Raffles Seychelles — Restaurant in Praslin

We recently stayed at Raffles Seychelles for what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Sadly, the experience fell well below expectations on almost every point. We chose Raffles based on its apparent reputation and the promise of exceptional service in a stunning location. What we encountered instead was a disorganised, inconsistent, and tired resort that left us deeply disappointed and out of pocket...the location/outlook is the only thing that's worth 5 stars!||Consistently poor service|The hotel failed to meet the most basic of service standards. Breakfast every day was chaos, with food and drink orders consistently being slow and wrong. One day my partner ordered a flat white and received a coffee with ice-cream in it!? The food from the breakfast menu is clearly pre made as it comes out cold, stale and burnt. I wouldn't trust it if you have allergies, we ordered omelettes that turned up with the completely wrong ingredients in spite of being a simple order. At dinner, the staff seem more focused on clearing the restaurant ready to go home, rather than actually serving guests. On multiple occasions, we saw both servers and management standing around on their phones or chatting, while guests were waiting to be served. We encountered a few people from the nearby Constance hotel when we were at the airport and that hotel seemed to be in a different league, they had been given complementary beach bags and drinks vouchers for the airport. We considered staying there but ended up booking Raffles, a decision we now regret! ||Ruined engagement plans|My partner had planned a surprise proposal on the beach for our second night at Raffles and had been in contact with multiple members of the hotel team beforehand to plan restaurant bookings and surprise touches. At check-in, we were told there was no record of any bookings, and the receptionist asked if there was any special occasion, putting my partner was put on the spot and having to dodge the question to preserve the surprise. The night after we got engaged, we arrived for our celebratory dinner, where he had specifically requested a private table, only to be told again there was no reservation. It was embarrassing, confusing, and totally dampened what should have been a joyful evening. There was no effort or acknowledgment from staff at any point during or after our engagement. The bill for the evening was even brought up to our room for re-signing at 11pm (because apparently an error had been made on it), which didn't feel appropriate. It is disappointing that our engagement spot is probably somewhere we won't visit on special anniversary's now, as we won't be forking out £1000+ a night for Raffles 'service'.||Buggy Service Is a mess|If you're staying in one of the panoramic rooms, you’re entirely reliant on buggy transport to get around. We were already prepared for some delay based on reviews we read, but it was worse that we thought. There's no guidance on how long buggies might take, so you're left guessing how far in advance to call. Sometimes they never showed up at all, like on the night of our engagement dinner! ||Helicopter tour chaos|As an engagement treat, we booked a scenic helicopter tour with ZilAir. We were told by Raffles reception to be there at 8am for an 8:30am flight. We arrived promptly only to find the staff confused about why we were there. We sat at reception having no idea what was going on, somebody came and weighed us and walked off again, we were there for over 40 minutes in the end (beyond our scheduled departure time). When things were finally sorted, the buggy that was supposedly going to take us to the helipad took so long that we offered to walk. Just zero coordination or hospitality again.||Reception team and check-out|The check-in was clumsy but check-out was more chaotic and poorly managed. Nobody asked how our stay was or if we had any issues, the lack of interest was really telling. The receptionist handed us our bill without saying a single word, and then proceeded to mess up the refund of our deposit and wandering in and out of a side room without giving us any explanation as to what was going on. Eventually a second receptionist appeared and managed to sort things. We went down to reception with plenty of time before our transfer arrived, but the driver ended up having to wait and watch the chaos with multiple card machines and staplers. It was a bizarre and embarrassing end to our stay — and reflective of the lack of professionalism we experienced throughout our stay.||Tired, dated decor|We expected a high-end resort but found facilities that felt dated and worn. Paving stones missing from the reception area, cracked tiles in the pool, faded and crusty towels, old sun loungers, stained outdoor furniture, and dining areas that looked like they hadn’t been updated well over a decade. There is construction taking place elsewhere on the property, detracting from the ambiance, including right by our engagement spot (which my partner wasn't made aware of). The resort leans heavily on its name and beautiful location, but offers nothing close to luxury feel quality. We expected to be wow'ed for the price we paid, but our Hilton on the main island of Mahe was miles above in terms of quality and service. ||Two-tier guest treatment|It's clear that some guests received markedly different treatment – ‘butlers’ and staff dote on a select few guests while the rest of are largely ignored. Unless you're in that top-tier category, don't expect five-star service – or even basic...

The location is the only thing that's worth 5 stars!

Consistently poor service - The hotel failed to meet basic service standards. Breakfast every day was chaos, with food and drink orders consistently being slow and wrong. One day my partner ordered a flat white and received a coffee with ice-cream in it!? Most food from the breakfast menu is pre made and comes out cold, stale and burnt. I wouldn't trust it if you have allergies, we ordered omelettes that turned up with the completely wrong ingredients in spite of being a simple order. At dinner, the staff seem more focused on clearing the restaurant ready to go home, rather than actually serving guests.

