Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island

It's always tricky to rate a hotel which is pretty much 100% about its location. If you're looking for a pristine and secluded beach destination, Desroches absolutely delivers - perfect sand, warm and clear water, palm trees, and stunning sunsets. The location is without doubt one of the most beautiful beach spots I've been to - it reminds me quite a bit of Amanpulo in the Philippines, although Desroches is a far bigger island. The hotel though, I found quite disappointing on many counts. My room (207) was really quite bland, even though I had been upgraded to a room on the "better" west side of the island where the water is calmer and there are more palm trees. The main lobby and pool area, where the restaurants Claudine and Ahi are located, equally just really didn't have any vibe - and everything is crammed together in one place so there are no quiet spots on the island where you can relax while still having hotel service. Amazingly, on the first day, the already charmless ambiance in the main area was nuked even further by the fact that they were playing nauseating children's music for hours on end (including bangers such as "Mummy Has Another Baby In Her Belly"), which I found totally ridiculous - if you want to cater to kids fine, but don't do it at the expense of your other guests. They have an entire island of space to play with and they decide that their kids event has to be directly in the face of customers who are there for a quiet, relaxing time! Inexcusable, especially considering how much you're paying for the privilege of being there. On top of that, the food was so disappointing, and it's the classic case where you since you have no other option, so they get away with murder charging you insane prices for mediocre food. Under ordinary circumstances, I would've quickly stopped eating at the hotel and looked for some other restaurant. My meal at the Lighthouse was probably the best I had, but none of it was impressive. The pizza was especially tragic. There are 3 marked beaches on the map they orient you with when you arrive - Madam Zabre, Aquarium, and Coral. Bizarrely, not a single member of staff knew what I was talking about when I asked them where Coral beach, despite it being clearly labelled on their own map. The beaches are abandoned most of the time, so if you want service - to get a drink, a bite, some insect repellent, you're out of luck. Certain areas of the island (especially when the tortoises are around) are absolutely overrun by mosquitos - you will get annihilated and they don't seem to be doing much to control their mosquito situation, which you would think is pretty easy given they're on an island. To get around you're given a bike, which is a nice touch, and they personalise it by putting letters with your initials on them so you can keep track. Clever, you think at first, until you realise that the letters aren't held in place in the display in any way, and will fly out on multiple occasions as you traverse the uneven roads, forcing you to stop, turn back and pick them up numerous times. Super annoying. I wasn't the only one this happened to, I saw a letter from someone else's bike on the floor at some point. The metal basket will also make a constant clanking sound as your phone, key etc bounce around in it which becomes very grating after a while. They could make the experience so much better by improving the bikes a bit given how much you use them - a basket which has a bit of upholstery to cushion the noise of contents moving around, no holes for things to fall through, and while they're at it they should stick a map of the island into the interior of the basket so you can conveniently glance at it while you get around. The biking is also made worse by the fact that some members of staff drive around way too fast on the golf carts, especially at nights when the bikes are not easily visible. I saw one golf cart run over a lizard - that's how fast it was going. Appalling. The staff are nice and eager to help, but I still came away with the impression that this hotel is entirely coasting on its unbelievable location, without much else to recommend it. As a result, it will probably be my only visit.

I have been lucky to travel to a lot of the islands off Africa - Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles etc but the amazing thing about the FS Desroches Island is the exclusivity and service that stands out the best. We arrived on a small private plane from Mahe which was a 30mins flight. As soon as we disembarked we had one member of staff assigned to each family and a buggy was waiting on hand with fresh cold towels and a welcome drink. Adarsh who was assigned to our family was amazing and knew our names and all our requests. We were given a quick tour of the island showing us where everything was. We were given an upgrade on our room upon arrival which was a welcome touch. Service from all the staff was the highlight - special mention to Chef Viveck as he catered for us as being vegetarian we requested food a few of the days for dinner and was great quality. Apart from Chef Viveck a big shoutout to Florence, Aadarsh, Ramy, Manish, Lai Lai, Kareeem and Christian (plus all other staff) The services at Blue Safari was excellent as well - they are a 3rd party company that deal with the water activities onsite.

