Coral Strand Smart Choice

You come here for the beach first, and the practicalities do not get in the way. Coral Strand Smart Choice is a four-star resort with 162 rooms directly on Beau Vallon Beach, an easy fit for divers who want the sea close by and enough choice on land for the non-diving hours. English, French, German and Russian are spoken by the hotel team, so you can deal with the useful details without resorting to underwater hand signals at reception.

The setting works particularly well for couples, with ocean-facing rooms, sunset drinks and several places to eat within the resort complex. Families are catered for too, with family rooms and a children’s pool. The atmosphere is more resort than hideaway: there is live music, themed dining and a steady choice of things to do when the day’s diving is over.

You are in Beau Vallon, on Mahé Island in the Seychelles, with direct access to the beach rather than a road crossing or a shuttle ride. The hotel sits in the middle of Beau Vallon’s two-mile stretch of white sand, with sun loungers, parasols, showers and a beach bar along the shore. The Indian Ocean is right outside, which is about as straightforward as coastal geography gets.

Victoria is around 3 miles away by car, with the Victoria Clock Tower and Seychelles National Museum in the same area. The National Botanical Gardens are about 4 miles away, while Morne Seychellois is roughly 6 miles from the hotel. For dinner away from the resort, Island Trader, La Perle Noire and Mahek are all within about 300 feet.

The room choice is mainly about what you want to look at when the curtains open. Ocean-facing rooms put the Indian Ocean in the picture, while garden and mountain views give you a different side of Mahé. The Signature Superior Ocean is the sensible couple’s choice if you value extra room around the bed and sofa; the Penthouse Signature Ocean view is the one to consider when you want space to spread out, with two bathrooms and room for up to four guests.

All rooms have air conditioning, wooden furniture, tiled floors, a flat-screen television with satellite channels, a minibar and a laptop safe. Tea and coffee-making facilities, IPTV with international channels, universal sockets and free WiFi add the useful details. A balcony or terrace comes with the rooms, giving you somewhere to sit with a drink while the kit bag dries out in the general sense of the phrase—not as a substitute for a proper dive-centre area.

Room service runs around the clock, handy when a late return leaves you more interested in food than conversation. Ground-floor rooms are available for guests with disabilities, with wheelchair access to the hotel facilities and bathrooms equipped with shower handrails and additional toilet facilities.

Breakfast starts at 07:00 at The Island Trader, where the buffet covers Continental, Full English and Irish, vegetarian dishes, hot options, fruit and pastries. Dinner returns to the same restaurant in Seychellois style, with a different theme through the week: international, barbecue, Italian, Asian, Creole, taste of the world and seafood. That gives you a reason to stay in one evening and a reason to change your table the next.

The wider resort choice is unusually broad for a beach hotel. Grand Savoy combines international cooking with a Creole touch and serves breakfast and dinner on a terrace overlooking the tropical garden. Pescado focuses on fish and seafood beside the pool, Mahek works through Indian cooking with a wide vegetarian selection, and Coral Asia serves Japanese food including sushi and sashimi from its terrace above Beau Vallon Beach.

For the post-dive drink, the Ocean Deck Bar is on the beach with cocktails, rum and simple international food such as pizza, sandwiches and salads. The Pool Bar sits beside the pools, while Gecko Bar at the neighbouring Savoy Seychelles Resort & Spa brings signature cocktails, rum-based drinks and sangria to the sunset slot. Live music is played on most evenings, so the evening can move from dinner to drinks without requiring an expedition.

Two outdoor pools give you an alternative to the beach, including a main pool with a poolside bar and a separate children’s pool. Sun loungers, beach chairs, umbrellas and pool or beach towels are available, so you can choose between a proper stretch of sand and a shorter walk to the water. Sometimes the most ambitious plan after diving is simply not moving very far.

The beach itself is the main daytime playground, with kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surfing and SUP-surfing available among the water-sports options. Fishing, boat excursions and snorkelling are also arranged. These activities keep a non-diving partner occupied without requiring you to pretend that a second underwater session is compulsory.

On land, the tour desk can arrange cultural and island outings, including a Mahé discovery tour, visits to Praslin and La Digue, and a reef safari using a semi-submersible boat. Walking tours and bike tours are available, while themed dinners and evening entertainment provide a low-effort plan for later. There is also a lift, daily housekeeping, luggage storage and concierge service for the less glamorous but genuinely useful parts of a holiday.

Seychelles International Airport is about 8 miles away by road, with the journey taking roughly 20 minutes by car. An airport shuttle is available, and private parking is available on site. Car hire, fishing and excursions can be arranged through the hotel’s tour desk, while the 24-hour front desk gives you somewhere to deal with arrival questions outside office hours.

Check-in runs from 14:00 and check-out is at 12:00. Bring photo identification and the card used for the reservation, and let the hotel know your expected arrival time. Luggage storage is available, which is useful when flight times and room times refuse to cooperate.

WiFi is free throughout the hotel, and laundry and ironing services are available. Children of any age are welcome; cots and extra beds can be requested, with room arrangements depending on the accommodation selected. The hotel also has non-smoking rooms, room service, a concierge and accessible facilities including a wheelchair on request.