Ruined engagement plans - My partner had planned a surprise proposal on the beach for our second night at Raffles and had been in contact with multiple members of the hotel team beforehand to plan restaurant bookings and surprise touches. At check-in, we were told there was no record of any bookings, and the receptionist asked if there was any special occasion, putting my partner was put on the spot and having to dodge the question to preserve the surprise. The night after we got engaged, we arrived for our celebratory dinner, where he had specifically requested a private table, only to be told again there was no reservation. There was no effort or acknowledgment from staff at any point during or after our engagement. The bill for the evening was even brought up to our room for re-signing at 11pm (because apparently an error had been made on it), which didn't feel appropriate. It is disappointing that our engagement spot is probably somewhere we won't visit again.

Buggy Service Is a mess - If you're staying in one of the panoramic rooms, you’re entirely reliant on buggy transport to get around. We were already prepared for some delay based on reviews we read, but it was worse that we thought. There's no guidance on how long buggies might take, so you're left guessing how far in advance to call. Sometimes they never showed up at all, like on the night of our engagement dinner!

Helicopter tour chaos - As an engagement treat, we booked a scenic helicopter tour with ZilAir. We were told by Raffles reception to be there at 8am for an 8:30am flight. We arrived promptly only to find the staff confused about why we were there. We sat at reception having no idea what was going on, somebody came and weighed us and walked off again, we were there for over 40 minutes in the end (beyond our scheduled departure time). When things were finally sorted, the buggy that was supposedly going to take us to the helipad took so long that we offered to walk. Just zero coordination or hospitality again.

Reception team and check-out - The check-in was clumsy but check-out was more chaotic and poorly managed. Nobody asked how our stay was or if we had any issues, the lack of interest was really telling. The receptionist handed us our bill without saying a single word, and then proceeded to mess up the refund of our deposit and wandering in and out of a side room without giving us any explanation as to what was going on. It was a bizarre and embarrassing end to our stay.

Tired, dated decor - We expected a high-end resort but found facilities that felt dated and worn. Paving stones missing from the reception area, cracked tiles in the pool, faded and crusty towels, old sun loungers, stained outdoor furniture, and dining areas that looked like they hadn’t been updated well over a decade. There is construction taking place elsewhere on the property, detracting from the ambiance, including right by our engagement spot (which my partner wasn't made aware of). The resort offers nothing close to luxury feel quality. We expected to be wow'ed for the price, but our Hilton on the main island of Mahe was miles above in terms of quality and service.

Two-tier guest treatment It's clear that some guests received markedly different treatment – ‘butlers’ and staff dote on a select few guests while the rest of are...

Raffles Seychelles I think it was a Bucket list trip for many of us to visit the Seychelles islands and it is invariably a trip of a lifetime. So choosing a destination to stay is super important and all the key hotel chains have a hotel there in Seychelles ( scattered over various islands) Of course there are many places with all types of budgets so choosing how much you want to spend is what will make the decision easier. They all will have their options on half or full board etc We chose Raffles, mainly from their website and reviews from previous guests. It was one of the best decisions and also one of our favourite holidays ( a large part of it was because of Raffles hospitality ) Rooms - we had the ocean pool villa which seems to be the most popular and common villas. 24/7 air conditioning is available/ spacious rooms with a mini bar/ all overlook the sea and you have your own mini pool outside the bedroom overlooking the ocean ( as seen in the picture ) . Massive king size comfortable bed / twice room clean and then down service and excellent room service and menus too. There is a bath / both inside and outside showers etc . There is also a buggy service available all day to take you to any of the restaurants or pool bar / areas. Staff is super helpful and friendly and service is exceptional. Fiver star to say the least in all aspects. Food / breakfast was exceptional/ superb bakery / croissants/ and has cooked breakfast options including an amazing omelette/ avocado toast etc .. you name it and they have it. They even have chick peas masala and paranthas for breakfast and it was delicious. Daily they have smoothies too plus the full range of exotic fruits and yogurts etc For lunch they have only 1 option available which is the pool side bar and restaurant. That’s my only negative point for such an amazing place to have 1 lunch option. We went there when there was 50% occupancy of the hotel / I wonder when they are fully booked how would the 1 restaurant cope. Have to say their pool side menu is awesome. Has all the classic food options like sea food pastas / club sandwich/ wagyu burgers etc ( we stayed for a few days so we ended up tasting the entire menu and all the dishes were really amazing ) While we stayed they had a few special nights too like a tandoori night ( Indian curry night with Bollywood music ) - it was superb. One night was a sushi night and it was really good too. One was a fisherman night which was concentrated on seafood - which was excellent as well. They have a pan Asian restaurant which serves Thai and Indian cuisine/ that was fabulous. Overall great restaurants and food was of amazing quality. All the restaurants served us with all the famous well known brands of wines and spirits. They have all the famous wines from France such as Chablis / Sancerre / wines from Bordeaux and Provence etc / champagnes / you wouldn’t miss Europe. Hospitality was top notch and as expected from a brand like raffles. The hotel is very close to Anse Lazio the famous beach. They provide to all the excursions and local trips from their reception. They have their own beach too for a walk and a swim ( which is ok and not as amazing as other beaches on the island ) Their pools are like 47 meters long and are a joy for swimming and they even have snorkelling lessons for beginners.

We enjoyed a Bordeaux wine tasting evening too on one of the nights. So overall loads of fun activities are organised by the hotel to keep the guests occupied and entertained.

Verdict 5/5 Budget as per website For more pictures and information please visit my instagram...