L'escale Resort Quick Thoughts
We recently traveled to the Seychelles to check out the Waldorf Astoria Platte Island. As there is only one daily flight to Platte Island, visitors usually stay on the main island for a night either before or after their Platte Island stay (or possibly both). As we were not looking forward to a 6 hour layover after a red-eye flight, we opted for a quick stay near the airport. Here are our L'escale Resort quick thoughts. This Small Luxury Hotel checked all the boxes for us and I am sure it would for you too.
What Was The Cost Of Our L'escale Resort Marina & Spa Booking & Is There Is Value In The Price?
This Small Luxury Hotel is now part of Hilton Honors and its dynamic pricing model for points stays. Luckily, a standard award room was available, but at a cost of 110,000 Hilton Honors points. In lieu of that cost, we opted to use a Hilton Free Night Certificate for this stay. The cash price was around $750 and that seems like a typical price after scrolling through the calendar.
I will say that this property is lovely and the pool and marina are mind-blowing. With only 20 rooms on the property, it really gives you a sense of privacy, seclusion and luxury. But $750 or 110,000 Hilton Honors points is far too much for this property. I would never pay that cash price or the Hilton Honors points price. I think $400-500 or 80,000 Hilton Honors points per night is more fair.
Some Thoughts On The Room: What I Liked About It & What Could Be Improved
The room itself was small, but very luxurious. It had awesome mountain views, but we sure would've enjoyed a water-view room (more on that below). Overall, the room was very quiet and suited our needs. I managed to sleep for 14 straight hours, so they did something right! Also, we were very happy that our room was ready at our 8:45 a.m. check-in.
Two things that should be improved are the in-room charging options and the hotel WiFi. We forgot our travel adapters and relied solely on USB charging for our entire two week trip. At this particular property, there was only one USB-C adapter in the entire room, so we had to coordinate 2 phones and 2 laptops with 1 cord. It worked, but it was a lot of mental gymnastics. For a $750/night room, we expected more.
Likewise, the hotel WiFi was a joke. We planned to work for a while before our 11 a.m. departure to the airport and an audio file I was attempting to upload was uploading less than 1% every 5 minutes. A 33 second video did not upload to Instagram in over an hour of trying. Both of these things happened in under a minute once we were on (free) public WiFi at the airport. How often do you brag about how good the airport WiFi is compared to your luxury, 5-star hotel? Yeah, that's really bad.
What Are Some Of The Better Amenities The Property Offers & Is It Missing Anything Important?
This waterfront luxury hotel has a baller waterfront pool. We spent many hours in the pool, with not a single guest there to interrupt our peace and quiet! Since the property is right on the marina, we got to watch a lot of boat traffic and spy on guests onboard a few 350+ foot mega yachts.
We opted for a late lunch/early dinner at the pool. It absolutely hit the spot and was tasty. I would definitely recommend the poolside dining and drinking options.
The hotel also offers a full spa and we were offered nice discounts on services for same-day appointments. Given how empty the hotel was, I am sure they were hoping to fill the calendar.
L'escale Resort Quick Thoughts: What Was Our Favorite Thing About The Property?
It goes without saying that our favorite part of this property was the waterfront pool. I could seriously sit there for days.
What Was Our Least Favorite Thing About The Property?
Our least favorite thing about the property was the service. It wasn't bad, necessarily, it was just a little bit strange. The person checking us in told us she was 17 and this was her first job, perhaps an internship, as she was studying at the tourism school. She was extremely friendly and knowledgable, but lacked the gravitas to convey a luxury hotel experience. Similarly, the next morning at breakfast our server was 15 years old or younger. She did not speak a single word to us, or even nod her head, so the whole experience was strange.
Additionally, the hotel has 20 rooms. Of those, we can't imagine even 4 or 5 were filled. We were on property for 26 hours and only saw 2 other guests, which was at breakfast on the morning of check-out. Despite this, they placed us in a standard room and did not upgrade us to a water-view room. Again, no biggie if that is how they operate, but it seemed extremely weird to not offer an upgrade to a Hilton Diamond member.
Lastly, the property refused to accept American Express cards. Again, not a deal-breaker, but it is required in the terms & conditions of the Small Luxury Hotels-Hilton partnership.
Would We Stay At The L'escale Resort Marina & Spa Again?
Overall, we would stay here again with a Hilton Free Night Certificate or a lower Hilton Honors points/cash cost. Again, I think $400-500 or 80,000 Hilton Honors per night is more fair for this property. I would not pay 110,000 Hilton Honors points.
It is a fantastic location, only a few minutes from the Seychelles Airport. Likewise, they had rooms ready for us at 8:45 a.m. after a red-eye flight. Those both fit our needs very well and make us want to return to this property on our next visit to the Seychelles.
L'escale Resort Quick Thoughts: ToP Thoughts
If you are considering a stay on the main island of the Seychelles, hopefully our L'escale Resort quick thoughts is helpful. You can check out our full Oman and Seychelles trip report on this post in the Facebook group. Have you stayed at L'escale Resort Marina & Spa? Come over to the Facebook group and let us know.
