Travel reviews by Mrs C from Leyburn

"This is our second time at Oyster Bay and it is a special place. We were the only guests apart from our last night so it felt like our private villa.

Nothing is too much trouble, the staff are very caring and attentive, good food with you deciding what you would like.

Highly recommend starting trip with a couple of days here to get over the travelling."

"Our second trip to Be Ho Be Ho and we hope to be able to return as soon as our commitments permit. The location, accommodation, food, staff and guides are all excellent.

This is from our perspective what a safari is all about, guides who are as enthusiastic as you at finding and seeing animals and birds with a very high level of knowledge so that you are constantly learning. Once back in camp you can unwind and relax and then over lunch and dinner have wide ranging conversations with a lot of laughter and fun.

The waterhole at the lodge had this time round due to the time of year a constant viewing of animals including one day and evening the Be Ho Be Ho lion pride, a memorable experience."

"we arrived late and left the next morning so difficult to make much comment."

"We thoroughly enjoyed our 5 nights at the lodge, we were looked after by Catherine who would bring breakfast and lunch to our suite, sort out anything we needed and served dinner at night in the restaurant.

we could choose what we wanted to eat rather than needing to be dictated to by menus.

Lovely and spacious suite with a dining area as well as sitting room and 2 terraces so that you could catch to sun during the day.

The grounds are lovely and a good contrast to a safari lodge.

Very peaceful and relaxing place."

"average airport hotel"

"Our Villa was great, spacious, well fitted out and with a lovely view.

Hotel food was poor and dreadfully expensive. We did learn that this is a problem in the Seychelles which imports circa 80% of its food so even street food is apparently expensive and not good.

Staff are the hotel very friendly and helpful, not local though, again something that we discovered was the norm in all the hotels.

The hotel does have a very good spa"

"A large beach resort with plenty of facilities including the only 18 hole golf course on the island.
Food again uninspiring despite eating in their 2 al a carte restaurants and expensive.

Staff very friendly and helpful but again not local.

Our suite was spacious and well appointed, first suite though in a dreadful location beside the beach side cafe/bar but we were moved after the first night to a much better located room"

"Denis island was the highlight of our Seychelles trip despite a poor start. We left our hotel on Praslin at 8.25 for a 9.40 flight to Mahe expecting to be on a 11.30 flight to Denis Island. These arrangements were confirmed the night before by the local Mason's agent but waiting at Praslin airport we were told that our flight to Denis would not be until 1400. So we had a long wait in the domestic terminal at Mahe.

On Denis, they told us that the charter plane they use was in for routine maintenance so they were using a smaller plane hence the delay. Bearing in mind that Masons own Denis, i think they should have done better either moving us to a later flight from Praslin or at least providing us with somewhere more comfortable to wait with drinks.

Denis island itself is amazing and full credit to Masons for the way they are running the island, we were particularly impressed by the farm which is a serious operation and demonstrates what the Seychelles could be doing instead of being so reliant on food imports.

Denis is about 80% self reliant for food and you could taste the difference.

Our villa was incredibly spacious both inside and out.

Staff were great although yet again not local.

A definite recommend for a more authentic Seychelles experience."

"This hotel has only been open 12 months and has its own marina. if you want a beach hotel this is not for you but in all other respects it is great.

We had one floor of the Presidential villa, large bedroom, enormous lounge/dining room, kitchenette and again an enormous deck with a large private pool.

The suite comes with a butler, the duties were split between two great members of staff who could not have been more helpful, efficient and friendly.

Only a 5 min drive to the airport too which meant we could spend more time there before heading for our return flight."

"Great first stop, lovely big room, good food."

"Superb location, friendly staff, very good guide (Cornelius). Spoilt by the lack of heating."

"Be warned that if you are asked to share a safari truck on the trip to the dunes, ensure that you all want to do the same activities. It can be a very long wait if others have climbed the dune and you haven't."

"Great Spar."

"The mountain view suite was superb, it was comfortable, had great views and very private. It was like having our own private thatched villa."

"Loved everybody who worked there, the Food and Beverage Manger, the girls who looked after us, and especially Liberty our guide, a lovely lad of 27 who really knew his stuff."

"Position of the chalet was outstanding, and the chalet itself surprisingly good, although maybe could have been maintained better, some taps didn't work and a number of bulbs were out."

"Fabulous room. Wild life on the reserve is superb and we got up close and personal with white rhinos, but the game viewing can be spoilt by the number of other safari trucks."

"We were in room 9, which is the mini suite, and quite different to the other rooms. We loved it and an excellent choice for a winters stay, as it had a fire place.
I've travelled in many safari trucks, and these had the least amount of room and were probably the most uncomfortable yet."

"beautiful accommodation and so welcoming. All the staff worked hard to make you feel at home, great food.

only regret we did not book 2 nights before heading off on safari!"

"This is a wonderful place and we are already thinking about when we can go back. we saw a lot more game than we had anticipated and loved the constant change of scenery and landscape which made the safari much more interesting. we had a great day out of the lake with a surprise bush breakfast to make it perfect.

Accommodation is beautiful, great food, great friendly guides and staff, could not have been more welcoming."

"see earlier comments [Ed: see below]"