Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa — Hotel in Isle Mauritius

A tale of two halves, each great in their own way. We had the most wonderful week away which was absolutely made by the incredible staff and all the little touches they made to our stay. We stayed at Victoria for 2 which we loved but it’s a very different experience to Victoria – both great but they will appeal to different people. If you prefer a more lively stay and are with your family, Victoria is amazing but if you’re seeking a quieter break, with a more relaxed boutique style of travel, the adult only Victoria for 2 may be what you’re looking for. You can always visit the main hotel when staying at Victoria for 2 so this offers the best of both worlds.||The main hotel is very much for families offering huge well equipped rooms, a wonderful kids club, a very large pool and it’s right on the beach. Daily evening entertainment, a large buffet restaurant (and two others you can book in to) and incredible staff. The main building has a tall steeple roof and this is where you’ll find reception, boutiques, gym/spa, games (pool, table tennis and table football) and links through to the buffet restaurant, snooker bar and main pool. It’s a busy area and it can feel very noisy as the sound echos around.||Victoria for 2, which is part of the hotel but located at one end of the complex, and is for adults only. Despite being connected, it feels very different and quite the retreat. It was really quiet here and we all slept so well. We did spend a final night at the main hotel as our flight was cancelled (we booked with Beachcomber and were so well looked after when this happened). ||Victoria for 2 rooms||There are swim up rooms and balcony rooms which are all large and follow a very similar footprint. The bathroom is huge with a big walk in shower with 3 shower heads! We did have a slight issue with water temperature on the first few days but then it warmed up nicely halfway into our stay. There are two floors but for a small section which has 6 rooms on a third floor which is where we stayed - 603. These rooms have a door from the shower to the balcony and a drying rack which is helpful, rather than having to go though the bedroom with wet swimsuits. They do provide lovely toiletries – body wash, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and soap. All very sustainable in reusable containers but for the soap (but this lasts a week and comes in cardboard packaging). This is across the entire hotel. The hairdryer requires you to squeeze the entire handle for it to work; again, they have the same hairdryers across the entire hotel and I perhaps would have expected a standard hairdryer in the Victoria for 2 which is definitely a more elevated experience. Our room had a modern oval bath with a large sink area – it was big enough for two large sinks and space around them but only had one sink which feels a missed design opportunity.||Lots of storage space although limited hangers but housekeeping is brilliant and you only need to let them know what you need and it’s there, including extra hangers. Not too much drawer space but instead, rattan style boxes which fit neatly into the storage unit. We had an umbrella, dressing gowns, slippers, a laptop-sized safe, iron and ironing board, included minibar (beer, soft drinks, water and snacks), tea and coffee, a TV, UK and USB power outlets, and mosquito plug in.||The balcony had a table and two chairs and a day bed, plus a drying rack. All rooms face out to sea and have wonderful views. Some rooms are more shaded than most and so request a sunny room if this is important (the rooms that face in the direction of Morris Beef rather than away are the sunny ones). There are lots of lovely birds around the hotel and they will likely come to say hello on your balcony.||There was AC and a ceiling fan but we didn’t need to use either as it was early 20s when we stayed. They also do offer a laundry service.||Facilities at Victoria for 2||There is a swim up lagoon pool which I didn’t use as it was cool but my mother in law enjoyed it. It also feels a little odd swimming past guest rooms but that’s just personal choice. There is a seating area and swim up bar here but the swim up bar wasn’t ever used – the main pool bar is right behind it and so it’s never an issue.||Just by the bar is an undercover seating area with 4 bar stools and the either side, in the open air, you have 4 small tables with chairs. Close by you have a fire pit with chopped wood you can add to the fire at night which was lovely. This area is also in the sand. ||The beach area in front of this part of the hotel is for Victoria for 2 guests only. It was really quiet which we loved. Never any issues getting a lounger and there was bar service on the beach several times throughout the day. The beach this side of the resort had a lot more coral and so take beach shoes. The sea is beautiful and snorkelling off the beach is possible, and my husband enjoyed this – he spotted parrot fish, a lion fish and even trigger fish. I just walked into the sea a few times and saw quite a few different types of fish very close to the shore along with urchins on the rocks so just watch where you are walking. If you know Beachcomber, you’ll know they look after stray dogs. Victoria is no different. There were about 10 when we visited and most were on our section of beach. They did bark at those who weren’t guests and some of the younger ones could get a tad excitable but they were very sweet and we loved having them around. They’re all well looked after and vaccinated. However, if you’re scared of dogs, allergic or don’t like them, Victoria for 2 may not be the right fit for you. They do come and sleep nearby you on the beach, by the bar and at Morris Beef and most of the time you don’t know they’re there.