A Special House on the best beach in Mauritius

“Louise was so lovely to correspond to it was just a shame we never met!”

“Louise has a beautiful home on the lovely island of Mauritius. The description of the house is very accurate and it is very well looked after by Ouma. Having the use of Ravi as our driver and booking Ravi's wife to cook several of our evening meals absolutely made our holiday perfect. It is also lovely to have 5 star hotels close to the house for lunch or an (expensive) beer!”

“We had a wonderful time, the unit is perfectly suited for beach access. We travelled in our winter, not the best month for us. Mauritius is beautiful”

“Felt supported throughout the entire stay. Staff Oama the housekeeper stood out as a caring individual & Sanja the gardener who asked what did we need & checked that everything was alright.Explored home delivery food, the local /markets & Hotels Eats.Snack Maranatha one & only restaurant ( Local style) in a yellow building found on rd when venturing into flac + esquisite outing on speed boat simply divine by McCloud whos family has a little Mauritian style restaurant in the public park with pine trees which is a 5 to 10 mins beach walk to the left side.Sounds of the waves & stepping out of bed into the gorgeous sea,snorkling saw lots of flying fish.Felt totally rejunevated & energised when we left. Louise avail for enquiries. This place worth revisiting. Well Done.”

“We have shared in wonderful house swaps. This though is not a home or house but a holiday townhouse. The points value is not worth the stay and the owner explained that it is more based on effort than actual value thus keep in mind for your stay. The location is very remote but the beach is on your doorstep. The images posted are not accurate and makes for a more uncomfortable stay than the images show at present. The description mentions staff being available throughout your stay although the staff had to be prompted to come in but one day during our stay. Because the owners of this home do not live here the standard is not what would be the case as if they had lived in the space permanently. The complex is very outdated and do not look super kept. That said if the property points were adjusted to the actual value we would potentially stay again. Until then would look for alternative options that align with what LoveHomeSwap is actually about. *************Host's response************ These guests were tricky and very strange from the start. They didn’t have enough points for their stay and pushed for less points to be accepted and for extra nights to be included. I explained that points were not my preference as I already had so many but they were persistent so I agreed a short swap. We have always accepted the 300 points a night recommendation from LHS and as a fully staffed beach front house sleeping 8 we have many many requests and many satisfactory swaps often with guests returning. The guests also wanted early arrival and late checkout all of which we agreed. We had heavy monsoon rains in the lead up to their arrival and so when they arrived the complex was a little windswept although house was ready. Ouma the maid had some white linen drying on the line outside. The guests told the maid not to stay that day, sending her home before she had finished. The guests then contacted me in the UK that same evening to tell me the linen on the line was now dry and that one of the pieces of laundry had fallen off the line. They wanted the maid to return that night to remove the linen and they wanted their kitchen bin emptied ! The maid did return that night to pick up the fallen linen but it was all very odd. She was confused by the guests strange attitude. They only has a 2 night stay but complained that the maid wasn’t there on one of their days although they had told her not to come and sent her away. Our maid has been with us many many years and is extremely conscientious ! She gets wonderful reviews. They then ordered freshly caught fish from the fishermen, cooked and ate it and then refused to pay the agreed amount for it. They went on a boat trip and the father made a scene, screaming at one of their 15 year old daughter publicly on the beach, causing a major scene with other tourists stopping to stare. The wife said nothing. The taxi driver Ravi said they again haggled over the price of taxi trips and he said that wife was reportedly strangely silent on taxi rides, all very odd again. Our house is exactly as shown on the pictures and most guests comment that the pictures don’t do the house and complex justice. The recent storms made their mark, as they do but the guests could see that the garden staff were flat out getting the complex grounds ship shape again. These guests had lined up a string of Mauritius swaps and ours was the last. I think funds were low then, the weather closed in and tensions were running high. Sadly our lovely staff suffered as a consequence. We always take recommendations or feedback from guests on board and are constantly updating and improving what we offer at our beach house but on this occasion the feedback was irrational and baffling as were the guests. This is the first bad experience of this nature for us in over 15 years of swapping and letting. Although I note from their feedback that these guests would like to return, they would not be welcome back. They sadly left too much bad feeling behind them. I wouldn’t recommend them as guests in your home. ”

“Wonderful holidays!”

