For our stay to kick off our stay in the Seychelles, we started off our visit at Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove in Bel Ombre near the Beau Vallon Beachon Mahé, Seychelles. We experienced a pleasant stay with great service in a fantastic location right on the Beau Vallon beach.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to the Republic of Tanzania and the Islands of the Seychelles. This trip was redeemed through Air Canada’s Aeroplan and enhanced through World of Hyatt and Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. 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: Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove Resort, Bel Ombre, Seychelles

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Our visit to the Seychelles would have us split our time across the island of Mahé and the island of Praslin. While there were any number of resorts across the two islands, the area of Beau Vallon with it’s iconic sandy beaches attracted our attention. This led us to the Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove Resort near Beau Vallon as a matter of convenience.

Booking The Fisherman’s Cove Resort:

We ended up at the Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove Resort thanks to a great at the time Starwood Cash and Points Rate. We had a very good 3 night stay here at 6,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints (now 18,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) and $110 USD per night. The regular rate at the time was approximately 280€ ($330 USD). The Seychelles isn’t considered a value destination and had I paid a cash rate, I might have been a little less thrilled about the place.

While it was not the greatest value redemption in terms of return on investment, I was happy that we redeemed points as the hotel hard product was a little tired. I don’t know what it is about the Le Meridien properties but I think they are the second most tired brand in the Starwood portfolio behind the Sheraton hotels. There haven’t been many that I have visited that have been in great condition.

Getting to the Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove:

We arrived to the Seychelles on Kenya Airways Nairobi – Mahé. Our driver transferred us in a small Hyundai SUV twenty minutes from the airport over to the Beau Vallon area.

The Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove is well located in Bel Ombre on Mahé Island and steps from the edge of specular Beau Vallon Beach.

I was really struck by the prettiness of the Seychelles and like the airport, the countryside left a really good first impression. We passed through the capital city of Victoria which had rich colonial buildings and seemed (from the car) to have a really easy going vibe.

We passed along the Beau Vallon beach and arrived to the Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove, Beau Vallon. The first impressions when we arrived at the hotel weren’t the greatest. The first sight of the hotel on arrival turning into the main complex was an older style open lobby accented with a large dark black plastic tarp covering holes in the thatched roof of the hotel’s La Capella Restaurant.

I was a little worried about the initial appearance of the property when we arrived but we had an overall very nice stay for what we paid. The impressions improved on arriving to a large open aired lobby with a pleasant view of the ocean.

We got out to the lobby and presented the passports. I knew from checking at SPG.com that the occupancy appeared totally full for the first night of our three night stay. I had also applied Suite Night Awards and they had failed to clear.

I asked at the front counter about SPG Platinum Upgrades and indicated that we would be willing to move mid stay if an upgrade opportunity presented itself. We were asked to take a seat while they processed everything.

I didn’t really feel like sitting down after all that flying so I wandered around the lobby which overlooks the bay. At about the 7 minute mark, the General Manager came over and introduced himself. He indicated that we had been assigned a Deluxe Seaview Room which was a one category upgrade. He also said, without any prompting on my part, that a suite had opened up and would we like to see both before committing to a room? I quickly agreed and thanked him for the options. It was a small touch but one that I greatly appreciated being on a personal vacation stay.

With that, and two sets of keys, our porter took us first to the Suite. The suite was on the ground level right across from the ocean. Although it had a proper seating area consistent with a suite, it wasn’t separate from the bedroom in any way. The room was also set back from the ocean a little bit and somewhat shady. I would describe it as the poor man suite in the inventory pool.

Leaving the suite, we checked out the Seaview Deluxe and actually opted for the original room as assigned. It had a great outdoor space and was tiered on a higher level than the beach, meaning that it had a great view of the water.

The Room: A Sea View Deluxe

The décor of the Sea View Deluxe room was a bit tired. I would call it past mid span in the room life cycle. The room had white tiled floor that was looking a little shabby.

One of the strangest features of the room was a shower in the middle of the room. It was taking the open concept to a whole other level.

The living area of the room contained a couch near the windows. It wasn’t used that much, but it was the main couch for the room. It was very thin and super uncomfortable. The Seychelles isn’t somewhere where I would come to spend time sitting on the couch but in the event that you enjoy watching television, I would prepare yourself to watch from bed or in short duration periods.

There is also a small desk at the opposite end, in addition to a small minibar. There was also a small tea and coffee station, which we never had the opportunity to use.

The bathroom was located at the land side of the room. It had two vanities and was perfectly acceptable. Like other Le Meridien properties, the toiletries were Malin & Goetz branded.

We also received a welcome letter from the manager. The main benefit of the letter was to alert us to discounts around the property and spa.

The room’s outdoor deck was really pleasant. With it’s elevated view over the ocean and pool, it really had a pleasant view from the deck.

Sunset at Fisherman’s Cove:

Since we arrived at 4 PM, we took in an absolutely beautiful sunset on the lanai of our suite. It was simply gorgeous and made me really happy that we stayed on property instead of heading off and exploring right away. Despite the cloudy weather, we had some terrific views.

Food and Beverage:

Le Cardinal Restaurant

The next morning, we had a morning breakfast at the hotel restaurant “Le Cardinal”. The buffet breakfast was included as part of the Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum Breakfast benefit. The set up for breakfast was pretty typical. Being that it was very hot outside, they had portable fans set up around the breakfast area.

Around the Property:

We set up at the pool for the first day. The pool is nicely decorated in a small format area. Despite bering a small format, it was pretty empty for our stay and it was easy to find chairs.

The property offered on site snorkelling from shore. As with other Le Meridien properties, they offered a posted snorkelling trail, complete with underwater mailbox. Unfortunately, the snorkelling off the house reef is nothing to write home about. I did see some angel fish tangs and parrot fish but they were few and far between.

During our visit, the hotel participated in Make a Green Choice and we received our 1,000 points over our three night stay without any issue.

The Bottom Line: Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove

The Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove is an older property that happens to be in a great location on Beau Vallon Beach in the Seychelles. Although probably not the best property on the island, it still offered good value along with receptive service. It’s not likely somewhere that I would return to in a hurry, but I wouldn’t stay away if it was the only choice left. The pro-active service on the part of the manager was a nice welcome touch and despite giant tarps over the entry ways, it was still a mostly nice visit.

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If you’ve travelled to The Seychelles, did you go out of your way to make Marriott part of your visit ?

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