Denis Private Island Seychelles

Difficult to know where to start, if you're considering Denis, don't hesitate, just book it. From the moment you catch sight of the island from the small plane as you approach the grass airstrip, if feels like you're arriving in somewhere very special, and it certainly is. Set in the most beautiful location in the Indian Ocean on a small island surrounded by incredible sandy beaches and turquoise warm waters. Everything here is first class. The private beach fronted cottages are very luxurious, so relaxing (no wi-fi which is great!) with lovely facilities inside and out, including an outdoor bathroom. Bikes are allocated to you to make moving around the island very easy. The food is just about the best we've ever had on holiday, most of it sourced on the island from the farm and the sea, so fresh, high quality and flavoursome. The two nights eating at the beach, a creole night and a bbq night were really enjoyable. What really makes this destination though is the staff, the service we received was alongside the best we've experienced anywhere in the world. Every single person we met were so friendly and couldn't do enough to help, too many to list really but we have to give special mention to Olive, Joel, Narender, Viraj, Suresh, Vanessa and Robert the chef who all looked after us so well. Denis has its own PADI centre and I had a couple of really enjoyable dives with Bakari. We very rarely return to a holiday destination as we like to try new places but we may well make an exception here.

We spent 4 nights of our honeymoon at Denis Private Island and I decided to write this review after staying at four other 5 stars hotels after in Seychelles. Starting from the PROS: - The arrival with the plane landing on grass is amazing. Its like a 007 movie - The staff are very friendly and kind - The food is good and mostly sourced on the Island (meat and vegetables as well!) - There is no Wi-Fi if not in the lounge which is perfect for a relaxing holiday - ⁠there were max 8-10 guests (not sure if that is always the case) I am giving 3 stars because our stay could have been much better and the price is very high for the services received (we paid more than six senses and four seasons!): - there is zero equipment on the two main beaches (no water or chairs even) which makes the pool the only place to be during day time. If they say they do this for eco reasons - every other hotel has chairs to provide (and water) on beaches and Denis has built a concrete wall around the swimming pool beach area so if they can do this they can surely put some removable chairs - They don’t provide a tote bag which makes it almost impossible to carry your snorkel/towel/water to the beaches (they are 15-20min away with bike) - They don’t organise any recreational activity at all, only a power point presentation of the island! - There is no gym, no creative entertainment (which we found in any other hotel) and the tennis court needs a lot of maintenance. So there aren’t many options especially when it rains - ⁠they make you check out at 10am even if the flight departure is at 12.30