Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Wellness Resort — Hotel in Bel Ombre

PERFECT||We chose Le Telfair as part of a twin resort holiday to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We were met by Sharmine on our arrival. She was our guest relations contact.||Our suite wasn't quite ready so we were offered the option of lunch in Cavendish or Palmier. We chose Palmier and lunch was very good.||There are a number of cats on the property and one of them chose to spray (urinate) on my linen jacket that was draped over my hand luggage. In no way was this the fault of any individual but what happened after became a saga. More of which later.||||Our suite was 201 located at the adults only section of the resort and it was nothing short of wonderful. There was a chilled bottle of champagne awaiting us, a cake and chocolates.||The four poster bed was decorated with a beach bag and Le Telfair polo shirt.||The mini bar was well stocked and in area above was tea and coffee facilities, water, miniature bottles of rum and cocktail making equipment, snacks and a jar of honey.||The bathroom was large, airy and spacious with a large bath, separate shower and WC.||Outside there was a seating area and by the pool there were two reserved sunbeds allocated to our suite. All in all a perfect place for the duration of our stay. I cannot speak highly enough on the quality and layout of the suite. My wife and I were very impressed.||The food and service at Gin'ja is superb and the staff who looked after us a credit to the resort. I'd mention in particular Jeremey and a special call to chef Kanen who produced some wonderful food and took time to speak to us and explain the menu in full.||Dinner at Le Chateau was again superb. The setting is amazing and we were very well looked after by Kaddress. A very knowledgeable gentleman whose recommendations were much appreciated. A bottle of wine we had chosen the night before was ready for us at Chateau which was a brilliant touch.||Lunch at Palmier on two occasions was very good as was lunch at Le Grill at La Reserve golf club and C Beach Club.||Breakfasts at C Beach club and Annabella's are great.||The concierge service provided by Antoine in particularly was second to none. A real gentleman and and a credit to the hotel.||The Chateau golf course is superb, a great test in a truly beautiful setting. The course was wet in places but as it is Winter in Mauritius and rain is frequent this was expected. It did not detract from my enjoyment of playing the course. The practice facilities are second to none. The par three course is well maintained and great for anyone who cannot handle the main course. The restaurant area overlooking the practice putting green and onto the course is really nice.||The golf course at La Reserva is superb but very different to a typical links course in the UK. It is described as the first links course in Mauritius. There are some wonderful (and tough) holes to play and it is a tougher challenge than Chateau course.||I would say it is not really a traditional links course that I would recognise because the eighteen holes are spread over a very large area and it would not be possible to walk the course. The distances between greens and tees is too great in some places.||It takes approx fifteen minutes to drive a cart to the first hole from the pro shop. ||On arrival at starters hut I was met by Emanuel and a lovely young lady who's name escapes me but both were superb.||Emanuel's tips on how to play the course helped me immensely.||The nip of Macallan twelve year old scotch before teeing on on the first hole is a really nice touch.||||NOT SO PERFECT||The first issue we had was at an A La carte dinner at Annabella's. We arrived and were escorted to our table and handed a food menu. After waiting for ten minutes I asked a female member of staff if it was possible to order some drinks. This particular lady asked what we would like and walked away. Ten minutes later a waiter appeared and asked us for a drinks and food order, We told him we had ordered drinks so he took our food order.||We had still not received our drinks so I approached the lady I had spoken to earlier who rather arrogantly told me "I don't order drinks" I asked why she had asked us what we wanted and she said she had passed our order to our waiter. I asked the waiter if this was so and he said it wasn't, he had not been made aware of our drink order.||A few minutes later another waiter appeared with our drinks. It took over 20 minutes to get a bottle of water and two drinks. Not what anyone would expect from a 5* hotel and resort.||The attitude shown by the lady in question was appalling. It seemed that she was above ordering a drink for guests when there appeared to us that there were staffing issues in the restaurant. We noticed the restaurant Manager clearing tables at one point.||After having dinner at Le Chateau we asked Kaddress if we could book for lunch the following day. He said we could and he booked a 1.30 time slot.