Sojourn | Sovereign Luxury Travel Magazine Autumn 2023

One day we went out on the resort’s glassbottomed
boat to go and see the coral reef.
It was amazing with all these tropical fish
swimming around - it was like a giant fish tank!
The hotel arranged a car and driver for the day for us to do some
self-organised activities, which was cheaper than if we had hired
our car ourselves.
The moment we arrived through the entrance gates, it was if we had
stepped into a film! The staff were so welcoming and sat us down
in the lovely reception with a cold flannel and a soft drink, and they
talked us through the check-in process and what facilities were
available as our baggage was being whisked away to our room.
When we were shown our room, we pulled
back the curtains and both let out a big ‘wow’.
The view took our breath away -
it was picture-postcard perfection!
The entire hotel was all low-rise buildings and never more than
three floors high, with all the rooms looking out to the cove. We had
a terrace balcony where we sat out and looked out over the ocean.
We spent a lot of time just chilling in various parts of the resort,
reading, and daydreaming. They had these little love nests -
thatched roofed wooden platforms with sun loungers where you
could have your own secluded space. Every single love nest had a
call button where someone would immediately come and take our
drinks order, which we loved.
There were a lot of activities on offer and we took a pedalo and
kayak out a few times.
As it turns out, this was a really good move as we achieved and
saw so much in one day, and it was great to have someone local
take us to places we never would have known about. We got to
see both dormant and inactive volcanoes, beautiful waterfalls,
and inside an old Hindu temple! We also saw some giant tortoises,
which were absolutely amazing, unbelievably enormous, and so
prehistoric!
Paradise Cove has four restaurants - there’s the Dining Room, the
main restaurant where you can just turn up, and then three other
speciality ones that you need to book in advance.
The food was outstanding - it really was, and we often salivate just
thinking about it!
One of our concerns about going all-inclusive was the variety and
quality of what we might get, and that we might feel limited, but
every single meal we ate was outstanding. There was a great
variety of drinks that you could enjoy throughout the day: including
red, white, and rosé wine, cocktails, and beer.
On our first night we ate a French-style four course meal in the
Dining Room. We have a friend who is a former MasterChef
champion, and so whenever we have good food, we send photos
to her! Well, we’ve never sent her so many photos! We also really
liked the Japanese restaurant XO with its sushi selection.
Breakfast was equally amazing - the resort has this dedicated
cold room with an automatic sliding door where all the cheeses,
yoghurts, and fruits are kept. It was lovely to see the food being so
well-looked after.
A highlight of our day was enjoying a long lazy lunch at the
oceanfront restaurant, Peninsula. It's a little covered restaurant
overlooking the sea, and you have a lovely warm breeze coming
through. The menu is so wide-ranging with a mix of European and
regional flavours so we could try something different every day.
There was a particularly lovely Mauritian fish curry served in little
ceramic pots with dal and rice.
Autumn 2023
so Journ