The Orchard Holiday Home

The garden is beautiful, and they grow all the fruit and vegetables right there. Breakfast was great too, and the room was lovely, with a big bathroom. It’s a quiet spot in the countryside with no tourists around, and you can reach the beach by walking down a hill. You’ll need a car to stay here. It’s a private home, so the rooms are part of the owner’s residence. She’s building a separate property, which will eventually leave this house just for renters. If you want a peaceful stay in a shared home, this is a lovely choice. It may be harder to book once it becomes a full rental, so go now and get to know the owner. You might have a little paradise to return to.

We were a bit nervous about ending our 14-day Seychelles trip in an apartment after spending the first 10 days in fancy hotels. But Beryl's place felt like a real home. She’s such a lovely host, offering fruit from her garden through the day and keeping us entertained at night with her stories. Ask her about the “Beryl Road in Sweden” story, it was my favourite. We got so attached that we all had tears in our eyes when we left. The apartment is close to Grand Anse beach, one of the most magnificent beaches on this side of the island. Grand Anse Super Market is also near the beach, so groceries were easy to get. The home itself was great, and having Beryl there gave it a special charm. P.S. We taught Beryl how to make lassi, an Indian drink, while we were there. If you’re Indian or enjoy Indian food, try her Mango/Strawberry Lassi 😅😂.

We had a lovely time here. Beryl is a friendly, fantastic host, the house is nice, and breakfast was good. The location works well too, though you should hire a car.

The rooms had a horrible damp, old smell, and nothing like the photos. My cloth bags still stink, and it’s especially hard to get that smell out of bags you can’t wash 😅. The garden was okay, and breakfast was okay too, but nothing special, mostly eggs. Without a car there isn’t much to do. From the main road it’s an uphill walk of about 10-15 minutes, depending on your pace. There’s a little shop another 5-10 minutes away, but it smelled bad and mostly had expensive dry food. Walk another 5-10 minutes and you can get what I thought was the most disgusting pizza ever. The nearest beach is about 25 minutes from the villa. I don’t know where all the glowing comments about “The orchard self catering” come from. We expected it to be great after reading them, but it wasn’t. Low standard!