Mystic heads nestle variously in the grounds
When it comes to retail, all relevant Americans have a Nordstrom customer service story to relate. In hotels, for some it is Oberoi. The gal remembers when, getting off M/S Zara on The Nile, to visit another temple or tomb, a waiter noticed she had a little cut on her leg, ran after her with a bandaid and, back in the cabin, she found a new stock of plasters. Right, switch to Oberoi’s luxury hotel on Mauritius. Could laundry come back by six, please? It will be back by four, with a smile.
Part of the main pool (On The Rocks is beyond)
At four exactly, all items were pristine, hanging from hangers, apart from a pair of barely-there running socks, which had a paper wrapper, the whole in a freshly ironed patterned linen wrap, and all this in a basket with a little ‘with compliments’ card on top. It is almost as though the sculptures in the gardens of the luxury Oberoi Mauritius hotel are smiling. I have mentioned how the main pool becomes a gathering place for some, during the day. Lunch is served at On The Rocks, a lovely grill bistro by the pool.
Villa 205’s outdoor sala and pool
Memo to self, do not choose grilled catch of the day if rain is on the forecast as apparently approaching clouds cause flies to appear from nowhere and buzz around anything fishy. I hope everyone else in the restaurant realised that I was keeping all the flies of Mauritius close to me, and thus away from them. Villa 205, with its indoor salon as well as an outdoor sala, had its own L-shaped pool, its longest length a sizeable 25 feet so I could do lots of laps, pretty quickly. I swam so much I thought I might turn into a mermaid…
The sun sets
I could even sit on one of my loungers and get perfect connectivity, which is extremely rare on this island. So there I sat, creating away while waiting for my early supper, caprese and a caesar both, which would arrive at exactly the requested hour, on the dot. When the bell rang I padded across the ten, yard-wide basalt circular stepping stones set in my grass, to open the double outer gate. Being Oberoi the waiter had made sure the bread rolls were really hot, and the olive oil came with a gold spoon. The golden sun had already set. This was to be my last daylight view from this luxury resort, for this visit at least.
