Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
The lounge used by Air Mauritius at Gatwick was a vast improvement on the dreadful lounge used previously at Heathrow. We were informed by email of checking in procedures. Everything went very well.
First class service as usual from Elliot
This was an amazing trip! Everything was beyond our expectations. We would highly recommend DialAFlight and have done many times.The Oberoi won the travel awards for 2024 whilst we were there as the best hotel in Mauritius. In our opinion, well deserved!
Mason is amazing - knows exactly what we require from our holiday and delivers - backed up by great customer service
Just perfect!
Fabulous service for fabulous holiday
Excellent service, thank you
Thanks for your help sorting out the new schedule after the unexpected airline change
Amazing holiday beyond our expectations. Troy was so right recommending the resort - can’t wait to go back!
I had been recommended to you and you did not disappoint. Excellent service - will definitely use you again and recommend to colleagues and friends.
Our first holiday in the Maldives was wonderful and everything went smoothly from start to finish.
Happy with the service I get every time. Theo is the best.
Kylie put together an amazing trip for us that we will remember for the rest of our lives. It was seamless from start to finish and I'd reccommend the service to any of my friends or family. A great success!
Thank you George
Absolutely brilliant, we will always come to you for a quote.
Arthur never fails to deliver the best holiday with attention to detail and a very personalised.service
Keep on doing what you're doing. It's first class
I have travelled with DialAFlight many times. I often deal with Orlando Spragg and his team. They are always extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.
Bobby Tuggey was excellent - he worked tirelessly to help us on our trip
Tammy is just amazing, everything was SO perfect and I’m very grateful for her diligent attention to detail. Every trip is just perfect and she is over and above what I could hope for in a travel planner.
Roy Copeland was lovely and helpful, he went above and beyond to help us
As always excellent customer service from Kennedy and everything ran smoothly
Five star service
As ever, the service provided was absolutely first class
Good holiday thanks. Well organised by Taylor
Everyone is always helpful, always clear, and we had great trip all round.
Wonderful trip as always. Thanks for organising everything
We were extremely pleased with the customer service we received from Annabelle and her colleagues. Many thanks to everyone
Just the best service
Thanks Fergus... you are a gem!
The dodo's image is everywhere you look in Mauritius, from the moment you arrive at the airport to the cover of restaurant menus. It seems a strange emblem to use to promote the island, considering it was the very place they were hunted into extinction in the 17th century.
The 3ft-tall, flightless birds were killed by dogs, cats, rats, pigs and, of course, humans who ate them, despite the unpleasant taste, until they became extinct in the 1660s while the island was under Dutch rule. But it's the national bird of Mauritius. And, like the dodo, the island has a complicated history. Replacing the Dutch, the French invaded in 1710 and ruled Mauritius for 100 years.
The population speaks French today despite the British colonisation beginning in the early 19th century (Mauritius became an independent nation in 1968). The majority of the population is of Indian descent, with residents also hailing from Africa, Fiji, China and, of course, Europe.
Mauritius is surprisingly verdant, full of rich green hills, woods and lush farmland. And another big surprise was its incredibly well-maintained road network.
Mauritius is a wealthy island with its sugar, rum and cut-flower exports. I travelled north up the east coast to Shangri-La's Le Touessrok Resort, which reopened at the end of last year after a major refurbishment (previously owned by the One&Only group).
No matter what time you arrive, your breath will be taken away by the entrance to the hotel with its huge mangrove tree filled with fairy lights - and then by the local art and huge, blown-glass light fittings in the foyer.
The resort sprawls across the bay with low-level beachfront villas connected by a path which you can use to pop to one of the three private beaches.
Depending on which way the wind's blowing, you will always find a tranquil suntrap; well, mostly tranquil - sometimes you'll get a party boat whizzing by with rum-soaked guests dancing on deck. As well as the beaches, the Mauritius hotel has two beautiful, and very quiet, swimming pools surrounded by tropical plants and trees. Lying in the shade and taking the occasional dip to cool off, the days could not have been more perfect. The hotel also has regular motorboat shuttles to its two private islands.
One is the venue for watersports such as parasailing and kite-surfing, while the other has an 18-hole golf course and a huge stretch of totally unspoilt beach, where we were serenaded by a guitarist who played Light My Fire ('Have you heard of The Doors?' he asked).
You might not want to, but there are plenty of opportunities to leave the resort. You can canoe among the mangrove trees, visit a local rum distillery, cycle along the coast or have a speedboat tour along the coast.
Our driver Charles was no stranger to full throttle, and we charged along with music blaring, leaving boats of Japanese tourists bobbing in our wake. We anchored at the Blue Bay Marine Park where we dived from the boat to snorkel among beautiful fish. Back in the boat, we were taken to a waterfall where we saw monkeys eating mangos from the trees on the bank, then to Fouquets Island, which houses an old lighthouse built by slaves, and to an ocean sandbank for a great view of the island.
The only view that's better is through the plane window as you leave, but you'll be too sad it's all over to appreciate that one.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - November 2016
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