Seychelles Part 9

Date: 2014-03-21

Coco de Mer Hotel is situated on the South West coast of Praslin Island - the second largest island of the Seychelles. Having completed an extensive refurbishment in 2011, the hotel bars, restaurant and guest rooms, all now feature added areas of privacy and relaxation. The hotel offers modern facilities in a tropical setting and has a laid back, friendly atmosphere.

We fell in love with the Seychellois people from the first day we arrived on the island. Their chutzpa is best explained in the description I received one day while talking to a local. We were discussing the Royal couple, William and Kate enjoying their honeymoon in Seychelles a couple of years back. "Do you want to know why celebrities love coming to our island?" asked Henrie a local fisherman at a local beachside bar, "They come here because nobody bothers them. In Seychelles we are all celebrities so nobody can steal our spotlight." We laughed hard.

It is true news of the royal family was not big on the Seychellois broadcast channel, in fact even though technology has reached this tiny archipelago, the Seychellois are unfazed about class and social standing.

We saved the best for lastwe knew from the web that Coco de Mer Hotel and Black Parrot suites on Pralin Island was our last stop on Seychelles and we couldn't have arrived at a better place to wind down our travel adventure.

Coco De Mer Hotel, which is famously named after the Coco the Mer Palm and seed that although extremely rare, occurs in abundance in the tropical forests surrounding the property. They are on the bus and taxi rout so the whole island of Praslin is at yor fingertips. We can recommend the bus rather than the taxis as the taxis are prone to charging in Euro and are really aimed at tourists. Taking the bus will open up more of that island life and culture and ads a special atmosphere to your travel.

The Hotel is a clean spacious and unassuming. It is owned by a South African consortium and a large chunk of their visitors are South African. It is situated on a well-established piece of land, which is under the Coco de Mer Palm cultivation.

The beauty of its position, besides the peace and tranquillity of its garden, is that the hotel offers excellent accommodation in spacious chalet style rooms, which are all sea-facing with private terraces.

The swimming pool also overlooks the ocean and for families there is a small children's pool. The hotel's jetty provides a romantic spot for sipping cocktails whilst soaking up a dreamlike sunset.

On our first night at Coco de Mer Hotel the sky turned blood red and it was truly one of the best sunsets we have ever seen. Coco de Mer Hotel also offers its own nature trail, with guided walks. If you are looking for activities they are champions at making sure that you are adequately entertained. We met a couple from Europe, she was Russian and he was Ukrainian working in England. Their baby daughter was being looked after by Grandma so we set about chatting merrily about life in South Africa, Russia and Europe in general. We all agreed that we did not have the life that the Seychelles offered. Soon we were exchanging views and reviews with almost all the hotel guests as the friendly atmosphere just grew and grew. At breakfast we met the most adorable South African family who like us were milking their last days on the islands and dreading the trip home. No one wanted to leave the island lifestyle behind.

Coco de Mer Hotel is a great family hotel. The pool area and the beach have been designed to be interactive and with 40 refurbished rooms, a gym, tennis court, two restaurants, shops and a bar, has more of a resort feel.

The service and food is truly fantastic, with live cooking for breakfast, and a la carte dining mixed with themed buffets. The friendly, welcoming atmosphere makes Coco de Mer a home from home. And the general prices in bar and restaurant were considerable lower than the rest of the places we have stayed in.

The beach is average - it's shallow and tides can cause a build-up of seaweed between May and October - but you can cool off in the pool in the shape of acoco fesse. All in all, a great recommendation for unpretentious and low-key luxury.

Seychelles Part 9

Springclean

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Nissan T5ekton

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