Review: Four Seasons Desroches Island
- Konrad Tillman
- Apr 9
- 11 min read
Intro
During our trip to The Seychelles and Magascar, my mum and I had the opportunity to stay at the Four Seasons on Desroches Island. For those unaware, Four Seasons offers two different hotels in Seychelles, one being on the mainland, and the other being a short 35-minute flight away from Mahe on Desroches Island.
While this hotel is beautiful on paper, there are some parts of this hotel that could use some work. My main drawback from this hotel is that it has so much potential being on the African continent, but lacks African hospitality.
Anyway, let's get into it.
Location/Cost
Surprisingly, the Four Seasons Desroches Island island isn't that extraordinarily priced for the hotel itself. Rates start at around 850 Euros per night for an ocean-view pool villa, depending on the season, and only go up from there.
However, keep in mind that the rate above does NOT include the 15% tax and 10% service charge that the hotel mandated on all purchases.
In addition to that, customers also have to pay for the airfare to fly from Mahe to Desroches which is about 550 Euros roundtrip after taxes and fees.
So yeah, it's not cheap, but the location is oh-so worth it! Situated on the beautiful semi-private island of Desroches, the resort is perched on some of the most picturesque beaches you will ever see in your life. The wildlife bustles around the bushes, the locals thrive off of playing football, and the local beer makes for a good time, no matter the occasion.
The Villas
Upon arrival from Mahe, we were picked up by a woman who informed us that our villa was almost ready for check-in, but they needed another 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, she took us on a short tour of the property before heading to see our beautiful villa, located West side of the runway.
The ocean-view villas on the West side of the island are beautifully appointed and modern, offering the classic Four Seasons branding but with an ocean feel to it. As like all of the Four Seasons around the world, the same bedding is offered at the FS Desroches.
Yes, my mum and I share a room usually when abroad. If I can sleep in a homestay in Afghanistan, I am pretty sure I can sleep in a twin at the Four Seasons...
Come nighttime, the staff comes around to provide turndown service and make sure you are comfortable for the night ahead.
Through the sliding doors towards the back of the villa layout of the most beautiful bathrooms I have ever witnessed. A deep soaking tub was the staplepiece of the rooms, but the sensational double shower head outdoor shower quickly stole the show once observed.
If you feel like you are in need of a quick cool-off dip, don't fret as the ocean-view pool villa comes with a plunge pool attached off to the side. While not large, it does provide the perfect place to escape the heat for a few minutes.
Floating breakfasts are available (I believe).
Lastly, in terms of amenities, the staff informed us that they had left us bikes to get around with our initials on them. Don't worry, there are no drunk driving rules here 😉, but if you don't feel like biking around, the hotel is happy to assist you with on-deman buggy service.
Oh yes, I almost forgot: your own beach!
Each villa features a walk-out onto the beautiful Seychellois beach. The Four Seasons offers a couple of lounge chairs to get comfortable, as well as a small walkway for those who are worried about falling off the ledge to the beach (like I did).
Just be aware that those snippy crabs are out in full force most of the day. Keep on your toes or you might be in for a little surprise 🥴.
As a bonus, we met some friends throughout our stay and checked out their villa on the East side of the island. It seemed to be a bit nicer, but the problem with the East at this time of the year is that seaweed patrols the beaches.
Around The Hotel+The Main Pool
All checked in and feeling refreshed, I called the front desk to ask if I could get a buggy to take me to the main pool. Within 10 minutes a buggy pulled up, and we made our way on the 10-minute drive through the beautiful landscapes and over the runway, before arriving at the main part of the hotel.
The main pool is located right by almost all of the restaurants and is the perfect place to take a dip after a hearty meal. Feeling sweet, go take a short 10-second walk to the beautiful beach and get those salt levels up (so bad, I know).
Dining: Main Restaurant
When it comes to dining, customers have plenty of options to choose from, but not all of them are open on all of the days...
