We had a five day stay in Mauritius at the enjoyable St Regis. While there are many choices of resorts to stay at in Mauritius, we were happy to be down in quiet Le Morne under the large views of this scenic part of the island.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, a Safari in the Maasai Mara in Kenya and Mauritius. This trip was redeemed through Air Canada’s Aeroplan and through Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott Bonvoy) and Hyatt Gold Passport. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: The St Regis Mauritius, Resort and Beach, Iridium Spa and House Reef, Le Morne Peninsula, Coastal Road, La Gaulette, Mauritius

“The St Regis Mauritius is nestled in the middle of Le Morne Peninsula, one of the most spectacular settings for a beach resort in the world. Kayaking on clear blue reef waters with a mountain in the background is an experience that you’ll never forget”

Our five day resort stay was interesting and peaceful. Given the amount of activities that we did at the resort, we’ve split up our experience into two separate posts. This post outlines the Resort Area, our experiences at the St Regis Iridum Spa and the wonderful house reef. This previous post outlines our transfer, arrival and room experience at the St Regis Mauritius.

Around the St Regis Mauritius:

We spent our entire 5 days on the property. We enjoyed morning coffee service on the outdoor terrace, some great sun tanning, some very good snorkeling on a nice house reef and kayaking with awesome, unforgettable views.  The weather co-operated with four and a half out of five sunny days.

The Main Building and Pool:

The main pool is a pleasant spot. One of the nicest features of this property is the looking Le Morne mountain immediately behind the hotel. The pool often had many of the family visitors staying there.

The Boathouse was the restaurant area at the pool and beach. It offered open concept all day dining, including service near the pool.

The St Regis Mauritius Beach on Le Morne Peninsula:

The hotel is fronted along prime beach real estate. There is a lot of beach shore line which is fronted off a good to very good house reef. A little bit about the beach itself, the beach is somewhat composed of broken corals. Sandals were needed at times but not on all trips if careful navigation was employed. The resort had lounge chairs set up along the length of the beach for those wanting more private relaxing instead of at the busier family oriented pool.

I’d give the beach on Le Morne Peninsula a “very good” to “excellent” rating. The only thing making the beach not perfect was the fact that it was a bit stoney. This meant that it required some navigating with your sandals off.

The hotel offered free kayak rentals and we were able to take advantage of this. We got out on the water and had some really enjoyable views padding around the area.

The St Regis Mauritius House Reef:

Snorkling on the Le Morne Peninsula Coral Reefs:

We snorkeled every day of our stay and were happy to see some well preserved corals. Despite the corals, there was not a wide variety of fish and we ended up seeing many of the same fish types over and over again. Despite this, the St Regis Mauritius featured the second best house reef that we had experienced – just behind the Park Hyatt Maldives. The corals were in very good condition and were in excellent growth. Visibility was usually very good and the waves broke well out from shore, making it a fairly smooth experience. 

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St Regis Mauritius Iridium Spa:

St Regis has an “over the top” purpose built spa at the St Regis Mauritius. It’s hidden away from the rest of the resort but central to everything. During our stay, we both elected for 45 minute neck and back massages. 

I wasn’t expecting much given that some foreign massages are more relaxation than actually targeted to sore areas. My experience here was that I got a very targeted and one of the firmest massages I’ve ever had in spots on my body that I never knew hurt.

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There was no option for gratuity when it came time to settle the bill. The costs were $100 per person for 45 minutes taxes in – which I felt was reasonable. Overall we had an excellent experience at the Iridium Spa.

Sunsets on the Beach:

While we did enjoy some sunsets from the comfort of our suite, we also enjoyed most of the sunsets from the loungers on the beach. We self catered these with our own wine purchased at the local supermarket. The resort did not seem to mind this at all – as in, we were not approached by resort staff and encouraged to purchase their liquor from the bar. It seems most of the food and beverage along the beach area catered by the Boathouse Restaurant is over at the end of the day and aside from the lobby bar, which can be a substantial walk from your room, the property did not seem to mind us drinking our own wine. 

