Kempinski Seychelles Resort

You arrive at a five-star beach resort on Mahé, with the Kempinski name behind it and a setting that keeps the ocean in the conversation. The resort has 148 rooms across two floors, so it has the scale for a full-service stay without turning the practical side of a diving holiday into a logistical puzzle.

English is spoken by the hotel team, making the important conversations straightforward from arrival onwards. There is a direct beach, a swimming pool, a spa, fitness facilities and several places to eat, so you can choose between doing something useful and doing absolutely nothing. Both are respectable post-dive activities.

The resort also works for mixed groups. A children’s club welcomes children aged 4 to 12, with babysitting and a children’s menu available, while adults have the spa, the beach and a bar with evening entertainment.

The resort sits at Baie Lazare on Mahé Island, Seychelles, directly on the seafront. The beach comes with sun loungers and parasols, so the route from breakfast to sand is pleasantly uncomplicated.

The centre of town is about 7.5 miles away. Nearby beaches include Baie Lazare Beach, Petite Anse Beach and Anse Soleil Beach, giving you a few different places to explore when you want a change of scenery without turning the day into an expedition.

The setting is coastal rather than urban. You are choosing this address for the beach, the resort facilities and access to the island’s southern landscape, not for a quick stroll into a town centre.

The room choice is mainly about the view and the sleeping arrangement. Couples can look towards the lagoon or ocean, while twin rooms make sense when two divers want proper separate beds rather than an argument disguised as a holiday. Garden rooms still come with ocean views, and the family room gives larger travelling groups a dedicated category to consider.

Suites shift the emphasis towards space and a more residential feel, with lagoon-view and ocean-view options alongside The Plantation Suite and The Picault Suite. The room cards carry the exact dimensions and capacities, so the useful question here is simpler: do you want the sea in your eyeline, separate beds, or more room around the people you are travelling with?

Air conditioning is standard across the main room categories, which matters when you return warm, salty and ready to stop moving. Blackout blinds help with an early night, while tea and coffee facilities, bottled water, a minibar, a safe, Wi-Fi and a private bathroom cover the essentials. Balconies are available in the Superior Hill View rooms; other categories focus on their lagoon, ocean or garden setting.

Bathrobes, slippers, toiletries, towels, a hairdryer, wardrobe space and a television are included in the room equipment. A family stay can also make use of the children’s policy: children aged five or under can stay free when sharing their parents’ room and using the existing bedding.

Breakfast is a buffet, served at Café Lazare from 07:00, with the same restaurant also covering lunch and dinner. Its international menu brings together dishes from around the world, freshly squeezed juices, coffee and tea. That is the useful sort of breakfast before a dive: plenty of choice, and no need to pretend that a single croissant will carry you through the morning.

Dinner gives you three distinct directions. Café Lazare keeps the international line, Le Petit Chef serves French cuisine in the evening and adds an indoor 3D cinema element to the meal, while Windsong combines sushi, seafood and Creole cooking. Windsong serves lunch through the afternoon and dinner in the evening, with beach-casual dress rather than a ceremony involving a jacket and a small emotional crisis.

There is one bar, Planters Bar & Lounge. It serves cocktails and light snacks, with nightly entertainment, making it the obvious place for a drink when the day’s serious business is finished. The resort also has a café and a snack bar, while breakfast can be taken in the room.

The direct beach is the main reason to put your towel down, but the resort gives you alternatives when lying still becomes too ambitious. There is an outdoor swimming pool with pool equipment and towels, plus a terrace for taking the afternoon at a slower speed. A garden, a sun terrace and a picnic area add more places to sit without being asked to make a decision.

Kempinski The Spa offers massages, facials, a hammam, sauna, jacuzzi, mud baths and body wraps. That gives tired shoulders several possible routes back towards civilisation. The fitness studio operates around the clock, and the resort also has a gym, fitness equipment, yoga facilities and a tennis court.

For a lighter diversion, there is a library, billiards and table tennis. Cooking classes provide something more memorable than another hour scrolling through the same three photographs on your phone. Families can use the children’s club, children’s play area, games room and babysitting service, with a children’s menu available at mealtimes.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to 23:00, while check-out is at 12:00. Reception is open around the clock, which is useful when an international arrival refuses to respect anyone’s preferred timetable. Airport transfers are available on request, in the form arranged with the resort. Car parking is free, and Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.

The resort can arrange excursions and offers concierge support, luggage storage, laundry, dry cleaning and ironing services. Car hire is also available through the property. The hotel has a business centre and two meeting rooms, although most divers will have more pressing appointments with the beach.

A security deposit is required during the stay. A mandatory New Year’s Eve gala dinner applies to stays covering 31 December. Only registered guests may access the rooms, and extra-bed availability depends on the room category. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and cash are accepted, with Type G sockets and a 240-volt supply in the property.

The resort is certified by EarthCheck, with its environmental work covering water conservation, reef restoration and local sourcing. Those measures are directly relevant to a Seychelles stay: the landscape and the reef are not background decoration here, but part of the reason to travel this far.

Solar panels support the energy supply, while desalination and rainwater collection form part of the water system. It is a practical approach to running a large coastal resort on an island, where water and energy are not abstract line items.