For breakfast, every morning you are directed towards the main restaurant, close by to the main pool. Breakfast is traditionally included in the rate offered, and features an extensive buffet as well as made-to-order dishes.
Okay, so Four Seasons promotes complementary Mimosas and Bloody Marys, but they ended up cutting my mate and I off one morning by just pulling stock and taking the booze away. While I get why, it would have been nice if they had talked to us about it...
The made-to-order dishes are as follows:
For lunch, we usually either had it here or at the bar area where our favorite staff member was working: Stephane. The bar is located approximately 30 meters away from the main restaurant, and 15 meters away from the Japanese restaurant.
The drinks menu is as follows:
Keep in mind that 1 USD is about 14.30 Seychellois Rupees:
Over the couple of lunches we had at the bar, we indulged in some simple American lunches such as Pizza (32$), and a burger (34$) which were both quite good.
Dining: Japanese Restaurant
So while the main restaurant and bar are open every night, there are two other restaurants that serve dinner, but only on certain nights. Once you arrive at the hotel, the staff should inform you about what is open for the nights you are there.
One night we had the opportunity to try out the Japanese restaurant located right next to the bar (it's actually interconnected).
Famished from the long days, I enjoyed some spicy tuna (about 30 ish $) and fried chicken teriyaki (around 50-60$ if I remember correctly).
if you need the restroom at any of the three restaurants, they are located towards the back of the Japanese restaurants and beautifully appointed.
The Lighthouse Restaurant
On the last night of our stay at the Four Seasons, the most luxurious restaurant was finally open (only open 2-3x per week): The Lighthouse. Located towards the back of the resort, towards the spa, this is a restaurant that I would highly recommend getting a buggy to.
The restaurant is absolutely beautiful, located on the ground floor of the old lighthouse, with a small but chic cocktail lounge on the second floor.
While amazing, for the price, the food wasn't that great. 130$ for a steak I can get with on an island resort, but it better be top drawer (which it wasn't).
Beaches: Four Seasons Desroches
Laid out across the property are multiple different beaches customers can visit. While some are closer than others, and some offer different activities, I visited most of them for a variety of different reasons.
At each of the beaches, there are Kayaks available to take out, lifejackets, towels, and bottles of water available for guests.
Aquarium Beach
The main beach, and the one closest to the villas is named Aquarium. Situated a roughly 7-minute drive from the runway lies a tucked-away beach featuring a bar, and a restaurant (which only operates on certain days as well).
When the bar and restaurant are open, this is the perfect place to go.
Bombay Beach
Now my absolute favorite beach to go to is Bombay, located quite about a 15-minute drive away from the runway. Not many guests come here providing the utmost privacy, but be aware that there are lots of sharks here (more on that in a separate post).
Reefs End Beach
While there are a couple of other beaches around the island, the last one we visited was Reefs End located quite a trek away by buggy. This is a spot that has it all, from great snorkeling to good fishing, and virtually no guests.
The Runway: An Avgeeks Dream
Have you ever been to Gibraltar and had to deal with the planes landing while you were driving to your destination? Good, neither have I 😅. Well, the same concept applies here, as the runway is a big part of the resort, and a place where you can ride your bike along it, occasionally do yoga and even play football off to the side twice a week with the locals. It is truly breathtaking.
If you are someone who loves watching planes, head over here around 11:30 am and 2:30 pm to catch the inbound and outbound aircraft landing and taking off. It's truly a spectacle that you must witness.
Other Activities
Seeing as this is a beach resort, there are plenty of amenities and activities that the Four Seasons offers. While grabbing a snorkeling mask for your stay is free, along with kayaking, the gym, and playing tennis, the rest come with a hefty price tag.
