5 Star Hilton Seychelles Northholme Resort & Spa

We visited the Hilton Seychelles Northolme on our last day in Seychelles before flying back home to South Africa...and wow, what a nice last-minute surprise.  It is an absolutely stunning 5 Star hotel on Mahe Island and in my opinion, the best rates out of all the 5 star hotels in Seychelles.    

The Hilton Northolme has 14 Oceanfront Villas and 26 Hillside Villas with beautiful views over the ocean. 

The accommodation and room amenities are superb 5 star quality and highly recommended.  

There is a small beach on the one side of the hotel that offers great swimming and snorkeling opportunities.  They also have a few sun loungers under the trees.

They also have a lovely swimming pool with beutiful views...

The Duniye Spa is truly a luxury spa with many Thai treatments available...

 

We had a lovely fruit cocktail before we left...

The Ian Fleming Suite at the Hilton Northolme inspired Ian Fleming's 007 'For your Eyes Only' and it has stunning sea views and a Jacuzzi. 

I absolutely loved this hotel and would highly recommend it as a good value for money 5 star option in Seychelles. 

For more information and pictures: http://www.lodgesinafrica.com/Seychelles/Mahe_Island_Honeymoon_Hotels/Hilton_Seychelles_Northolme_Resort_%26_Spa_-_North_West_Coast/

Coco de Mer Hotel - Praslin Island, Seychelles

Coco de Mer is a lovely 4 Star Hotel on Praslin Island (second largest Island in Seychelles) and offers really good value for money.   

The rooms are spacious, comfortable, neat and clean and has a lovely corner bath for that romantic rose petal bath...

The rooms have all the amenities and a small lounge with sitting area. In my opinion, the rooms at Coco de Mer are the best 4 Star rooms on Praslin AND they have the best rates as well. 

There are 3 beaches around the property, but they do have seasonal seaweed at times on the beach.  Coco de Mer offers complimentary shuttles to/from Anse Lazio Beach which is the most beautiful beach on Praslin Island and not to be missed.  

Coco de Mer has this huge dark blue swimming pool which looks very inviting and it overlooks the ocean and is right next to the restaurant and bar.  

We had a lovely lunch at Coco de Mer and experienced friendly and great service from the staff at the hotel. 

Coco de Mer has a beautiful Spa that offers personalized service and friendly therapists with a beautiful view over the Ocean.  

I loved Coco de Mer and think it is one of the best 4 Star hotels on Praslin Island.  I highly recommend this hotel...

For more information and pictures of Coco de Mer Hotel: http://www.lodgesinafrica.com/Seychelles/Praslin_Island_Honeymoon_Hotels/Coco_de_Mer_Hotel/

Seychelles... a truly magical tropical paradise!!!

Seychelles is truly a magical tropical paradise!!!

It is such a convenient beach destination... you can go anytime of the year as it's outside the cyclone belt AND offers a warm and humid tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 26 - 32 degrees celcius.  

The seasons are defined by the trade winds. The Southeast trade wind season from late May to October is generally a bit cooler and drier, whereas the northwest trade wind season from November to April is hotter and wetter. There is some rain during both seasons, but it tends to come in short bursts.

You don't need a visa to visit Seychelles... they will issue a visitor's permit free of charge on your arrival in Seychelles.  You also don't need any vaccinations as Seychelles has no tropical deseases.

My friend and I stayed in Seychelles for 6 nights: 3 nights on Praslin Island and 3 nights on Mahe Island plus a day trip to La Digue Island.  These islands are the biggest Islands in Seychelles with 67000 residents on Mahe, 8000 residents on Praslin and 2000 residents on La Digue.  The smaller the island, the more authentic and more island style living you'll experience.  Needless to say that we loved Praslin and La Digue.  On La Digue they only have 5 taxis... the only other form of transportation is bicycles or an ox-cart.   

I loved the food in Seychelles - real creole style fish and rice and veggies with Indian flavoured sauces.  All the meals we had in Seychelles were of a very high standard.... mmm, yummy - I can still taste the food.  Oh and the fruit cocktails are to die for with a different flavour at each hotel.  They also have lots of South African wines at the hotels in Seychelles.  