||You can use the Morris Beef restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner without reservation and it was our favourite. The buffet in the main restaurant was bright and loud and this was the total opposite. The service was exceptional at Morris Beef, they really don’t like you lifting a finger. The breakfast selection is a lot smaller than the large buffet restaurant but had everything we wanted. It also had pistachio spread for pancakes which they never had at the main restaurant. You could request eggs in several ways, enjoy cereal, fruits, pancakes, juices and pastries and with a great sea view. ||When dining at Morris Beef in the evening, you can also pick from the La Casa menu. You do need to book La Casa but unless you want a different setting, there is little point as the food is almost the same but for a few choices. We did have some light entertainment at La Casa which was nice, something you don’t get at Morris Beef.||Don’t miss the afternoon sweet treats by the bar! The main hotel has pancakes at the Snooker Bar but you will have tarts or doughnuts at Victoria for 2.||Food overall||The quality and choice overall is very good. The buffet had lots of options and themed nights which seemed to be on a weekly rotation. However, vegetarian options seem quite limited. We did address this with reception one day and were told to speak with the chef. It always feels a bit of a hassle having to do this and having to think about what you may want to eat that night. Quite a few salads and even rice had meat or fish in them and so that cuts down options further and it may have been nice to have more vegetarian salads with optional add-ons as that would cover more people. We did speak with the chef one day and he created a local curry for us which was tasty and quite spicy!||The a la carte restaurants did have about 4 vegetarian options for each course and these were all delicious but after a week, you’d be back to the same options – we were really surprised at the general overall choices which was much better than anticipated. They will adapt options where they can though and they are keen to please. I still think there are changes that could be made to options available and it would be good to see a higher proportion of vegetarian meals on the menu, which would also add to the positive sustainability efforts Beachcomber is making.||Our favourite restaurant was Morris Beef due to the amazing service and choices available. We also really enjoyed L’Horizon and La Casa. I am not a fan of buffet/canteen style dining and these venues felt more like a restaurant – get booked in as soon as you arrive as they book up quickly.||We were celebrating a birthday and had a dinner on the beach by torchlight and candlelight which was magical. We had a menu crafted for us and felt spoilt with the level of service we enjoyed. I would definitely recommend booking this if you can.||There is a sunset bar not far from Victoria for 2 at the main hotel on the beach, a pop up Aperol bar serving drinks by the pool (not too far from the pool/lobby bar in reception), the yellow Parrot Bar, Pinky’s (it’s pink) and a green shack selling coconuts – just under £4 each with lovely presentation (these three huts are on the beach). You can order basic food at the Parrot Bar but not Pinky’s despite there being a seating area here – but you can order from the Parrot Bar and eat at Pinky’s. L’Horizon is a lovely spot for lunch.||Tours||Speak with Michele at Maurtourco near the Snooker Bar as soon as you arrive to book tours. We booked the Five Islands day trip and a private taxi and tour for 5 hours (we went to Port Louis, the Citadel, red roof church and enjoyed lunch at Canonnier). Both were brilliant and good value. Our guide on the taxi tour, Kamlesh, was incredible and I felt like we all learned so much about Mauritian history that day (request him if you can).||Spa/gym/sports||We enjoyed lovely massages one afternoon with use of a steam room and sauna beforehand. It’s in a bit of an odd spot – right near to the kids area where they’re playing pool and table tennis so it’s noisy outside and feels like it’s in the basement. They do play spa music to block this out but I feel like so much more could be made of the spa. Coming from the tranquil Victoria for 2, the noise seemed more amplified and so perhaps a spa setting at or very close to Victoria for 2 (even using one of the gazebos by the beach) could really add to the experience. Men and women have to use their separate saunas and steam rooms which was a bit odd but they were good. My steam room seemed very warm and steamy whereas my husband’s experience was not the same but we enjoyed it and we could have used this at any time. Our massage was about £70 per person for an hour which we thought was good value, especially at a hotel.||The gym looked well equipped and there’s even a spin studio. However, the outlook is to the table tennis/pool table area where the kids played and so not the most inspiring place to go for a workout. It’s the first trip in a while my gym kit stayed packed. There is long promenade to jog along and it’s totally safe to job outside the resort too.||The hotel has tennis and padel courts. Lots of water sports on offer including stand up paddle boards, pedalos, snorkelling trips and even a glass bottom boat trip, although people we’d met said they didn’t see much on this as it moved quite quickly.||The games area near the spa and gym could do with a little refurbishment.||Victoria rooms||For our last night (due to a cancelled flight), we stayed in room 317 which is in the crescent closest to Victoria for 2. These are brand new deluxe rooms which were in the block being refurbished. ||The rooms are spacious and the bathroom is large with a bath as well as a very big walk in shower. The toilet is a very small room. Similar facilities to Victoria for 2, but the mini bar is chargeable and there were no dressing gowns nor slippers. The balcony had 2 large comfortable chairs. The area was linked, undercover, to reception and there is also a lift (there is no lift at Victoria for 2). The size and finishing of the rooms is high quality and everyone was impressed. We all slept well – the beds and pillows across the resort are great.||The room was a connecting room and there was no sound proofing – I could hear my in-laws taking their showers when I was in our bathroom. I could also hear their conversations quite clearly. Luckily they’re not too noisy! Even though we stayed in a room further away from reception, the evening entertainment was still audible for us, not our in-laws, until it finished which was around 11pm.