Review: Waldorf Astoria Seychelles resort – paradise on Platte Island
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This is our review of Waldorf Astoria Platte Island in the Seychelles.
One of the biggest luxury hotel openings this year is not a Four Seasons, an Aman or a Cheval Blanc but a Hilton: the Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island.
This new private island resort opened earlier this year and offers an alternative to the resort-island market that is dominated by the Maldives. It was on our top new Hilton openings for 2024 and has been a decade in the making.
If you haven’t already, then I suggest reading my introduction to The Seychelles where I look at what it has to offer and how you can get there from the UK.
This is one of three hotel reviews from my trip to the Seychelles. You can read my review of Canopy Seychelles, on Mahé here, whilst my review of Mango House (a Hilton LXR Hotel) is here.
Hilton provided my accommodation, board and flight to Platte but I paid for all other expenses, including flights to the Seychelles.
Introducing Platte Island
Unlike the Maldives, the Seychelles is not necessarily known for its collection of atolls or islands: the vast majority of residents, hotels and resorts are located on one of the main islands including Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
Nonetheless, the country comprises 115 islands, most of which are uninhabited. One of these is Platte Island, or Ile Platte in French, which literally means ‘flat island’. The island is tiny – 1km end to end – and is surrounded by a shallow lagoon thanks to the surrounding barrier reef, which protects the island from the Indian Ocean.
Considered one of the outer islands, Platte is 140km from Mahé. Since 1838 the island has had a variety of uses, including quarantining ships and harvesting guano (bird droppings used as fertiliser) and, more recently, as a coconut plantation.
In the 1980s, the Seychelles Government created the Island Development Corporation, or IDC, to take over and “enable the economy of the outer islands to be developed.” For the past decade, IDC has been developing Platte Island as a Maldives-style resort island, working with Hilton to open the first Waldorf Astoria in the country. Waldorf Astoria Platte Island finally opened in January this year.
Getting to Platte Island
The length of the island means there is just enough space for a proper concrete runway at its centre, enabling IDC to operate daily charter flights from Mahé to Platte. These are operated by IDC’s aviation fleet of three Beechcraft B-1900 propeller planes.
Flight time is just 20-25 minutes; on most days, flights depart Mahé at 11am before a speedy turnaround on the island departing Platte around 11:45 or midday.
These are not regularly scheduled flights and do not come with a flight number: the only way to book is once you’ve booked your stay at the Waldorf Astoria, after which someone email you with details. The cost is €700 per adult and €350 per child return, and includes a cabin bag and 23kg of luggage.
The Waldorf Astoria team at Mahé Airport (shout out to Trevor, who is phenomenal) are ready to help you check-in and take you up to the lounge upstairs (still landside) where you can wait for your flight. The lounge is fairly basic but it has good views across the runway and a surprisingly decent made-to-order food menu.
Waldorf Astoria is looking at building its very own lounge next door to this as well, which I imagine would be even smarter.
The only boarding pass you get is this laminated piece of card that is reused on each flight:
Trevor or one of the Waldorf team will come and get you when it’s ready to board. Security is quick and easy in the domestic terminal (more of a room, really!) and within a minute you’re walking across the airfield to the aircraft.
The seating inside is 1-1. If you’re tall, like me, you won’t even be able to stand up straight in the aisle.
The flight is relatively uneventful, flying over open ocean until you reach Platte. A very short landing before the plane turns around and parks – literally – in front of the resort lobby / arrivals centre.
Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island layout
The resort is spread across the entire island, broadly split into four quarters, with the runway bisecting North to South. Guest areas are spread across three quarters whilst staff accommodation and back of house is in the fourth quarter.
The majority of villas are on the Western coast: this is obviously better for evening sunsets but also seems to be the less windy/wavey side. Crossing across to the East I was struck by how much louder the wavers broke over the barrier reef in the lagoon.
The vast majority of paths are made of compacted sand and meander through the lush vegetation on the island: they are pockmarked with the burrows of crabs which quickly scuttle away as you cycle past.
Getting around is relatively easy. Unless you need to go to one of the far corners of the island, most of the guest facilities are centralised and easily walkable. If you are in a rush then you can use your personalised bike which comes labelled with your name tag or call a buggy to collect you.
Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island facilities
In total, there are 50 guest villas spread across the island with a combination of one, two, three and five bedroom villas: all have their own private pools. All the rooms are set back from the beach as Platte Island remains an important nesting site for both Green and Hawksbill turtles.
On the central west side you’ll find a cluster of guest facilities including the island jetty, main pool, fitness centre, rooftop bar and La Perle restaurant – one of three on the island. Concierge is also located here, as is the watersports and dive centre.
Here is the main pool, which is relatively quiet as all the villas have their own private pools:
Although it’s an infinity pool, the views are not the best as it is set quite far back from the beach with a large flat area separating it from the sea. I’m not sure what the thinking behind this was.
Of course, one of the key benefits of relaxing by the main pool is the pool service from Torti, the pool bar. There is a dedicated lunch menu where you can create your own bento boxes which is a nice idea. The food is about what you’d expect – nothing to write home about – with the sushi being the highlight:
However, service around the pool is very slow and the least polished anywhere on the resort. Compared to the pool service you might expect at a comparable hotel (such as Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve or the Four Seasons Langkawi) it is poor, if friendly.
