My husband picked the Zilwa Attitude mostly because of its Northerly location. We would be visiting in late May which is Mauritius winter and apparently the North is warmer with generally nicer weather then the south (we actually ended up having better weather in the south a week later!)

We really wanted to seeas much as Mauritius as possible so decided to stay in both the north and the south.

The Zilwa attitude ticked all the boxes for us, great location, views and beautiful pools. We couldn’t wait.

The Zilwa attitude is located in the North East of the island in Kalodyne. It takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes to reach by taxi and costs around £60. The North is supposed to have better weather than the south, but we didn’t find this at all.

The North is very beautiful with stunning views of the famous Mauritian mountains. There are plenty of interesting places to visit in the north click here to see our itinerary.

When we first arrived at the Zilwa I said wow as you walk through to reception the views out to the Indian ocean are simply breath-taking. The bar area looks directly over the infinity pool which looks out to the sea, just gorgeous.

We were greeted with a warm welcome and given a fruit drink and cold towel in reception which was a lovely gesture. The lady told us all about the hotel, but we couldn’t really take it all in after over 26 hours travelling with two young children.

We were then told it would be a 3 hour wait until our room was ready, I nearly burst out crying!! So, we said we would go and get something to eat as we were all starving by now only to be told restaurants would be open in an hour and a half!

Not the best start but it’s understandable that hotels have a designated check in time just very hard when you have little children who just want a bed to sleep in.

We went for a little wander around the beautiful hotel to check out the pools and activities going on. The place was gorgeous and so quirky, an instagrammers heaven.

When the restaurant opened sadly there was nothing at all that I could eat being wheat Intolerant (I can’t even have gluten free bread) everything was on bread, so I just ate a few fries. The boys all enjoyed their food which consisted of deep filled sandwiches and fries.

Exactly 3 hours after arriving we were shown to our room which was not too far from the restaurants and reception which is great with kids, not too far for them to walk.

When we walked in the first thing I said was “there’s going to be an accident in here” With a one year old you notice all the safety features (or lack of)! straight away. There was a lot of sharp corners, but my main concern was the concrete floor!

My son has been walking for around a month so I knew we would have to watch him every second in this room unfortunately my bad feeling of an accident happening came true and my poor baby fell fracturing his skull on the concrete floor. (he was fine after a short stay in hospital) if we didn’t have small kids the room would have been perfect.

It was so quirky and unusual with little extras like welcome macarons and a book to write about your trip. Lovely little features. The room was simply beautiful with a big comfortable bed and a double sofa bed for our 5-year-old. They even had a baby cot and changing mat in the room for our baby.

My only recommendation for the family rooms would be sharp corners covered and a large runner rug through the room. Then it would be perfect for families. The toilet was separate to the shower where there were toiletries provided except for conditioner so please make sure you bring your own.

The bathroom area looked onto the bedroom and living area with blinds separating the view. With having a ground floor room, we were able to walk out to our patio which had a double bed to relax on not that we ever got to with the boys!

The kids pool was only a short walk from our room which was perfect when one of us needed to nip back for a nap with the baba, would have been even better if the door could be opened with a key card from the outside.

There are 4 pools at the Zilwa. The top pool by reception is in two levels, the top level is adults only and the bottom allows children. The water flows down from the top pool into the lower pool absolutely gorgeous pool area.

There are sunbeds all around the pool with umbrellas to shade the little ones and there was always plenty for everyone. The pool is not heated so was a little too cold for the baby which was a shame.

We went down to the baby pool where I was shocked to find the floor of the pool was covered in small white stones?! I’ve never come across this in my life. We couldn’t go in because we couldn’t walk on the stones so If you are planning on staying here I’d highly recommend a pair of water shoes like the Zhuanglin womens quick drying  aqua water shoes.

I sat my son on the edge of the pool, but he tried to eat the stones so not much fun, it’s not very baby friendly at all so avoid this pool and bring a thermal swimsuit for your little one like Cressi Cressi kids swimsuit if travelling in off season as it is quite chilly. like Cressi Cressi kids swimsuit

There was a smaller pool located near our room which was lovely, shallow parks for kids and a deep end for jumping in. It was also slightly warmer for the younger kids. We tended to go to this pool more as it was child friendly and had sun beds all around it for the adults.

The beach area is small but lovely the only downside was that the sand is all small shells so incredibly hard to walk on and not great for kids to build sand castles on.

If you are going to Mauritius please make sure you have water shoes, I wish id bought some would have made my life so much easier.

I have to admit I expected powder white sand so was quite disappointed with the sand. There is a lovely pier where you can walk out to watch the sunsets which is so pretty!

