Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita ranks #21 on our 2026 list of the best family hotels in the world. The case below explains why — the kids’ programme, the suite layout, the pool depths, and the alternatives we measured it against.
“On Anahita estate — 134 villas with championship golf course.”
The hotel itself
A 136-villa Four Seasons on a private peninsula in Beau Champ — opened October 2008 — with two Ernie Els-designed championship golf courses, the Bambou contemporary-Mauritian restaurant, and the largest hotel spa in the Indian Ocean.
"A 136-villa Four Seasons on a 60-hectare peninsula in Beau Champ. Two Ernie Els championship golf courses on the property. The villa-only inventory and the multi-generational-family scale make this the unambiguous Indian Ocean family booking."
Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita opened on 1 October 2008 as the brand's first Indian Ocean property — built on a 60-hectare peninsula on the south-eastern coast of Mauritius at Beau Champ, with the Indian Ocean to the east, the protected Anahita lagoon to the north, and a private mile of beach to the west. The architectural commission was Hong Kong practice WATG with interior architecture by Bensley Design Studios; the brief was a deliberately villa-only inventory of 136 detached and semi-detached villas arrayed across the peninsula, with the principle that no villa should be visible from any other and that every villa should have an unobstructed Indian Ocean or lagoon view. The two Ernie Els championship golf courses (the 18-hole Île aux Cerfs course on the offshore island; the 18-hole Anahita course on the peninsula itself) were completed in 2008 and 2007 respectively and operate as the property's principal sporting amenities.
Why it works for a family
A beach-resort family trip succeeds when the hotel takes the kids off the parents' hands without making the kids feel banished. The properties that earn family-list inclusion in beach destinations have the kids' club staffed by professionals (not interns), the pool depths zoned for toddlers and adults, and the in-villa or in-suite dining that handles a 6pm kids' dinner and a 9pm parents' dinner without negotiation. The Maldives, Caribbean, and Hawaiian flagships have spent decades refining this.
Four Seasons Resorts are the family-luxury workhorse of the industry. Founded in Toronto in 1961 by Isadore Sharp and now controlled by Bill Gates and Saudi Arabia's PIF, the brand has refined the resort kids programme into something close to a science. The Kids For All Seasons programme is consistent across the portfolio — same standard at Maui, Maldives, Orlando, Jackson Hole. The connecting suite categories have actual configurations, not afterthoughts. The dining programmes have parent restaurants and kids restaurants in the same compound. For a family that wants the trip to work without thinking, Four Seasons Resorts are the floor.
The 136 villas divide between Garden Pool Villas (66 units at 175 sqm with private 6-metre pools), Ocean Pool Villas (44 at 200 sqm), Beach Pool Villas (18 at 280 sqm directly on the beach), and the named Multi-Bedroom Villas (8 units of 2-3 bedrooms at 380-600 sqm) including the Royal Pool Villa at 1,000 sqm with a private 18-metre pool, dedicated villa staff and a private outdoor sala-pavilion. Bathrooms are travertine and brass; bath products are Voya, Four Seasons' signature Indian Ocean partner.
Bambou is the principal restaurant — a contemporary Mauritian-Asian register opened with the resort. Acquario is the Italian fine-dining; Beach Shack is the all-day beach-front register; Aqua is the contemporary seafood; Tides is the Asian-tasting kitchen. The Spa at Four Seasons Anahita — at 4,000 square metres across two floors, the largest hotel spa in the Indian Ocean — runs nine treatment rooms, two couples' suites, hammam, sauna, and an indoor 25-metre lap pool. Two outdoor pools (the family pool, the adults-only) and the full-service Watersports Centre complete the wellness layer. The Kids For All Seasons programme operates a separate dedicated complex with full-day programming.
Where it ranks against rivals
For a 2026 family trip at this level, the most direct comparisons are Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui in Koh Samui (#20 on this list), Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid in Madrid (#22 on this list), Aman New York in New York (#19 on this list). Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita earns the higher rank for one or two specific reasons covered in the verdict above — usually a combination of kids’ programme depth, suite configuration, and the parent restaurant that holds when the meeting goes long. The other properties are not lesser hotels — in some cases the answer for your particular trip is the runner-up.
Practical: getting in
Address: Mauritius. Family-suited categories — the connecting suites, the multi-bedroom villas, the rooms with sofa beds plus a separate king — book six to twelve months ahead in school holiday peaks (Christmas, Easter, summer). The full review at the hotel page has current rates, the room categories worth paying up for, and the kids’ programme details. Use the family occasion page for the broader context, or the Mauritius city guide for what else to do while you’re there.