We booked Le Domaine de La Reserve on the island of Praslin and we were not left disappointed!

My husband always said he wouldn’t go to the Seychelles without seeing Praslin and the “rocks” so when we decided to go we agreed 5 days on Praslin 5 days on Mahe. As we would be travelling with our 3 year old we wanted to split up the journey. Praslin is a lot closer to La Digue island so we decided to stay here first.

We arrived by cat coco ferries and got a taxi to the resort, which is about 15 mins away. La reserve is a small complex with 40 rooms, so beautiful and picturesque. It’s situated in the Curieuse island marine national park.

Le Domaine de La Reserve beach
Le Domaine de La Reserve beach

The rooms

We were greeted by the lovely staff at Le Reserve and given cold drinks whilst we checked in, always nice after travelling.

It was a short walk from reception past the pool to our room in a beautiful 2 storey creole style villa.

We were upgraded to an amazing ocean view suite with doors that opened out to the ocean. I’ve got to say the room blew us away! It was huge and so classy. We had a 4 poster bed covered by a mosquito net, cool tiled floors with dark wooden furniture.

The open-plan bathroom was impressive with a bathtub, double sinks and a glass shower room. My favourite feature had to be the stunning ocean-facing patio with its tranquil views out to the ocean. One of my favourite memories was sitting out at sunset with a cold drink ready my book. Pure Bliss.

I would say its Definitely worth the extra money to upgrade if you want luxury. We were so lucky to be upgraded.

Le Domaine de La Reserve villas and rooms

Restaurants and Food

We stayed half board here and had our breakfast and evening meal at L’Obrizan restaurant each day over looking the Anse petite cour reef. The restaurant is situated on a jetty over the water, the views were breathtaking and the food was amazing.

I always looked forward to the evening meals. They were a mixture of a la carte and a themed buffet four times a week. I would highly recommend staying half board

The William bar and grill at the pool offers complimentary afternoon tea everyday which consists of tea, coffee, cake and biscuits. Great for kids.

The hotel boasts one of the biggest pools in the Seychelles with a swim up bar. We loved having drinks in the pool, especially our son he thought it was great sitting on a pool bar stool drinking his juice.

The Pool

The hotel boasts one of the biggest pools in the Seychelles with a swim up bar. We loved having drinks in the pool, especially our son, he thought it was great sitting on a pool bar stool drinking his juice. He also loved the big waterfall in the pool.

There is also a dedicated area in the pool, for kids. This is more of an adult based hotel and there were no play areas or toys for children. Saying this our son was happy enough playing in the pool and beach.

Le Domaine de La Reserve pool

The Beach

The beach is small but beautiful, I’ve never seen such stunning turquoise water before! To the right of the beach when tide is out you can walk around to a little cove with its own private beaches, with stunning views looking back to the hotel on the main beach.

My husband found it whilst he was out taking pictures as the water is so shallow. We took our son over and spent an hour on the little beach before the tide came back in. Be careful not to get stuck there with young kids or you will be

Le Domaine de La Reserve beach viewpoint
Le Domaine de La Reserve beach
Le Domaine de La Reserve beach
Le Domaine de La Reserve beach

Excursions

The hotel offers trips to Curieuse Island which is a MUST if you are staying here (see my blog post Curieuse Island for more details) seeing turtles wandering about is fantastic. Our son loved it and petted them like dogs no fear at all he even fed them leaves.

It costs £30pp and is worth every penny. Please be aware that if you are doing this trip with a small baby you will be getting in and out of a small boat to a bigger boat. It would be quite difficult with a baby or an elderly person.

La domaine has a sister hotel located on La Digue which we passed on a day trip. We would love to stay there one day as the standard at la reserve was brilliant. You can also use the facilities here if you visit the island as a guest of le domaine

Praslin excursion to curieuse island seychelles
Praslin viewpoint in Seychelles

Travel Tips for Praslin

  • Book Catcoco ferry before you go on www.catcocos.com

  • If you suffer sea sickness prepare for it with this journey all I can say is it’s like a rollercoaster, so many people being sick including my son!

  • Speak to reception when you get there and ask if they can get you in to Constance Lemura for the day. It’s supposed to be stunning. The hotel lets a few outside guests in every day but numbers are so limited it’s hard to do. We managed to but unfortunately my husband was ill so we couldn’t go.

  • Take a walk out to the right of the beach through the sea, you’ll find a lovely little private beach! Paradise

  • The Seychelles is a closed currency island so don’t worry about bringing SEY rupees you can only get them there. We brought Dollars and Euros and they were excepted by taxis just not in hotels.

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Kelly Bullock