Mauritius

[coccinelle]

I'm usually quite good at organising holidays over the net but it's mainly to European countries or a certain city in the world. However, I'm at a loss as to where is the best place to be on Mauritius island to visit and have a lovely environment but don't want to be taken in price-wise. I've realised an all inclusive would suit us best. Can anybody help us out?

[Lil O'lady]

As far as I could make out, Mauritius / Ile Maurice has endeavoured for a long time to market itself to the luxury end of the travel trade rather than large-scale tourism across the board. Consequently there seems to be quite a few large luxurious resort-type hotels. I saw a smaller number of middle-range resort hotels in passing, and to be honest they looked a bit tacky. I was there in Feb this year.
On the other hand there were lots of private villas and we had rented one from a colleague. We like to shop and cook so that suited us.
The south east and east of Mauritius are more rural, where you might go hill walking etc. The north and west, especially north from Port Louis, is increasingly built up but still fine. We stayed near Grand Baie, and while the amount of coastal building is sadly making this one continuous strip of properties it's still quite lovely. The beaches seem to be fantastic wherever you go. Public transport by bus is dead cheap and easy if a bit rackety and the cost of living seemed OK. In most places you can pick up excursions by minibus to various sites - we had a fantastic day that included a speedboat ride to Isle aux Cerfs. WIne is ridiculously dear but local Phoenix beer does the trick nicely -oh, and of course white rum. Makes your legs go all rubbery. Mauritius is so small that really wherever you stay, you could travel easily to other locations on trips.
Lastly, the downside seems to be that they have lost their mainstay, clothing manufacture, to China so unemployment is growing, and many south africans are building fortress-type villas guarded by attack dogs, which somewhat lessens the lovely laid-back ambience of this island.

[coccinelle]

Thank you so much for all that Lil O'lady. It's given me a good idea of the island and what to expect. Yes, I've noticed most of the hotels are luxury, which we're not really wanting but would like a nice, good, clean hotel with plenty of things to do. Thank you again for replying.