Coral Strand Smart Choice

Coral Strand sits directly on Beau Vallon beach, a several-kilometre stretch of fine sand along the northwest coast of Mahé. The Indian Ocean is a few steps from the pool, and the hotel has been on this same patch of beach since 1972 — one of the first hotels built in Seychelles.

One hundred and sixty-four rooms span six categories. Standard rooms are twenty-four square metres with a balcony over the garden; ocean-view rooms of the same size face the water. Superior rooms at forty-eight square metres add a separate living room and kitchenette bar, sleep up to four, and come in garden or ocean-view configurations. The Penthouse Suite at one hundred and seventeen square metres has two separate bedrooms, a kitchenette, and hydromassage showers with a small sauna.

Four places to eat and drink: Island Trader serves buffet breakfasts and international and Creole dinners; Mahek Restaurant focuses on Indian cuisine behind a glass wall open to the kitchen; Coral Asia sits on the upper terrace above the Ocean Deck Bar and serves sushi; the Ocean Deck Bar, one of the older bars on the island, draws both guests and locals for tropical cocktails.

On-site activities include scuba diving, jet skis, parasailing, windsurfing, sailing, and tennis. Morne Seychellois National Park, the Botanical Garden, and the capital Victoria are reachable by car. The airport is twenty-five minutes away.