Garden of Eden in the Indian Ocean

The drive from the airport to the hotel takes me through the tropical landscape. When entering the hotel grounds, I already recognize the individual villas. The Mango House itself was built by Italian photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri, who spent 20 years in the Seychelles. The numerous mango trees with their sweet fruits gave the house its name. It now houses three restaurants — quite a variety for a hotel with only 41 rooms, I think.

On the hotel complex, the villas, which are spread over the site at a great distance, are completely overgrown thanks to the fast-growing vegetation. So you can also enjoy the private pool or your own garden, which some villas have, without being exposed to prying eyes. For me, that is real luxury: more than enough space, which allows distance from the other guests and privacy.

I particularly like the leadership. Area General Manager Andre Borg from Malta is a Hilton original. He has been working in the Seychelles for six years and is responsible for all four Hilton properties as well as two new ones that have not yet opened. Borg is a grand hotelier as one would imagine: involved, generous, intervening where necessary and lovingly supporting his employees. Britta Krug, the General Manager of Mango House, is an excellent hostess: helpful and always in the right place at the right time.

In the evening I eat at Azido, the Japanese restaurant in the Mango House – with a view of the bay. The chef comes from South Africa and fell in love with Japan, otherwise I can’t explain the excellence of his dishes. An absolute recommendation.

A surprise awaits me the next morning. For a number of years it has been fashionable not to serve a multi-course menu at a gala dinner, but rather a flying dinner. The staff bring a variety of dishes to the tables, and guests can sample without going to the buffet themselves. In the Mango House this principle is applied at breakfast. I think that’s great. Every two minutes someone comes with a choice of ham, cheese, fish, vegetables or eggs. Flying breakfast – I’ve never seen it before, is a very good idea.

By the way: If you are in the Seychelles for more than a week, I advise you to spend the first few days in the Mango House. Only then should you drive to the offshore island of Silhouette and spend the remaining days relaxing at the Hilton Labriz Resort. This is how you experienced the Seychelles at their best.

Rath’s Voyage Rating (current rating in bold)

1. Explicit Travel Warning
2. Better than under the bridge
3. So-so, not oh, là, là
4. Complaining at a high level
5. If only it were always like this
6. Great cinema

insider tip

Restaurant: The Cap Lazar Nature Reserve & Restaurant is only a ten minute drive away. Chickens, goats and turtles roam freely here – a true paradise. The Organic Farm has a private beach and a restaurant where everything that is served is organic.

Raffles Seychelles: By boat to the hotel’s sandy beach

For me it goes on to the second largest island: Praslin. Here lies the Raffles Seychelles. The boat takes me directly to the hotel’s own sandy beach, which is also in a real jungle. The house is already twelve years old, so it’s getting a bit old.

The plants had enough time to grow tall and lush. Red, white and pink flowers, vanilla trees, coconut palms, mango trees, bougainvillea – everything just grows so much faster here than it does here. A lot of work for the gardeners, who still make the complex look like a tropical picture book garden.

Raffles is a children’s paradise that focuses on edutainment. The youngsters learn how the Seychelles came about, how sustainable the island is and exciting facts about the turtles. It reminds me of the children’s world of the Robinson Clubs, only with a much more focus on sustainability.

Another plus, especially if you are traveling with children: everything that is not motorized can be used free of charge: Paddle boats, kayaks, stand-up paddling boards, snorkels and more. The beach is large, about 1.5 kilometers long, at low tide you walk far into the sea, at high tide you can jump into the water almost directly from the lounger.

I realized many years ago that Raffles is a very distinguished brand, especially in Singapore, where the parent company is located: I was about 25 and wanted to take my wife-to-be out for a bit, a Singapore Sling with her in the world-famous Long Bar in the drink raffles. The Indian doorman, who is probably two meters tall, looked at me in my flip-flops and shorts and said dryly: “Yes, we do have a dress code.” And the door was closed again. Luckily, at Raffles in the Seychelles, things are very different, much more relaxed. Flip-flops and shorts are no problem in the restaurants.

The Creole buffet in the evening particularly impresses me. The Creole kitchen is known for lots of vegetables. A dream for all vegetarians and vegans. Of course, meat and especially local fish are also served, but at least half of the offer is vegan – everything from their own vegetable garden. What grows is also cultivated here. The climatic conditions in the Seychelles enable rich vegetable cultivation.

But the hotel also does a lot for the environment in other ways. For example, a proprietary coral program has been developed, and the water for showering and drinking comes from the clear river that runs right through the hotel, before cascading down a spectacular waterfall.

Incidentally, the house is run by a Lebanese woman. Salwa Razzouk originally comes from the financial sector, but worked in one of the best hotels in Beirut for many years before coming to the Seychelles. She is very welcoming and loves her guests. That’s what makes it – and the hotel – so special.

Rath’s Voyage Rating (current rating in bold)

1. Explicit Travel Warning
2. Better than under the bridge
3. So-so, not oh, là, là
4. Complaining at a high level
5. If only it were always like this
6. Great cinema

insider tip

Side trip: The Vallée de Mai is one of the smallest Unesco World Heritage sites in the world – and the Garden of Eden. In fact, everything here is particularly lush and five times larger than elsewhere: the rare coco de mer palm is 30 meters high, its leaves are around 10 meters long and four meters wide, its seeds, the heaviest in the entire flora, can weigh up to 30 kilograms. Hire a guide who can tell you all about the endangered black parrots, the palm trees and much more about the Garden of Eden.

About the author: As a former grand hotelier and operator of the Travelgrand.ch travel platform, Carsten K. Rath is a professional globetrotter. He travels to all the hotels he writes about for the Handelsblatt on his own account.