Ecolodge Le Ravoraha — Hotel in Nosy Boraha

We had a lovely stay at Ecolodge Ravoraha for 5 days, and will definitely be returning! ||The bungalows are very comfortable and equipped with everything you need - we had a family bungalow for the two of us, which is on two levels - living area and bathroom downstairs, and bedroom and balcony upstairs. These can accommodate up to 4 children, so perfect for families. My mum had a frontline bungalow with amazing views of the beach!||On the beach itself there are some comfy sun beds, a big double bed style lounger and a cool covered hammock. You can swim in the area just in front of the hotel easily and the water is lovely. The pool is also very nice, albeit a bit chilly at this time of year!||Staff were very friendly, and mostly speak good French and some English. Breakfast every morning was yoghurt, fruit, bread, pancakes, biscuits and delicious eggs to order, plus tea or coffee. Some natural yoghurt would have been nice, but otherwise the food was great. Service at breakfast could be a little slow at times, but we were on holiday so not overly fussed. There is also a snack bar for lunch, which does simple food until 7pm, such as samosas, spring rolls, burgers, chips, sandwiches and spaghetti. The bar is also open until 7pm and they make some great cocktails!||We wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again, but a few things to be aware of - not negatives per se, but might be off-putting for some.||- There is no food in the evening - but we went next door to the lovely Chez Regine twice and also the Princess Bora Hotel. We also got a tuk tuk to Ambodifotra and ate there one evening. So all in all, not a huge issue.||- It is about 20-30 minutes to Ambodifotra by tuk tuk - good to be aware if you think you’re going to want regular trips to the only real ‘town’ on the island.||- The lodge is in the middle of the village - and there is no getting away from the fact that life starts early each day! So if you want utter silence and tranquillity, this is not the hotel for you. This wasn’t an issue for us, as we were happy to go to bed early and get up early - but the noises from the village start anytime from 0730 onwards eg children shouting, cockerel crowing, wood chopping. ||However, I have to say that overall this place is incredibly relaxing, intimate and we had...

The bungalows were nicely decorated and close to the water no doubt. As far as breakfast prices, they were outrageous! We were quoted a great price but were charged an outrageous price. We were never shown a breakfast menu but was told when we checked in, what the price was expected to be. We were told not only once, but twice when I questioned the staff again. We did not see any meal prices listed on the Airbnb site that we booked the bungalow through. Sophie, the owner has since stated that she would loose money if she charged less for breakfast but her Airbnb listing now includes a free breakfast. That is, unless she has edited her listing again to delete any bad reviews that we left for her as previously she had done. There are many other extremely nice accommodations on St Marie with reasonable meal prices. We found them after we booked here unfortunately. || There is security on the premises and Sophie has stated that he stays within 20 meters at all times. Does that mean that he doesn’t do rounds to ensure the sides and back areas of bungalows are safe? Why didn’t he stop the person that tried to come into our bungalow in the early morning hours then? Sophie states on TripAdvisor that it was a person that was mistaken and had came to the wrong bungalow trying to get in our door. It would have been nice of her to tell us that while we were still there instead of waiting until she read it in a TripAdvisor forum. We had complained to the office manager and he did accommodate us as requested, with a very large kitchen knife to keep us company for the remainder of our stay. So thank you for that!|| Overall, our stay could have been much more pleasant. But...

During our whole trip in Madagascar, this was our only negative bump. While Sophie's bungalow are very nice, her personnel has very bad attitude. We stayed there 4 nights and after the first night we requested to pay for our dinning. We were declined our bill, we were told we would pay when we checked out. We did not like it, but didn't fight it, which was big mistake! It turns out, we were given wrong information regarding cost of our breakfast. And we ended up paying 4 times more for breakfast that we we were told the cost was! That was extreme shock for us!!! If we got our bill when we requested it, we would NEVER eat breakfast there! We believe stuff is trained to give you price in local currency without the 3 zeros or euros, whichever number is lower! Dinner prices are listed in daily menu board in local currency (which are by the way ridiculously high and portions are small!!!), so that wasn't confusing, only disappointing. Expect to pay for breakfast and dinner twice more you would pay in USA! And if you don't eat 3 times a day, stuff is no longer nice to you. Of course you have option to dine outside of your hotel, which we should have done from the beginning. Other negative experience occurred to us on third night between 12-1:00 at night. We woke up to the sound of someone trying to open our bungalow! Very scary moment!!! Luckily we were locked and person behind the door gave up, when realizing doors were locked. We must say we have seen night guard there and still this happens! After all, this place would be a nice place for us, if we didn't experience misleading in costs from Sophie and her personnel and someone trying to break in in the middle...