Again at Oberoi and after a fast spruce, we had been whisked to a personal candlelit dinner on the seashore, and once we returned to our room, rose petals had been strewn throughout our mattress and a candle-lit bubble bathtub waited within the toilet – a sort congratulations from the Oberoi staff on our engagement, and part of our story we’ll always remember.
The ultimate cease on our Mauritian journey was Maradiva, a family-owned, all-villa property about 27 miles additional down the island’s west coast overlooking Tamarin Bay. That is the form of place the place its shoulder-dropping tranquility is felt virtually as quickly as you arrive, with a laidback, intimate ambiance that may be tough to realize in a top-end luxurious lodge. Our room, one in every of 64 non-public pool villas, was gentle and ethereal, decked out in calming impartial tones, pure woods and pale marble (if finances permits, go for one of many 9 Beachfront Luxurious Suite Pool Villas, that are simply steps away from the seashore).
The lavatory featured an enormous, deep marble bathtub, an indoor rainfall bathe and an out of doors bathe within the walled backyard. It was all too simple to spend hours whiling away the time on the spacious veranda, studying on the sunloungers and listening to the songbirds flitting between the bushes, intermittently taking a dip within the pool to chill off.
For dinner, we headed to Maradiva’s softly-lit, fine-dining Indian restaurant, Cilantro, the place a creamy, herby lobster curry – mopped up with just-baked chapati and washed down with native Phoenix beer – was the most effective curries I’ve ever had.
Following a breakfast of bircher muesli and native fruits within the lodge’s principal restaurant, Cassine, the following morning we walked half-hour to Flic en Flac seashore (in the event you do not fancy the stroll, a taxi from the lodge takes lower than 5 minutes), a stretch of white sand bordered by rows of filao pine bushes. Come early, ideally on a weekday, to beat the crowds – we arrived shortly after 9.30am and had the seashore just about to ourselves, however crowds began to collect from 11am. For lunch, we popped to Farata AKA Vinoda – one in every of varied beachside stalls promoting conventional paratha – and picked up some scrumptious, flavour-packed roti full of salmon and veg for 20 and 35 rupees (the equal of round 35p and 60p respectively).
