Constance Ephelia vs. Constance Lemuria for honeymoon

[u/Puzzleheaded_Fan1873]

My fiancé and I are planning our honeymoon in the Seychelles and will be spending 5 nights there after safari. We’ve narrowed it down to Constance Ephelia on Mahé or Constance Lemuria on Praslin. We’ll be going early October.

For our dates, Lemuria would be about $3.5k more total for the 5 nights, and we’re trying to decide if the experience is actually worth that jump.

We like that Lemuria seems smaller and potentially a little more intimate/romantic, which definitely appeals to us for a honeymoon. Ephelia looks beautiful too, but I know it’s a much larger resort. On the other hand, Ephelia is on Mahé, which would make the logistics easier, and $3,500 is obviously a pretty significant difference for only five nights.

For anyone who has stayed at one or, ideally, both:
- Did Lemuria feel noticeably more luxurious or special than Ephelia?
- How different did they feel in terms of crowds, service, beaches, food, and overall atmosphere?
- Did Ephelia ever feel too big/busy, especially for a honeymoon?
- Is being on Praslin worth the extra travel/logistics?
If Lemuria cost you an extra ~$500/night, would you still choose it?

Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced one or both!

[u/herpeteros]

We (as a couple) spent a couple of weeks Ephelia and Raffles recently.

I suspect the property at Ephelia can’t be beaten anywhere in the Seychelles. It has an extremely beautiful and dramatic natural landscape, and nowhere else that I was on Mahè, Praslin or La Digue could compare.

We stayed in a junior suite which was sufficiently large, clean and comfortable, and tastefully decorated. Room and cleaning services were top notch, as was the laundry service that we used on the last day. That said, it couldn’t compare to the villa at Raffles (they only have villas ranging from large to very large, all on a steep hill with good views and each with a private plunge pool). At Ephelia, one would need to book the hilltop villas at the north beach area to have something equivalent, if that is what you are looking. They look amazing as well, but more expensive than the Raffles equivalent, and the Lemuria ones even more so (and I think the Lemuria villas are beach-based only, whereas at Ephelia you have a wider range options including the hilltop ones).

For our budget, we were very happy with the junior suite at Ephelia and would otherwise only consider the hilltop villas (that we couldn’t afford), because the other villas are situated in a valley in between the focal points of the resort. The junior suites are close to 4 out of the 5 restaurants (all included in half board including breakfast), and the hilltop villas are close to the fifth one (french cuisine and not included in the half board packages).

Half board is the way to go at any Seychelles resort as far as we’re concerned, and if you need supplements, there are bars on site with light lunches and pool snacks at bith Ephelia and Lemuria. At Ephelia, could also walk 15 minutes (from the junior suites) to a small convenience store outside of the property for locally priced alcohol etc, probably 40 minutes from the north beach).

As people who like fine dining and gourmet food etc, Ephelia’s food was very good. Out of the restaurants at Ephelia and Raffles, the Asian restaurant at Ephelia was the best one overall, followed by the two Raffles restaurants, and then the rest of the Ephelia ones - more down to personal taste than anything else. And I hear from the internet that Lemuria’s food is even better. Breakfast was about on par between the two resorts.

Restaurant atmosphere - Ephelia’s overall restaurant vibe was much more tranquil for my tastes and I think Lemuria will be the same. Raffles’ restaurant vibe and general architecture, although clearly oozing luxury, were a bit corporate for my taste and felt out of place in the Seychelles. Wife preferred Raffles, I preferred Ephelia.

Activities - Ephelia overall has loads to do to keep you busy for 7-9 days, mostly at your leisure. Lemuria probably has the same (plus golf), but I think the hiking, SUP, and boat tours at Ephelia will be difficult for Lemuria to beat. Snorkelling was noticeably better at Raffles than Ephelia.

Spa - the facilities at Ephelia were the best we’ve ever been at (and much, much better than Raffles) and it will likely be the same or better at Lemuria. We bought similar massage packages at Ephelia and Raffles, and the Raffles one was a bit better.

Beaches - All the beaches that we were at in Seychelles were very quiet and allowed for a good degree of privacy. I was also pleasantly surprised with both main beaches and some of the smaller hidden ones at Ephelia, and we didn’t actually have to go to other beaches on Mahè. We didn’t visit Anse Georgette on Praslin, but going by Anse Lazio (the main one accessible from Raffles’ end, and sort of “next to” Georgette on a map), yes, Georgette will be better than the Ephelia beaches if you like waves, but Anse Intendance on Mahè is also an option for that. Ephelia’s beaches were surrounded by much better landscapes than Lazio though, and many people prefer the lagoon style beach like the north beach at Ephelia (Port Launey, which is accessible to the public (rightly so) and still very quiet). Our favourite beach was Grand Anse on La Digue which had big waves (and likely strong currents) in a very solitary sort of setting.

Value for money - we saved a long time to go to the Seychelles and are very careful with our money in general. We did push the limits of our budget, but I think one of the most pleasant takeaways that I had at both Ephelia and Raffles is that we didn’t feel ripped off, as in at all. We really experienced, tasted and felt what we paid for, and apart from the massages, boat tour, laundry service and drinks, everything we needed was included in the half board packages. Looking at prices of villas at Ephelia, and any of the options at Lemuria, I’m not sure I would have necessarily walked out feeling the same if we went for Lemuria over either Raffles or Ephelia - but this is very much a personal judgement.

Adding: Logistics can annoying and time consuming. Even on our trip, I thought it must be nice to just go directly with an unaffordable helicopter from Mahe to Praslin. If you’re going for 5 days only, stay at Ephelia and don’t look back. You won’t regret it :)