||My wife had discovered that she had lost an earring the evening before and reported it to reception. She said she would look at Le Chateau when we went there for lunch. Two receptionists tapped at keyboards. One said it was closed for a "private day" the other said we couldn't go for lunch as it was not part of our all inclusive package.||I questioned Sharmine about this and she said there was a wedding there that day, she arranged lunch at Le Grill at Reserva golf club and said she could book dinner at Chateau the following evening if we wanted to, which we did.||What we were told at dinner surprised us. Kaddress asked us why we had not turned up for lunch. We told him why and he categorically told us that there was no private day or wedding held the previous day and that there were only seven guests for lunch. I find that it if we were lied to, for whatever reason, to be wholly unacceptable.||||Sharmine arranged the club car service for my wife as she has mobility issues. We called for a cart to pick us up one evening to take us to Gin'ja. We requested the cart for 6.30 as dinner was booked for 7.00pm. The cart had not arrived by 6.45 and we ended up walking to the restaurant.||||There is a waiter call service for drinks at the adults only pool which worked sporadically. The waiter said there was issues with the watches that received the requests.||After my last round of golf I asked for my clubs to be returned to the hotel. On the evening before departure I asked at reception if my clubs had been returned and could they be taken to my room. The guy on reception told me that my clubs were at Le Chateau course and it was closed at that point in time.||Next morning I took a shuttle to Chateau course and sought out the caddy master who looked for my clubs but couldn't find them. He said that are probably at Reserva. The shuttle driver took me to Reserva and the same thing happened. No clubs. I was told they were at the hotel so we drove back to the hotel. The driver suggested to reception that my clubs could be in left luggage room and that is where they were and had been all the time.||The guy on reception the previous evening did not even look in the luggage room and as such I wasted about an hour of my last day searching for my clubs which is not really acceptable.||We asked for our luggage to be collected from our room at 16.15 as we were departing at 17.00. After two calls and one message the luggage had not been picked up at 16.45.||Finally the issue of my jacket turned into a real saga. The first attempt at cleaning it resulted in the colour from the lining running into the main fabric. The washing instructions had not been followed and it had been washed in water. The attempt to rectify this resulted in the jacket being washed our, a few water marks and it had shrunk. it was ruined.||I explained to Sharmine the situation. She sent someone from housekeeping to look at jacket and she agreed with my thoughts. She would report that back to Sharmine. No word from Sharmine so In chased up the next day and she asked me what her colleague had suggested as a resolution and my reply was she was going to "report back to you"||On our last day I once again asked Sharmine what was happening. Three members of the housekeeping team came to our room bearing gifts. They looked at the jacket and agreed that it was ruined and would speak to management. This was at 13.30pm.||By the time we left the room I had not been contacted by anyone. At reception Sharmine said her manager was coming to speak to me. ||I eventually spoke to the hotel director, Dominique Grel and we had a civilised conversation. There was no offer to replace my jacket or reimburse me for it.||I was offered a 20% discount from the hotel boutique which I said was not acceptable. I was asked if we would be returning to Mauritius and I said we would. Mr Grel offered me a free nights accommodation and hotel transfer if we decided to return to Le Telfair. A nice gesture but worthless unless we return. He said he would contact me via message and email which he did do.||I have since had an email conversation with Mr Grel and have come to a agreeable solution.||The thing I need to say is that the whole thing could have been resolved long before we left.||I will reiterate that the hotel is superb. The areas that need to be addressed in my opinion are staffing levels in some areas, customer service from some members of staff and punctuality on requested times need to be relied on, which in our experience it could not be.||The not so perfect issues could easily be resolved in my opinion. The issues we encountered would not deter us recommending Le Telfair to others but with caveats.||The issues did not ruin our stay, they just became an irritation, time consuming and not what you would expect at a 5* hotel and resort.||I thank Mr Grel for his time and responses after we arrived home. I just wish that it hadn't had to...

