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North
Island is the newest and most luxurious private island development
to be constructed in the Seychelles to date and it was my turn
to go on site inspection as the rest of the team had already been
the previous month. It was my first visit to the Indian Ocean
Islands and I was taking my mom and two year old son with me,
which would make the experience that much more special.
We departed from Johannesburg International Airport on a cold winter day on a direct Air Seychelles flight to Mahe, Seychelles. The flight is approximately five hours from Johannesburg and due to it’s time table, lands in Seychelles at 20h10 (Seychelles is two hours ahead of South Africa), which makes for a pretty late arrival. By the time you’ve transferred from the airport to your hotel of choice, checked in and got to your room, it’s late and you haven’t really had much opportunity to get a feel for the island, you don’t see the ocean or the hundreds of palm trees on arrival, so it’s difficult to believe you’re about to embark on an idyllic island holiday when you first land!
Overnight accommodation was at Fisherman’s Cove (part of
the Le Meridien hotel group) on the Northern tip of Mahe, one
of the landmark hotels on Mahe with an awesome location and incredible
sea views (close to Beau Vallon Bay). The hotel is built around
a private and secluded cove and has easy access to both the airport
(30 minutes) and Victoria (10 minutes). It is currently classed
as a four star hotel,
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has 19 rooms, 27 cottages, 12 junior suites and 4 senior suites.
We were lucky enough to get accommodation at the time as the hotel
was due to close at the beginning of August 2003 to undergo a
massive refurbishment programme that will last until March 2004.
According to a spokesman at the hotel, it will reopen its doors
as a 5 star hotel. We unfortunately didn’t have much time
to explore and experience all the hotel had to offer (swimming
pool, fins, masks, snorkels, tennis courts, billiards, ping-pong,
two restaurants and two bars) as I had a meeting in town before
our boat transfer from Beau Vallon Bay to North Island later in
the morning.
We arrived on a beautiful stretch of white beach expecting some
kind of jetty – but all we found were a few bikini clad
tourists sun tanning, with an intimate beach wedding being conducted
under the shade of a few trees just 20 meters away! North Island
guests are always transferred to North Island by helicopter, which
is the only way of getting to and from North Island. The boat
we transferred in is generally used for staff and goods transfers
to and from the island (the joys of site inspections!). We were
visiting just prior to the monsoon season and as a result, the
seas were quite rough on both trips – that was all it took
to convince me that there’s a good reason we don’t
recommend this as a means of transfer for North Island guests
and as it is a weather dependant option, it is certainly not an
enjoyable one (it rained on our return trip!)
After nearly two hours, we finally reached North Island and were
completely blown away! The Island has been described as a “barefoot
luxury development unashamedly aimed at |
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providing the very best in location, accommodations, services
and facilities to the most discerning and privileged of world
travelers.” It was all of this and so much more than one
could ever hope, dream or imagine as the ultimate idyllic, romantic
island hideaway! Photographs seen prior to my visit just didn’t
do it justice! The seas were a deeper turquoise, the sands a whiter
white and the vegetation a lusher, greener, green! It was almost
impossible to find fault with any aspect of the island! The service
was at all times, without exception, faultless, the sumptuous
meals prepared for either in-villa dining or to be enjoyed in
this private island’s beachfront dining room were out of
this world, the magic hands that massaged my feet as I enjoyed
an in-villa spa treatment, heaven and the endless activity options
and quiet, tranquil surrounds made for a 10/10 experience!
One can’t really imagine how big a villa of 450sqm actually
is until you’re standing in it! The size, the space, the
simplicity of the luxury literally takes your breath away and
makes you stop in your tracks and look around with open mouthed
wonder. The bathroom is not just a bathroom; the view is not just
a view, the kitchen not just a kitchen and I could go on and on!
One would need to spend at least a week or even longer to really,
really be sure you've absolutely experienced every aspect of the
villas, every nook, cranny and comfort! After 5 glorious sun drenched
days in paradise, we boarded our boat to return to Mahe for our
flight home and back to reality! I will certainly make plans to
return again, next time, with someone very, very special –
I don’t believe there’s anywhere or anything like
it in the world for relaxation, love and romance!!”
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