Mauritius

Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita shapes the most alluring elements of Mauritius’s east coast—its luminous lagoon, tropical greenery, and low-slung island landscape, into a low-density resort enclave that feels both expansive and deeply private. Since opening in 2008, the resort has stood out for its setting between a vivid turquoise lagoon and Bambou Mountain, with the master plan by WATG establishing a strong architectural identity from the outset. More recent enhancements led by 1508 London have reimagined the interiors and spa, refining the resort’s open-air Mauritian design language into something brighter, softer, and more closely connected to the surrounding landscape. In total, the resort offers 136 accommodations, including 90 villas, one Royal Island Sanctuary, and 45 additional villa and residence-style retreats, each with its own plunge pool, garden, and outdoor shower. The result is a stay that feels closer to private island living than to an enlarged version of a conventional hotel room.

The dining program is equally layered, with enough range to support a longer stay without ever feeling repetitive. Options include the contemporary Italian restaurant Radici, Chaloupe with its blend of Mediterranean and Mauritian flavors, Awase for Japanese and pan-Asian cuisine, Ti Pwason for island-inspired dishes, Angara for Indian cuisine, and the beachfront La Plaz Beach Grill, alongside the Rum Library. Suspended above the lagoon, the spa, also redesigned by 1508 London, brings an added sense of place, with 12 treatment rooms, a salon, a manicure area, and a thermal suite that weave together global wellness practices and local traditions. Add access to a private beach on Île aux Cerfs and two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by Ernie Els and Bernhard Langer, and what emerges is a resort that never relies on spectacle alone. Instead, it brings together private-villa seclusion, natural beauty, thoughtful design, and a strong leisure offering in a way that feels polished, enduring, and distinctly Mauritian.

Maradiva Villas Resort & Spa holds the quietest stretch of Wolmar Beach on the west coast of Mauritius, where 64 private villas spread across 27 acres of tropical gardens and 750 metres of white sand, every one with its own heated pool. Le Morne Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, anchors the horizon. Family-owned and a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the resort reopened in November 2023 after a full renovation by Hirsch Bedner Associates and local studio VK Design. The new interiors trade dark-wood heaviness for an earthy, pared-back palette built on island basalt, Rajasthani sandstone, Malagasy rosewood and Burmese teak. Six villa categories range from 163-square-metre garden villas to 345-square-metre Presidential Suites stepping directly onto sand, with 56-square-metre pools, home cinemas and round-the-clock butler service. Open the floor-to-ceiling glass, and the coral-reef lagoon is a few barefoot paces from your terrace.

Four restaurants keep things interesting. At Cassine, Michelin-starred chef Yannick Hochet pairs daily-caught fish with herbs from the kitchen garden in a Mauritian-Mediterranean register. Cilantro reimagines North Indian cooking in curved booths with live sitar. Haiku splits between Mr. Kawaguchi's authentic Japanese counter and a theatrical teppanyaki stage. Beach House Grill does charcoal seafood under an indigenous tree, the ocean as its only wall. The cellar holds Romanée-Conti and Petrus; the cigar room, Old and New World selections. At the Ayurvedic spa, a resident doctor tailors every programme, with six therapy rooms ringing an interior garden, plus steam, sauna, laconium and plunge pools. The boathouse offers kayaks, windsurfers and catamaran trips to swim with dolphins, while the Les Clefs d'Or concierge arranges Rolls Royce island tours with chef-prepared picnics. Most evenings end at Lantana Bar, rum cocktail in hand, watching Le Morne turn from amber to violet.

One&Only Le Saint Géran feels less like a conventional beach resort and more like a storied private peninsula estate on Mauritius’s east coast, embraced at once by the Indian Ocean and a მშვიდ lagoon. Set on its own secluded stretch of land, with twin shorelines, white-sand beaches, and expansive tropical gardens, it has long held its place as one of the island’s most iconic luxury addresses. Following an extensive renovation in 2017, the resort shifted from the mood of a classic society hideaway to something lighter, more open, and distinctly contemporary in its expression of island luxury. Today, it offers 142 guestrooms and suites, along with the singular Villa One, with most accommodations opening toward the lagoon, the ocean, or the beach, and using generous terraces and a stronger indoor-outdoor connection to draw in the peninsula’s sea breeze, sunlight, and luminous water views. From a design standpoint, the reimagined guestrooms were redesigned by South African studio DSGN, while the spa was conceived by Susurrus and the landscape by MAAT Handasa, giving the property a cleaner architectural language, more natural materiality, and a looser, more modern sense of scale that moves well beyond a traditional colonial-style island retreat.

The dining scene is equally well developed, unfolding across a series of venues that stay closely tied to the setting and the rhythm of resort life: the waterfront all-day restaurant La Terrasse, the overwater Japanese restaurant Tapasake, the steak-led Prime, the beachfront La Pointe, and RIVA, which brings the mood of an Italian beach club to Mauritius. The addition of the Guerlain Spa has further sharpened the resort’s identity, introducing the house’s distinctly French approach to beauty and wellness into a setting shaped by tropical nature and ocean light. What makes this resort so compelling is not simply its reputation or pedigree, but the way it distills Mauritius’s most iconic peninsula scenery, historic stature, and renewed design sensibility into an island escape that feels both timeless and unmistakably current.

When an infinity pool overlooking a turquoise lagoon is the least of a hotel’s charms, you know you’ve found somewhere truly special. Dedicated to creating a magical setting for memorable moments, Paradise Cove provides all you could want from a boutique island escape.

A luxury retreat here can be as laid back or action packed as you wish. Spend the day by the pool, sipping iced tea or cool cocktails. Lose yourself in the tropical gardens with waterside love nests made for two. Then book a massage beside the lagoon for you and a loved one. Or make for the beach to glide across the sea on a paddle board, before leaping above the waves with a kite surfing lesson. There’s just as much to see after sundown. Take your pick from four sleek restaurants, serving everything from Mauritian seafood to sushi at XO or Tapas of the World at Peninsula restaurant. Sample local rums and listen to live music – or seek out a secluded spot to stargaze.