Maritim Resort Reviews

We stayed at the Maritim for 14 nights in November, 2004. We booked a Comfort (standard) room, which was of a good size, with a large comfortable bed, a small seating area, an outside terrace, and was air-conditioned. The room had a minibar (drinks not included in the all-inclusive tariff) and a safe. The bathroom was small, but smartly decorated and functional, and was supplied with fresh towels daily, and the usual soap, shower gel, etc.

We booked with the hotel directly, and the reservation was handled efficiently. We were told that no discounts from the standard tariff were available, as we were booking in a busy period. The hotel arranged our transfers to and from the airport, at a return cost of about £80, and I think this was good value as it was by private car. We also booked an early check-in to our room (we arrived at the hotel before 9am), and although this was quite expensive, it was worthwhile to get into our room, unpack, have breakfast, then get on with enjoying our holiday. One thing about the flights into Mauritius - many of them arrive and leave in the early morning, and the rooms vacated seem to be cleaned fairly quickly after the occupants' departure. So be prepared for the maid to be in the next room, or the one above or below, early some mornings, moving the furniture around so she can clean - can be noisy!

This was our first experience of an all-inclusive holiday, so some of our comments may reflect this. There are three restaurants at the Maritim - the Belle Vue (main), La Maree (beach) and Mon Desir (a la carte). Breakfast and dinner are taken in the Belle Vue, which is included in the all-inclusive tariff. Lunch may be taken in either of the Belle Vue or La Maree, or the Quarterdeck Bar, which is also included. Dinner in La Maree is chargeable, although a credit is allowed which basically pays for your starter, and drinks are included. Dinner can also be taken in Mon Desir - we didn't try this, although we understand that it's very expensive - and you also have to pay for your drinks.

Breakfast is a buffet, with eggs and omelettes cooked to order, and a wide choice of bread, pastries, cereals, etc. Lunch is one dish from the set menus available (the Belle Vue and La Maree menus are similar, but not quite the same). Occasional lunch buffets are available from La Maree, and while very nice, they are not publicised in advance. Dinner is a themed buffet most evenings in the Belle Vue, including a superb selection of salads, but two or three times a week dinner is table service from a table d'hote menu, with a reasonable choice. Of the themed buffets, our favourite was the Chinese, at which the restaurant was extremely well decorated, and the staff dressed in traditional costumes. The strangest was the BBQ buffet, which seemed to have very little in the way of barbecued food (OK, the roast beef was very nice, but at a BBQ buffet?). Much of the food, as you'd expect, is spicy, and could be a problem to those Anglophiles who like their roast dinners. The only criticism we had of the food at the Maritim was that it would have been nice to have had biscuits/cakes/pastries available in the afternoons, between lunch and dinner - there were no snacks available between meals (except peanuts in the bar).

The system of ordering food and drink at the Maritim may be alien to some people who have stayed all-inclusive at other hotels, where they issue you with an armband so that you are identified as an all-inclusive customer. At the Maritim, you have a guest card, which you hand to the waiter whenever you order anything, and then you have to sign for the food and drink, just as if you were charging it to your room (must create an enormous amount of paperwork). The problem with this system is that sometimes what appears on the bill bears no relationship to the drinks you've consumed. Most times it's tempting just to sign the bill, as you are not paying, but I sent the bill back on several occasions. The difficulty arises when one of these charges appears on your bill for payment when you check out, as it did with us. After an extensive discussion at Reception, they finally failed to produce the bill I had allegedly signed (which tends to disprove the value of the system anyway), and removed it from our bill.

The hotel is set in very attractive grounds, and it's pleasant just to walk around them. There is a freeform swimming pool, although the space around the pool is not extensive, leading to an occasional shortage of sunbeds. There is a fairly long beach and extensive gardens, both with ample shade and availability of sunbeds in these areas is usually good. Pool/beach towels are available from one of two desks near the pool and beach areas. Two points about the pool area - the sunbeds were the most comfortable we have ever used, but the floor area around the pool can be quite slippery when wet.

There is a variety of sports available - a nine hole golf course, tennis and table tennis (free), etc. There are watersports, although we didn't try any of them, and pedaloes and kayaks and glass bottomed boat trips (free).

Service at the Maritim can be variable. Getting drinks in the restaurants can be a tortuously slow process, but sometimes in the bar a waiter would be at your elbow as you finish a drink, asking whether you would like another one. There is also one other irritation that tends to get to you after eating in the Belle Vue on a number of occasions - the habit the waiters have of leaning across you when serving or removing dishes. On several occasions I almost had a waiter's sleeve in my meal - a small point, but it becomes irritating towards the end of two weeks.

The entertainment is of a reasonable standard, as it has to be, as the hotel is isolated and it's impractical to go outside for a drink in the evening. A good quality band plays from 9pm to midnight, and there is usually a local dance-type show for 45 minutes during that period. The shows during the second week are not a straight repeat of those during the first, so guests staying longer than a week should not find it repetitive. The mix of guests is mainly British, with a significant number of Germans and French, so the shows concentrate on the visual.

A criticism of the Maritim is the lack of communication with guests. For example, we were there during Divali, and we learned during a casual conversation with a waiter that the evening's buffet dinner could be taken at La Maree rather than the Belle Vue (at no extra charge), although no announcement was made about this. Also, on a number of days, the set menu at La Maree was replaced by a rather pleasant buffet, but again this was not announced. One day, we had no hot water in our room; we reported it to Reception, who told us that the hot water had been shut off for the day as work was being carried out on the supply pipe. No one told us in advance!

The Maritim is situated between the island's capital, Port Louis, and the main resort, Grand Baie. Rather helpfully, the hotel organises taxi shuttle trips to each of these places three times a week. Basically, you put your name down and the hotel books sufficient taxis. You have to share with another couple, but we found this to be an excellent opportunity to meet other people, and the taxi drivers would also tell you about the trips they will take you on, eg a whole day tour of either the north or south of the island costs around £40.

Port Louis has a smart waterfront with bars and restaurants, a manic market, a bazaar with aggressive traders, a couple of museums, and one of the highest levels of traffic pollution I have ever come across. Grand Baie is a small coastal town with a busy road running through it. It has a bazaar (quieter and more pleasant than Port Louis), a number of bars/restaurants and a few hotels. It also has a large supermarket for your drinks to take home. Other places to visit are the Pamplemousse Botanical Gardens (but get a guide as it makes it much more interesting - only £1 per person), and the sugar cane factory museum (but you have to read most of the history from cards on the walls).

Those people who expect Mauritius to be the sun-blessed paradise in the holiday adverts should be careful about where and when they go. Mauritius as an island is no more and no less a paradise than most other holiday islands, and the poverty in some parts has to be seen to be believed. Regarding the weather, the prevailing winds are from the south east, so the south east coast is where you'll get the most rain The Maritim is in the north west, but even here we had quite a bit of rain over the 14 days we were there, and the first few days were very windy. Also, the summer period (November to April) is the cyclone period, and although not usually serious, this can bring windy and occasionally wet weather (although still hot).

Overall, we enjoyed our stay in Mauritius at the Maritim. We adapted to the concept of all-inclusive quite well (but the Maritim is a high quality establishment - we have seen some disastrous examples of all-inclusive at other hotels we've stayed at). The 12 hour flight would put many people off, so it's worth considering whether you can afford to upgrade so that you get a little more comfort.