However, right next door to the pool you’ll find La Perle, the main restaurant on the island serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is meant to be a Mediterranean brasserie and looks over the pool with indoor and outdoor seating, including some sunken fire pits that are lit at night:
Both the food and service here are much better than by the pool and I was genuinely impressed by the dinner we had here. The strange thing is that I believe La Perle shares a kitchen with Torto, so I’m not sure what’s going on there!
Perched above the pool, and looking out to the ocean is Lalin, which means ‘moon’ in Creole – “the highest point on the island” – the main resort bar. You’ll get a personalised experience here: the cocktail menu is very small but Immanuel will ask you your tastes and get the bartender to rustle something up.
A few hundred metres down one of the sandy paths you’ll find the fitness centre. This comprises an (indoor) yoga pavilion and gym as well as a tennis and paddel court:
and
Between Lalin and the fitness centre is the watersports and dive centre. The resort only offers non-motorised sports such as kayaking and stand up paddle boarding in order to protect the marine life in the lagoon.
The dive centre is operated as Blue Safari Seychelles Plate Island and is a five-star PADI centre, so you can do both Discovery dives or qualify for your Open Water and other PADI courses here. Dives are from a catamaran boat. Sadly, despite diving at the manta ray cleaning station on the fringes of the lagoon I didn’t see any large marine life – but that’s life with wildlife.
It’s just as easy to see wildlife without getting your feet wet. Walk up and down the beaches and you’ll quickly spot a variety of stingrays basking in the shallows as well as small, two-foot long sharks zipping around.
They come right up to the shoreline, as close as a foot or two, so it really is quite spectacular.
Depending on the season, it could be either Green or Hawksbill turtle nesting season. Hawksbill Turtles nest and hatch during the day whilst Green Turtles only do so at night. The resort marks out the nests with dried coconuts so that you don’t disturb them:
The beaches are beautiful and quiet quiet. You can easily circumnavigate the entire island in about an hour, walking along the beaches and occasionally wading in the shallow waters where the vegetation creeps right up to the water’s edge.
Northern Summer, from May to Summer, is seagrass season. This is a natural process where sea grass washes up on beaches as part of an annual renewal. Think of it as the underwater version of Autumn leaves.
Fortunately, the sea grass is not particularly intrusive: this is not the sargassum crisis that Mexico is facing. It is odourless and quantities are manageable, as you can see above. If pristine white-sand beaches are what you’re after, however, then you’re better off coming in the Northern Winter.
On the east side of the island you’ll find another restaurant, Moulin, and the resort spa. For some inexplicable reason the resort also has a group of Giant Seychelles tortoises here (no, I don’t know why, either!)
The spa has a number of dedicated treatment room pavilions, each with private showers and outdoor baths, but the spa also features a wellness pavilion with steam room, sauna, warm experience pool and standard infinity pool. This is a lovely place to relax before your treatment.
Next door is Moulin which is surrounded by a large kitchen garden. The lack of real seasons here mean that produce can be grown almost year-round, with aubergines, tomatoes, maize, beans and more on display. One of the chefs told me that about 60% of ingredients are sourced from the gardens, so this is more than just PR waffle.
The restaurant itself is housed in two greenhouse-inspired rooms with big glass walls and skylights. It’s a lovely setting from which you can see into the gardens.
Moulin feels like the most gastronomic / fine dining of all the restaurants on the island and the concept is very much garden-to-table with a daily set menu comprising six courses for €185. They are all vegetable based although, if you ask for it, they will offer you a choice of proteins – prawn, beef or chicken – to accompany the main course.
I love vegetables – although I’m a certified carnivore – and loved dinner here. The food was excellent but Steven’s fantastic service was even better – personable, funny and totally professional.
The only other restaurant on the island is Maison des Epices which serves a ‘Creolatino’ fusion. This is the furthest away of the three restaurants, in the southern corner of the resort, and is best buggied to when it is dark out as you won’t know where to go.
I loved the game skewers with ostrich, kudu and springbok:
All guests get a personal concierge with whom you can arrange activities, make reservations or requests or just generally ask questions about the resort: our concierge Donia was helpful in arranging buggies when we needed them as well as booking in my dive with the watersports centre.
Service all over the island was friendly and charming, with a mix of both Seychellois and international staff. It’s not quite as intense as at Four Seasons resorts, where you’ll often find yourself greeted by name by everyone from the pool boy to the waiters, but we were rarely asked for our room number as staff generally recognised us.
Part 2 of this review looks at the Hawksbill one-bedroom villas in more detail.
Get a special deal via our luxury hotel partner
Our luxury hotel booking partner, Emyr Thomas, is a Hilton ‘Impressario’ agent. Anyone booking Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island via Emyr will receive the following benefits:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Complimentary breakfast for two
- $100 equivalent hotel credit once per stay
- Early check-in / late check-out, subject to availability
- Double Hilton Honors points, plus the standard elite night credits
There is also a ‘4th night free’ promotion at the moment which is hugely valuable given the rates here. You pay the same as the flexible rate on the Hilton website and the cancellation / payment rules are identical.
You can contact Emyr by filling in the form on this page of HfP.
The hotel website is here if you want to find out more or book.
How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (October 2024)
There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.
You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.
We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.
You can apply for either card here.
NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit
12,000 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review
NEW: Hilton Honors Debit
3,500 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review
There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.
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.
The Platinum Card from American Express
50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
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.
(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.)
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