||Staff||Amazing! All of them from the gardeners and housekeeping to the management teams, they are excellent. I did try to keep a list as I went but I feel bad for not noting everyone. Housekeeping was incredible – thank you Jerry for looking out for us and to the lovely Nahes who even found a broken earring of my mother in law’s. Morris Beef- Rakesh, Rak, Krishen, Yudish, Lea, Rishi, Kishen and Stellio – you all deserve a mention though as the service was exceptional. Chris at Morris and L’Horizon at lunch, Deepak at the buffet restaurant, Nitin (who organised some lovely cocktails and always seemed to be working and looking out for us!), Swadesh and Akesh at La Casa, smiling Stephanie at L’Horizon (only served us once but her smile is unforgettable!) along with Darsen and Govindan. Owen at the buffet and Morris Beef and Vikash who made us a great curry. Stacy on reception who sorted everything when our flight was cancelled, Dristy who was always checking in on us and Ravi and Suryadev...

We travelled as a couple to Victoria for 2 in August 2024, unfortunately our stay was very disappointing and fell below the standards we would expect from this hotel. We would certainly do a lot more homework on any hotel we travel to in the future as our experience was definitely not that of the majority of reviews for this hotel on trip advisor which makes us think that the majority who have a disappointing stay at any hotel probably just don't leave a review as they would if they experienced a great time probably as most travellers would just rather forget the experience and draw a line through it. Our very honest review is as below:-||||On arrival we were escorted to our swim up room by a lovely porter who's name escapes us, he showed us into our room which was pleasantly more than adequate, we spent most of the stay sleeping after a long journey and then early evening got ready to go for dinner. The temperature of the shower was at best luke warm (and never got much better during the rest of our stay), disappointing however we decided on giving it benefit of doubt hoping it would be better the next day. Our first evening meal was at the Italian restaurant, whilst the food was good and staff pleasant we felt the front of house was trying to orchestrate us to get us in early rather than later which we prefer however they did finally agree to letting us come a bit later (can't remember exact time however was around 8.30pm) we went for a pre drink then arrived for our booking and was surprised to see the restaurant with an abundance of spare tables which made us then think they were trying to get us in earlier maybe so they could finish earlier, its just wasn't a good vibe.||||Next morning we went to the adult only restaurant for breakfast which was a very dismal buffet offering, however you could order eggs etc so we did and they were not good at all. We went back to the same restaurant for lunch, we ordered our food and when it arrived we were immediately surrounded by swarms of flies which we were batting away continuously during our meal which again was average at best. We then went back to room to make use of our swim up room loungers and noticed they were filthy and covered in algae, on closer inspection we noticed the pool in general had blooms of algae all over it (see attached photos), at that point we were thinking we didn't want to stay there any longer and was deciding what we think we should do. That evening we decided to try the main buffet restaurant in the main hotel, the selection was extensive however quality not great just ok. The main issue was dogs begging for food around the edges of the restaurant which was very off putting, there is also many stray dogs wandering the beach which is again off putting. This seems to be a general issue in Mauritius so if you are uncomfortable around dogs it will be a problem to you. After our evening buffet meal we decided there was no way we were staying there much longer and phoned guest relations as soon as we got back to the room to be told we could speak with the manager in the morning.||||We spoke with the general manager relayed our issues and showed photos of the pool and swim up beds to which his reply was the cleaning of the pool was contracted out and it was overdue (however this was then disputed after our formal complaint and they decided to say it was a faulty pump) He also told us the chef was new and could we give him another chance. We told him we wanted to move no matter what as we felt that strongly about our issues. He promptly went away and came back to us later that day with a selection of hotels we could move too. in the meantime a cleaner went to our room and cleaned the dirty algae infested swim up lounger but interestingly DID NOT clean our adjacent neighbours which was in the same condition. In our opinion this gave us a very good sense of their standards or lack of, algae can contribute to a range of illnesses some being severe.||||We decided to move to Trou Aux Biches the next morning at an extra cost of 2000 euros for the remaining 8 nights of our stay this is how strongly we felt about the issues at the hotel. Trou was a very nice hotel and far superior in every way to Victoria whilst we appreciate Victoria is 4* and Trou is 5* the difference was an ocean apart.||||When we arrived back to the uk we made a formal complaint via our independent tour operator to Beachcomber tours, however they did not take any ownership to the issues we experienced blaming the pool issue with a broken pump and that the levels of algae were acceptable, they say they deal with the flies? They said they gave us a discount to move to Trou which is very hard to determine and we think not, and they would under no circumstances take responsibility for any of the issues we experienced. Very poorly handled complaint by Beachcomber tours and very dismissive, with no apologies on the issues we experienced only excuses and reasons why.||||We appreciate a lot of travellers may have had good experiences however sadly not us. Think long and careful about booking Beachcombers tours as they don't seem to be able to handle complaints very well, to the point of they seem not to believe what...

