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Home > Features > Mauritius
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Jill Crawshaw talks about Mauritius
Posted On
01.01.08 |
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Mauritius is one of the best holiday islands in the world. It has a winning mix of lush tropical landscapes with dazzling white beaches and aquamarine lagoons, an exotic blend of Indian, Chinese, French and Creole cuisine, and the crème de la crème of hotels with superb service. No wonder princes, presidents, politicians, pop stars and a host of It girls and honeymooners regularly beat a path to its shores. Not bad for an eccentric little dot about the size of Surrey.
To help its tourist cred, Mauritius has political stability, little crime, high employment, a largely harmonious racial mix and a genuine welcome for visitors. Even the vendors on the beach are meticulous with their s’il vous plaits and mercis.
The island’s construction industry continues to do nicely. A flurry of recently opened five-star hotels includes the 226-room Club Med Albion and Shanti Ananda Maurice, the first destination spa. A swanky Four Seasons hotel on the east coast opens this spring.
Mauritius can’t claim to be a budget destination. Government policy gives priority to upmarket tourism and bans charter flights from the UK. Holiday ‘extras’ such as alcoholic drinks and imported goods can be pricey, and there are few all-inclusive hotels.
And even Mauritius’s greatest fans would have to admit that its Premier League sightseeing attractions are… well, underwhelming. You can tick off its major sights in little more than a day including the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens in Pamplemousse, the new Le Caudan Waterfront complex and local markets in Port Louis and the spectacular 100m Chamarel waterfall and strange ‘coloured earths’ of the south.
The tourist authorities and the hotels themselves are making considerable efforts to notch up the island’s action quotient with more golf courses, spas, cookery lessons, yoga and water sports. But the appeal of Mauritius is still almost entirely sybaritic – lazy holidays cocooned in top-drawer hotels, eating magnificently, strolling to pristine white beaches through lush gardens full of waxy anthuriums. The only decision of the day is which wine to choose at dinner.
It’s a tried and tested formula. And it works.
Jill Crawshaw
Born in Accrington, Jill’s first travel article was published in the Liverpool Daily Post when she was a student. The topic: how to live in fleshpots such as the French Riviera on a budget. Since then as a full time travel writer she has worked with magazines such as Woman’s Journal, Woman’s Own, Hello, and travel edited the Daily Mail, Sunday Express and Evening Standard, winning many national and international awards on the way.
She currently works for The Times, and particularly enjoys travelling with her children, Toby – with whom she recently visited Egypt, then with Dominic to Sri Lanka. “At last, now they’re older, they can be my sherpas instead of vice versa” she says. She has travelled from Albania to Zambia, Australia to Zanzibar, but still has gaps she’s anxious to fill. |
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Jill Crawshaw, Travel Writer
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