You can also take the hotels boat over to a little island (takes 5 min) where there is a bar and sun beds along with stunning hammocks in the water. Do be careful though hammocks are so hard to get in too but worth the beautiful view out to the sea or over to the hotel.

The boat goes over every half hour so it’s easy to get back and forth. It’s all lovely little trip out.

We walked down to have a look at the spa, but we didn’t go in with having the boys running around and screaming, I doubt they’d have appreciated that!

However, that said there is a pretty cool treehouse you can climb up right outside it.

The Spa smelt and looked lovely from the outside (one day I will get to a spa) they offer a wide range of treatments from massage to facials and body care. The spa is eco-friendly using a solar heater and fresh herbs straight from the garden.

We were half board at the Zilwa and after arriving before lunch and only being able to eat fries I have to admit I worried. With not being able to eat wheat and my son with his dairy allergy I wondered what was in store and I have to say the evening meals were fantastic!

Along with the breakfasts. As soon as I saw the wheat free station and a lovely lady sorted out fresh oats for my son I relaxed and knew we would both be able to eat. It’s always a huge worry for me when travelling. There was so much variety we were blown away and the quality was that of a 5-star hotel.

There little creme brulee were to die for usually I can’t eat deserts as they are all cakes and contain wheat so I was so happy I could have a desert each night.

We couldn’t fault the buffet at all, so we didn’t try the other restaurants mainly because with children it’s so much easier to have the buffet as its quicker. If you have little ones, I’d advise taking some disposable bibs for the buffet pig out ha.

The seating area for the buffet is breath-taking with views over the water. This was especially lovely when it rained at night, I just love the sound of rain on a roof something about it really relaxes me. Big thumbs up to the Ziwas food, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are actually 5 restaurants to choose from in total and you can actually dine around other hotels in the chain of hotels.

There is a supermarket right outside the Zilwa if you need to buy a few bits. We didn’t find it very expensive and was great for getting a few snacks for the kids.

The staff at the Zilwa were all very friendly and welcoming. They helped with my son’s milk allergy and provided us with porridge oats when he couldn’t eat the food at the Buffett. When our son had the accident, the staff were very good and sorted the doctor out straight away for us.

He was there within 40 minutes of calling, i do however think it would have been nice for the staff to check on my son the next day but sadly no one did. We never heard anything from the hotel regarding the accident which I think is a real shame.

The lovely lady at the exclusion desk helped us to book our trips with ease. We were going to book a car for 2 days which would have cost £100 a day including the necessary child car seats, but we decided on hiring a driver for the day for the same cost.

This way we would get to see the attractions we wanted much quicker and easier as the driver would know exactly where to go and what to do in Mauritius with would be suitable for kids.

My only niggle with the hospitality was it would have been nice for the staff to check up on us to see if my son was OK with us spending the night in hospital, this being said we didn’t see the staff that were there that day so maybe they were off for a few days. Over all the staff were lovely and helped in any way they could.

There is plenty to do at the Zilwa, from beach volleyball to table tennis or biking around the island. My son found a new passion for table tennis.

Sadly, we didn’t get to do any of the activities with the accident taking up a few days of our stay, but I heard the glass bottom boat was great fun and the catamaran excursion was amazing so worth a try.

We saw the energetic aqua gym guy most days getting everyone in the mood he was a cool guy who obviously loved his job.

There is also an open-air cinema at the hotel which I think would be so romantic as a couple, something I’ve always wanted to do.

You’ll never get bored at the Zilwa.

Here are our top recommendations of things to do with kids in Northen mauritius:

• Chateau de Labourdonnais
• SSR Botanical Gardens
• Notre Dam Auxiliatrice
• Buddist Temples
• Eureka Le Maison Creole
• Port Louis

• Eat at the buffet restaurant with kids it’s quick, easy and delicious
• Request rugs for the room if you have small children.
• Beds are hard so if you have a bad back request a mattress topper, I have heard they do them.
• Book a driver for the day with the excursion team, one full day 8 hours is £100
• Split your holiday up between the North and south

We enjoyed our stay at the Zilwa even though our son’s accident did hinder it. The location of the hotel is beautiful with breath-taking views of the ocean. I would recommend it to families with children over 5 years old simply due to the nature of the rooms, the beach and the stony baby pool. My older son loved the small pool and his comfy sofa bed.

The food was impressive and the layout of the buffet with the views and over water dining was a lovely experience.

The Zilwa is a quirky modern hotel that I’d recommend for couples wanting to relax and unwind.