Last month I returned to Mauritius upon invitation of Attitude hotels. Attitude is a Mauritian hotel chain. It has several hotels around the island and it proposes authentic experiences (Otentik) for you to discover Mauritius. We stayed at 2 of the Attitude hotels : The Ravenala and Zilwa.
Mauritius itinerary Day 1 – Check in at The Ravenala Attitude
We took an overnight flight to Mauritius and we arrived early in the morning on the island. We checked into the newly renovated Ravenala hotel. I first took a rest into my room. I stayed in a couple Suite with sea view. The room was very spacious and lovely decorated with planters’ armchair, woven rattan, and on the walls, typical scenes of Mauritian life.
Later on, as everyone was tired, we enjoyed the day at the hotel. We had lunch at one of the 10 restaurants of the hotel : Lime, a sushi and salad bar by the beach.
With 10 restaurants you can imagine that the hotel is quite big. It has indeed 272 rooms but it is so big and it has so many options that it never felt crowded. It has a huge pool and a beach and a river where you can book nautical activities. It also offers activities like volleyball, cooking classes, etc.
I personally spent the rest of my day sunbathing on the beach as I was quite tired from the flight.
Day 2 – Best of Mauritius – Port Louis and Pamplemousse garden
After a day of rest we started our 6 days itinerary in Mauritius with a visit to Port Louis, the island main city. Port Louis is famous for it’s market, streetfood and for it’s colourful little Chinatown. It is easy to go around the city by yourself and Attitude hotels created an App : Otentik with a little itinerary to guide you around the city.
For lunch we had street food and we sat down at one of the Chinese restaurants. Mauritius counts indeed many Chinese but also many Indians, Creoles and Franco/Anglo – Mauritians.
As the population is very diverse on the island, so is also the food. Every culture adopt something from another one and Chinese cuisine in Mauritius is not the same than what you would find in China it meets taste and ingredients used by other ethnicity. It was delicious though!
In the afternoon we went to Pamplemousse garden to see the giant water lilies. They are definitely an enblem of Mauritius!
In the evening we kept on discovering Mauritian cuisine. This time we ate Creole food at Kot Nou, the traditional restaurant of the Ravenala hotel.
Day 3 – Mauritius Horse race
Getting to know a country goes through it’s cuisine so we started our day with more food. This time we learned how to cook a chicken curry. Curries also are traditional in Mauritius thanks to it’s Indians inhabitants!
In the afternoon we went to the Champs de mars horse track in Port Louis to see a horse race. It was so interesting! I never saw an horse race before so it was a lot of fun to bet on the best horse. I mostly bet on the horse I found the most beautiful or the one I liked the name the best 😀 Horse racing is part of the culture on Mauritius. Families go to see horse race in the weekend and take bet on which horse is going to win. A very cool experience to get to know the locals! Definitely my favorite experience during the trip
Day 4 – Catamaran trip at Cap Malheureux and check in at Zilwa Attitude
On our 4th day, we went to the North of Mauritius to Cap Malheureux for a catamaran trip. A lovely day on the turquoise waters of Mauritius, swimming, drinking punch (most famous drink of the island made out of Rum, lime and sugar) and eating barbecue!
In the late afternoon we checked into the Zilwa Attitude, another hotel of the group. The Zilwa is situated in the north east of the island. I loved the infinity pool with view to the Coin de Mire! So beautiful!
The rooms also are well decorated in the style of traditional beach houses and with local crafts.
Finally, for dinner we tried another Otentik experience. We had the opportunity to go to a local’s house and eat a traditional dinner with them. It was so cool! We ate at a family with Indian heritage on traditional banana leaf and danced the Sega aka the most popular music genre in Mauritius! Fun fact, our host Karine, also used to live in Berlin for a while. So unexpected!
Day 5 – Diving and barbecue on the beach
Last time that I was on Mauritius I wished to go diving but unfortunately all spots were gone. I was all the more so happy that diving was on the program this time. We dived around Coin de Mire with Dodo divers and saw colourful fishes and corails and a huge tortle!
We spent the rest of the day at Grand Zil, the private island of the Zilwa hotel. We had barbecue for lunch and we enjoyed the sea around the island. I paddle around the island and later in the evening, for our last evening we we watched a live concert by a local artist and danced the night away!
Day 6 – Day trip to Ile aux Cerfs
On our last day, we went to Tropical attitude, another hotel of Attitude. This hotel is much smaller and adult only. From there we took their shuttle that is available for their guest to go to Ile aux Cerf and Trou d’eau douce.
In my previous article about the things to do in Mauritius I already talked about my day trip to Ile aux cerfs. One of the most popular excursion on the island. But i did not know about Trou d’eau douce. So lovely and we had it just for us!
The end of the day is there. Time to go back to Europe. Time flies on Mauritius. I loved this island even more this second time thanks to the Otentik experienced organized by Attitude hotels. I will definitely be back!!
Thanks to Attitude hotels for this memorable trip!