We spent a fantastic week at the Victoria Beachcomber. We were celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary we were welcomed Kaushik (apologies if that's spelt incorrectly) he could not have been more professional, welcoming and friendly to us and our two children. When he found out it was our anniversary he made it his personal mission to offer us some way of celebrating. We were immediately upgraded from a family 2 bed apartment to twin interconnected rooms that were away from the main lobby and the majority of the noise. We we're also surprised one evening to find a lovely bottle of South African sparkling wine, a selection of fresh fruit and some drinks for the kids in our room. That aside the rest of our holiday was just as special with The Victoria. The buffet restaurant La Superbe, was just that, superb. Every morning for breakfast was a massive selection of cooked breakfast regulars, pastries, pancakes, fresh dairy, porridge, waffles, fruit, cold meats and a few local takes on tradition, scrambled eggs rugaile went down well with everyone in our party. Lunches each day had some staples but were supported by a range of different dishes each day, normally linked to the evening menu which changes every night. The evening menu theme would change each night offering anything from Asian, seafood, BBQ, local specialities, the list goes on. This was accompanied by a wide selection of salads, breads, pizza and pasta for those less adventurous and some amazing deserts that wouldn't be out of place in some of the best french patisseries. It is also worth noting that the staff were always attentive, eager to help but not obtrusive or distracting. A word for those wondering... This is a mostly covered restaurant alongside the pool, however it is open on all sides, wildlife can join you, mainly cats and birds. This didn't bother us one bit tbh ignore them and they'll ignore you, engage the cats and you'll probably earn a friend for life, or the evening at least. If buffet dining isn't for you then the hotel has three other ala carte restaurants to choose from, we visited La Casa, an Italian inspired restaurant which exceeded all our expectations in service, menu and quality. The same was true of La Horizon, fish is the dish here and it was all fabulously cooked and if it had been any fresher I would have to had caught it myself from the nearby sands. The rooms, spacious is an understatement, massive Queen size bed, soft comfortable bedding, enough wardrobe space to cope with a maxed out baggage allowance and bathrooms fitted with his and hers sinks, a full length bath and a shower that would be considered a spare bedroom in some London apartments. The housekeeping staff, ours was Lorenzo, are also fab, each day our room was immaculately prepared for us, the mini bar refreshed, any clothing left to air was neatly folded for us and each night whilst we were at dinner the beds were turned down for us and the curtains drawn. Before arriving we had read reviews about loud music and entertainment going on to the early hours ... Let me just set the record straight here, yes there is entertainment on every night, this is a family friendly hotel and as such they have to cater to a wide demographic and yes if you're in the rooms adjacent to the lobby and aren't keen on entertainment you'll possibly find it distracting. That said, we spent every evening sat on our balcony, one section over from the lobby (Rooms 210 and 209 if you're looking at the hotel map) and whilst we could hear the music it was low enough to be considered background, certainly not distracting, didn't prevent us having quiet conversation whilst watching the fascinating fruit bats and didn't go on endlessly nor could it be heard once we were in the room with the patio doors closed. The grounds were all kept immaculate, it felt safe to walk barefoot everywhere, pool isn't deep but it's adequate considering the ocean is less than 10m away. Thank you Victoria! We...