Some of these activities include:
Snorkeling
Private 500$ for 2 hours
Shared (2x weekly) 125$ per person
Deep Sea Fishing (2000$ half day, 3000$ full day)
Surfing (2-300$)
Cooking Lessons
Photoshoot
Yoga
Scuba Diving
I'll attach the link to the full activities here, but here are some of the prices displayed on the website:
Service
While I have ranted and raved about the hard product of this property (minus the food which was mediocre), the part that let me down about the Four Seasons Desroches was the service.
I understand that the Four Seasons brand seeks to be professional, but at the same time welcoming, but I didn’t get that same feeling at this resort. I recently stayed at another luxury resort in Africa, Anantara Bazaruto, and found that it felt more welcoming and collectivist (versus rule-based)
Here are a couple of things that stood out to me over my stay:
Most of the staff that we interacted with were from abroad, thus the charm of the people from the Seychelles wasn’t fully exhibited. The whole hotel felt as if the service could have been at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong. Hotels should be run differently depending on the destination
Every time you interacted with staff it was more of a sense of “what do you want” instead of small talk such as “how is your day going”. It’s the small things that really make a difference
I ordered a shot of rum one afternoon and found that the rum had been replaced with water. For a 5-star hotel, that was diabolical. Of course, someone came to apologize, but that was the extent of it. It’s as simple as the manager going behind the bar and saying “We have another similar rum which I think would be just perfect for you”.
Now the real kicker: the best part of the stay was two of the staff members by the name of Stephane and Christian (I hope I spelled your name right) as well as the buggy driver (all of them were from the Seychelles). Even though they were the reason me and my newfound friends had such a good time, the higher-ups treated them poorly. THEY ARE THE REASON WE ENJOYED OUR STAY so why? To me, it just made no sense.
I understand at the Four Seasons, you have to be professional, but the hotel has got this service all wrong. They have the opportunity to build something unique and loving, yet they turn into a US-based island (service-wise). It’s really quite a shame and the complete opposite of the L’Escale Hotel on the mainland.
Pros & Cons
Before concluding the review of this hotel, I wanted to provide a quick look at my pros & cons of the FS Desroches.
Pros:
Fantastic beaches, and some of the best in the world
The pool lunch menu is good
The wildlife that roams around the island is beautiful
The villas are top-tier and beautiful
The runway separating the two sides is truly an Avgeek dream
Amazing snorkeling
Cons:
There is no data on the island, and the wifi is very slow (they do tell you this, but it is something to be aware of.
When you go to the beach, you have to call a buggy using a walkie-talkie as there is no wifi. Buggies can often take 20-30 minutes during a busy period of the day
The service feels like it could be in Hong Kong or Los Angeles, not great
Most of the food is mediocre at best, obviously, it is challenging to get daily fresh ingredients.
Four Seasons does not run the water sports company, and the company, let’s just say this, isn’t the greatest (heard from many locals that said the same thing as well)
So this begs the question, would I come back? For the price point, I feel like there are much better hotels across Eastern Africa that still have an African charm to them. To me, Four Seasons Desroches missed the mark on a lot of different occasions, but especially with service.
Now this is not to say the hotel is bad, as I am happy that I got to stay here once, but it just isn't a place that I would come back to. To put this into perspective, the 200$ a-night FS in Jakarta offers service that is 10x better than Desroches (it's also my favorite city hotel in the world)...
Final Thoughts
Look, I have spoken a lot about the positives and the negatives of this property, but it is important to note that I had a fabulous time at the Four Seasons Desroches Island. It’s truly a place that you have to visit once in your life, as the beaches are far more beautiful than any other place I have been to in my life, the villas are pristine, and the amenities are plentiful.
Just be aware that if you are looking for that African charm, you are not going to find it here. The service has predominately been Westernized, and the hotel missed the mark on some of the dining options. While I wouldn’t return, The Four Seasons Desroches Island is a perfect place for a week-long escape.
As I wrote about in my review of Emirates First Class, 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 Emirates, it wasn’t the case here. It was what we like to call “assembly line fashion”.
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