What a wonderful holiday.
The views were absolutely stunning, and the sunsets from our side of the resort (family superior suite) were incredible. We were blessed with excellent weather for our stay too.
The watersports were top notch, and I want to give a special mention to Aiden who really went the extra mile to ensure that our sailing experience was awesome. The entire water ski team were also very good and had my daughter (first time) up and skiing in just a few minutes! Snorkeling was a little disappointing as the house reef seems to have mostly died off (not the resort's fault), but we also booked (separate, but actually very reasonable cost) a scuba dive to the Chinese Gardens site, which was great and there corals were beautiful.
The food was excellent, with a massive variety to choose from, we all definitely put on a few extra kilos! There is no shortage of food from the all-inclusive package, constantly having snacks available on top of the main breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a bit disappointing that during our stay, the main beach restaurant was closed for renovation, though this did not seem to cause any disruption and we had no issues using the main restaurant area located in the center of the resort.
The entertainment was great (we especially loved the Freddie Mercury show and the fire show), though, is was often hard to understand what was being said by the Annouk, the village chief as she is French and appeared to cater much more to the French speaking guests (which is understandable since most of the guests were French during our time at the resort).
The only "gripe" I have on the entertainment, was that the late night dance/disco music after the nightly show would go on till about 1:30am every single night (I'm in my mid 40s and I took part on the one night, so I'm not a "prude", though it can get a bit much every night), with the bass pumping extremely loudly so that it was difficult if not impossible for light-sleepers to sleep through the noise. A suggestion would perhaps for the resort to keep the party going, for those guests who enjoy late nights, but just turn the bass down after midnight, or perhaps only allow the loud music to go till 1:30am every second night only, to allow for some much needed rest after a full day of none stop activities.
On the teens side, Gregory was great with our daughter, and the selection of activities available at the resort were plentiful. We ensured to partake in most of it, and archery was a hit with our daughter!
The bar service was also great, very easy to get what you need and plenty choice from the all inclusive menu, we found Edley in the bar to be very good with his service, and his sense of humour. Also, Jason the barman was very cool and a great mixologist.
The taxi service offered at the hotel was also very efficient and very affordable, we used it to go to Grand Bay (a must do trip) and Trou aux Biches (not much happening there, skip). We only made the trip to Trou aux Biches as we required an ATM to draw money (to pay tips etc), it would be really good if the resort had an ATM on site!
The rooms themselves were spacious and clean, our daughter had her own room which was next door to ours. The views from outside our rooms were stunning! Glad we paid extra for the sea view (and recommend that you do too!!). This separate room idea was a novel experience for our daughter, 13 years old, and a little nerve racking for us, but in the end it turned out great. Rishi and Madjury were good at keeping bathrooms clean and adding some daily entertainment with their creative decorations.
For those wanting to know / clarify a few things before their stay:
All inclusive really does mean what it says at Club Med, all your drinks (yes, this includes beers, cocktails, wine, and just about anything else you can think of... you will only pay for very "premium" spirits, if that's your thing. We didnt need to pay a cent and we had plenty) and meals are included.
Water sports, again fully included are, water skiing, snorkeling (daily boat trips), kayaking, sailing (bobbie cat), SUP (stand up boarding). The beach is the BEST you get on that part of the island, further up where Beachcomber is, is just rock, and further down is much more "local" (obviously all beaches are public, but the Club Med beach is the most well maintained and also felt generally exclusive to guests, regardless). It is great for a swim, or just to lounge on the beach and catch a tan while enjoying a cocktail. One issue with some of the popular water sports is that you have to book the day before, this is done at specific times at the various activity points, I felt that Club Med should integrate this into their existing mobile app, which would make it just a little easier.
This was our first stay at Club Med and we were not accustomed to the "dress code" idea. You will definitely want to pay attention to that ahead of your stay and pack appropriately, it's not mandatory but it is something most guests do take part in, and when you are able to do so as well, it adds a little something special to the stay. We ended up having to buy a few items from the onsite boutique store in order to "fit in", and that store was very pricey, so just a heads up, rather pack what you need!
All in all, this was a perfect family holiday that filled all our needs and we will most certainly be returning in the future! Thank you Club Med, you have converted us to loyal GMs.
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