11 Jan2018
Where to stay on Rodrigues island – best Rodrigues hotels
Although Rodrigues is a relatively small island in the Indian Ocean, it can easily host even 1,000 travelers at once. There’s no 5* hotel yet and we can only find one 4* hotel – Tekoma. Tekoma was full during my visit so I stayed at 2 different hotels – Bakwa Lodge and La Belle Rodriguaise. Both hotels are unique in their way so hopefully my experience will make it easier for you to decide where to stay on Rodrigues island when planning a trip. What did I think about 2 of the best Rodrigues hotels?
Best Rodrigues hotels
Bakwa Lodge
Bakwa Lodge is located on the Mourouk beach on the South coast of Rodrigues. To be precise, it’s on a small hill above the Mourouk beach. The beach is easy to reach on foot taking a path from the hotel and then walking down the steps. It’s a minute walk from Bakwa Lodge to the beach.
What I liked at Bakwa:
- they try to be as eco-friendly as possible, also due to low potable water source on the island. That’s why towels and bed sheets are washed once a week if guests are staying per week or longer. Obviously, if not required differently. I believe no hotels should change and wash towels every day as no one does that at home either. Let’s save Earth some water.
- They collect rain water which is then used in the bathroom. Signs in the lodges are asking guests to save water. This is such a great thing as it might teach some people to save water also in other places in the future. Many people nowadays still brush their teeth while letting the water run for 10 minutes without realizing there’s no potable water in many places around the world.
- Very few lights are used around the lodges to let the guests enjoy night skies full of stars. But no worries, you will get a torch to use outside at night if you need it. I visited during the Full Moon so the skies were really clear and beautiful. So romantic!
- The lodges are designed in a way to get natural ventilation so you don’t need to use much air conditioning. I loved that because air con is not only expensive, but also unhealthy for the body and so not natural. Personally, I hardly ever use air con and at Bakwa Lodge it was not even necessary. So much fresh air all around.
- Lodges are modern and decorated in a nice romantic minimalistic way which was something to admire. White and blue colors match the sea and the sky, so perfect!
- I had two showers in my lodge: an indoor one and an outdoor one. The outdoor one was so cute, loved it!
- Food was very tasty and my vegan diet requirements were easily met. When I advised them about my vegan diet at arrival, they didn’t seem to have any problems with it. Just asked me what I do eat and what I don’t and then it was easy. I enjoyed having fresh fruit for breakfast, with lemon water and tea, and then different veggie meals for dinner. Really tasty. They even made me special tea with lemon for my sinus infection as I couldn’t even speak nor breathe properly on my first 2 days. Many thanks for this act of kindness ?
- The whole area is very relaxing. Just sit outside of your lodge and let the breeze play with your hair. Or go for a walk along the beach. I was there for every sunset. It gets really windy there which is why the Mourouk beach is famous for kitesurfing and windsurfing.
PS: Wifi works only at the reception/restaurant only, not in the lodges. When it was working, it was working ok, but sometimes didn’t work very well. But that’s very normal on Rodrigues island nowadays as wifi is or non-existent, or very slow.
Find out more about Bakwa Lodge here :)
La Belle Rodriguaise
La Belle Rodriguaise is a family owned hotel situated on the Graviers beach on the Southeastern coast of Rodrigues. Graviers is just a little more towards the East from Mourouk beach, you can easily walk from one beach to the other. However, it can be quite a challenge to get to La Belle Rodriguaise by car. From the main road you need to take a forest path and then up the hill. But even the bumpy road adds to its original atmosphere.
What I liked at La Belle Rodriguaise:
- swimming pool for all the hotel guests is a huge advantage. I do like the Ocean, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it’s not so easy to go for a swim in there. For example when there’s big waves I don’t like, too many kids playing on weekends, or low tide. In all these occasions, and also always before dinner, I was grateful for the swimming pool. Would go there after the sunset on the beach when it was getting darker and a bit chilly, but the water in the pool still felt pleasant. Swimming in the pool to burn calories before dinner was lovely.
- rooms – the rooms are located in cute houses with the Ocean view. I stayed on the second (top) floor and had the most amazing view of the Ocean on the horizon. Rooms are decorated in traditional Rodriguan style which made me feel like at home. The bed is big and the balcony has 2 chairs to sit on. Lovely breeze at the balcony makes the stay even more relaxing.
- bathroom in my room – such a great idea to build the bathroom from pieces of wood and paint them with different colors. Simple, yet very innovative. Each time I stepped into the bathroom, it made me smile. There’s also signs asking guests to save water.
- food – La Belle Rodriguaise is famous for its tasty food. Sometimes even non-hotel guests come over to try delicious meals. If you’d like to come for dinner, it’s better to call the hotel reception beforehand. Similarly to Bakwa Lodge, they didn’t have any problems with my vegan diet and were happy to prepare me special meals for dinner. Usually they serve soup or a salad for every guest, then there’s a few meals to choose from at a buffet, and then a dessert. So sometimes they had to make me separate vegan first course and separate dessert. Usually there were meals to choose from the buffet too, such as lentils, beans, rice, potatoes, pasta etc but every night the cook also prepared something for me instead of meat as well. So nice of them :) And for breakfast there was always a lot of fresh fruit, such as papaya, raspberries, bananas etc. And many different pastries (I don’t eat) for others, too.
- one long table at the restaurant where all the guests eat together like family
- I was there in the beginning of December and Christmas decorations were all around, and super cute :) You won’t see exact the sames one in Europe so check them and get inspired. I even took some photos to show to my mum after the trip as she likes to make different things.
- it’s a minute walk from the room down the hill to the Graviers beach. Every day after exploring Rodrigues island I would get back to La Belle Rodriguaise, change into bikini and go to the beach. On weekdays I was there usually on my own, but on Friday and Saturday there were local families camping so a group of kids would join me. I highly recommend you to watch sunset on the beach, it’s marvelous! I watched it every single day :)
PS: wifi works only at the reception, not in the rooms, but it’s even slower than at Bakwa Lodge. I could not upload any photo nor video on my social media channels, and sometimes even sending an email or a facebook message did not work either. However, usually wifi was ”strong” enough to receive messages, but not to reply though. Just think about this when planning your holidays. If you would like to get some online work done or update social media with hundreds of beach photos, it won’t be possible.
Find out more about La Belle Rodriguaise on Tripadvisor here :)
TIP 1: If you are visiting this breath-taking island, read about 15 top things I recommend you to do on Rodrigues island.
TIP 2: And maybe even before that, here’s 10 things you need to know about Rodrigues island before going there. Or even if you are not planning a visit there in the near future, check my article to find out why the island is so unique :)
TIP 3: I took hundreds of photos on Rodrigues and you can find the best ones in my Rodrigues photo album.
*I visited the Rodrigues island thanks to Tourist board on the Rodrigues. So grateful for this unique opportunity! You can find more information about the island on their Tourism Rodrigues website both in English and French.