Incredibly disappointed with our stay here. I will try to give a balanced review, but ultimately we felt like we massively overpaid for a very poor experience.

We had stayed at LUX Grand Gaube for 5 nights before our 6 night stay here. It was impeccable and half the price.

At Heritage Le Telfair we paid over £400 a night for our room (B&B only), which is an extremely high price point at which we expected the utmost luxury and excellent facilities and services to match.

The food offering was poor. The breakfast buffet was ok but not great. Gin Ja was expensive and inedible - the nasai goreng and pad thai tasted identical with the same oily, flabby texture and the same generic sauce/seasoning. C beach club was slightly better and we had lunch there a few times.

The resort had a huge number of stray/wild cats and dogs roaming freely. The cats were at breakfast every morning jumping on tables and eating food, and rubbing against your legs under the table. Many guests were obviously uncomfortable with this unhygienic and unwelcome addition but staff did nothing and totally ignored the problem even when asked for help. Stray dogs laid right at the edge of the main pool throughout the day, often bothering guests, and again staff did nothing to try and get rid of them. We felt quite strongly that this isn’t good enough for a 5* hotel and that there should be measures in place to deter them from coming into the resort. Obviously animals are everywhere on the island, but were not a problem at all in other hotels, so it can be done.

The service was very poor. Staff mostly didn’t interact with you, were not friendly or attentive, and generally seemed to lack competence and professionalism. They often brought something other than what you had ordered.

The facilities were not up to 5* standard at all. Two very dated pools, one heated and full of families, one unheated and next to a canteen with stray dogs and again lots of children as there is no adults area or pool. The ‘activity centre’ looked like a detention centre (photos attached) and was incredibly shabby and dirty.

The thing we were most unhappy about was housekeeping. The room was lovely and we were happy with it when we arrived. However I am pregnant and was being sick frequently. We explained this to our rep and when we saw our linen hadn’t been changed (despite their written information stating it would be done daily, attached), we asked for it to be done since I’d been unwell and also spent more time in bed than usual on holiday. We had to ask for this daily until it was finally done on day 5 of a 6 day stay, and even then they didn’t change the pillowcases. They told us they’d done a ‘deep clean’ which wasn’t at all what we were asking - we just wanted fresh linens. In addition to this, linens and towels were stained and old (photos attached) which shocked us. We were also woken at 8am by housekeeping knocking on our door and subsequently walking in while we were undressed at 8.45am. Totally unacceptable!

Positives: Our rep Hannah was friendly The ice cream kiosk The wellness spa pool and area When we referenced our dissatisfaction as above we were given free late check out on our last day which made the day more comfortable for us. Unfortunately 4 hours extra in the room did not make us feel happier about our stay. Bizarrely, the Awali hotel attached is a million times nicer - the pools are modern and attractive with more comfortable loungers and an adults only area, the food was massively better (Infinity Blue), and the staff are attentive, friendly, and competent. They proactively asked guests around the pool if they wanted drinks and even came round with free snacks. We wished we had booked to stay there (it was cheaper) and that we had known before day 4 of our stay so that we could have made more of it.

Particularly if you are travelling as a couple and wanting a romantic and luxury stay, this is not the place for it at all.

*UPDATE: Emailed Dominique as requested and replied with no apology or help, so the hotel’s response is...

We celebrated our honeymoon at Telfair. We've been informed by the travel agency that while this hotel is rated as a 5* hotel, it actually is more of a 5+. Compared to the nearby sister hotel Awali (5) it was supposed to have some extra touches and a general higher level. We were curious about that so went ahead with Telfair! Not even for a moment have we regretted this decision, it was the best hotel experience we've ever had. The sunbeds are extra wide and so are the beach tables. The beach towels are super large and of a beautiful coral color. The bars and restaurants are never too packed, just the right amount of hotel guests to feel comfortable. As a Telfair hotel guest you have access to Awali's restaurants, too. We did that on one occasion but stayed within Telfair's premises for the remained of the 8 nights we spent there.

Gay couple: As two women on a honeymoon we were a little worried about how welcomed and accepted we will be. As it turned out there was nothing at all to be worried about! The staff were excited to have us there, bumped us up to a Seafront Room, delivered small (but mighty) daily surprises to our room and asked curious questions about our background. Very sensible and courteous people. With our room upgrade we also got a butler and we couldn't be more grateful for Carine's support and care during our stay. She was always just a call away and went above and beyond to make us happy. Thank you Carine for making our stay special.

Check-In: Upon exiting the car we were greeted by several staff members, all in beautiful uniforms, who took our bags and asked us to relax in the reception area. From there they took care of our check-in while we were seated and enjoyed a non-alcoholic surprise beverage. Thank you Melvin for being a rock-star from day one, the place is lucky to have you!

Gourmet Bliss: Absolutely worth going for this all inclusive option - outside of this package cocktails were approx 15EUR each so we had a blast trying many cocktails with 1st class service and also eating from a huge variety of menus. A couple of reviewers complained about the necessity to pay extra for some dishes like i.e. lobster but this didn't bother us - there is plenty to go for without having to pay any supplement.

Chateau: An absolute must-do while in Telfair. The access to this beautiful, centuries old building, fine dining restaurant was included in our package and again it felt blissful being able to have this experience without having to think about extra costs. I won't spoil any surprises but we recommend to dress up nicely going there! Special thanks to the sommelier Amar, you made us feel like Hollywood stars ;)

Beaches and pools Clean beaches, comfy sunbeds, amazing service. We spent most of our days next to the heated outdoor swimming pool. Ranjiv and Amar were such lovely people, they always had a smile on their face and learned our eating and drinking patterns very early on - soon they were offering mojitos even before we were finished with the previous ones, thank you for spoiling us gentlemen!

One last thanks goes to Ravin (your smile is contagious!), Ashly (Forza Napoli!) and Dishan (your green tea helped us survive some...