“We had a wonderful stay at Louise's house. It is in perfect location right on the beach and is very close to 5 and 6 star hotels which will accommodate you for dinner and lunch. Ravi was a superb help getting us around the island and organising trips for the family as well. We had Ravi's wife's food for 2 evenings and it was excellent. Belle Mare is such an idyllic location and the beach just perfect. We were able to play golf at Isle aux Cerfs golf club with dinner at Le Touserrok hotel and also took a catamaran to some fantastic snorkelling on the south of the Island. I would highly recommend this property and would love to return next year. Andy”

“Amazing everything ! I have been there twice and would go back again and again. Louise is simply wonderful to communicate with and her house on the beach is a dream vacation. ”

“Louise's beach house is perfect for a relaxed holiday. We travelled with our two children (aged 12 & 16) and there was plenty for them to do. You can swim right in front of the house and even snorkel. The water is very clear & clean and it's lovely sitting on the balcony with the first coffee of the day and gazing and all the different blues of the water and listening to the waves breaking on the reef. The house is right on the beach and located between several high end hotels where you can have cocktails, dine etc. Ouma who looks after the house is a very nice person and was pleased with us getting treated as Mauritians when we went to the local market (Wednesdays & Sundays) and had the biriyani for lunch. We also had Ravi's(Mr Fixit) wife cook us dinner a couple of times, which was excellent. Ravi helped us organise some trips and also has cars available for rent very cheaply. There are some great boat trips you can do - we went to the Isle des Cerfs, and the Isle Platt (on the other side of the island and also went twice to swim with dolphins which was magical- we even saw a hump back whale mother & baby! We would absolutely recommend Louise's place and would definitely go back again! Thanks to Louise! ”

“The only accurate aspect was the location. The unit is nothing like the pictures on the website. The pictures must be 15 plus years old, which represents false information. The buildings are old and neglected, the gardens are untidy. The unit is not worth more than 100 points per day. HOST RESPONSE *************************** I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy your stay. As you can see below, we have taken your comments one by one and explored them, trying to look at it through your eyes, rather than simply dismiss what seem so far from the truth. To this end we looked right back on past guests comments on all our advertising platforms to see if anything matched or resonated. We found that in the many years that we have operated we have genuinely never received negative comments even similar to yours. The occasional ‘room for improvement’ type of feedback ( we always ask for any improvements ) is limited to comments such as ‘more champagne flutes needed please’ or ‘a faulty air con ‘. In all these years this is the first complaint of this nature we have ever had and about things that seem to be either completely untrue or fully explainable. I’m sure you did your homework before agreeing this swap. You will have noted that we have enjoyed many,many swaps, both points and actual swaps and are super hosts on Airbnb. We have over 35 5-star reviews there and that we have even more 5 - star reviews on TripAdvisor. We never get anything other than great feedback on here ( LHS ) with the same families renting and swapping with us year after year and consistently recommending us to their friends. But maybe I should take your remarks one by one and respond fairly....... The first point about the grounds being windswept on arrival is the only one that has some truth in it. The garden and grounds were possibly pretty windswept on arrival due to the very recent cyclonic activity. The staff confirmed that there had indeed been cyclonic activity in the area prior to you arriving, leaving palm debris and here and there battered paintwork on some of the sea facing aspects of the more exposed villas. This would account for the flowering shrubs being blown about, some broken palms and some sand from the beach coating our garden wall. While you were there, the gardeners were in the process of clearing, as you will have noticed. So yes we will concede that the grounds were not as manicured as usual. This is a frontline beach house, on a tropical island, not an apartment on an inland golf resort, as is your home. A beachfront windswept garden is to be expected immediately after adverse windy weather isn’t it ? Ref: the maintenance comments: The entire complex is only 40 years old and the maintenance team are frequently praised for their diligence and care in the maintenance of the gardens and grounds and pools. The Villas are very loved and our complex wins awards regularly for it’s location, layout and management team. Each villa is identical and each has stunning beach and pool views set in landscaped grounds.The private syndicate employs a team of well motivated staff to maintain everything but If you look hard enough at any 45 year old front line ocean complex you will find the odd rusty pipe or the occasional peeling paint on a guttering. The 26 Villas, particularly ours, being closest to the beach, are in great demand and privately owned by respected Mauritian MP’s, surgeons and high powered local businessmen. They are not usually let as holiday homes but those that occasionally are, are still well loved and cared for. Ref the points value: It is unusual to find a nice front line staffed beach house on LHS, in a private setting, sleeping 8, on one if the best beaches in Mauritius hence LHS recommendation of 300 points a night. A reason that we are super hosts is that we pride ourselves on offering value for money (you paid around £18 per night per person !) In 14 years of renting we seem to have got better and better at pricing and valuing what we offer in terms of money and points and providing an increasingly popular package. Ref our photos: The staff kindly rephotographed every room (once they finally got the house cleaned !) and also the outside areas from every angle. The 14 photographs they sent exactly match those on the website, apart from the occasional furniture, lamp or cupboard replacement. All small changes are simply improvements.Scrolling back I can see that we we have 11 comments that mention the photographs simply not doing our beach house justice. The general consensus is that we under advertise not over advertise our beach house. I realise that leaving South Africa is very expensive for you. I would strongly suggest that beach life and island living is not for you. A beach house that sits right on the ocean as ours does will not always be manicured and prim like a hotel, because it is exactly that, a beach house right on one of the most beautiful beaches in Mauritius. It Is immaculately clean well equipped and loved and so special. Until we dug deeper we were really flummoxed by your bizarre comments, especially as you didn’t mention any concerns when I checked to see if everything was in order, prior to and during your stay. I was methodical in my investigation of such serious allegations. I immediately called the staff to check if anything untoward had happened suddenly that I hadn’t been informed of. Presumably you have read the many reviews on airbnb and trip advisor, mentioning the outstanding team. Once they confirmed the recent storms, we were then given the full story from the team there and their responses were interesting to say the least. No-one has ever managed to fall out with anyone in our team there, they have been with us for 12 years plus and they bend over backwards to ensure that our guests have a wonderful stay. The staff were too timid to say much initially but on pressing they went into more detail. Without going into details here, about the actual circumstances of your leaving, you will be unsurprised to hear that words such as rude, insulting and not just a little racist were used and one in particular was relieved to see you go. The team suggested that after various incidents, you were expecting adverse feedback and so maybe decided to create your very own tale of woe? They were unsurprised at your feedback. It’s such a shame that you experienced the tail end of bad weather which was the result of the cyclonic front that batted our coast directly prior to your arrival. The rain and wind that followed would have done little to enhance your mood. No doubt you are relieved to be back to the comfort and order of your golf apartment. ”

