Extraordinary Africa>Mauritius>LUX Le Morne
What an unexpected delight LUX Le Morne was! Tucked away below Le Morne mountain this pretty, light-hearted resort, on a gorgeous sheltered beach, is perfect for travellers who like a certain dose of comfort, but aren’t interested in anything too stuffy.
What’s LUX Le Morne really like?
What first struck us about LUX Le Morne was the absolute sense of fun here. It’s certainly a large resort, with 149 rooms, but it has a distinct personality, and even at 80% full, as it was when we visited, it didn’t feel at all crowded.
The rooms have a coffee-and-cream style: light fabrics and darker wooden fans and furniture, in nod to the Asian part of Mauritius’s cultural heritage. Superior rooms are smallest, but still very comfortable, built in low-rise, two floor blocks beside the pool. Larger and generally closer to the beach are the Junior Suites. Ocean Junior Suites are closest to the water, but because of the way they stick out on the lawns we didn’t find these to be quite as private as the more tucked back Prestige Junior Suites, which also have wildly romantic indoor and outdoor showers. Tucked up above both of these are the Honeymoon suites- these are up in the eaves and feel a little smaller, but have their own balcony and a jacuzzi and have a real sense of being tucked away from the life of the resort on the ground below. In particular, what we were really excited about was the atmosphere in the resort and the beach- over half a kilometre long and gloriously pretty.
Food is another thing that LUX Le Morne is justifiably proud of. They make their own brand of coffee (we personally inspected the roastery at their sister hotel LUX Belle Mare), and our reviewer is still dreaming fondly of the fish at the Mediterranean Beach Restaurant. The main restaurant serves buffet style food for three meals a day, and there’s also a Thai Restaurant open in the evenings (for an extra charge).
A few tips from us: Le Morne is comparatively remote, so your options for eating and drinking elsewhere are fairly limited- as a result we’d recommend booking half board at the very least, if not full-board or all inclusive. Also- clothes. Le Morne is generally a pretty laid back spot, but like many other hotels in Mauritius they ask gentlemen to wear long trousers and avoid flip flops in the evening. Lastly- if you see a glass bottle lurking in the bushes, don’t assume the staff have forgotten to tidy up from the night before- it’s quite the opposite: each day the managers hide 4 bottles with treats in them around the resort- if you find one, the treasure is yours!
What can I do at LUX Le Morne?
LUX Le Morne is in a great spot for those who are keen to be active- at one end of the bay is kitesurfing, at the other (if you’re lucky) there are pods of dolphins in the early mornings. If you really want to stretch your legs you can hike up Le Morne Mountain (definitely pack the right shoes for this) and there’s a fitness centre and tennis court towards the rear of the hotel. You can also take out the hotel windsurfers, dinghies and kayaks on the ocean and for an extra fee there are mountain bikes to hire and golf nearby. Personally, we were a little more tempted by the spa, so much so we brought the locally inspired spa products home with us. We should also briefly mention the kid’s club- this is split into two- with one aimed at teens and one at younger children- we felt this worked very well, and would make LUX Le Morne a great option for families of several different ages. Last of all- there’s Cinema Paradiso- a few nights a week LUX Le Morne shows films on the beach, with guests lying back on beanbags under the stars. It’s not always in English- sometimes it’s subtitled, but we’d recommend this for the magic of the experience alone.
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