Le Domaine de La R�serve

What People are saying

Beautiful Beach Hotel

Thomas T on 13/06/2017 06:54

My wife and I went there for our honeymoon. The hotel was lovely. We stayed in room 108 which is right on the beach on the second floor (more privacy). The room is large and lovely. The view is amazing!!!! The staff was friendly. They have a nice pool area and large turtles which you can pet...so cute! Snorkeling can be done right in front of the hotel. I saw sting rays, a small shark and of course many pretty fish.

The only negative was the food. It was a good but it did not blow us away. Maybe we were spoiled because we spent the first part of our honeymoon in South Africa where we stayed at a lodge that had amazing food.

Wonderful simple hotel in fabulous location

Bourbarigmy on 11/06/2017 20:04

Immaculate small hotel ( 40 rooms) spread along a small bay. Very clean. Good linen. Buffet style meals which were variant enough for a week with good food. Free afternoon tea by the pool was lovely. A v short walk to a busier beach in the next bay. Anything can be organized, taxi, car hire etc. no free water except on your arrival. A coral beach with snorkelling areas. V quiet in the evenings

Lovely boutique hotel in idyllic setting

NCVienna on 04/06/2017 00:45

My husband and I spent six nights at La Reserve as part of our 10th anniversary trip. We had selected the property due to its wonderfully secluded location in the Curieuse marine national park all by itself rather than picking one of the hotels on Anse Volbert which all share one large strip of (admittedly gorgeous) beach.
In the event, La Reserve did not disappoint. It indeed has a lovely boutique feel in a breathtakingly beautiful and isolated bay while only being 10 minutes on foot from all the Anse Volbert facilities (and you don’t actually have to walk on the road for most of the distance – it is possible to turn left after less than 5 minutes at the Whitetip Divers’ location and then walk along the beach/across the grounds of the Paradise Sun hotel).
The entrance and reception area of the hotel are lovely and cool and we enjoyed the refreshing drink we were served while checking in. I had emailed the hotel to let them know about our 10th wedding anniversary and requested a room in one of the two buildings to the left of the restaurant pier (room numbers 105 – 112). We were, therefore, extremely disappointed when we were handed the key to room 121. Now, to be honest, the room was perfectly nice with a large balcony and a huge bathroom. However, the point of coming to a place like the Seychelles is to be able to gaze at the turquoise sea steps away from your deck and hear the waves lulling you to sleep – not to look at a big piece of non-descript lawn…
Sensing my disappointment, Paul, the Manager who had accompanied us to our room promised he would do his utmost to try and get us moved. And he did – in the most charming manner imaginable… After several little nudges (I started to feel seriously guilty about pestering such a lovely guy!) he called us on our third morning and told us in a conspiratorial whisper that he had managed it – room 106 would be ready for us when we returned from our day-trip to La Digue that afternoon! I can honestly say that our holiday at La Reserve started for real the second we stepped into our new room – our terrace was literally a couple of steps from the sea and we could actually swim and sunbathe almost without leaving our room! To wake up in the morning to the amazing panorama of the Anse Petite Court right from the comfort of your (very comfortable king-size four-poster) bed is one of life’s truly special treats! Sunsets were equally breath-taking and the room itself was of a high standard – with excellent wifi and extremely comfy sun-loungers on the terrace.
The hotel’s official beach on the other side of the property is small but beautiful, snorkelling along the rocks on both sides of the bay reveals myriads of colourful fish, the grounds are beautifully landscaped and the pool is an amazing size (although compared to the green-blue sea definitely our less favourite option).
Many have commented on the location of the restaurant on a pier that jots out into the turquoise ocean. It is indeed as lovely as it sounds, and no, we did not manage to resist the temptation to feed the fish that regularly gathered below the pier…! We had booked bed and breakfast and thought the breakfast buffet was adequate although far from overwhelming. I had read that dinner varied between buffets and a la carte evenings but while we were there, there were only buffets on offer. We ate at the restaurant four times and found the food to be of a very high standard with an excellent variety of dishes. We particularly enjoyed the Creole buffet (loved the fish bisque, the red snapper with hot chilli sauce and the octopus curry!). The Asian buffet was excellent, too (tasty deep-fried octopus and green thai fish curry) while the Indian Ocean buffet (we were not sure whether it would be Indian fare or seafood but it turned out to be vaguely Indian) was average. We were positively surprised that wine by the glass only cost 62 rupees (plus tax) which is very reasonable by Seychellois standards. Half way through our stay, the restaurant introduced a special offer: 40 Euro for a full buffet dinner including a free glass of wine – excellent value for money!
During our stay, around three quarters of the guests were French/French-speaking (other nationalities were Italians, Germans, Austrians and British). With the exception of one wedding-party everybody was quiet and considerate and most people just kept to themselves. There were only two children (part of the wedding party) who were extremely well behaved.
Now, for the slight drawbacks… Not surprisingly for an island paradise, everybody is on island time so do not expect things to happen promptly or efficiently. When we first entered our room, the safe was not working, there were only a handful of hangers and no ashtray on the balcony. Despite several requests, it took a while to get all of these things sorted (and my husband had to go and get himself an ashtray from the bar…served him right!!!) A pile of golden sand which had accumulated on a dark wood dresser from emptying beach bags each day was never wiped away (I was tempted to do it myself but decided to view it as an experiment to see how long it would take the maid to spot the little sand dune on the dresser… on our second last day she finally wiped half (!?!) of it off!) The doors could urgently do with some insulation (a small strip of felt etc would do the job) as it is impossible to close them without a loud bang, disturbing other guests each time you leave your room.
However, these are all small niggles and pale into insignificance compared to the beauty of the location and friendliness of the staff. Once again, a huge thank you to Paul, whose professionalism and flamboyant charm were outstanding – you made our stay at La Reserve truly special!

