LUX Saint Gilles

THE HOTEL: Beautifully set among tropical trees, home to lots of colourful birds and lizards. Cobbled paths add to the colonial charm. LOCATION: It’s on a beautiful west-facing beach, which means plenty of sunsets to admire. Outside the resort, there’s not much within walking distance aside from a supermarket and some local cafes, but plenty of places to explore a short drive away. ACCOMMODATION: Yes, the rooms could do with updating for a 5-star resort, but it was perfectly fine for us. Most importantly, it was clean. AMENITIES: Plenty to do including a large pool, gym, tennis, table tennis, snorkelling and evening entertainment. FOOD: The breakfast buffet is great, with a wide selection of sweet and savoury options. We looked forward to this every day! Aside from breakfast, food prices are pretty steep (€22 for a Margarita pizza or a club sandwich), but to be expected. STAFF: Super friendly from the beginning, which included a guided tour of the grounds. They also treated us to a bottle of bubbly and a few other bits for our honeymoon, which was lovely. FAVOURITE PART: The snorkelling, which in my opinion is much better than several spots I tried in Mauritius. Expect to see varieties of butterflyfish, parrotfish, surgeonfish, pufferfish, triggerfish and more, all within metres of the shoreline 🐠 TIP: Try snorkelling just to the right of the resort, where the reef is slightly deeper and the current drifts you along the coast (you can then walk back to the resort). Super fun!

The hotel is about an hour drive from the airport and after a relaxed checked in, a guest relations advisor showed us around the hotel and to our room. Julie was the advisor who showed us around and she was amazingly helpful and friendly, making in-house restaurant bookings for us and helping with any inquiry the three days we were there.||Although I named checked Julie for excellent customer service, I must stress that all staff there provided excellent service. They were all very friendly and knowledgeable and although not all of them spoke English we manage to always communicate effectively.||The rooms in white blocks in lovely gardens were a little on the old side, for example, a fixed shower in the bath and no USB points in the room but they did have a separate toilet. The beds were very large with big soft pillows. There were other signs that the hotel was a little tired in places with some peeling paint and the area around the pool could be revamped but generally the hotel provided a sense of “old fashioned French chic”?||The 3 days we were there we tried all 3 restaurants, I note as per other reviewers the restaurants are opened on different days, but we had no problem booking then as guest relations did that for us. ||The La Cusine was the breakfast and buffet restaurant with a large choice at both times, they take your egg order at breakfast so no queuing up at the egg station.||The Orangine was a la carte and served one of the best meals we have ever had at a restaurant anywhere on our travels.||La Plage served traditional creol food on the beach along with delicious French style desserts.||We were on half-board but our only criticism of the food is that it is very, very expensive, for example 23 Euros for a club sandwich at lunch time (price list attached) and an extortionate wine list.||There are bits of coral on the beach and you definitely need pool shoes, there is a better beach , with less coral and better sand a couple hundred meters away. In the same direction, on a Sunday you can walk 15-20 mins along the beach to a large craft market next to a hypermarket.||In summary, excellent service and food but very expensive and could do with some TLC. We still gave it a 5* review due to the service.

Let’s start with the positives: The staff are very friendly and helpful – great job, keep it up! The location is excellent, and the pool and beach are perfect for relaxing. The food is good, and while the prices are just about acceptable, €11 for a local 50cl beer and €12 for a basic glass of wine feels a bit much. There are plenty of activities for everyone, available almost anytime. Now for the less positive side: Rooms 19 and 21 (family rooms, traveling with kids) are in urgent need of renovation – they are definitely not up to 5-star standards. The bathrooms, in particular, need modernizing, and the buildings themselves could use some maintenance. The beach is okay, but very coral-heavy. The swimming area in the lagoon isn’t great for snorkeling – even at high tide it’s very shallow, which is difficult for taller people. At low tide, snorkeling is no fun at all. All in all, the hotel is decent, but the “5-star” rating really doesn’t reflect the actual experience in certain areas. Cheers 🙋🏼‍♂️

Overall, the hotel is lovely! Location: Situated on what is arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in Réunion, it’s perfect for relaxing and snorkelling. Staff: Exceptionally friendly and attentive, with service that was consistently excellent throughout our stay. Food: Very good, with a generous and diverse buffet that included vegan-friendly options That said, I’m giving the hotel a 3-star rating due to a significant downside. While it’s marketed as a destination for leisure and vacation, the property frequently hosts business meetings and team-building events. Personally, I found this quite disruptive. Encountering large groups—often 20 to 30 people in business attire—while walking through the only access route to my room made it hard to stay in a relaxed, vacation mindset. It created an atmosphere more reminiscent of a corporate venue than a resort. This seems to be a recurring issue, possibly due to management decisions. Other guests appeared to be affected as well, often avoiding the pool area during these events and only using it after the business groups had cleared out. If you're someone who works hard and is looking for a true escape to disconnect and unwind, this might not be the best option.

Positives: location- nice beach and snorkeling and sunsets with some of the best weather on the island. The concierge was very helpful and efficient. My husband was impressed by the quality of the coffee, including a cafetiere in the room to make coffee as you wish. Breakfast starts at 6am so you can grab a quick bite before going for a day's hiking. Negatives: poor wi-fi, especially in the room it was practically non-existent. The bathroom needs renovation- it was a tatty shower over the bath which didn't drain and had some mould around the tiles. The gym was a let down- they don't even have gym mats to do ab work and when I asked then the staff member was very unhelpful and didn't even want to give me a towel. The service was a long way from the 5 star service we've had elsewhere. We got no reply to an email we sent a couple of weeks prior to arrival. We were told we were "only bed and breakfast customers" and they "prioritise half board customers"!? We were told we couldn't book the buffet til 9pm one night which made no sense as it was never very busy but they just said "well that's the way it is", even though we'd booked earlier on other occasions. On that evening we walked past and saw they'd hired half of it out for a private function. A simple explanation of this would have made more sense and is surely better customer service. Overall the food is ok but we had better and cheaper meals at nearby restaurants. Drinks seem particularly overpriced, hence why most people seemed to be drinking their own drinks on their balconies/on the beach/by the pool. Having said all that, we did enjoy our stay- it's a peaceful and beautiful resort.

This hotel is nearly perfect. The facilities are great, the access to the beach was amazing and the staff were very helpful. The staff assisted us with an early check in and helped store our bags- very useful! The only thing I would change is the pillows and the restaurant- which was expensive and had tiny portions. Otherwise, an absolutely fantastic place to stay!

Great service; great location with beach access (reef protected) & a large swimming pool. 3 restaurants (better book since non-residents come); the only downside is that standard rooms do not have walk-in showers. Wifi works well & the parking is protected; really a great place to stay !

We stayed 2 nights, the room was comfortable, although the bathroom was a bit small, barely any room for toiletries for 2 people.|The first night we had dinner at the buffet restaurant, which was ok, but not spectacular.|The second evening we booked a table at the French restaurant. The food was outstanding.|However, I only had the main course which was served together with my husband starter - a no-go for a five star hotel!|We had booked half-board and were charged an additional 17€ p.P. for the main course, even though I only had the main course and neither of us had dessert. |All in all, we were not impressed.