Meridien Barbarons Hotel

Not recommended at all. Rooms not clean, many maintenance problems, too windy with little sun, beach nice but sea too rough to swim in, some incompetent staff, very expensive meaning few people stayed in the bar area at night so no atmosphere (eg pint local beer 10 euros), they dont accept their OWN currency Rupees which no-one tells you before you go there, very isolated, definitely not 4 star more like 2 star as we arrived from Dubai it's a big let down, oh dear I've said enuff already....... Brian & Claire Derbyshire

I stayed at barbarons, a couple of weks ago. I had seen many bad reviews before i went there and i was afraid of what to expect. In my opinion the hotel was very good and value for money. Our room was just before the beach and quit nice. The beach itself is very beautiful but you can only swim in a very small part at the right corner. If you are going to seychelles just to stay in this hotel, this might not be the right choice. Go to Beau Vallon. In mahe you don't have the choice of going around and eating if you don't stay close to the capital or Beau vallon beach where there are a couuple of restaurants. So you are usually forced to eat at the hotel. The buffet indeed was overpriced(40€/person) and the food not good enough. You have also the choice of one ala cart menu restaurant which was very nice. Mostly seafood though. As a person who doesn't it seafood at all, i had a difficult time, in seychelles and in barbarons. In general, barbarons is a 4 star hotel and this is what you get. it is not a 5 star hotel. And for seychelles is a good choice.

Before booking this hotel I read the various reviews on Tripadvisor, and with some concerns I went ahead with my booking. Living in Dubai and using the Le Meridien hotel chain here (all of which are fantastic and recommended) I figured that as it was part of the Le Meridien chain I should be OK. The hotel is on the west coast and around 30 minutes transfer from the airport (up and over the mountain). Its situated in its own grounds on a huge sandy bay and is fairly isolated with most of the other hotels being up on the north west coast. Mahe has some high mountains in this area and we noticed that they played a part with the weather pattern. The mountain was always covered with low misty cloud which blocked out the sun for most of the day, although it did break through on occassions and it was always warm. The wind direction seemed to be a key factor in cloud cover. When we looked across to other parts of the island it seemed they were always bathed in sunshine. One note of caution is that swimming in not recommended directly in front of the hotel as the sea is very choppy with strong currents. But move 100 meters eitherway (still within hotel grounds) and the sea is much calmer. Let me deal with some of the comments made in other reviews. Firstly the staff I found to be excellent, very friendly and attentive and when asked tried their best to deliver. The food was good and always plentiful with lots of choice, particularly the Mangrovia restraunt which serves breakfast and the buffet dinner in the evening. The breakfast covered all tastes from juices, pastries, cold cuts and cheeses, serials, full English with fresh fruit in abundance, even with free champagne. Each evening it hosted a themed buffet where again the food was good, with lots of choice and fresh cooking stations where the food is cooked to your liking. The only issue I had with this is the price - E40 (35 UK Pounds) per person for the buffet, which I thought was expensive. The other main restraunt was the Cocoterie, which was the a l'carte service. The menu didn't change at all and again the price was high and in my opinion it was better food in the buffet. There were also bar snacks available eg toasted sandwiches, fries etc. Needless to say the prices were exhorbitant. There were some local restraunts within 15 minutes taxi ride from the hotel. We tried "Chez Plume" which was OK but you need to like fish and seafood !! Price wise for three courses it was about 150 Seychelles Rupees (about 15 Euros) per person. The hotel was refurbished around 3 years ago and the style was very 60's retro in the open plan reception / bar area. We arrived at 7.30am and in the early morning light the initial look of this area is disappointing - it lacked that luxurious feel you would have expected. Its open plan and leads straight out onto the beach. However in the evening when the various lighting effects and features are on, it looks quite nice and has a totally different feel to it. Entertainment was provided in this area each night. We were in a garden view room, which again had been refurbished at the same time. The room was OK but the cleaning was not as thorough as I exepected from a 4 star hotel, with some areas left untouched by the cleaning staff. Don't be fooled by the pictures on the website, not all rooms are brightly decorated, with white being the most prevalent colour. The rooms had TV, coffee facilities, mini bar etc. with a nice shower and large sunken bath. However like most of this hotel the rooms were showing their age and signs of constant usage. The pool was large and there were always sunbeds and towels for the users. However here again it was showing signs of wear and a lack of maintenance with broken tiles and paving slabs in certain areas. The pool shower did not work and the Jaquzzi had been out of action for 3 months. I got chatting to some of the staff and learned some interesting information. It seems that this hotel is not actually owned by Le Meridien group, it is actually owned by Airtel the Seychelles telephone company, and Le Meridien are paid to operate it. When it comes to investment Le Meridien have to ask Airtel to spend money, and from what I was told they are usually refused. One staff member even said it was difficult to get a new uniform or T Shirt to wear. Even so the price of the hotel and food and drink are exhobitant. Even one of the waiters said the hotel was killing the food and drink trade during the day with its ridiculous pricing policy. A medium size bottle of water was 3 Euro's, but could be bought from the local shop about 100 meters away for 0.3 Euros. I stocked up on water, beer and wine from the local shop and kept it in th room ! In short this hotel lacks some tender loving care (TLC) in some areas. Another piece of interesting information is that a new wing is to be built onto the hotel, which will double the size. This apparently will be owned by Le Meridien and the whole of the hotel will be brought up to Le Meridien standards when this is done. Overall I would say that this is more of a 3 star hotel rather than a four star. It certainly does not compare with other Le Meridiens I have used. As with all things Seychelles the price of everything is totally over the top - but the Barbarons hotel is not alone in this and you can expect to pay even more at the others. This hotel is certainly for couples who want a relaxing "away from it all" holiday and if you can accept the Seychelles prices and also accept the niggling maintenance issues you can certainly have a pleasant stay at the Brabarons.

