Review: the Canopy by Hilton Seychelles Resort

This is our review of the Canopy by Hilton Seychelles Resort on Mahé.

When Hilton announced it was opening two new resorts on the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles this year, my ears perked up. The Seychelles has long been on my bucket list and two new hotels seemed like the perfect excuse to go.

If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my introductory article to the Seychelles as a whole, looking at what the islands offer and how you can get there from the UK.

This is the first of three hotel reviews from my trip to The Seychelles. My reviews of the new private-island Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island (click here) and Mango House (a Hilton LXR Hotel) – review here – are also worth reading. Hilton provided my accommodation and board but I paid for all other expenses, including flights.

The hotel website is here.

Where is Canopy Seychelles?

The Canopy is located on Mahé, the largest and main island in the Seychelles, home to the capital and a full 86% of the country’s population.

At 157 square kilometres it is not particularly big, but its dramatic landscape of mountains rising straight out of the ocean means it can take over an hour to traverse the winding coastal roads from top to bottom.

The Canopy is located on the Western coast in Anse A La Mouche, south of the airport on the West coast. The drive takes around 45 minutes, depending on traffic, as you need to cross across the mountainous interior.

Anse A La Mouche is a very small town with a fairly long beach, and the Canopy is part of a new development nearby.

Inside the Canopy Seychelles Resort

Arriving at the Canopy, our bags were taken by a porter and we were asked to take a seat in the lobby whilst reception dealt with our check-in. Cold towels and a welcome ice lolly were offered whilst I admired the colourful murals painted by local artist George Camille:

The lobby itself is on the upper-ground level and looks out across the resort and towards the sea: the rest of the resort is at a lower ground level. From here you get a good vantage point across the whole resort, which helps with familiarisation.

The resort is made up of several connected buildings in a loose semi-circular shape, cupping the main pool and gardens, with the flat end of the semi-circle abutting onto the public beach path.

Once we were checked in the porter escorted us to our room and explained some key room features.

Junior suites at Canopy Seychelles

The resort’s 120 guest rooms are spread across various two-story blocks.

By virtue of my Diamond status, or perhaps because this was a review stay, we were upgraded to a Junior Suite on the ground floor overlooking the main pool. Hilton doesn’t publish the room size on their website but it was very spacious and can accommodate up to three with a roll-away bed.

A Canopy hotel is a Canopy hotel no matter how exotic the location, and that means you get an open wardrobe with granite-topped luggage storage:

A safe, drawers, steamer and bright orange Canopy umbrella (necessary for the occasional rainshower) were here as well.

Next to this is the mini bar with a Nespresso machine, kettle and mini fridge. This is stocked with beers, soft drinks and three full-sized bottles of wine, all of which are chargeable.

As is standard for Canopy, you don’t get plastic bottles of water but instead refillable glass ones. I was pleased to see that housekeeping had left two full bottles of water out for me – a first amongst my 5+ Canopy reviews. The water spigot also had spare bottles so you could simply fill one up on the way back to your room. This is a much better and more thoughtful system than at other Canopy hotels.

Opposite the mini bar and open wardrobe you’ll find one of three (!) doors to the bathroom: one from the entrance hallway and two to the bedroom.

The bathroom contrasts a lively print wallpaper with chunky granite counter tops and two bright blue wash basins:

A huge round bath sits in between the shower and toilet, both of which feature transparent glass walls and doors.

I can understand this for the shower, but it does seem an odd choice for the toilet. You can still close all three bathroom doors, of course, but that also means nobody else can use the shower or wash basins whilst you are busy.

In fact, all three of the hotels I stayed at in the Seychelles had glass toilet doors – strange when I think almost everyone would prefer to #pooinpeace!

Toiletries are the typical ‘thankyou’ brand with aloe vera and lemon oil, although they didn’t seem quite as lemony as I remember!

