Silver Beach Hotel

Silver Beach Hotel feels a bit frumpy from the onset: The big lobby with a triangular rooftop is populated with mostly clunky furnishings (though there are some lovely antiques and lots of greenery). The old-fashioned look and feel continues through the game room/lounge and on to the 60 rooms. Despite the stale interior design, Silver Beach's open hallways and airy layout (breezeways and a bridge connect the pale yellow buildings) make great use of the beachfront location. Be aware that this part of the Mauritian coast is notoriously windy, and, if it rains, the tile flooring on those open hallways can get extremely slippery. The mid-range hotel's main building -- where the restaurant and most of the rooms are located -- cuts the property in half, with a garden courtyard on one side, and on the other, a large expanse with the pool, bar terrace, wide grassy lawn, and big sandy beach.

During the day, the property stays quiet, with guests often out on island excursions. Those who stay on site are usually content to read and play music outside of their rooms, play billiards in the lounge, unwind at the bar or its terrace with beer and board games, or catnap on the beach. Meal times see the biggest rush, especially at night, when live singers and sega dancers often take the stage. During our stay at Silver Beach, we saw a few young families and Indian couples, but mainly older French, British, and German couples.

Silver Beach is located in the village of Trou d'Eau Douce on Mauritius' green, green east coast. The hotel sits right off of the coastal road, which winds along the shore past heavily wooded beaches and impossibly green sugar plantations. Other than a scattering of luxury and mid-range resorts and villa properties, there is very little development around here. There are no restaurants or shops within walking distance, so a vehicle is needed. The nearest attraction is the twice-a-week market in Central Flacq (about a 19-minute drive from the hotel), but most points of interest are considerably farther: Port Louis, Trou aux Biches, and Grand Baie are all an hour's drive away, and Seven Coloured Earth in Chamarel and Le Morne peninsula are nearly two hours by car. The drive from and to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (SSR) International Airport takes about an hour.

Rooms here come in two easy categories: Garden View and Sea View. True to their names, Garden View units are set farther back from the beach (towards the main road and the lobby), while Sea View rooms are closer to the teal water. Other than location within the resort and accompanying views, rooms are essentially identical. All have off-white-tile flooring, white walls with framed shells and coral, and bulky moss-green-colored wood furniture. The headboard, bedside tables, TV stand, desk, mirror, and closet doors all fall into this bucket, and the desk especially feels awkwardly large for the space.

The style may be lagging, but amenities are pretty solid. All rooms have flat-screen TVs, air-conditioning (no fans), mini-fridges, and kettles with free coffee and tea. Beds are so comfortable, you might not even realize that their king-size mattresses are placed over two twin box springs. Big closets provide lots of shelving, hanging space, and a free safe. Rooms have sliding doors to their terrace or balcony. One unfortunate thing about this is that guests in ground-floor rooms might be uncomfortable sleeping with their door open all night, but closing it means shutting out the amazing ocean breeze and sounds. 

Bathrooms are a good size, with wide green-glass countertops. Their shower stalls are tiny, but have excellent water pressure. A full-size Eve soap bar and a smaller hand soap for the sink are provided. Laundry service is available, but note that there is no Wi-Fi in the rooms, and, like most Mauritius hotels, bugs can be an issue. Our sugary free check-in drink quickly became a magnet for gnats.

The star of the show at Silver Beach is its wide stretch of beautiful lagoon beach. The boathouse offers free non-motorized water sports, like kayaks, pedal boats, and snorkel gear, and the sand is set with loungers and palapa umbrellas for when beachgoers just want to take it easy. More lounge chairs and canvas umbrellas are sprinkled across the hotel's wide grassy lawn leading down to the sand. There's also a lagoon-shaped pool set far back from the water next to the restaurant, but most guests seemed to prefer hanging out on the beach, lawn, or outdoor seating area adjacent to the pool and indoor bar, which serves fiercely sweet versions of classic tropical drinks, plus local Phoenix lager on tap.

Silver Beach's restaurant serves all three meals buffet-style. Breakfast features made-to-order crepes and eggs, plus scrambled eggs, bacon, chicken sausage, toast, yogurt, fruit, coffee, and tea. Lunch and dinner spreads offer international and Mauritian fare; on our stay, we gorged on octopus ceviche, halim soup (traditional stew made with yellow split peas, black lentils, and mutton), and seafood curry. French bread and basmati rice are always on hand. The restaurant's tables are arranged around a central dance floor with a white grand piano, where entertainment like guitar music and sega dancing is staged nightly. To watch, guests either stay at their dinner table or claim one of the large wicker couches or clunky Polynesian-style bar stools. 

There is a game room with a pool table and lounge area with half a dozen wicker tables and chairs. Wi-Fi is free in the garden and game room/lounge, but it is extremely patchy; we spent a good portion of our time here trying to connect to the hotel's network. Silver Beach also has a tiny boutique by the lobby, but we only spotted it open once.