Le Vacoa

Very accurate description of hotel and pictures, so there will be no surprises on arrival. The hotel was clean and reasonably well maintained - there is no option for breakfast, but the kitchen was OK in case somebody wants to prepare something for breakfast. In the worst-case scenario, there was coffee wending machine and for 1 euro you can get good tasting coffee. In the room you also have a small fridge, but this is more for keeping products cool - even at maximum setting refrigerator was not enough and ice cream started to melt. As we were in "winter"- June, then there was no need for air conditioning - when it gets too hot for us, we went to the mountains or swimming. And for swimming you can do it in the hotel pool, or we recommend beaches that are 5-10 min easy walk from the hotel. And the nearby beaches are simply FANTASTIC - some of the best beaches in the world with live corals and an astonishing number of fishes. In the hotel there is equipment for snorkeling for free so no need to bring from home - only I would recommend snorkeling glasses. ||We stayed in June, that is the low season - so there were nights, then we were only guests-persons in hotel - extremely relaxing and it did not make sense for me - outside temperature was from 22 to 30 and water temperature was around 26-28 - amazing weather and no raining. But in low season there are some downsides - public transport was sometimes not operating and not all restaurants were open every day - only in weekend there is more life in neighborhood. There are no big hotels so no tourists. Best shop - Carrefour Market Saint-Gilles and on Sundays there is a market - this is easy walking distance for 20 min.||The hotel manager speaks English and that is big bonus, but at the same time this is also reason for lower rating - at arrival manager explicitly recommended local services like Margaret for local transport so we listened to that advise but it turned out to be big scam - do not trust managers and receptionist in the hotel and look for other companies for services independently - we had two times confirmation and then no show both times so we needed to look for other companies that in last minute cost as more. So, if you need more friendly hotel staff - then maybe other hotels will be a better choice. And as can be seen in some pictures - the hotel shares place with office - so there were more workers coming and going during the day. Like in rest in France - expect, that those employees will smoke in open area in the hotel, but this will bother only those who wish to say in hotel during day.||And some fun facts:|- every day weather forecast was rain and in 10 days no rain at all and sunny skies |- it will be bigger possibility to see lizard in hotel room rather than outside|- there are palm trees with nuts near pool - it was fun to move to next chair and minute later one nut felt on chair I was sitting moment early|- neighborhood or the hotel was quite even on Fridays, but you will complain about noise from nearby stadium 400 m away that will use load loudspeakers on Sunday morning starting 6am

We stayed here for 7 nights, our welcome was absolutely amazing with the friendliest person, Nathalie the owner. She showed us around the facilities explaining where everything is and how it works and to our bedroom. Although the room is small it was actually perfect as we did not plan to stay in our rooms during the stay, we had a nice small table and two chairs outside our room, the bathroom had a shower, toilet and basin, they were in the process of doing maintenance in the bathrooms in some of the other rooms which is great to know. It was also convenient to have a communal washing line at the back. The kitchen is fully equipped, they also have left over items from previous guests which is amazing as you can save on things like oil, spices etc. with the self-catering. There is a grocery shop within walking distance from Le Vacoa and you can also use bicycles which can be safely chained up while you shop. We also walked to the beach a few times which is about 10 minutes walk away. We really enjoyed our stay at this place as it was convenient and the owners were so friendly. They also have a brochure rack with plenty of activities that can be booked. I liked the fact that the rooms only get serviced a couple of times during a long stay as I prefer the privacy and not having to "tidy" up the room before the cleaner comes to clean every day.

My wife and I stayed here for 6 days in August and for us it really ticked all the boxes:||+ Friendly owners, happy to help you out or suggest some activities (like the Sunday evening music and food stalls in St-Leu)||+ Outdoor pool (with glass fence and child-safe door)||+ Clean and well-equipped communal kitchen. It's really ideal to have your breakfast in the morning and much faster than having to wait for breakfast in a hotel. At first, we did not intend to use it beyond breakfast, but actually it was quite nice to have (take-away) dinner there in the evening after a full day of exploring the island. There's also a small fridge in the room so you can keep your food fresh||+ Several shops in the vicinity (bakery at 200 m, supermarket at 2' drive), so it's easy to stock up or get your baguette in the morning||+ Several restaurants within walking distance||+ Nice outdoor seating area||+ Location close to the beach of La Saline les Bains (5 min walk)||+ Airconditioning in the room - although you don't really need it in August||+ Sufficient parking for our rental car close by and good access to the "route des tamarinds" for our daily exploring around the island||||Overall, excellent price-quality! No, it's not a 4 star hotel but you don't pay for it either. However, there's everything you need, it's clean, is well-located and has a nice & relax atmosphere

This is a very nice hotel with very friendly and helpful hosts, who can also speak Dutch. It's clean, it's cozy with a nice pool and a kitchen in the garden, where you can cook your own meal and meet fellow travelers/guests. The beach is a short walk and it's also nice. You'll feel really welcome! If I ever go back to Reunion, I would go again!

Our multilingual hosts were friendly and helpful. The shared kitchen facilities provided hostel style comraderie between guests and airconditioned rooms ensure a good night's sleep. We enjoyed the swimming pool on the hot afternoons and the free wifi access in the communal area. It is well situated for touring around the rest of the island or for lazing on the beaches of the lagoon.

Positive: The facilities are great. Both pool and kitchen are very clean and well maintained. Our room was cozy and we really appreciated the fact that the towels were changed quite often..

We went here to start our vacation on Reunion island. We stayed here for 4 days in june 2013. It was very calm and quiet on the location, not many other tourists around. Which was handy, because we basically had the whole property for ourselves! :)||||The owners, Nathalie and Yves, are very lovely. A Belgian couple, speaking both French and a bit of Dutch. That was very handy, because most people on Reunion island only speak French! ||||We got a ground floor room, with a bed, fridge, closets, tv, aircon and bathroom. Basic but sufficient. Although we found the room to be a bit tiny. But everything was clean and worked fine, which is most important. ||||There is no breakfast served, but the local bakery and supermarket are nearby. You can walk there, or lend a bicycle (which is available for free). The communal kitchen is well equipped with your basic needs for preparing your breakfast/lunch/dinner. There is even a charcoal bbq to use.||||In the public area around the kitchen and garden, there is free wifi. We did not get proper wifi reception in the room, but that didnt bother us. ||||The location of Le Vacoa is excellent. It is in a residential area, close to the sea (few hundred meters, nice walk). And the towns of St Gilles, St Paul or St Leu are nearby: only a few minutes drive with a car. ||||If we ever come to Reunion island again, we will definitely return here, and enjoy the calm laidback hospitality of this truly magnificent place!

Stayed here for 11 days in january and we loved this hotel. The location is great with a pool, kitchen fully equipped and barbecue, 5 min on foot from the beach...nice rooms with fridge and air condition (useful when it's 35° outside :) Lovely owners very friendly and available!||A hug to all the people that we couldn't get to say goodbye *_* ||Wonderful hotel with wonderful people! Very recommended!!!||Un saluto da Andreea e Massimo-Aldo