Travel Agent Lynnwood

On the 10th of May 2009 I boarded Air Seychelles flight HM060 and flew to the Seychelles. After a five hour flight, we arrived in a very warm, humid Mahe International Airport. I was part of a group of 10 elite agents on an incentive tour of the Sainte Anne Resort with Beachcomber Tours.

We drove from the airport to the Roche Caiman Jetty for our boat transfer from Mahe to Sainte Anne which took about 15 minutes. How lovely it was to feel the warm wind through your hair as we crossed the ocean to the Sainte Anne Island. As we arrived, we could already see the lovely fish, including a sting ray - greeting us at the Sainte Anne jetty. We were welcomed with a deserving cold towel and refreshments, followed by a buffet breakfast, Sainte Anne style. This was served in the main restaurant, L'Abondance. The tables have a lovely view of the ocean and the main island, Mahe.

My overall feeling of the Sainte Anne Resort and Spa is that this hotel is really superb for honeymooners and couples wanting to get away from it all and to have a quiet, romantic and relaxing experience. You really get that feeling that you are alone on an island somewhere in the ocean. At Sainte Anne they also welcome families and have a dedicated mini club for young children at no additional cost. You can easily relax, forget about everything and drift off into a day dream, whilst looking out into the sunset. The hotel offers great facilities, Beauty Salon, Spa by Clarins (I recommend you treat yourself), a Wellness Centre, Hammam, Money exchange, First Aid and an infirmary to name just a few. The hotel offers sports like pedal boats, kayaks, snorkelling, yoga, tennis, gym, stretching and table tennis. Optional sports at an additional charge include boat excursions, walking trails, catamaran cruises, scuba diving and deep-sea fishing. A local band plays popular melodies in the evenings.

Each villa is exquisitely furnished with a terrace offering lovely garden or sea views. Depending on the accommodation, some villas also have a private splash pool. The most fantastic feature I found about the rooms is the private outside shower facilities to your unsuite bathroom, how pleasant and different.

We enjoyed an afternoon snorkelling adventure just off the main island of Sainte Anne. It was absolutely fantastic. The reef was only a 5 minute boat transfer away. After snorkelling we had refreshments and fresh fruit on the boat. Dinner at Sainte Anne can be enjoyed buffet style at the main restaurant or you can dine at any of the 3 other restaurants located on the property. Le Mont Fleuri with its romantic setting is built on stilts just above the beach. L'Oceane is a restaurant situated on the beach and it serves the freshest seafood. Le Robinson, is tucked into an alcove of granitic boulders, and offers an intimate atmosphere. The cuisine was exquisite and the choices endless. Sainte Anne has lovely private beach areas; in front of the main hotel there is a smaller beach in addition to this it has two lovely stretches of beach and a warm welcoming oceans on both sides of the property.

If you are adventurous you can easily visit the beautiful islands of La Digue and Praslin on a one day excursion from Sainte Anne. La Digue is a beautiful island where you can visit the small local shops, take an ox-cart ride (main mode of transport on the island) and visit the L'Union estate where a magnificent old Creole house, a restored copra mill and a boat yard awaits you. Here you'll also find Anse Source d'Argent, amongst the finest beaches in the world and certainly the most photographed with beautiful granite boulders and crystalline water. Praslin is known for its famous beach, Anse lazio, is where magnificent boulders grace silver sands which is lapped by clear turquoise waters. A visit to Praslin will not be complete without discovering the magnificent Coco-de-Mer, the world's heaviest nut. It grows on ancient palms in a primeval forest which was once believed to be the original site of the Garden of Eden in Vallee de Mai.

Seychelles is like heaven on earth to me and I have promised myself, that I will visit the islands again one day. It will be a sin not to…