“This beach house surpassed all my expectations ”

“A wonderful stay ”

“From the very beginning it was a delight to work with Louise. You could not have a better location for your dream vacation. The staff associated with the house go to extreme lengths to make your visit enjoyable. I would strongly recommend the home cooking delivery option offered by Ravi's wife - delicious! And also th cooked at home option. all in all a holiday to never forget! Thank you Mark and Louise. And Love Home Swap.”

“Louise and her family came to stay in our home on a Points swap so we can't comment about their property (but had to give a score on it for this review to be accepted! Maybe Love Home Swap team could look at a different scoring for Points swaps in future?) but we wanted to leave a review anyway to say thankyou for their help and support with the whole swapping process. We are relative newbies to this way of holidaying and Louise was such a great help and guide, really appreciated and we learnt a lot. Our home was left in perfect condition with fantastic Thankyou notes from the whole family (the beds seemed to be a big hit!) If all swappers are even half as nice as this family and our previous swappees we would consider ourselves fortunate to share our home and the many things to see and do in Dubai with them. Please feel free to come and visit again anytime we can have you and fingers crossed we can make it to Mauritius sometime in the future. Many thanks again for all your support and assistance and for confirming that there are great people out there who will look after your home like their own, it was great to have you stay here. ”

“We love Mauritius and have been there 3 times already... of course in hotels. But an experience in a private villa, is something different.. Louise's villa is on the nicest beach of Mauritius (Belle Mare), and closer to the beach, cannot be. It’s next to some very nice hotels, some of them we have experienced before (Lux, which is becoming one of the best). So if you need a restaurant or a service like sailing, it's next door. Louise is providing a lot of services she has chosen during her own stays. We were lazy and decided to rely on Ravi, the taxi driver. He is central and very helpful for everything you need. Of course he comes to meet you at the airport, and then may organize all your needs. His wife is cooking (very well !!) and we had several dinners directly cooked for us and brought at home.. the only problem is : its' too much and you can eat next day also. Ravi has organized also shoping, boat rental and massages for us. We took a massage evry other day, and we recommend to you Nicole, she’s coming at home (there is table there also ) !! Thank you very much Louise we loved to live that experience. ”

“Very nice and confortable stay in this house so well located ! Thanks Louise ”

“Great location and well equipped apartment, beautiful calm lagoon for swimming very child friendly. Louise and family wonderful house swappers took great care of our house. Highly recommended.”

“A great experience at this wonderful beach villa. Very clean and well equipped with pleasant staff to help you and a driver to take you around the island.”

“We found the swap good, if anything a little isolated but we had someone who was contactable by phone always obliging and ready to pick us up to go anywhere. It was a relaxing beach apartment with a daily maid to keep everything clean and the holiday was for a chill out. We were not interested in exploring the island so spent most of the time by the beach. Excellent restaurants close by 5 star and good service at all the hotels. When we did go to the Port Louis, or local town to shop or look around, it was as you would expect, markets and dirty streets, lots of dogs roaming around. In saying all of that, the beaches were beautiful, the food excellent at the neighbouring resorts, the local people at our resort were helpful and obliging when we needed them, i.e. fresh bread each day, fruit, fresh fish when needed. All together a very nice relaxing time was had by all. Heather”

“Great house, with everything you may need. Even a pre paid mobile to give calls in Mauritius ! Amazing location, right on a beautiful beach. You could spend hours just contemplating it. And above all, lovely, thoughtful, adorable hostess. Thank you Louise for unabling us to discover Mauritius and its inhabitants.”