Our hosts in Seychelles - Elite Club - guided us around these islands and shared all their knowledge about their beautiful country with us.  It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget.  

It is mostly the French, German, Italian, Russians and South Africans that love to visit the Seychelles and have a relaxing beach holiday with warm Indian Ocean waters for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking. 

One of the 5 taxis on La Digue Island:

 

Ox-cart transportation on La Digue Island:

Other transportation on La Digue would be bicycles:

The one thing that I loved the most in Seychelles was swimming in the warm Indian Ocean... you just don't want to get out of the water, it's so nice and warm.  The colours of the water is also extraordinary - beautiful greens and blues!!!  

I will share some of my comments and feedback of all the 4 and 5 star hotels I visited in Seychelles in the next few days... stay tuned!

For hotel options, more information and pictures: http://www.lodgesinafrica.com/Seychelles/

Queen Victoria Hotel - fit for a Queen (Waterfront, Cape Town)

We were lucky to spend a weekend at the Queen Victoria Hotel in the Waterfront in Cape Town. After 2 full days at this 5 Star Hotel, I could not find fault with anything... not even 1 small thing.


I was soooo impressed... the food, the serivce, the accommodation, the facilities are ABSOLUTELY SUPERB!


This is the entrance area of the hotel:

It is situated within the Waterfront so you can easily walk to all the shops and restaurants.

The food exceeded my expectations by far. We had dinner in the Dash Restaurant the first evening and it was a lovely experience. At times we even forgot what we were talking about... the food was so nice. I had a beef fillet with mash and veggies, but it was HEAVEN... my tastebuds have never tasted anything like this before. For desert I had a chocolate fondant and it was THE BEST... I highly recommend you try this out. The service we received at the Dash Restaurant was also very good and very professional and on par with a 5 Star hotel.

Our breakfast each morning was also a feast in its own right... mmm - yummy. I can still taste everything I had to eat!!!

Here are pictures of our bedroom which was VERY luxurious and perfect in every way.

We also had our son with us for 1 night and had breakfast (or should I rather say our FEAST) in bed that morning.

I really could not find even 1 fault with this hotel... and I'm use to looking at hotels like a critic.

It was an awesome experience - I loved it.

I highly recommend this hotel for a weekend getaway or romantic honeymoon.

It's definitely one of my new favourite hotels in the Waterfront!

For more information, pictures and prices: http://www.lodgesinafrica.com/South_Africa/Cape_Town_Honeymoon_Accommodation/Queen_Victoria_Hotel_-_Victoria_and_Alfred_Waterfront/

Trogon House - romantic treetop paradise in Plettenberg Bay

This was one of the BEST surprises I had on my Inspection Trip along the Garden Route... A romantic treetop Paradise. Trogon House is a forest lodge with forest suites in the Tsitsikamma Forest and right next to Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. It's about a 15 minutes drive from Plettenberg Bay.


There are 4 deluxe suites of which I like room 3 and room 4 the most as they have glass walls all around and you therefore feel like you're in the forest. Room 3 and 4 have a shower only, but they also have a lovely spa room (close to these rooms) if you'd like to take a romantic bath.


The master suite is also the honeymoon suite which is bigger and has a bath and a shower. The pictures below are of the honeymoon suite:







The spa room at Trogon House can be pre-booked for R400 for an hour and then R200 for every hour thereafter. The spa room has a jacuzzi, sauna, daybed, fireplace, shower, and music. It is PERFECT for a very romantic time with your loved one.


This is the day bed and CD centre in the Spa room:



This is the jacuzzi in the Spa Room:

This is the sauna and shower in the spa room:

The lodge have beautiful swimming pools on the decks and lounging areas.

This is the deluxe suite with the shower only:

There are beautiful walkways between the lodges:

This is where you arrive at Trogon House:

This is surely one of the most romantic places in the Plettenberg Bay area.

It's perfect for a romantic honeymoon or just a romantic getaway AND the prices are very affordable.

I highly recommend Trogon House!!!

For more information, pictures and prices:
http://www.lodgesinafrica.com/South_Africa/Garden_Route_Honeymoon_Accommodation/Trogon_House_-_Plettenberg_Bay/