Hibiscus Beach Resort Mauritius Review
The Hibiscus Beach Resort and Spa in Pereybere was my home for one week in Mauritius. The hotel’s website is: http://www.hibiscushotel.com/
My goal for the trip was simply to sleep, relax, and get a bit of work done remotely. I knew in advance that Mauritius was more of a honeymoon, couples, and family destination than a backpacker hub, but I figured I’d splurge on accommodation and make the most of having some peace and quiet to myself for a week while still exploring a new country.
Relaxing at Hibiscus Beach Resort Pereybere
Prior to booking the hotel, I determined that the North West was the best place to be in Mauritius for weather as the South East tends to receive more wind and rain. This held true as when I arrived, it was raining in the South and as we drove north the skies were clear and the sun was shining brightly.
Having narrowed my search down to the North West of Mauritius, I began reviewing hotels in Pereybere, Trou aux Biches, and Flic en Flac. Hotels greatly range in price in Mauritius and although I’m usually very much a budget backpacker, as I was only away for a week and looking to spend a lot of time working from the room and relaxing at the resort, I figured $100/night was a fair budget for accommodation. I read reviews on a lot of hotels in the area and although the Hibiscus Beach Resort was not scored very highly, I noticed that all of the recent comments were extremely positive and consensus was that a change in management had greatly enhanced the quality of the hotel. I was able to book the Hibiscus Beach Resort through Expedia.ca for US$ 110 per night, which I thought was fair value given what I had read about the resort and its surrounding competition.
Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised as the Hibiscus Beach Resort was much nicer than I expected. The receptionist was very pleasant (and attractive) and the staff quickly brought me a refreshing welcome drink which was very nice after a long drive from the airport. My room was large and clean and it had a ground floor patio that opened up on to the Hibiscus’ nicely manicured garden area. I had read some reviews with concerns over bugs and insects in the rooms but I didn’t see anything in my room over the entire week – not even lizards which are a standard un-invited room guest in tropical climates. I was also informed that my booking was half-board and included breakfast and dinner, something expedia had not noted and which further enhanced the value of the resort to me.
My Room at Hibiscus Beach Resort
Although I had easy access to the beach and pool area from my ground floor room, it appeared that many of the rooms also had great ocean views which would have been nice. I quite liked the size of the resort as it was large enough for people to always be around, but not so large that it was unwelcoming or impersonal. The clientele was mostly older couples as I expected, but as the week went on a few groups of young-to-middle-aged women arrived which at least gave me people to socialize and eat dinner with. The majority of people I spoke to were from Germany, but it appeared there were quite a few other nationalities also staying at the resort that preferred to keep to themselves.
I Was Flying Solo but Felt the Love Anyways
The beach area has to be the best part of the Hibiscus Resort as it has nice soft coral sand and there are lounge chairs, hammocks, and umbrellas available for use. Although there are volcanic rocks between the beach area and the ocean there is a dock that makes it easy to go for a swim from the resort’s beach. There is also a nice swimming pool with a smaller “hot” tub with jets if salt water is not your thing.I did not check out the Spa area as it’s not really my thing, but I did see the employees walking around and they appeared to be nice and professional. There is also a dive center that is associated with the resort making it very convenient to go for a morning and/or afternoon dive each day.
Hibiscus Beach Resort Pool and Beach
Generally, the staff was very helpful and friendly and it was the perfect place to relax. The Pereybere public beach is a short walk from one side of the hotel and there is a quiet, more private beach a short walk away on the other side. The Winner’s supermarket is also only a 5-10 minute walk from the Hibiscus Hotel and it makes the perfect place to stock up on fruit juice, beer, or rum for the mini fridges in the room.
Dinners were generally good and most evenings there was a live musician playing guitar, saxophone, or clarinet to provide atmosphere for diners. The food was of standard all-inclusive quality and changed each evening, providing a nice mix over the week. I don’t think the food was as spicy, seasoned, or flavourful as typical Mauritian cuisine, but as these buffet style resort meals need to cater to all palates I thought they did a good job in providing a selection that both appealed to everyone and tasted fine.
Pereybere is a bit of a sleepy town and there was not a lot of entertainment to draw me out of the resort in the evenings. My only complaint about the Hibiscus Beach Resort is that the bar was quite expensive (175 Rs for a 330ml beer) and they didn’t play music or provide any reasons for people to want to stay out for a drink. It would have been much nicer if there were happy hour specials or other incentives for people to get out and socialize before or after their evening supper as most people appeared bored in the evenings. The hotel did have a bunch of board games available and I did see a few people play in the evenings with their travel partners, but given the sleepiness of Pereybere it would be nice if there was a better way to entertain one’s self at the resort after sunset.
Given the above, I’d give the Hibiscus Beach Resort and Spa the following ratings:
Amenities: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Cleanliness/Rooms: 5/5
Staff: 4.5/5
Value: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
To read about the tour of Mauritius’ South West, please see my post here.
To read more about my week in Mauritius, including my dive of the Whale Rocks, please see my post here.
Sounds and looks familar. The new blog format looks great.
I have been in for a week. I need to get some more stuff down to Nicaragua so I think I will be going back to Houston/Nicaragua in mid Jan.