Cap Ouest by Horizon Holidays

Filthy, dangerous penthouse apartment. The level of cleanliness coupled with noisy building works and dangerous electrics made for an extremely disappointing stay - so much so we abandoned the premises as soon as we could and salvaged our holiday elsewhere. We were in A5 and on first impression a good spacious, beachfront apartment but soon discovered: *Large noisy construction site behind the property - 7 days a week 8am til mid evening. We came for a peaceful holiday but received constant banging, power tools etc. *Outside dangerous lights which sparked due to water in the electrics. This was highlighted to management but not remedied therefore we had no patio lighting for the duration of our stay. *Internal electrical faults. No use of internal sockets which were fixed but then failed intermittently. *Filthy external loungers. Totally unacceptable to expect guests to tolerate this level of uncleanliness. And only 2 provided for a 6-person apartment. Also no parasol. *Ripped and stained old external chairs. *Heavily stained internal furnishings - sofas and furniture. *Cleanliness issues throughout including dirty, stained towels. *Dirty plunge pool. Had not been cleaned prior to arrival and filter not working. Communal pool also dirty with inadequate sun loungers for size of complex. We raised our complaints direct with management but communication was poor to non-existent whilst we were there. Please do not believe marketing stating the apartment is “brand new” - it’s 18 years old and very tired! Please also do not believe “it is fit for 5-star travellers” - this particular apartment was not fit for any travellers! And do not fall for “high-quality furnishings and beautiful interiors” which couldn’t be further from the truth. In response to my complaint, Horizon did apologise and acknowledged they should have made us aware of the building works and they also apologised for the poor electrics saying they would be given “utmost priority to ensure the safety of future guests”. They also said the outside furniture would be replaced and general cleanliness would be tackled with a deep clean. They also apologised for not addressing concerns more promptly and for “lack of clarity or responsiveness”. Unfortunately, the promised improvements (which I hope have been addressed) were of no consequence to us and after putting up with the conditions for 7 nights, we moved out at considerable extra expense to us. We were offered a meagre 25% refund by Horizon but managed to gain more by taking the matter up with our bank. We had a 12-night stay in Mauritius but sadly have wiped out the first 7 nights due accommodation which was not fit for purpose which we booked due to misleading marketing.

This penthouse is fabulous, we never got tired of the views. The kitchen is well equipped although there is no toaster (although there is a sandwich toaster!) and I couldn't find the handle for the grill pan, but these are minor niggles. The Wolmar supermarket is only a few minutes walk for any essential supplies, the supermarket at Cascavelle is a 10 mins drive and has everything you need. The kids loved having their own rooms and plunge pool. The main pool and sunloungers were never busy but the pool is only 1.3m deep so fine for small kids but not really deep enough for my teenagers (who are both hardcore swimmers). The beach is just a few steps away and the water is warm, shallow and there's zero waves (being protected by the reef further out). Mauritius in winter is warm but not sweltering, and we only had 1 rainy day in the 10 days we stayed, the weather was lovely with lots of sunny days, but watch out, the sun sets at 6pm and there's very little twilight, 30 minutes later and it's pitch black. The road outside is unlit so you'll need to use your phone's torch if walking out at night. There's a cluster of restaurants about a mile up the road, so it's walkable or there's parking opposite if you want to drive. Our favourites were Bourgainville, Chutneys and Tidez. Hugo from Horizon is very welcoming and provided a list of recommended activities, we did the catamaran cruise with JPH, Blue Safari submarine, 7 coloured earth, Black River national Park and Casala wildlife park. We had a fantastic time in Mauritius and the penthouse was just fabulous. My top tip... buy an Emtel tourist SIM for your phone so can use data without paying ruinous data roaming fees, I got mine from the Pingouin car rental desk in the airport, it was only 500Rs for 15 GB (less than £10 GBP) and lasted for the whole time we were in Mauritius.