The St. Regis Le Morne Resort, Mauritius

Le Morne Brabant is 556 metres of basalt at the south-western tip of Mauritius, and The St. Regis Le Morne keeps to the peninsula at its foot, between the mountain and a sheltered lagoon, with the open ocean beyond the reef. Stauch Vorster Architects modelled the resort on a Victorian manor house, colonnades included, and Trevor Julius did the interiors. It opened as the St. Regis Mauritius Resort in December 2012, spent some years as a JW Marriott, and in May 2025 went back to being a St Regis, this time with Le Morne in the name. All 172 rooms are suites, each with a butler, and the sand is a few steps away. The main restaurant, Le Manoir Dining Room, keeps up the manor house and serves the St Regis afternoon tea, and the relaunch also brought back the brand's champagne sabrage, in which the bottle is opened with a blade.

Recommended for families who want the children looked after into the evening, and for couples who would rather spend the day on the water or up a mountain. The children's club takes four- to twelve-year-olds from nine in the morning until eight at night, every day, and is included in the rate; babysitting is extra. Guided hikes go up Le Morne Brabant itself, which UNESCO listed in 2008 for the people who escaped slavery and took refuge on it. On the lagoon there is kitesurfing, and guests rate the kayaking and snorkelling; the resort's pirogue, a traditional Mauritian boat, goes out fishing and for sunset cruises. Guests also report whales and dolphins from the beach in season. The children's club is called Kite Flyers, and out on the lagoon the grown-ups fly theirs standing on a board.