Room for improvement
Dec 27, 2024 wild-wings George, South Africa
I only review places where I visited as a regular guest and paid the normal rate. I've stayed at many different resorts all around Mauritius. Radisson Blu Poste Lafayette Resort and Spa is an adults only resort along the north east coast, which we knew could be quite windy compared to the west coast, and it was windy. But I was keen to try a new…
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I only review places where I visited as a regular guest and paid the normal rate. I've stayed at many different resorts all around Mauritius. Radisson Blu Poste Lafayette Resort and Spa is an adults only resort along the north east coast, which we knew could be quite windy compared to the west coast, and it was windy. But I was keen to try a new resort in a new area and see how the snorkeling was here.
In my view, this hotel is overpriced and there is plenty of room for improvement. This is one of the few resorts I have visited in Mauritius that I would not return to. I would have given them 4 bubbles if their pricing matched the quality of the experience. But I judge them based on what we paid, and the expectations that come with the RB brand.
Let's start with the rooms. The resort has several different room types, the cheapest being their standard rooms across the road (other side of the road to the main resort). I would avoid these rooms. We had booked their "superior" rooms which were supposed to be a step up. But our rooms were tiny. A king size double bed takes up most of the space in the room, there is no additional furniture in the room, almost no place to put your bags, and very little space around the bed. It felt very cramped. We asked to be moved to twin rooms, which were upstairs and slightly bigger, but still not very spacious. The room at the very end of the block (18) is slightly bigger than the rest, and at least has a small balcony. I did not see the sea facing rooms from inside, but I think those might be the only rooms worth their price tag. The superior rooms are just far too small for the price you pay.
The resort has a water problem. Several times during our stay, the water ran out and we had to wait some time (anything from half an hour to two hours), presumably for a tanker to arrive and fill up their water storage tanks. This happened mostly in the afternoons and evenings, sometimes while showering.
The meals were fine but underwhelming. The buffet was rather limited in scope and variety. And the food quality was disappointing. They really need a better executive chef. The beach restaurant downstairs was somewhat better, but all the best meals on that menu had a significant surcharge even if you paid for All Inclusive. Most of the meals that did not come with a surcharge were mediocre at best. You have to book at least one day in advance to eat at the beach restaurant. On Wednesday there was a prawn feast (5 course meal) which was priced at rs2800 (about $60 per person) and those who paid for AI were still charged rs2000 ($43).
Service was not great. There were a few serving staff who did a great job, but overall the service was slow and poor quality. Some of the waiters had very poor English, so it was hard to communicate. During our holiday week, it happened at least 5 or 6 times that an order never came (usually a drink order that just never arrived). The resort could do with some hospitality training. The front desk however was very helpful, and they really tried their best to find us twin rooms to move to.
In terms of activities, there is not much to do at this resort. There is no jetty and no motorised water sports. Only a couple of kayaks and stand up paddle boards. No paddle boats, no sailing, no glass bottom boat, nothing. This is fine if you only want to tan on the beach or lie by the pool all day, as most guests seemed to do. The snorkeling out front is not great. Too much sea grass and algae, almost no coral. The best snorkeling spot nearby is off the point at Poste Lafayette Public Beach, about 2km south of the hotel. There is no nearby diving centre so avoid this resort if you like scuba diving.
There is a well equipped gym with decent aircon which is a plus.
This resort has a lot of potential but it is overpriced for such tiny rooms. The food and service needs improvement, and the activities on offer are very limited. If I compare to other east coast resorts I have been to, for the same money one can do a lot better at other resorts. And if you want less wind, rather go to the west coast. If their rooms and meals were better priced, I would perhaps be less harsh.
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