Do you have a day to kill on a layover in Mauritius? Or maybe you’ve returned from Reunion and stayed the night in Mauritius before your long-haul flight back in the morning? Or maybe you just want to dip your toes quickly in Mauritius in transit to South Africa or have a 24-hour transit?

Whatever the reason, you can still enjoy Mauritius–even though it might be a slightly reduced experience than if you stayed 5 days or longer.

I had a little over 16 hours to spend in Mauritius and decided that the best way to get a taste of Mauritius was to stay near the airport. However, if you want a Mauritian experience–that means experiencing hotels and resorts–then the town of Mahébourg is perfect.

I found that Mahébourg’s close distance and 11-minute drive to the airport was convenient and would avoid any issues. Most hotels that you would want to enjoy and experience like the Hilton are on the Western side, with other options in corners of the island that are a far drive.

I just wanted something simple. For that, I selected Preskil Island Resort and I’ll tell you why.

I wanted a place that had its own region (this hotel is situated on a small peninsula), had decent ratings, and was at a decent price.

I also did things differently when booking this hotel. Normally I will book through the Amex portal and make sure to get 5x points via my American Express Platinum.

However, Amex charged more for this hotel than Booking.com. And since I used Booking.com for my crazy 8-week Euro trip last year, I got a better rate for the night that included breakfast. That brought the total for the one-night stay to Rs 11,268 (approximately €225/US$248). Thanks to Booking.com Genius and Genius+ discount.

The kicker? Preskil upgraded my room on arrival to a room that opened up right onto the beach.

Getting There

From the airport–you simply want to walk straight out of the double-doors. Be wary of the amount of requests you get from individuals asking if you need a taxi. (See my post on navigating Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU)).

Make sure to ask what the cost is upfront to go from the airport to Preskil Resort. If you want to use an app, try Yugo. The cost should be around Rs 1,000 (approximately €20/US$22) to the hotel.

What you will notice on your drive is that it’s rather short and you end up driving around the airport where you will see people sitting in their cars or standing near the fence airplane gazing. If you’re an av geek, then it offers a chance to see different airlines and airplanes in various liveries coming and going.

The hotel also seems to be frequented by flight crew from Corsair (a French airline). Its convenience to the airport cannot be understated–with only a 15-minute drive–it’s one of the main reasons I picked the hotel.

Gear Used

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Checking In

Checking in was actually a slow process since the person was helping another guest. That meant roughly waiting 10 minutes to be assisted.

This can be challenging when you’re just staying the night since every second counts. And to be honest, the moment I saw the pool out front, I just wanted to hop in and enjoy it while the sun was still out. So I knew this would be another lengthy process (after already waiting time at customs).

However, once I was assisted, the process was pretty straightforward and you’re provided fresh cane juice as a welcome drink.

I was happy to hear that I was upgraded to a larger room. The downside? I didn’t know that the room was roughly a 5-minute walk to the other side of the property. Compared to the Hilton, this property was extremely large. I clearly did not do my homework since this place was just massive–there are even activities that everyone can partake in.

Note: When you book a room here, please make sure that it’s not next to any of the large banyan trees. While the trees are super nice, you do not want to hear a large symphony of birds the entire time or hear bats. And when I mean this area gets loud–it’s very, very loud.

The Room

The room was actually very spacious from what I expected. It has an open room concept for the bathroom. So if you have some privacy issues, that could pose a problem. Otherwise, this was definitely a nice addition.

One thing I realized that the room didn’t have, despite workers mentioning it, was the availability of beach/pool towels. This led to a back and forth of asking different workers across the hotel who gave different answers.

This was one of the more stark contrasts of this hotel versus the Hilton. At the Hilton, service was top-notch and everyone knew all the answers–if they didn’t, they would help you get the answer. Here the service was lacking compared to the Hilton, and the workers looked more tired and were not as friendly. And by not friendly, that meant they would walk by and not acknowledge you or say hi–even if you said hi to them. This was not the usual experience I had at the Hilton or quite frankly on the island in general. But then again, this hotel is half the cost of the Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa.

The one saving grace–given that the toilet was just running the entire night–was the shower. It was spacious and very warm. And it even came with a sitting chair. This was way more spacious than the Hilton.

Maybe you’re like me, but what I like to do is simply sit in the shower and just let the hot water fall down for a long, long period of time–it’s like my own self-therapy. And I could do that here. In fact, this place had one of the best showers that I can remember, with the second one being in the Grand Hyatt in Taipei, Taiwan near Taipei 101–which had a small built-in bench in the shower. Why can’t all hotels do that?

Dining

For dining, most of the restaurants had reservations and were fully booked. Therefore, that just left the main buffet Mosaïc available.

