The Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa, Mauritius

A luxurious retreat for well-off families and couples, The Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa ambles along 25 acres of beautiful Balaclava shoreline. The resort's guests -- mostly from South Africa, Australia, the U.K., Germany, India, and China -- have essentially every imaginable leisure facility and service at their fingertips. To name a few: well-designed pools (one lively, one quiet), a range of dining and drinking venues (all open and oriented toward the sea), and, of course, the long sweep of lagoon-facing beach, where butlers keep sunbathers fed and hydrated with food and drink service. 

The amount of space and the extent of features makes the Westin a place where families and honeymooners can peacefully coexist: Young kids can tucker themselves out in the main pool and kids' club (one of the best on the island), while lovebirds can relax in one of the many calm corners, including the "whisper zone" adults-only infinity pool and beach. The resort was built from the ground up in 2014, so its structures, furnishings, and decor are largely free of the retro and weathered look so common at other Mauritius beach resorts. However, its newness doesn't protect it from the tropical climate, so don't be surprised to spot some mildew on a sunbed or a mosquito in your room.

The Westin Turtle Bay is located in Balaclava, a beach resort in Mauritius' Pamplemousses District. There isn't much to Baraclava beside unending sugar fields and sprawling beach resorts of Westin's high-end ilk (The Oberoi, The Ravenala Attitude, and Maritim Resort & Spa are all across Turtle Bay from the Westin). That suits most visitors just fine, as they are predominantly here for the postcard-perfect beaches, but the area is also well-positioned for those wanting to see some of the best sights in northern Mauritius. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden is a 15-minute drive due east. The lively beach town of Trou aux Biches and the tourist center of Grand Baie can both be reached by car in about 20 minutes going north, while getting to the capital city of Port Louis takes about the same time driving south. The drive to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (SSR) International Airport is a little over an hour.

Westin's 190 rooms and suites come in eight categories, starting with the 680-square-foot Deluxe Rooms and topping out with the 2,100-square-foot Ocean Suites. Across the board, rooms are sophisticated and sedate. You can bank on cream-colored tiled floors and cream-colored walls decorated with heavy-framed botanical prints, plus classic and traditional furnishings. Wood two-poster bed frames hold Westin's signature Heavenly pillow-topped mattresses, and, in most rooms, there are sitting areas at the foot of the bed made up of brocaded couches, patterned rugs, silver coffee tables, and carved-wood TV stands. 

Behind the beds are windows opening up to the roomy peek-a-boo bathrooms, where freestanding soaking tubs hold court. On either side are glass-walled rooms for the toilet and rainfall shower, as well as two separate slatted-wood-door closets containing slippers, robes, ironing equipment, and safes. Bathrooms have long marble duel-sink countertops, whose surface and drawers are stocked with full-size hairdryers and the brand's signature White Tea and Aloe bath products (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and leaf-shaped bars of soap).

All rooms contain minibars, illy espresso machines, tea kettles, 42-inch LCD flat-screen TVs with IPTV (for live streaming), iHomes, and free Wi-Fi. A balcony or patio is attached to every unit. (The top-of-the-room-chain Ocean Suite's private outdoor space is larger than some rooms, at 970 square feet.) Items such as microwaves, electrical adaptors, and dehumidifiers are also available upon request. Parents can also request baby items, such as mini-sized bathrobes, bottle warmers, potty seats, high chairs, and cribs. 

In the standard Deluxe category, Deluxe Family Rooms and Ocean Grand Deluxe Rooms add extra space (those two categories are 710 and 820 square feet, respectively) and sofa beds. Beachfront Deluxe Rooms guarantee Indian Ocean views. 

Club Rooms, Junior Suites, and Banyan Suites provide access to the Westin Executive Club Lounge, where a late breakfast and afternoon tea are served, and coffee, non-alcoholic drinks, and magazines are available all day. The lounge has work spaces and meeting rooms for guests' use.

The Westin's immense main pool is a nearly 15,000-square-foot whopper of a pool, stretching past the Westin's restaurants and bars toward the beach. While most hotel pools take on a curvy lagoon shape, this one has a more rectangular outline, with little palm-tree islands toward the center -- nice resting points when swimming from one end to the other. The pool bristles with activity -- kids in the shallow section, regularly scheduled water polo tournaments, and aqua gym classes -- but there is a second quiet pool for adults only. The Reflections Whisper Pool is much smaller than the main pool, but it has a dramatic curved infinity edge overlooking the quiet northern corner of Westin's beach, far from the restaurants, bars, and main-pool activities. 

Heavenly Spa is also set far back from the hubbub of the main pool. Its spacious treatment rooms feature ceiling fans and private water closets, steam showers, and walled-in gardens with outdoor pebble-floor showers and sun loungers. In the gardens of the two-person treatment rooms, there are freestanding outdoor soaking tubs as well as showers. In addition to sugar scrubs, massages, and Decleor facials, Heavenly Spa can provide nail and hair services in its L'Oreal salon area. In-room treatments can be arranged as well.

