Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita — Hotel in Isle Mauritius

Some of this review is likely based upon missed expectations. The resort wasn’t bad but it fell far short of my expectations based upon the rating and price. Bottom line…I would not recommend this property and I will not stay at a Four Seasons again based upon my experience.

Here are my observations:

The greeting was nice. We were met with a cool towel and taken right to the villa. A drink would have been a simple and (quite frankly) an expected touch.

Villa (3 stars) - The villa was nice but did not have features I would have expected. The kitchen was poorly stocked. For example, there were no bowls or a wine opener. The ice maker didn’t make much ice and upon being notified the staff didn’t seem eager to address it. Little things like shower doors that slammed and “cheap” toilet paper just didn’t meet a 5-star standard. The villa was designed for 8 people but there were only 4 lounge chairs.

The cleaning of the villa was excellent. The view was odd. We could have had a view of the water but there were so many trees and shrubs in the way. We were by the golf course so I think the landscaping was intentional for privacy; however, I can see shrubs back home.

Food (3 stars) - I should qualify this category in that I’m not a foodie. That being noted, the food was generally overpriced and the selections were limited. I preferred the in-villa dining which was good. Breakfast was excellent! The fresh juices, prepared omelets, breads, crepes/waffles, and more were outstanding. Something odd about breakfast was how food was left out on tables and birds were having feasts on the tables. That’s not cool.

Drinks (2stars) - There was a good selection of alcohol. The drinks, however, were weak and pricey. In my opinion they can’t be both weak AND pricey. Bring your own alcohol and make your own drinks in the room.

Staff (4.5 stars) - The staff was (mostly) incredible. They were polite, responsive, and got whatever we needed. They worked hard and even when a few things were slow it appeared they were working hard.

Housekeeping (5 stars) - The housekeeping services were wonderful. The place was cleaned appropriately during the day, fresh bottled water was provided, and they provided an appropriate turndown service in the evening.

Bikes and buggies (3.5 stars) - I’m not a fan of the spread out property; however, they do a good job of providing transportation options. The bikes (after they aired up the tires) were nice and the buggies were convenient.

Beaches/Water (4 stars) - The water was beautiful. Definitely go to the private beach. The meal there was nice as well. The Quiet Beach was tranquil and beautiful. Drinks took a long time to get because the bar wasn’t close to that beach.

Water Sports (2.5 stars) These are complementary and sounded fun but the water was “too dangerous” to take advantage of the things we wanted to do. I got in the water and it was not dangerous at all so I’m not sure what the issue was.

Dress code issue (1-star) The listed dress code was different on the website and app. We were turned away at a restaurant because two people in our group of 6 guys had sandals/flip flops. That, in of itself, was not an issue. After they went back to the villa and changed, the staff allowed numerous people in with sandals and flip flops as well as others in t-shirts (also against the dress code).

The manager spoke with others in my party. He was very professional, apologies for the items specifically discussed with him and tried to make things better.

Overall, the place was OK but not 5-star quality and not...

We recently stayed at the Four Season Resort for our honeymoon in late May/early June. Overall we had a good experience and we were happy with our stay. We would recommend staying here but for more details as to why its not 5/5 see below.

1. The restaurants : Offer a variety of food that are quite tasty but can be very expensive. The morning buffet can get quite busy and crowded with food options lingering down near 10 AM. The restaurants are not always all open so you are restricted to eat at certain places on certain nights.
2. Room: We loved the layout of our villa on the quiet beach, it was absolutely beautiful. CAUTION with staying in a villa connected to smokers you WILL smell it in your room. We brought this up as a concern and they moved us into another villa which was unfortunately connected again to smokers. If you are sensitive like myself this is enough to ruin your sleep and part of your vacation. The villas are in need of renovation and the filtration system needs to be improved. They also need to enforce the no smoking inside as all the incidence of smells would occur at night when it was raining and they weren't visibly outside therefore our neighbours were smoking inside. We asked for an air filter and they brought us a fan which was not useful. To note you cannot run the hot water in the tub at the same time as the shower since the shower will be cold.
3. Gym : the gym was nice and spacious and often not busy at all which was nice. The attendants came around with fresh cold towels during your workout and there was always cold water available. The only issue was the humidity was almost unbearable. They really need to put a dehumidifier in the gym.
4. Service : Overall the service was excellent, the workers always greeted you with a smile and a hello. This was really nice to experience. When we wanted something we could communicate through an app and most of the time our wishes were granted. The managers made an effort to meet the guests and get to know us which was also a nice touch. They sent fresh fruits to my room after our chat. I believe there were more workers then people staying at the hotel at the time of our stay therefore we didn't often wait for anything which was nice.
5. Weather: The resort is on the EAST end of the island which makes it quite WINDY and sometimes cold in the winter months. We wish we had come during their summer but that's not something the resort can control.
6. Ile aux Cerfs: The resort offers a free shuttle service to the island and it is a must visit. The beach sand is so much better there.
7. Layout : It is a rather large resort but it is absolutely beautiful. The landscaping is meticulously performed. We were...

We recently stayed for 6 nights in this Four Seasons hotel. The property is absolutely beautiful with well kept gardens and landscaping, and the pool villas are spacious with everything you’d expect. There are six restaurants in the hotel plus one on the private island.

Breakfast is either served in the Bambou restaurant or in your villa and is excellent with a very wide range of hot and cold dishes plus several freshly prepared dishes which can be ordered from the menu. An extra shout out to the friendly lady behind the fresh fruits station who provided excellent service!

In general, a major part of the staff deserves specific praises. Housekeeping was very good with nice extra touches in our room several times. Tony and Sheela at the BluZil bar made our late night drinks extra special with their excellent service and hospitality - they really went the extra mile and created delicious drinks for us. We are now definitely experts in Mauritian rum!

Another shout out to Surya and Shyamal from the banqueting team, who created a bespoke private dinner for us at the beach. Thanks to their meticulous attention to detail and excellent service, this night became one we will never forget. At this Four Seasons, and especially with these two, your private gathering is absolutely in good hands!

In general, service at this property is what you’d expect from the brand - good, with most of the team always trying to go the extra mile. There are exceptions though, and this is the one part which the hotel should improve. Solving issues is painfully slow - our key/lock stopped working several times, and it took the hotel 30 minutes to send someone to fix the issue. Also, at the private island Ile aux Cerfs, for an hour no one bothered to try and take our order so we went to the beach bar from another operator which was just a 10 min walk. Not what you’d expect from a Four Seasons.

For dining, we tried their restaurants Acquapazza and Umi.Zaka - plus a private dinner with a custom menu. Food at Acquapazza was okay-ish, but we would not go back for it. At Umi.Zaka the food was excellent, but we had to ask the staff several times to refill our empty wine glasses and wave to get attention. Luckily this was quickly forgotten after our beach dinner with lobster, coquilles and ceviche - excellent quality and as said, marvelous service by Shyamal!

All in all: we had a great stay, with many highlights and would definitely recommend the Four Seasons at Anahita for a luxurious stay in Mauritius. Some staff training would be good though for some of the restaurant and service staff - who could absolutely learn from those team members that do breathe the Four Seasons...