And here’s where the service also faltered. It took several minutes to even get a waiter or server to come to our table to offer drinks.

That meant I might as well get started exploring the buffet area. The place had a good amount of food options. However, nothing really stood out. There were a few good dishes–and you can’t forget the pigment rouge.

Again, the service at the table was very poor and just not representative of what a hotel should offer. Different servers came and went, and some were confused about the order or had a confused look on their face. When one server transferred instructions to another server, there seemed to be a communication loss. And you could see this when they went to discuss near a different part of the dining room.

There are also a few options available for dessert, which were ok. Again, nothing tremendously stood out.

I’m glad I ate several plates of food, because here’s a kicker. Ready? The total was Rs 5,000 (approximately €100/US$110) for two people. That means Rs 2,500 (approximately €50/US$55) per person–which quite frankly is absurd and quite ridiculous.

You would be hard-pressed to find a good tasting food spot in Mahébourg (the nearby town) offering that exorbitant price for two people. In fact, eating and drinking at the Flying Dodo for two people (during the 5-night stay in Mauritius) was Rs 1,525 (approximately €31/US$34) total!

This is an astonishing cost that you wouldn’t find even at a tourist trap in Flic-en-Flac, let alone a food stall.

Environment

There are plenty of activities and entertainment. When I was there, they had Moroccan night–which came with belly dancing, which had its supporters and some who thought it was too much and walked away.

Either way, the place offers a spot for families to sit around and relax. The nearby bar allows you to take in the night or whatever nightly event is going on at the hotel. Just to be clear, the Hilton doesn’t have this sort of thing. I mean, they did have a sort of Survivor TV show flame-tiki-torch parade–but nothing of this sort.

As a result, this resort definitely felt like I was in Cancun. If I had to label this resort, it seems to be the RIU of hotels and the Carnival of Ships combined with Southwest Airlines passengers all merged to make a resort, and this is the resort.

However, its saving grace is definitely the view. You have sweeping views across the harbor to La Vallée de Ferney and Lion Mountain.

Pool

With limited time–I was at least able to experience the main pool that faces the reception and check-in area.

I found the pool to actually be quite nice–and well-temperatured. Just before it closes, it’s like you have the pool all to yourself.

Note: I will note that it was incredibly difficult to find a pool towel. At the Hilton, you were provided a towel card and simply handed the card at a centrally located station to get your towel.

Here it was a maze. I’d ask one person and they said you could pick the towels up near the pool, but there was no one there.

Then I went to the reception and they said they would give a towel but that we actually have towels in the room. Except when returning back to the room, I noticed that there are no towels. It was just a 10-minute+ mess for no reason, when again I just wanted to get in the pool to be in the water and enjoy the sunset with the daylight that remained.

Luckily, I was able to see the beautiful moon glistening in the distance, so that made up for it.

Quick Stay in Mauritius

Tips, Tricks, and Logistics

• Stay Close, Stay Smart: Book in Mahébourg, just 15 minutes from MRU airport. Avoid longer drives to the Western or Northern resorts if you’re only staying 1 night. Preskil Island Resort hits that sweet spot for location and decent resort vibes—without sacrificing airport convenience.
• Compare Booking Platforms for Perks: Don’t default to Amex Travel. You can get better rates (and a free breakfast) via Booking.com Genius+, any Booking.com partnerships with the hotel—and a possible upgrade on arrival. Still, compare platforms and always weigh point multipliers vs actual cash savings.
• Skip the Hotel Buffet if You’re on a Budget: The buffet at Mosaïc was Rs 5,000 (~$110 USD) for two—way too overpriced for mid-tier food. For budget travelers or foodies, you’re better off heading into Mahébourg town for more authentic and affordable meals. It’s still cheaper when factoring in the cost of a Taxi.
• Don’t Get a Room Near the Banyan Trees: Trust me: birds, bats, and squawking at 3AM isn’t the white noise you want. Request a room away from the large trees for a quieter stay. And if you’re upgraded, ask where the room is located before accepting. The rooms facing the ocean (like the one shown here) do not have banyan trees nearby.

Trip Soundtrack

Because every adventure needs a soundtrack, each of my trips comes with a theme song. And for this trip's anthem? Well, it's...

Check Out

The check-out process was simple. They call the taxi, and within minutes they are available to whisk you away to the airport. And prices are displayed so you know how much to pay in advance.

There’s also no haggling on the taxi driver’s end, which makes it an easy process.

Later Mauritius! Now it’s time to head back to Paris, France for a 16-hour layover and then back to the States and an unexpected FREE upgrade to Business Class on Air France!