we were not informed of this and after paying so much for the holiday we were a bit disgusted by this. English not catered for at all at this hotel 99% of guests were italian, we were the only engish guests there for duration of our stay.

We will not be going back to Mauritius anytime soon!!!

AMAZING !!!
We arrived in Mauritus for our honeymoon and were treated like royalty !!!

Long flights had left us a bit tired and grumpy but we were greeted by cold towels and Cocktails whilst sitting in the most gorgeous reception area overlooking the indian ocean while we were checked in.

The room was lovely, the facilities all excellent.

I would recommend the spa for that extra treat !!!

Food was fantastic we ate so well that our clothes didn't fit when we got home...

Would highly recommend this hotel and we will be going back as soon as we can.

Hotel setting is nice but rooms are very dark and a bit old fashioned. The food in the buffet restaurant was very disappointing for a 4 star hotel. The tables were dirty and the service was not good. La Amiral on the beach was ok though food and service was reasonable. Look out at the bar for Vikash he is a very nice man and if you drop him a tip he will give you premium drinks if on All Inclusive. I think this hotel needs to sort out whether they are HB or AI as you have to sign for everything on AI which can be irrating especially when they charge you!!!!!! Not a very enjoyable holiday, in fact we will not be going back to Mauritius.

Well what can i say a Fantastic end to our Safari/beach holiday.

We arrived at 10.00pm and were treated like royality, cold towels fruit cocktails and time to come round after a 5 hour flight from Nairobi. The Porter was lovely and very professional. We were shown to our room and shown all the normal stuff and then he wished us a happy holiday and left no tip expected what a surprise!!! 2 minutes later a knock on the door and two plates of food delivered to help us settle in.

We were on a fully inclusive package but no 'bands' just a credit card to show. the bars and restaurants throughout the hotel were first class. The staff were wonderful and made you feel 'special' Towels at the pool or beach changed when ever you liked cool towels were brought round in the afternoon just to cool you down.......Drinks were delivered to the beach, pool, rooms or any chari you chose to sit in.

As we were only there 5 days we only left the hotel once to do the free trip to Pamplmoose Gardens and Port Louis the capital this was a bit rushed but an interesting experience just the same.
Water sports included were water skiing, kiakacs, sail boats,glass bottom boat trips, pedaloes, snookling and snorkling trips,try dive,fishing, golf and horseriding were available at a cost golf cost £6.00 for a round.

I would throughly reccommend this hotel to everyone it was a fantastic place to spend time and a wonderful experience that we will never forget....

We went to Mauritius to get married - fantastic!!

The view on arrival is absolutley breathtaking, a you walk into reception the backdrop is the Indian Ocean...it still brings a tear to my eye when I picture this.

The staff in the hotel were the most beautiful people we had ever met. Everybody looked after us so well...especially on our wedding day.

During preparation we were collected from the hotel to complete the formal paperwork, we had our own personal escort this took only 2-3 hours. The wedding co-ordinator helped me choose my own flowers (these can be dried for you to take home if you ask) and location for the ceremony (we chose the beach). Our photographer was arranged by the hotel and they are the most stunning pictures I have ever seen - cheap and worth much more that we paid. Video??....well its a bit corny but its a must for your memories.

We dined on the beach in the evening after sunset pictures. We we given lots of choices for our meal of numerous courses. We had the most devine wedding breakfast the following morning in our room, champagne, fruit, pastries etc etc served to us on our balcony!

Although we had paid for a Comfort Suite we paid about £120 to up-grade to the honeymoon suite for two nights. Fabulous room, complimentary champagne, outside shower and private bathing area on the balcony with a HUGE jaccuzzi hot tub.

No grumbles about the food, cocktails, beer, wine ...only the weather!! We only had about 4-5 really nice days with the remainder being a bit overcast so March/April not the best for sun-worshipers. However, on one really hot day as we pay cooking in the sun a member of the hotel staff walked along the beach giving us iced lemon scented flannels to cool ourselves down...paradise!!

The watersports on offer great - although we were a bit lazy and only tried snorkelling and pedaloes.

Had a massage in the spa for about £45 but it was so relaxing...with the exception of the ice cold plunge pool which I was advised to use in conjunction with the sauna and steam rooms prior to the massage to get full benefit!!

I must mention mon-desir - It is expensive but if you apprecite good food and wine it would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity to dine here. The restaurant is one of the best on the island (remember to dress smartly)

I would recommend Maritim to anyone looking for an excellent quality hotel and most importantly a paradise wedding.

Excellent hotel - set in beautiful grounds about 1 hour from airport. Had a standard room which was huge! Massive double bed, air con, TV, all the usual things. Hotel is very clean and tidy, make sure you check out the view from reception,it takes your breath away even when you arrive blurry eyed after that 12 hour flight!

All Inclusive was very good - B/fast is a buffet with everything you can imagine. Lunch is at either main or beach restuarant or bar with a good menu to choose from. Evenings is a buffet or a la carte from one of the other 2 restaurants. Lots and lots of choice (red meat, chicken, fish, vegitarian, salad, plus speciality dishes), variety and tastes - you won't get bored. Dress for evenings is smart/casual - long trousers/collars for the guys and no jeans or trainers either.

Beach is lovely - make sure you take shoes you can wear into the sea (not flip flops) the coral is pretty sharp and not pleasant to walk on. Pool is huge - plenty of space to chill out and take in the view of the bay. Not too much of a rush for sunbeds, plenty to go around and you could find one whatever time of day you turned up. You'll get the usual beach hawkers but they tend to say hello then move on - not a problem at all. If you are going to buy anything find Christophe - he loves the english and will do you a great bargain (especially if you say you are a Liverpool fan). Good buys are Ralph Lauren, Sarongs, jewellery. If you want to barter all the better and if you take along Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd football memorbillia you can make yourself a bit of cash aswell (they will pay around £70 for a football shirt). Snorkelling is OK - you need a calm sunny day and the reef is about 10ft from the beach. Dont expect something from Finding Nemo though - its OK, but if you have been to the Maldives or snorkelled alot you'll problaby be unimpressed.

Weather wise - its obviously really hot but expect rain whenever you go (you'll notice how green it is when you fly in)despite what the brouchures say. It only lasts about 20 mins and its still warm enough to sit around in. There is always a nice breeze too - be grateful as you need it!

Flew Air Maurtitius who were great and no need to upgrade as you get a 34"; seat pitch as standard.

Overall this was a fantastic holiday, in an excellent hotel. I'd definately recommend a visit, you wont be dissapointed.