Using their key card, guests can access the Westin's free fitness center 24 hours a day. Located on the first floor of the spa facility, the fitness center has nicely spread-out treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, all with personal embedded TVs and all facing big windows and the outside greenery. One corner of the studio is dedicated to Pilates, with a kinesis wall and exercise balls. Loaner New Balance work-out clothes and shoes are available, and the locker rooms (shared with the spa) have towels, saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs. Note that the wet area is only open during the day, not 24 hours.

Two lit tennis courts are also open daily and free to use, though a reservation is recommended. Activities like biking and jogging trips, Zumba, kayak safaris, volleyball, and yoga (in addition to the aforementioned water polo and aqua gym) are regularly scheduled and free. There is also a running concierge to help guests map out running courses. 

The Family Room -- the Westin's kids' club -- is free for ages 3 to 12 and offers supervised activities like storytelling, nature walks, sand-castle-building competitions, bird-feeder-making, hide-and-seek, beach time, baking, and movie and karaoke nights. The 3,230-square-foot space encompasses several indoor play areas with padded furniture and a nursery for naps, as well as a rather impressive secured outdoor playground with seesaws and a trampoline. The kids' club will stay open late for special events, like birthday parties, and holidays. Babysitting services are available for a fee. Activities for teens include adventure excursions and DJ nights.

The Westin's business and meeting facilities are among the most modern and comprehensive in Mauritius. A business center near the lobby provides computers, printers, fax machines, and a range of secretarial services. Four flexible conference rooms total 13,500 square feet -- enough space to accommodate up to 300 people -- and come with Wi-Fi and audiovisual capabilities. One of the spaces, the Banyan Ballroom, is popular for weddings, though the hotel can also host weddings on the beach, on the bay-facing lawn, and at Ocean Vista, a pier stretching into the ocean with a small pagoda at the end. 

Room service and a range of concierge services are available. Wi-Fi is free throughout the resort.

Balaclava's big claim to fame is its beautiful beaches, and the one at the Westin could be a textbook example. The sand is a bit gritty and rough due to tiny pieces of broken-up coral, but this is quite common in Mauritius. Loungers equipped with butler service buttons are set up along the sand, and beach staff provide cold-towel service, food and drink service, and sunglass cleaning.

Westin's boathouse is located on the main stretch of beach (nearly 1,000-feet). Here, guests can sign up for and borrow equipment for kayaking, snorkeling, water-skiing, sailing, pedal-boating, windsurfing, and glass-bottom boat trips. These are all free, but a few excursions like parasailing diving, and private water-skiing lessons, cost extra. Farther south is the adult-only "whisper zone" section of beach. The water here is as calm as a kiddie pool, thanks to a barricade of volcanic rocks out in the water.

There are four full restaurants at the Westin and two bars (one of which offers light lunch and dinner menus). The main restaurant is Seasonal Tastes Restaurant, which serves buffet breakfasts (featuring Asian, Indian, and American selections) and pan-Asian dinners. Seasonal Tastes is located by the beach, so seating options include tables and chairs in the open-air main area, out on the terrace surrounded by a pool of water, or out on the sand. 

The buffet-style Beach Grill provides totally beachfront dining, with tables and chairs along the ocean-facing pool deck or right on the sand. The Beach Grill's live-cooking stations focus on meat and seafood for lunch and dinner (book ahead for dinner). 

The chefs at Kangan, Westin's Indian a la carte restaurant, prepare family-style meals in tandoori ovens in an open kitchen. Overlooking the pool, the sultry and richly decorated Indian restaurant is open for dinner nightly. Westin's other a la carte dinner restaurant is the Mauritian-inspired Fusion. Fusion is larger than Kangan, accommodating 140 people to Kangan's 80. Note that both restaurants only serve dinner and require reservations 24 hours in advance. 

One of the Westin's two bars, Mystique Beach Lounge & Bar, offers full menus for lunch and dinner. Lunch is mostly pizza, pasta, and sandwiches, while tapas, mezze, and sushi are served for dinner. All day, Mystique serves classic and original cocktails, martinis, coffee cocktails, and Mauritian rums. The other bar, The Retreat, serves as the Westin's main bar. It's open all day, offering cocktails (including a pina colada made using a midcentury recipe with coconut cream and condensed milk) and a huge selection of homemade, regional, and international rums -- purportedly the largest collection on the island. Homemade varieties are infused with flavors like orange, cinnamon, and pineapple. Live pianists and jazz musicians perform nightly at The Retreat. 

Most Westin guests are on the half-board plan. (There are also bed-and-breakfast and full-board options, but no all-inclusive plan.) Note that the dress code is casual, but men are required to wear pants at dinner.