Anyone been to Mauritius with a toddler? Post Reply

[pie81]

We're desperate for some sun and planning a long haul trip next spring, probably Mauritius so the jet lag isn't too bad and because I love a pretty beach.

Daughter will be about 15 months by then, she'll be walking I'd guess. I know she'll be too young for kids clubs but gather most hotels can provide a nanny/ babysitter at least for a couple of hours a day.

has anyone been somewhere they would recommend? Thanks

Also has anyone flown Air mauritius and if so how was it?

[dudette]

Hi. We went a few years ago when my son was 2. It's a very long flight - and the flight back was a day flight so after he slept for an hour I then had eleven hours of trying to entertain him.

We stayed at Le Touessrok, and he and my daughter were too young to go to the kids club on their own. However, we hired a nanny from the hotel who was fab and a pretty reasonable rate - 8 Euros an hour I think - and she took the kids to the kids club every day and looked after them there, so we had pretty much the whole day to ourselves. She also came and babysat in the evenings after the kids had had their tea so we could have dinner together.

You should check if they still do this before booking. Try looking at Tripadvisor as there may be other hotels who do this too.

And try and get a night flight back if you can, or even fly via the Middle East so you get a break. When you're seven hours into a very tedious flight and you realise you've got another five to go, that holiday feeling can evaporate quite quickly!

The beaches at Le Touessrok itself are not that great, but the hotel has a couple of islands - one private and the other public and these are both idyllic. But to make the most of these you obviously will need to leave your daughter in the kids club for longer than a couple of hours and you need to think about whether that will suit you and your daughter. It was fine for us, but there were two of them.

Try and go outside the school holidays because the rates come right down. We booked through Trailfinders and they had some great deals and then we got a room upgrade at the hotel.

[Tots Too]

We'd recommend The Residence in Mauritius. Have a look at our Tots Too webpage for more details:
http://www.totstoo.com/hotel/the-residence/
We can arrange a personal local nanny to help out with childcare for your toddler at The Residence, with our exclusive Nanny Too service.
The Residence is a genuinely family friendly hotel where you won't feel that you've compromised on your grown-up indulgences one bit.
An overnight outbound flight will make that bit of the journey more manageable with your little one, too.
Email sales@totstoo.com for more info or call 020 7284 334 and ask to speak to Helen.

[SJH Mummy]

Hi there,

We got back a couple of weeks ago, cannot recommend it enough.

We flew AM, overnight and it was fine. We didn't book a seat for our 22 month old but the flight was fairly empty so they moved us to a 4 seat space on both legs.

We went self catering, found a fab house, right on the beach, on Belle Mare (just up the beach from the Residence). It was MUCH cheaper, lots of room - ok, not the luxury of the hotels but it had a shared pool (pretty much to ourselves each day), right on the beach, a garden, staff who we could also ask to babysit for £5 per hour rather than £10 charged at the hotels, who would bring food in and cook, or just leave it with us, who looked after the house and were very trustworthy. We could walk to Lux Belle Mare, Residence + other hotels to have dinner, there is a small village to buy bits and pieces and a driver who took us to the supermarket.
The house had 4 bedrooms, all the things you would need for a toddler, high chair, stair gates, cot, loads of towels and linen, plastic bowls and plates and cutlery. Owver is English and provides all the information you could need.

If you'd like details, PM me.

The weather in November was amazing, rash vest/spf top is an absolute must for peace of mind.

Loved it, will be returning!

If you'd like more info or have specific questions, please do ask.

[mum2000]

We are booked to go to The Residence just after February half term with our just turned 4 year old and nearly 1 yr old. We are doing AM night flights - flying economy on the way out and business on the way back. We booked through Scott Dunn - probably not the cheapest but they do take all the hassle out of everything and were very helpful in answering my million and one questions. We got two adjoining rooms for the price of one and a VIP card which effectively gives us full board for the price of half board. I think only people that have booked with Scott Dunn before are eligible for the VIP card, but might be worth asking. I spoke at length with the Scott Dunn lady (who had stayed at The Residence with her 4 yr old). She said AM was good - seats comfy and a 2, 4, 2 configuration in economy. Apparently the seats in business are not flat bed like BA Club, but still pretty good. She said the kids club was great - and it runs basically all day till 10pm. 3 year olds can use it without a nanny, any younger and you have to pay for a nanny to look after them at the club - something like Eur8/per hour I think). We are going with another family and I think we would be allowed to split the cost.