Copmplete waste of money went for our honeymoon, left such horrible memories, if you have any sense dnt go, Maldive is much nicer and cleaner and friendlier.

We have just returned for our Ruby Wedding Trip to the Seychelles where we had a wonderful first week. We then transfered to Le Meridien Barbaron Hotel and from then on everything went down hill. We were met with great indifference and made to feel as if we were interupting. The room had not been made up as a twin which we had requested, Staff were clearly not pleased at having to correct this oversight. The balcony doors were not working properly and could not be fully opened all week and we had great problems just finding out where to eat that evening. Next day the towels were not replaced when the room was cleaned and the day after the water dried up completely in our room. Water was never very hot at the best of times. Other irritations were the cold pool, the sea too rough to swim in, the spa and drinks were very expensive compared to other similar hotels elsewhere. I was seriouly concerned about the dining room buffet. Hot food was not kept at a high enough temperature to prevent possible illness. Lookwarm chicken is totally unacceptable in any climate never mind the tropics. Fruit and cold vegetables were not covered by flysceens and lay out for the duration of meals. On Sunday both breakfast and dinner were of poor quality and quantity much of it inedible. On other nightsin spite of an advertised theme many dishes were repeated and due to other failings, we were very doubtful as to whether they were as fresh as they might be. Although most evenings entertainment was good, we are still waiting for Sunday evening's "Indian Ambience". The diningroom staff were very pleasant but we disliked asking reception for anything and they failed to pass an important information left for us which would have avoided consideralbe discomfort. We spent as much time out of it as possible. In its favour rooms were large and well furnished. It was clean and public areas quite nice. I can only review this hotel as I found it and overall this hotel for us was an unpleasant experience which appeared to be due to poor management. Compared to the 3 star hotel we stayed in part of our first week Le Meridien was way below standard. This spoiled what was otherwise a lovely celebration.

Expensive everything a complete rip off , food poor especially the buffet, staff no rude so much its more a case that they ignore you and treat you like a paying trespasser. Activities limited and a rip off except the diving, just not a good experience , the common areas have a very dated 70's look , great island for beaches but that is all

We had an amazing time here. Staff were great, food excellent and the beach a dream. Definitely worth booking a superior room, the location is a lot better. Only negative point is that the hotel is a bit isolated, worth hiring a car. We loved the Barbarons and the Seychelles and would love to go back.

Beautiful nature (sea,forest...) but hotel service was not good.

beach unuseable, although nice resort

Having read the reviews before going, we were a little apprehensive about this hotel. However it was good in terms of modern rooms, nice grounds, staff friendliness and most importantly, value for money. Yes it still expensive - all of the Seychelles is! - but compared to other hotels, you can't beat it on price. Service is ok, as is the food. The bay and beach are lovely - with a great shallow area where my young children swam everyday. It is also good for snorkelling and you can even go diving from the shore . The spa is finished and opened this week - unfortunately the day after we left! Overall, a modern middle class hotel - offering good value for money in a beautiful location.