We spent two weeks in this beautiful resort. It’s difficult to mention something in particular as everything was exceptional. We will begin by the most important: the service. Le level of service here is high above expectations and my husband and I are frequent travelers throughout the world: Fidji, French Polynesia, Maldives, New York, London, Paris, etc, always five stars hotels. All the staff are there for you, they anticipate all your needs each time and this has no value. The food is amazing everywhere with our preferences for the the Japanese and Lighthouse. The staff is so kind and are really there for you. The Spa is perfect and the therapists amazing. The room was perfect and the staff taking care of them did a perfect job. The bikes were so useful and we used them to go around the island, snorkeling from each of the different beaches, going to breakfast, gym and dinner. The snorkeling was amazing. We saw: turtles and rays (a lot), octopus, box fishes, sharks and a lot of different fishes. The beaches are beautiful and ypu feel like being alone on them. Usefully, we never travel twice in the same place but we will definitively come back to Desroches. the only thing I missed were some tables to eat outside at the Japanese restaurant. Thanks to everyone for having made it possible. we were in paradise for two weeks

The Four Seasons has had a tough time penetrating the African market, and it truly shows through this hotel. Physically, the property is absolutely magnificent, and one of the best in the world in terms of natural beaches and the color of the water. Additionally, the villas are decadently appointed, inviting the traditional Four Seasons ambiance, combined with a touch of a Hamptons beach house. Furthermore, the fishing is incredible here (from a kayak, just be aware of the Tiger Sharks out at Bombay) and the runway inside of the hotel grounds is a dream come true for an Avgeek. However, that is about the extent of the positives, as this property extensively needs some work. As an avid Four Seasons lover across the world, it's a sad day when I write a bad review of an FS. The Four Seasons had so much potential with this hotel, with the beautiful Seychellois people, and the nature of the island, but they underdelivered. With a beautiful African charm to The Seychelles, the service feels westernized, as if you were having lunch at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong or Los Angeles. Even then, it wasn't polished to the same level as a typical financial hotel. Water glasses would remain empty for 10-15 minutes, and one afternoon when ordering a shot of Havana Club, I discovered that it wasn't rum but water (the interior of the bottle had been switched). Unacceptable for a top hotel. When a manager came to apologize, it was simply "I'm sorry". While not a big deal, a staple piece of good service might have something along the lines of "I'm terribly sorry that this is the case, this should have never have occurred, might we interest you in..." But this sums up the service in general. The best service was from the people born and raised in the country, Stephane, Christian, and all of the buggy drivers. If the Four Seasons wants to make this hotel great, they need to stop outsourcing international staff and bring in more of the locals. For an island resort, it is too rule-stricken, especially in comparison to the other luxury hotels I've stayed at in Eastern Africa. If you want to succeed in the African continent, it is not by bringing a Western approach into Africa. Anantara in Bazaruto does this exceptionally well. Additionally some other points: - While I understand transporting food is time-consuming and expensive, the food is mediocre at best. 140$ for a steak is perfectly reasonable at a luxury island resort, but the quality of the cut wasn't. - The Water Sports Company- This is an area where the Four Seasons needs to invest, as the current water sports company operates a monopoly, charging exorbitant rates and underdelivering, especially in terms of fishing. - The restaurant situation. Having the majority of the restaurants grouped together next to one another doesn't provide that intimate feeling when it comes to dinner. While the Lighthouse is on the better side of the dining spectrum, it is still absurd that some of these places only open 2-3x per week. What makes a product great is when that brand (hotel or airline) wants you to be there, just as much as you want to be there. Unlike certain other FS hotels such as Nam Hai and Jakarta (to name a few top ones), it just wasn’t the case here. It all felt very formulaic, unfortunately. I am very happy that I visited the FS Desroches, as this rivals Bora Bora for the most physically beautiful Four Seasons, but unless some drastic measures change, I wouldn't come back.

Just got back from 2 1/2 weeks in the Seychelles! Spent a week on Platte Island and a week on Deroches. Deroches is an absolutely beautiful island. The beaches are beautiful and it feels very isolated and quiet. We saw other guests at breakfast and then the rest of the day we were on our own. We had an ocean view villa which was well appointed and opened up right to a nice stretch of beach. There’s lots of wildlife on the island including tortoises and of course George-The patriarch. The food was excellent from breakfast to dinner. Dinner at Claudine and Light House were excellent. The Light House is a really cool place to spend an evening. The number one asset of this resort are the people. Everyone we encountered was genuinely kind and extremely helpful. A special thank you to Vivek, Cherry and Lai Lai who took such good care of us. Deroches Island is a truly a special place and will definitely plan a return trip.