Nightmare December Holiday

We booked at Shandrani hotel on the recommendation from our Travel Agent Flight Centre, on the basis that this hotel would offer better service a better overall experience than our usual family holiday destination in Mauritius as it is a 5 star and Victoria only 4 star- ( we visited Victoria as a family of 7 in May 2017 and May 2018 and was very happy with our stay at La Victoria.

This was done under completely false pretences and at an exorbitant extra charge and I was in fact told that the extra costs was because Shandrani is 5 star. I am utterly disgusted and disappointed in the service that my family and I have received at Shandrani and I can assure you that we will not be returning.

Upon arrival, our rooms were not next to each other as I had specifically requested on numerous occasions, and personally told our travel Agent that that is very important to have the 3 rooms together. ( If I was aware that that would not be the case I would not have book at Shandrani. (the hotel was only 50% booked strange for December holiday). We received no assistance from the lady on duty at reception at the time and had to accept what we were given, which we duly, though reluctantly, did.

After booking in, we proceeded to the dinner buffet as we had been promised by the assistant manager that the buffet would stay open until at least 10pm because they had been expecting a few guests to arrive late. When my daughter and I approached one of the staff members to enquire what was for dessert, however, a one "Patrice" informed us quite rudely that the service was closed and that we were not allowed to have any of the desserts on display. When I informed her that we had just arrived a matter of minutes before, she again reiterated that they were now closed and we were not allowed to have any of the desserts, and that they were leaving for the night. The next morning, I went to enquire about the diving options for my kids, as this was another specific requirement that I had when booking at Shandrani. I was told that there was no diving allowed as they were expecting a "cyclone" but when I followed up every few hours and eventually threatened to book out of the hotel, they all of a sudden had a diving session available, giving me the impression that they just simply did not want to assist me initially. The kids were very much looking forward to the diving as this is their highlight every year when we visit Mauritius. The rest of the holiday diving was only restricted to lagoon diving. We were told that the North is the spot to be for diving as the thread of anti cyclone is not that great. The diving gear was also very old, diving jackets torn not what you would expect at a 5 star establishment. If the Travel Agent gave us all that information we would have definitely booked at Victoria.

The service at the hotel is absolutely dismal to say the least. At every bar one has to beg for a drink and wait for at least 40-45 minutes per round. At the breakfast service we asked for a bottle of sparkling wine for the table and were told that the waiters could not bring us one. We then had to wait for about 40 minutes for them to source a bottle from the bar across the lobby. As we are a family of 6 adults, it was finished in one round and then had to wait another 45 minutes for another one. At every bar we have to wait unacceptable lengths of time waiting for bartenders and waiters to finish their conversations before starting to prepare our beverages. They were also constantly running out of Jameson whiskey. One evening we waited almost an hour for two cappuccinos that eventually arrived cold. Victoria have sparkling wine at the buffet you do not need to beg for it.

In the brochure it states quite clearly that plugs (adaptors) are available for use at the hotel's reception. However, I had to beg, plead and complain in order to eventually get a plug which they had to go and buy at my insistence. I was thus without a cell phone for a whole day which is unacceptable as I have to be available to be contacted at all times by my staff and clients.

Furthermore, although the beach is quite picturesque, it is nowhere near the service we are used to at La Victoria because there is no drinks service on the beach, and there is an airplane that flies across the ocean view every 10 minutes as we were right next to the airport. The ocean was also too rough to swim in and we had to resort to swimming in the lagoon. At our usual hotel we swim in the ocean with a drink in hand constantly as we are always looked after by the friendly waiters.

Our hotel rooms were also not cleaned until we demanded that it get done, cleaning service only did beds and clean the bath, floors only got cleaned after we complaint the foyer and stairs to the room were filthy. It only got cleaned when I phone the Manager. ( I send photos to Beachcombers to proof). In 5 star hotels the bedding get change at least every 3rd day ours were not changed for the 7 days we stayed.

The bar fridge was only stocked with 2 local beers 2 bottles of water and 4 generic cooldrinks no name brand, snacks 2 small peanuts and 2 packets of Nick Naks. 5 star hotels usually have a variety of liquor in the bar fridge. Most 5 star hotels usually have a welcome note in the room on arrival,sometimes complimentary wine of fruit basket, at Shangrani there was none!!!

We also could not get clean beach towels in the designated basket at the beach bar as it was always empty. The waiter on duty then told us to "wait until later."

I am completely disgusted and resentful at the fact that my family and I were sent to this hotel under completely false pretences and the total misrepresentation that this hotel is better than our usual hotel. On complaining to my Travel Agent Flight Centre we were offered to be moved to Victoria 3 days into our stay but no refund on the extra cost that we paid for the 5 star experience. We also paid extra for the all-inclusive at Shandrani. As a family of 7 that amount to a lot of extra money that we will lose, so we opted to stay. We feel as though we were an inconvenience to the staff at Shangrani and that our presence was unwanted even though we were the paying customer. The audacity to charge clients so much extra money for this hotel whilst promising better service is absolutely appalling and inappropriate. I am extremely upset and unhappy about this booking, what was suppose to be a relaxed holiday turned out to be a very expensive nightmare.