[Gilly]

We have been 3 times now to Lux Belle Mare on mauritius. Last time was march with daughter aged 3 and son 15 months. Can't recommend this hotel enough. Cheaper than others and (obvs) less luxurious but really very good. Gorgeous beach. They do an all inclusive package which is worth it without a doubt. The childcare is fantastic. We hired a nanny for our son through the hotel and she was amazing. Do pm me if you'd like more details

[Gilly]

Btw forgot to say you can fly there both ways on night flights

[pie81]

Wow, thanks everyone!

I am struggling with flights a bit. As far as I can tell, BA will do overnight outbound but not on the way back. With Air Mauritius, I can't find any direct flights (day or night), they all seem to go via Paris? If you have flown overnight both ways who was it with please!?

We really don't need luxury rooms or loads of facilities, we are not luxury hotel people really (we were mostly backpackers pre children).

However I would quite like a kids club that will allow my daughter to attend (I know she'd have to have a babysitter to take her there). I wonder if she might get a bit bored with "just" a babysitter, she'd prefer to be able to watch other children doing activities and maybe join in a bit. That said we may only want a couple of hours babysitting a day anyway in which case it's not so important that she has "entertainment"... so I will MP you SJH for the villa details, it sounds fab!

Gilly I will PM you too... if their kids club lets 15 month olds in then that may be the perfect place... and your flights sound ideal too!

The Residence does fit the bill but it's top end of our budget and might be a bit smart for us, I'm not really up for dressing up on holiday. But will keep it in mind.

Thanks again, any other recommendations very welcome.

[sarahcj]

Not sure it would be right for you given your comments, as it is top end, but we stayed at the Oberoi when our eldest was just 1 and had the most fantastic holiday (there are certainly good deals to be had, so worth a look). Brilliant nanny who took him to the kids club for three/four hours each day meaning we had a lovely relaxing holiday and the staff at the Oberoi couldn't have been more delightful with him, going out of there way to make sure he had food he really enjoyed etc and he had tea at 5ish. We've since travelled extensively worldwide with all of our children and I must say that I think that the Oberoi rates amongst one of the best in terms of staff making a real effort to ensure we all had a great holiday and the great thing was that it was not too childtastic (if that makes sense!) We actually flew Virgin Upper Class (sadly I don't think they fly to Mauritius now but might be wrong) and it worked brilliantly. Hope you find something that works for you. PS. I don't like dressing up on holiday either, and genuinely didn't feel I had to....

[Gilly]

The flights were BA. Yes it does have a very good kids club that our nanny took our son to everyday with swing, slide trampoline etc and lots of toys etc. my son thoroughly enjoyed himself! Also the vast pool is a real plus point for the younger children as most of it is very shallow so fab for little ones to potter in watering The palm trees!

[lsfz88]

We've just returned from mauritius via Dubai. Flew
Economy, was ok but little one was too big for bassinet seat, so had to carry him -:( luckily it will be the last time, as he turns 2 soon and will
Have his own seat. The seat configuration in Emirates is 3,4,3.
Use seatguru website or app to find the child friendly seat.
We decided to go via Dubai as it breaks up the journey - 6 hr flight each way.
We spent a few days in Dubai but wish we had done so on the way back as we were jet lagged and missed a day as we were sleeping.
We stayed in a self catered villa in roches noires and hired a pre booked car at the airport (cheapest rate we found). The villa was nice, beach was done the private road 30 seconds away, had security for that group of villas. A maid comes every day and continental breakfast included.
She does your washing too. Extras are cooking (10€ per meal) and ironing.
Villa has own private garden and pool. No shallow end but little one had inflatable ring and was very happy splashing about.
I recommend going to Ile aux Cerfs for the day, and maybe go not once but a few times-
The beach there is gorgeous, like Maldives. You have to pay for boat transfer but we found an amazing package online which included lunch and sun lounger.

If you need any details, pm me for the info.

I'm very interested in the villa details of the mummy above, will pm
You!