Lux* Saint Gilles Hotel 

The hotel is about an hour drive from the airport and after a relaxed checked in, a guest relations advisor showed us around the hotel and to our room. Julie was the advisor who showed us around and she was amazingly helpful and friendly, making in-house restaurant bookings for us and helping with any inquiry the three days we were there. Although I named checked Julie for excellent customer service, I must stress that all staff there provided excellent service. They were all very friendly and knowledgeable and although not all of them spoke English we manage to always communicate effectively. The rooms in white blocks in lovely gardens were a little on the old side, for example, a fixed shower in the bath and no USB points in the room but they did have a separate toilet. The beds were very large with big soft pillows. There were other signs that the hotel was a little tired in places with some peeling paint and the area around the pool could be revamped but generally the hotel provided a sense of “old fashioned French chic”? The 3 days we were there we tried all 3 restaurants, I note as per other reviewers the restaurants are opened on different days, but we had no problem booking then as guest relations did that for us. The La Cusine was the breakfast and buffet restaurant with a large choice at both times, they take your egg order at breakfast so no queuing up at the egg station. The Orangine was a la carte and served one of the best meals we have ever had at a restaurant anywhere on our travels. La Plage served traditional creol food on the beach along with delicious French style desserts. We were on half-board but our only criticism of the food is that it is very, very expensive, for example 23 Euros for a club sandwich at lunch time (price list attached) and an extortionate wine list. There are bits of coral on the beach and you definitely need pool shoes, there is a better beach , with less coral and better sand a couple hundred meters away. In the same direction, on a Sunday you can walk 15-20 mins along the beach to a large craft market next to a hypermarket. In summary, excellent service and food but very expensive and could do with some TLC. We still gave it a 5* review due to the service.