Lovely relaxing hotel

B9642HIjenny on 28/05/2017 16:40

We stayed here for nine nights. It was so relaxing. The pool is lovely and the sun loungers where so comfy. The pier is great and seeing all the fish swimming around while we ate breakfast was our favourate part of the daty.

Awesome 25th wedding anniversary celebration

westonc on 25/05/2017 20:09

My wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Seychelles and we stayed at Le Domaine de La Reserve located on the northeast side of Praslin in Anse Petite Cour, which is a magnificent and secluded part of the island overlooking the Curieuse Marine National Park. The resort including the surrounding area is beautiful and is exceptionally well maintained.
On arriving at Le Domaine de La Reserve we received an extremely friendly welcome and our check in was effortless which included being given lemongrass iced tea that was very refreshing. The staff were courteous, professional and pleasant, and throughout our stay ensured that everything was efficiently and effectively dealt with.
We stayed in a hillside superior double room on the upper floor. Our room was extremely spacious with a large balcony that had sun beds, chairs and tables which was nice for relaxing and admiring the spectacular views of the Marine National Park and Curieuse Island. Our king size bed was huge and very comfortable and had mosquito netting. For our 25th wedding anniversary, the hotel presented us with a bottle of champagne which we drank while relaxing on the balcony enjoying the sunset and lovely views of the bay, as well as watching the huge fruit bats or “flying foxes” come home to roost in the nearby trees. The fridge in the room was stocked with complimentary bottled water and a selection of drinks, which if consumed, you had to pay for.
We were staying on a half board basis and had all our breakfast and dinner meals at the main Jetty Restaurant which is on an outstretched pier over the sea with outstanding views of the bay. Both breakfast and dinner buffets were excellent with a sufficient selection and variety of foods to choose from, including local Creole specialties. The service was good and the staff were always eager and willing to assist. While eating, you can feed numerous species of tropical fish in the crystal clear water directly below you, which we found fascinating and entertaining. What we also found entertaining and amusing were the very tame small birds that join you at meal times to pick up any scraps of food that they can find. For our 25th wedding anniversary, the hotel also arranged a special and memorable candlelit seafood dinner for us, whereby we were seated in a secluded part of the pier and had our own attentive waiters serving us.
The entertainment evening that we attended at the Main Bar was a lot of fun and it was great participating in the interesting coconut demonstration as well as the lively and colorful sega dancing show.
The pool, which apparently is one of the largest on the island, is really impressive, and cocktails at the swim up bar is a definite must do. Every afternoon, complimentary tea/coffee and cake/biscuits are served at the William’s Pool Bar & Restaurant.
The snorkeling in the calm bay is absolutely amazing. Besides the beautiful coral, we saw many wonderful and colorful fish including angelfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, cornetfish, lionfish and lots of stingrays. I was also extremely fortunate to spot a hawksbill turtle and managed to get up close and swim next to it for quite a while which was an incredible experience. Although we had our own snorkeling gear, all snorkeling gear is available to rent for free from the office at reception.
We also went on a private boat excursion to Curieuse Island organized by the hotel which costs SCR 500 per person and occurs three times a week. The trip was well worth it and is very informative and enjoyable. On the island, which used to be a leper colony, we visited the Doctor’s House, a nice example of Creole colonial architecture, which has been turned into a fascinating museum and is a place where turtles lay their eggs on the beach. There are many splendid things to see on Curieuse Island including the large aldabra tortoises, mangrove forests, granite formations and the famous Coco de Mer trees. On the return trip we anchored at Saint Pierre Island and spent an incredible time snorkeling on the Praslin side of the island which was fantastic as we saw plenty tropical fish.
During two days of our stay we hired a car and drove around the whole island and visited a number of superb and fabulous beaches including Anse Possession, Anse Volbert and Anse Georgette which we accessed through Lemuria Resort. We of course also visited and spent a considerable amount of time at Anse Lazio which is truly stunning with its crystal clear turquoise water, pristine white sand, and beautiful palm trees. It is easy to see why this beach is considered one of the best beaches in the world. Besides visiting beaches we also visited the Vallee de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We went on the free guided tour which occurs daily at 9am and 2pm. Our guide was brilliant and very informative. The many endemic palms and other indigenous trees including the Coco de Mer trees are really magnificent.
Overall, we had an awesome time at Le Domaine de La Reserve which was the perfect place to celebrate such a special occasion, our 25th wedding anniversary and hopefully we will be back again soon.