Emeraude Beach Attitude

We had 11 nights at the Emeraude, I have given the hotel 5* due to the superb customer service this hotel delivers with a small but efficient and friendly run team of staff. If you get the choice I would request a first floor room rather than ground floor, you do get a bit of noise from the road with passing traffic. Drinks are excellent on the All Inc our fav was the Mohito expertly mixed by Avich our friendly bar man. Food...... breakfast always plentiful with a good choice of freshly cooked eggs to order, lunch a bit hit and miss some days depending on your personal taste, Dinner, we always found something to eat but sometimes the food could be a little bland, unfortunately the menu has been designed to suit European tastes so there is little in the way of Mauritian spice. A mention to our waiters/ess who looked after us superbly at every meal time, Sarita, Varsha, Sabrina and Vicky to name a few. Sun beds, be prepared to get up early if you want a bed on the beach, the management did their best to prevent sun bed wars but there was still a bit of completion to get one. We had very mixed weather with sun shine tropical rain showers and the real risk of a cyclone on our last day, the reception team did their best to keep us up to date with the changing weather status and a flight change due to the cyclone warning. Reene’ in particular was very helpful. The majority of the guests here are French and Russian, with a few Swedish and British. This hotel is rated 3* so you might need to adjust your expectations before you book this hotel but what it lacks in some areas it’s made up for by the friendliness and standard of service from the staff. Make sure you pack plenty of sun cream and Mosquito repellant!

This hotel could have been so much better, so much better but for a keener eye from the management. Yes, it is a three star, but that does not excuse cleanliness. On entering the swimming pools I could see a 8 cm band of black dirt around the whole circumference of the pool. So thick and greasy I wrote the date in it with my finger nail. We decided to not go into the pools again. However, I did see that my writing was still visible 4 days later. I spoke to the manageress and informed her of my disbelief in the state of there pools ( the other pool had green on the bottom) and she later told me that they were going to have the pools thoroughly cleaned. The following day the pools were cleaned, they were better than they were , but still far below the standard required. I have a pool at home so know what is and what isn't acceptable. My other complaint was regarding flies, flies and more flies in the restaurant. To be fair the food in the buffet was protected, and served atvs fantastically hot temperature unlike some hotels. But the flies on and around our tables! At times, I kid you not, there were as many as about 20 flies on vacant tables. In the first week or so, I did not see staff wiping down the tables or spraying after use, only resetting the place mats and cutlery. Flies were everywhere, on my knife whilst eating, on my water glass etc. What bothered me in particular was that staff were walking around and MUST have been able to see the flies on peoples cutlery but did nothing. I was approached by the manageress and asked if everything was ok one day near there restaurant. I explained regarding the flies and the following meal we noticed that there were different place mats and tables were being used. Result? hardly any flies. A week or so later I gave credit to the same manageress but then entered the restaurant to see at least 30 flies on the table and mats of a table for four. I called her over and showed her the state of the flies. She had the table stripped of everything and sprayed and wiped. Result? All flies disappear except for a couple that returned to a tiny bit the waitress missed when wiping down on the corner of the table. There are other aspects of this hotel that excel, such as the beach. KOT NOU restaurant that is absolutely fab and far exceeds the expectations of guests to a 3 star hotel. The bar staff, Akash in particular was great, reception staff including Swati was efficient and friendly, our room was cleaned fantastically well by Talita. A special 4 course Birthday meal was provided by the hotel for my wife during the stay and again, this was beautifully presented and cooked.This was a deed far above what is normally given to guests and a credit to the hotel. I also went out of my way to give positive feedback for all the good things I encountered. Another asset to the hotel was Vicky who was always polite , friendly and great fun. When I complimented him he simply replied " I love my job" It has pained me to write this review because there are so many members of staff. who are working so hard and I do not want to put people off going to the hotel, but I was sent this survey and will not lie. I found the food to be good, and as mentioned served a at hot temperature. The free glass bottom boat trip twice daily was fun, and there guy running it was really nice and friendly. Having looked at the other reviews since our return home, I am even more disappointed because there are many references to flies and the state of the swimming pool which had not been acted upon prior to our arrival. In short, some parts great, other parts surprisingly poor given how good some aspects are.