Accommodation (Mauritius)

There are two options when it comes to accommodation in Mauritius. First is hotels, ranging from average to five star resorts. Second is renting an apartment, mostly studio apartments. The major tourist areas to choose to stay are Grand Baie, Port Louis, Mahebourg, Flic en Flac and Quatre Bornes. While choosing where to stay in Mauritius depends on a few factors which we have covered in detail below.

Surroundings

The first factor is the overall surrounding environment of the place. Cities of Mauritius are in stark contrast of each other. If you want to go for tourist hubs like ones mentioned above, they are expensive, noisy, crowded. Whereas, places that are less touristy like Souillac, La Salette, Goodlands, Trou d’Eau Douce  are quiet, peaceful, relaxing, and more natural.  Then there are some places like Belle Mare, Trou Aux Biches, Le Morne that have resorts and above 4 star stay options mostly. These provide a combination of expensive and peaceful quiet atmosphere.

Facilities

Second factor is facilities. The tourist areas are quite developed with plenty of accommodation choices, places to eat, shop, currency exchanges, car/motorbike rentals, taxi services, tour operators, and supermarkets. It becomes very convenient to stay in these areas for an added cost. While in the not so touristy locations, you get good stays but sans the convenience. The restaurants may be far and few, no currency exchange options, no grocery stores nearby the stay and hardly any human activity in sight.

Budget

Third factor is budget. Stay is expensive in Mauritius. This is subjective, of course, depending on your capacity. Hotels and resorts are way expensive nothing under ₹5,000, rarely under ₹10,000. Even the studio apartments in most popular areas do not come under ₹5,000. And they are basic with bed bath and sofa/chair but, a very well stocked up kitchen (only the appliances not groceries). So be ready to shell out on stay and manage elsewhere if you want to stay in touristy areas. If you stay in a village or a lesser touristy areas, you may find good stays but with lesser options.

Mode of sightseeing

Next factor is how you plan to go sightseeing aka transportation. If you are going to rent a car, you may stay anywhere according to your budget. It would not be a major concern. If you are about to hire taxi, even then accommodation is not much of a concern. But, if you plan to rent a scooter, then there is a bit of concern as scooter rentals are not available everywhere. Also if you have quite a luggage with you it would be costly for you to stay in interior areas. If you plan to cover the island by public transportation, yes that is possible (we did it), then you will have to stay at different locations quite conveniently located. We will cover more on how your vehicle will affect your accommodation and budget in more details in this post. Make sure you read it before going to Mauritius.

Duration of stay

The fourth factor is whether you want to spend you entire holiday staying in one place or would you like to go around and experience a few more places on the island. Mauritius can be covered in day trips to every other part while staying in one place. You may choose this if you do not like hotel hopping. We understand that it has its own demerits, especially if you are travelling with a lot of luggage. It also saves on transfer time and cost, time consumed in check-in and check-out formalities etc. But, in this case you have to be smart about your choice. In order to not increase time lost in conveyance so you may cover all the target places in a day. Staying in different parts of Mauritius has its own advantages. It becomes easier to go sightseeing at your own pace. You may spend sufficient time at each place without having to hurry. You can cover places even out of your itinerary.

Group size

The last would be your group size. This is surely an optional factor as it may not matter to many. If you are a group of at least 4 people or a family, then renting an apartment is the best and most affordable option. You get to stay together and it feels more at home. You will be able to cook if you want or enjoy leisure time together. If you are a couple or 2-3 friends you may go for any option as you like. We have mentioned our places of stay and reasons for choosing them in our suggestions page. We found accommodation quite tricky in Mauritius. The hotels were way too costly for our budget and budget apartments were not available in tourist areas. We were also planning to take the public transportation for getting to places. So we made a trade-off between stay and travel. In tourist areas we paid higher for our accommodation in order to stay near most tourist spots. Thus, saving quite a bit on transportation.