Mauritius Wedding
(September 2014)
“Perfect Wedding and Honeymoon”
We’ve just returned from our Wedding and Honeymoon organised by Andrew Rowdon Travel and held at Le Victoria Hotel in Mauritius. From the moment we arrived we knew this was to be a very special experience. We arrived after our overnight flight obviously a little tired even though it had been a good flight with no delays. As soon as we arrived one of the guest services team Nitish ushered us to a chair which over looked the infinity pool and the palm trees and ocean beyond and brought us flannels and a fruit cocktail to refresh us. We booked all inclusive which I’d recommend as even the mini bar in the room is included and the food and wines were outstandingly good. They wanted us to have breakfast but we had eaten on the plane so we were taken into the restaurant, a table with views of white sand and crystal blue ocean for fresh coffee. We’d arrived around 10am local time and so weren’t expecting to be able to use our rooms until 2pm but Nitish organised it so that our rooms were ready earlier so we could all retire there for a sleep which was wonderful. The hotel itself is beautiful and very clean as are the rooms, and the food was extraordinarily good in all three restaurants, we took our twin daughters (17) and we each had a room on the second floor and both were huge and very well appointed, lovely big bathrooms and the main bedroom had a sitting room area and then balcony beyond with views of the beach. The complex has three storeys and were were pleased to have the second floor as it gives you added privacy although if you went with young children the ability to walk from your terrace straight out over the gardens and onto the beach would be an advantage perhaps. We also got to see the third floor rooms during our stay and although lovely vaulted ceilings their views are obscured by the leaves of the palm trees. Our wedding co-ordinator there was Marisa who met with us on our second day, nothing was too much trouble. She showed us around the complex to see where we’d like to be married, gave us a huge album full of different bouquets and button holes to choose from and then adapted one which I found to use the flowers I preferred. Organised a beautiful cake for us, and we’d taken a CD of four songs to be played but we could have had musicians play live for us. She’d also arranged for us to go to Port Louis to finalise our paperwork the following day. We were taken in the morning by taxi and the driver even parked up and took us into the offices to meet the two officials we had to see to get our wedding licence granted which was a huge help as neither of us spoke French or Maurician. Then we were driven back to the hotel to enjoy the rest of the day. Our ceremony was held on the Friday of that week (we’d arrived on the Monday) and they only do one wedding each day so they made you feel like you were the only couple who mattered to them. I’d already had a trial hair and make up done courtesy of the hotel and we’d visited the Spa a couple of days before – well worth a visit and not hugely expensive considering its at the Hotel. We were married at 4pm and so at 2pm I met with the beautician who also did my hair, we booked the photographer and cameraman to do a wedding video – go for both they have done a fabulous job and again not expensive £300 euros for each one. Marisa came to my room to collect me and my daughters along with the photographer and cameraman. We had over 250 pictures taken which he supplied to us on a disc then gave us a beautiful wedding album before we left with 50 of the best pictures in it. He even gave us a second disc for our other suitcase in case one got lost! The ceremony was so thoughtful and special we didn’t really know what to expect so were bowled over by the sincerity of the civil officer who came to perform it for us on the beach. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. We had a meal on the beach that night with our very own waitress Stephanie with flaming torches around us, and our table was decked with more beautiful flowers and rose petals. The live band playing that night when we arrived back at the bar called us onto the dance floor and played a song for us to have our first dance to which was so unexpected and a lovely surprise. Then as if that wasn’t enough when we went back to our room at the end of a perfect day we found champagne and flowers in the bathroom with a hot bath run for us and more rose petals on the floor of our bedroom with letters of congratulations on the bed – truly outstanding service from everyone at the hotel. We enjoyed the rest of our 10 day stay we had planned to go out and visit various parts of the island but the hotel and its facilities were so gorgeous that we didn’t want to leave! We did do a catamaran trip on the south of the island one of the days which was well worth it, sailing, bbq lunch on board and a visit to a waterfall and another island. included. Finally a couple of nights before we left were were invited to the managers cocktail party which we went to and met the various heads of departments which was lovely to be able to congratulate their Head Chef on such amazing food throughout our stay and it really was superb – best we’ve had and I’m a food critic back in the UK, plus we met with their Sales Manager who very kindly organised another room for us on our final day as we had a late departure – which really was the icing on the cake for us. All of this wouldn’t have happened however without our brilliant UK travel agent Andrew Rowdon Travel who not only organises our holidays for us but he’s also a Wedding and Honeymoon specialist and we went to Le Victoria on his recommendation his websites are www.amrtravel.co.uk and www.weddingescapes.co.uk – he not only organised everything from the UK side including the paperwork for our wedding etc but also our on line wedding gift list too. We can’t rate both all the team at Le Victoria and also Andrew Rowdon highly enough for our perfect wedding and honeymoon destination.
Room Tip: Second floor rooms we think had the best views of the beach and the most privacy.
