Christmas Cheer and the Price of Beer

It's December.  The Festive Season usually means the hotels in Mauritius are full to bursting. But the global economic crash has hit tourism right between the eyes.   

I hear that some hotels are OK this year, with occupancy for December in the 75% region. While that's 25% off target, those hotels will make money.  Other hotels are frighteningly empty. And forward bookings into 2009 are sparse for everyone.  I would not be surprised if more than one hotel closes down until things get better. 

'So what good can come of this?' I ask myself.

The price of drinks in hotels is a source of constant complaint, irritation and anger.  Hotels mark up their drinks (including water and soft drinks) by as much as ten times the cost.  So, at the Ile Aux Cerfs Golf Club, a beer (Phoenix, in a 340 ml bottle) costs me Eur 5.00. The price in the shop in Grand Bay is Eur 0.50 (Rs2o).  

To put this into perspective, when I  go on holiday to Switzerland (a famously expensive country), I pay the same price (Eur5.00) for 500ml of Weisbeir on the top of a snow covered mountain.  The beer is transported by cable-car and ski doo.  The staff earn ten times what the local staff in Mauritius earn.  The cost of that beer in the shop in the Swiss valley is Eur2.5, so the mark up is only twice the cost.  Not ten times.

My wife had a golf group from the UK staying at a major golfing hotel on the east coast.

  They complained constantly about the drinks prices.  The wine given as prizes in the daily competition went down extremely well.   Wealthy guests hate getting ripped off just as much other guests.   The bar prices spoilt the experience for our golfers, and many had negative comments to say on the questionnaires that were passed out afterwards.

Many hotel guests solve the problem by sneaking off to the nearest shop and buying a few six packs and some water, and then ferreting these away into their rooms.  But take a tip from an old hand:  Check the brands in the mini-bar before you make your purchase.  If the cleaning staff spot strange items in the little fridge under the TV, it could be locked for the duration of your stay.  Then you will have to sneak out, buy a cool box, find some ice and make your own bar.  I have done this before!  Game sells good cooler boxes, but it is a long taxi ride from any beachfront hotel.

In fact, one weekend when we went to stay at one of these Euro based rip-off hotels, I filled a huge cooler box with enough drinks for ten of my friends and myself.  I then topped it up with ice.  It weighed a ton. The porters at the front desk struggled to carry it to my room.  

'Weren't you embarrassed to ask them to carry it?'  a friend asked me.  

'They should be embarrassed to charge those prices.' I replied.

We had a great weekend!

Hotels in Mauritius have had average occupancies of 85% every year. While these occupancies remained high the management could justifiably not give a stuff if anyone felt ripped off.

But the game is different now.  If the hotels don't wake up quickly, they will help Mauritius off the tourist map.  It is the era of shopping around. Other hotels will offer better deals. And not just hotels.  Bars and restaurants have already started lowering their prices.  In Grand Bay, The Beach House bar charges just Eur1.50 for a beer (Rs60) and you are sitting on the beach. Spinnakers is about the same. The Thaifoon Restaurant marks its wine up only 2 times, and serves great authentic Thai food. 

If choosing to play golf, a beer costs Rs80 at the Belle Ombre Golf course (Golf du Chate

au) and Rs100 at Tamarina Golf Club.

The best golf course in Mauritius without any doubt is the Anahita Golf Course, run by Four Seasons Hotel.  Your car is valet parked, you are ushered into a cool well sized change room by friendly professional staff.  Your bags are waiting on your cart.  Your name and handicap are entered into the huge GPS that even shows mini movies of each hole as you approach the tee box.  You are brought little cups of cold water while at the driving range, and chocolate chip cookies, fruit, cold towels and iced tea on the way to the first and the tenth.  Tiny smoked salmon sandwiches are delivered to you in the middle of each nine.  

The course is an Ernie Els layout, with ample fairways, challenging greens and bunkers. The sea views are stunning, and in December, the gentlest of cooling breezes takes the sting out of the humidity. The course is immaculate, the greens consistent and true.  Rock walls and canals thread through fairways, adding to the challenge.  I looked with envy at the lucky few who are building villas along the sparkling coastline.  

All too soon it was over and we were back in the club house.  The showers in the change room are the best in the world sending a cascade of water from a dizzy height, as you look through a glass wall onto a private garden.  

We got a special local price of Eur60 per person for the round (Rs2 400 or ZAR750) and it was worth it.  Freshly cleaned and happy from the sublime golf experience offered by Anahita, we then head for the bar...

A shandy cost me Rs345.00 (Eur9.20 or ZAR115).  Here is the slip:

And before you teetotal golfers get too excited, the standard walk-in rate for a round of golf at Anahita is Eur175.00 (Rs7 000 or ZAR2 187). 

As the Greeks once said, 'There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip."