Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort: Golf Free Until 31 Oct

Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort is the all-inclusive half of a two-hotel estate on the south coast of Mauritius, and the single most useful thing to know about it right now is a date. Golf at Le Château has been complimentary for resort guests, and the hotel’s own 2026/2027 factsheet states that from 1 November 2026 the green fee becomes chargeable. Almost every page describing this resort was written while the golf was free, which is why it is worth reading the current paperwork rather than the reviews. Everything below is taken from the resort’s own factsheet for 1 February 2026 to 31 January 2027 and its own site.

Where it sits, and what it is part of

Heritage Awali is in Bel Ombre on the quiet south coast, an hour or so from the airport at the opposite end of the island to the busier north-west. It is not a standalone hotel but part of Bel Ombre Territory, a domain it shares with the more formal Heritage Le Telfair, Heritage The Villas, two golf courses, a 19th century plantation house and a nature reserve. Guests get access to the wider estate, including 13 restaurants across it and 1km of beach.

The look is African rather than colonial, and deliberately so: Awali is a Swahili word, and the spa is built as a village of thatched huts. The resort is a 160-key property, which reads as mid-sized: 154 deluxe rooms of 52m² each in four view categories, five senior suites at 100m², and one beachfront villa at 310m² with its own pool.

One practical detail worth knowing before you book an upper floor: the factsheet states plainly that there is no lift in the resort.

The golf, and the change on 1 November 2026

The golf is the reason many people choose Awali over its neighbours, so the detail matters.

Heritage Golf Club runs two courses. Le Château Golf Course is the 18-hole championship layout, par 72, part of 27 holes designed by Peter Matkovich, with a maximum handicap of 54. La Réserve Golf Links is a private 18-hole par 72 co-designed by Louis Oosthuizen, the first contemporary links course in the Indian Ocean and host of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour. Its maximum handicap is 36, and it has always been paid-for rather than included.

Here is how the golf entitlement changes, per the factsheet:

That last line is the one to read twice. From November, the Premium plan’s golf is tied to stay length: a seven-night stay earns one round on each course, a fourteen-night stay earns two. Premium also adds unlimited access to the Le Château par 3 course and the 9-hole academy course, breakfast at either clubhouse, and dinner at O’Grill and at Le Château de Bel Ombre.

There is a 100% cancellation fee for a no-show or a tee time cancelled inside 24 hours on both courses, and tee times can be pre-booked by your tour operator, which is worth doing in the high season.

The spa: a new name and a new layout

If you have read about the “Seven Colours Spa” here, that name is out of date. The spa is now Heritage Spa & Wellness, recently renovated, and it is genuinely large: 3,000m² laid out as an African village in tropical gardens, open daily from 9am to 7:30pm.

The factsheet counts 18 treatment rooms, including seven doubles, a manicure and pedicure room, a family room, two Vichy showers and two steam rooms, plus three outdoor garden kiosks. Facilities are a vitality pool, a chilled pool, two hammams, a sauna, two relaxation areas, a hairdresser with a beauty parlour, and a bridal room. Note that the resort’s website quotes different treatment room counts in different places, one page saying 12 and the FAQ saying 20, so treat the factsheet as the reliable number and expect the layout to have shifted with the refit.

The included treatment has conditions that catch people out. Each adult and each teenager from 12 gets one 30-minute back massage per stay, and children aged 3 to 11 get a 20-minute massage. Both must be taken in the first two days after arrival, between 9am and 3pm, and both require a minimum five-night stay. Book it at check-in or you will lose it. Access to the spa’s pools and thermal facilities is included regardless.

If a spa is the main point of the trip rather than the golf, our guide to golf and spa breaks covers how the two usually trade off against each other, and overnight spa breaks is the closer-to-home version.

What all-inclusive covers, and where it stops

“Access to 13 restaurants” is accurate and easy to misread. Access is not the same as inclusion. On the standard All Inclusive plan the included venues are a selected list: Savana, the main restaurant; Infinity Blue, the à la carte beach restaurant; Zafarani, the Indian restaurant; C Beach Club; Kaz’Alala; and the clubhouse at Le Château. Eat anywhere else on the domain and it is payable in full, with no discount applied for the plan you already hold.

Three other boundaries worth knowing:

• Premium ingredients carry a supplement even in included restaurants. Lobster, foie gras, Wagyu beef and caviar are named in the terms.
• Sparkling wine by the glass is unlimited at the bars from 10am to 11pm on the standard plan. The Premium plan upgrades that to champagne by the glass at Zenzibar, Infinity Blue, Coco Shack, C Beach Club and the golf club.
• Espresso capsules in the room: the first four are complimentary, then chargeable. A small thing, and a fair example of how precisely this plan is drawn.

Included activities are extensive: two floodlit tennis courts with rackets, archery, beach volleyball and beach soccer, table tennis, bocce, a fitness centre open 6:30am to 8:30pm, aquagym, yoga, snorkelling trips, traditional lagoon fishing, kayaks, Hobie Cats with a valid licence, and one ticket per guest to the World of Seashells museum. Quad biking, horse riding, 4x4 photo safaris, hiking at Le Morne and wellness walks in the Bel Ombre Nature Reserve all cost extra.

Families: read the age bands carefully

Awali markets itself hard at families, and for under-12s the provision is real. Baby Timomo is a free club for babies from 0 to 35 months, open seven days from 8:30am to 3:30pm, staffed by nurses trained in first aid and childcare, with 24 hours’ notice advised because places are limited. Timomo Kids Club takes children from 3 to 12, open 8:30am to 5pm and again 6:30pm to 11pm, with sega dance, djembe and ravanne lessons, cookery workshops, golf and tennis initiation and a glass-bottom boat trip.

Teenagers are the gap. The factsheet lists an Umuzi Teens Club for 12 to 17 year olds, then adds a footnote stating there is no dedicated teens club and that teen activities are run by the sports club subject to participation and availability. If your holiday depends on keeping a 14-year-old occupied, plan around the tennis, the water sports and the golf academy rather than a club.

Room occupancy is generous for families: the 52m² deluxe rooms take two adults and two children under 12, or one teenager, or three adults, and 24 of them interconnect. Only one room, a garden view deluxe, is specifically configured for disabled guests.

Who it suits

It suits you if you want a five-star all-inclusive with genuinely good golf on the doorstep, you have children under 12, and you would rather be on the green, quiet south coast than in the resort strip. The all-inclusive plan is unusually broad by Mauritian standards and the estate gives you more to do than a single hotel could.

Look at Heritage Le Telfair instead if you want the more formal, grown-up hotel on the same estate, or at the villas if you want space and self-catering. And if you are travelling as a couple without golf in the plan, the African-village styling and the family focus may not be the atmosphere you are paying for; our couples spa day and solo spa breaks guides cover that end of the market.

Practicalities

Check-in is from 2pm and check-out is noon, though both all-inclusive plans run from arrival to departure regardless of those times. Free cancellation applies up to seven days before arrival, and a no-show is charged at 100%. The resort holds Green Key certification, and there are three swimming pools including an adults-only pool beside Zenzibar.

All guests in the same room must be on the same meal plan, and the plan has to be taken for the whole stay. Nothing unconsumed is refunded or compensated, which is the usual arrangement and worth factoring in if you plan to spend days away from the hotel.

Frequently asked questions

Is golf included at Heritage Awali Golf & Spa Resort? Until 31 October 2026 the green fee at Le Château Golf Course is complimentary for resort guests on the All Inclusive plan, excluding equipment and lessons. From 1 November 2026 it becomes chargeable, and the Premium All Inclusive plan instead gives one round per person per stay on each of the two courses, with a minimum seven-night stay.

What is included in Heritage Awali’s all-inclusive plan? Meals at a selected list of venues including Savana, Infinity Blue, Zafarani, C Beach Club and Kaz’Alala, unlimited sparkling wine by the glass from 10am to 11pm, spa access plus one 30-minute massage per stay, the kids clubs, and a long list of land and water activities. Other restaurants on the estate are payable in full, and premium ingredients such as lobster and Wagyu carry a supplement.

Is the spa still called the Seven Colours Spa? No. It is now Heritage Spa & Wellness, recently renovated, covering 3,000m² with 18 treatment rooms plus three outdoor garden kiosks, two hammams, a sauna, a vitality pool and a chilled pool. It is open daily from 9am to 7:30pm.

How many rooms does Heritage Awali have? 160 in total: 154 deluxe rooms of 52m² across beach view, garden view, sea view and beachfront categories, five senior suites of 100m², and one 310m² beachfront villa with a private pool. There is no lift in the resort.

Is Heritage Awali good for families? Yes for children under 12. The baby club for 0 to 35 months and the Timomo kids club for 3 to 12 year olds are both free and well staffed, and the deluxe rooms take two adults and two children with 24 interconnecting rooms. For teenagers the factsheet confirms there is no dedicated teens club, with activities run through the sports club instead.

How do I get the free spa treatment at Heritage Awali? Book it as soon as you arrive. The complimentary 30-minute back massage for adults and teenagers from 12, and the 20-minute massage for children aged 3 to 11, must be taken within the first two days of the stay, between 9am and 3pm, and a minimum five-night stay is required.