St Regis Champagne Sabering:

Several days before our arrival to the hotel, a member of the St Regis Butler Service Executive Team contacted us by email to ask for information surrounding any room preferences of the stay. Within this message, there was also information that the St Regis was offering a complimentary champagne sabering experience for SPG Gold Members on Friday night. It appeared that this was a regular paid event for other guests, with the fee’s waived for the SPG Platinum and Gold members. The event time was at 6 PM and only occurring once per week.

Unfortunately, after arriving off of our South African Airways Flight Johannesburg – Mauritius at 3:40 PM, we got delayed in the regular course of travel, rental car pick ups and eventually getting to the resort. We didn’t get to the property and checked in until 6:20 PM. After the check in process, we rushed ourselves over and presented ourselves to the event at about 6:45 PM and found that the event had clearly ended. There was seating for about 30 persons and a group of 5-6 French nationals that were sitting down discussing and enjoying the balance of their wine. However, the sommelier. Vinosh was able to arrange a special sabering lesson for us. We each got a lesson on champagne sabering; how to find the seam in the bottle and the appropriate methods of chilling the bottle to prevent shattering. We each got a slice err saber and Sommelier was especially thrilled at the clean cut of my particular bottle. 

After the sabering, Vinosh poured us a glass of bubbles from the bottle we had just sobered. As a bonus, he offered the balance of the bottle to have with dinner and arranged to have it transferred to the resort restaurant of our choosing. Overall, this was a great introductory experience for champagne sabering, St Regis style.

My final thoughts on the St Regis Mauritius:

For the most part, I enjoyed our stay at the St Regis Mauritius. A stay at at St Regis is always a special experience. While the resort was very good, there were a few minor issues that were more distractions than serious service failures. We had some odd experiences with the food and beverage, the suite cleaining left a little to be desired. Despite this, the suite itself was outstanding, the beach enjoyable and the time we spent snorkling and water sporting was really enjoyable. Overall we’d give this place a soft endorsement with enough tick marks to warrant a return trip in the future.

Our stay at the St Regis Mauritius on Cash and Points at the rate of $150 per night. The regular rate was over $950. This led us to some interesting comparisons. 

For $1,000 a night, you have your pick of some pretty awesome beach resort places in the world. Amanpulo in the Philippines, over water bungalows in the Maldives and villas with awesome mountain views in Bora Bora, French Polynesia. This doesn’t even take into account that for about $500 a night, you can say at many equally spectacular resorts in SE Asia at half the price. 

Does the St Regis Mauritius command the $1,000 a night price point? We don’t think so. Although the resort was nice, it was not excellent. There were several shortcomings in the service delivery. The rooms show some signs of wear and tear for a property that’s only 1 year old. We were also a bit put off by the food and the shortage of staff. Needless to say, we decided we would not be in a rush to return. If we were paying $1,000 a night, we’d be headed to the French Polynesia or the Maldives.

Did the St Regis Mauritius command the $150 (now $180) a night price point on SPG Cash and Points? Maybe – the property was comfortable and spacious. The room size was much larger than what you’d get in SE Asia at Le Meriden Khao Lak or at JW Marriott Phuket in Thailand. The sunsets were beautiful and I enjoyed the unspoiled and untouched house reef. We certainly enjoyed our time and the view of Le Morne as we kayaked. However, I’d budget an extra $170 a day for the most basic food necessities and upwards of an extra $250 a day (per couple) if you wanted full decent meals. In reality, our bill averaged $350 per day with food and accommodation and taxes. Those expecting a six star experience at a value price may be disappointed. 

Ultimately, we decided that this property is perfect for those adding on to a South African holiday, or residents of South Africa looking for a close exotic getaway. It was nice to have visited. However, I can’t see the value in traveling here from Europe or the Americas when there are so many other better places to visit.

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