Pause and Reflect

Familiar rhythms, thoughtful design, and slow pleasures shape a first encounter at the just-renovated Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita.

- Bayar Jain

This was my first time in Mauritius, but it didn't feel unfamiliar. There was something instantly legible about the island. Part of it is demographic fact: nearly two-thirds of Mauritius's population traces its roots to India, with descendants of indentured labourers who arrived in the 19th century. But it goes beyond numbers. I hear it in Bhojpuri and Hindi phrases woven into everyday conversation, and see it in roadside temple flags. Even a billboard for LIC, an Indian state-owned insurance group and investment company, at the arrival terminal seems to underscore the connection.

I stay with that feeling as the car pulls away from the airport and heads east. The drive offers brief glimpses of local life: shuttered shops, light traffic, and a landscape that gradually shifts between land and sea. By the time I arrive at the Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita, the island has settled into a rhythm I can easily follow— and crave: laid-back. A tour of the resort puts that rhythm into context. The team explains that the property has just reopened after a seven-month transformation. The timing surprises me. Architecturally, the resort already feels settled, spread across a vast, green site edged by turquoise waters, with views of gardens, lagoons, and the open sea. The reasoning, offered candidly on multiple occasions, is simple: “for more openness.”