Head into the bedroom, via your choice of one of the three bathroom doors, and you are greeted by the king bed and a very classy cane canopy befitting of the tropical interior design:

Some equally colourful ceramic lights hang over both chunky wood night stands where you’ll find a UK-style three-pin plug and a USB-A port:

At the foot of the bed is a sofa and coffee table which face towards a wall-mounted TV and desk:

A small round table is in the corner:

…. whilst another, larger, round table is in the opposite corner, clearly missing its chairs:

Between the two bathroom doors you’ll also find a dressing table:

Our terrace was large and featured both loungers and a sofa seat, and you could walk straight through the garden to the pool:

Overall, I found the room very spacious and comfortable, so much so that it felt like the hotel wasn’t quite sure what to do with all the space and put two round dining tables in!

I liked the overall aesthetic of the room, which felt quite grown up for a Canopy: wood panelling, granite floors and worktops with rattan and accent wallpaper.

Pool, beach and gym at Canopy Seychelles

There is just one main pool on the left-hand side of the resort, whilst a smaller, shallow kids pool is on the right.

At check-in you are given a towel card which you can redeem at the towel hut: return your towel and you get the card back. I guess this means that unused loungers are kept available, rather than guests using towels to reserve them when not in use.

As you can see the hotel has made an effort to provide plenty of loungers, both poolside as well as a row of cabanas set back slightly and interspersed with planting.

Given the hotel has just opened landscaping is very fresh: once it grows in it should look even better.

The area surrounding the pool is set at a number of different levels, with the pool bar in the corner overlooking the whole thing:

The bar features a funky hanging fish skeleton sculpture:

At the back of the resort you’ll find access to the beach, which is public. A security guard appears to monitor access 24/7. To get to the beach you need to cross the promenade:

The beach itself is very long but less than 10m deep with just a couple of loungers.

Meanwhile, the gym is behind the guest accommodation in the spa complex and features a fitness studio:

Food and drink at the Canopy Seychelles Resort

I was surprised to find there was just one restaurant on site, called Avocet, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sega Bar, by the pool, also serves lunch / pool snacks such as salads, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches. A second restaurant called Palem opens later this year and will serve Asian cuisine.

Avocet was nicely decorated and the wicker basket lampshades look even better at night:

Of course, you can also sit outside on the terrace:

Dinner at Avocet is a sort of ‘mini buffet’ rather than menu driven. Numerous small dishes are provided as part of each course, giving you the option to taste a variety of things. For example, starters included a mini cheese platter, cob salad, beef noodle salad, tropical salad, spinach quiche:

Meanwhile, the main course consisted of roasted vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, beef stew, tuna steak, Creole rice, lamb chop:

If a particular dish takes your fancy then they will happily bring you more. Given this is the only restaurant in the resort I assume the menu changes daily.

Overall, I thought dinner was fine but nothing to write home about.

In contrast, breakfast was much better and featured a proper self-serve buffet.

A fresh orange juice machine and prosecco mean you can make yourself mimosas. If you want to stay healthy you have a mountain of fresh fruit to choose from:

…. plus salads in little cups, cheeses and salami:

A hot station includes eggs-to-order as well as some curries, bacon, sausages, baked beans and the like. Labelling could have been better – some things were a bit of a lucky dip!

As part of breakfast you’re also able to order from an a la carte menu that includes shakshuka, eggs benedict, omelettes etc.

In general, the hotel seemed to be out of stock of several things (lychee juice, a particular tonic water I wanted etc). This seemed to happen across my stays in the Seychelles so perhaps that’s just par for the course here, and one downside of being over 1,000km from the nearest landmass!

Conclusion

Canopy is generally positioned as a mass-market four star brand for guests who want to stay in hotels with a bit of personality, and in that regard I think Canopy Seychelles ticks all the boxes. Rooms are stylish and the resort reminded me of Le Meridien Mauritius (review here) both in its layout and atmosphere.

I can see the Canopy becoming particularly popular with families and the hotel tries to put on daily programming which ranges from a fire show (think someone juggling with fire etc) to a live DJ by the pool on Sunday afternoons.

The gardens are still looking very fresh: right now they are newly planted and manicured, but I think they will look even better in a couple of years when the planting has matured and broadened out.

Rooms at the Canopy Seychelles start at €300 per night or 86,000 Hilton Honors points. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

Next up in this series will be my review of the brand new Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island – click here to read that. My third review, Mango House Seychelles, is here.

---

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (September 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points and they come with generous sign-up bonuses. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)