Nosy Sakatia Vacations from $4,054

The resort was beautiful. The beach, the pool were fantastic and the rooms were good. They offered some good excursions and the kids club team were great with our daughter. On the negative side, Andilana Beach Resort targets a very specific demographic, Italians. This should have been highlighted as everything was in Italian, including all the entertainment, which limited our enjoyment. The language barrier was also a bit of a challenge, as we spoke very little Italian and most of the staff spoke limited English. The food was also specific to the demographic with more pasta and pizza on offer than we could handle. There were a few other options, but the quality was average. The resort could benefit from incorporating more local cuisine more regularly. We did get local options on the excursions, which was really good. Overall, the resort was great, the staff were great, but we struggled with the fact that everything was in Italian, which we did not expect from a French speaking territory.

We stayed at Ravintsara Wellness Hotel for five nights on a half-board basis and had a wonderful and very relaxing stay. The dinners were excellent throughout, with beautifully prepared food and a good selection. A special thank you to the restaurant team for taking such good care of my husband's dietary requirements. They were extremely accommodating and made sure his needs were catered for every evening. The spa was definitely one of the highlights. The treatments were excellent and the prices were surprisingly reasonable - considerably less than we normally find in hotel spas. Dina gave me an amazing facial, and the massages with Tendra and Patina were extremely professional, deep and incredibly relaxing. We thoroughly enjoyed the spa and would highly recommend it. Our bungalow had a beautiful view of the sea. Nosy Be has an extreme difference between low and high tide, but we found the view beautiful at both times and really enjoyed sitting and looking out over the water. The only negatives were a couple of unusual extra charges. We were surprised to be told that there would be an additional charge if we wanted to use the Jacuzzi bath in our own room, and there was also a charge to have an iron. For a hotel of this standard, we felt that both of these should really be included in the room rate. These were relatively small issues, however, and did not detract from what was otherwise a lovely five-night stay. Excellent food, a fantastic and reasonably priced spa.