Soft light, gently flickering candles, music of the sort Kenny G probably listens to while he’s in the bath; oh, and a large man with a French accent slowly rubbing warm oil into the small of my back. Filming a lurid feature for late-night Dutch television? Much as it sounds like the case, I’m actually spread out across a massage table, enduing an hour of pure bliss at a Mauritian spa. Ah, the challenges of travel writing…

Mauritius as holiday destination of choice for South Africans is well established, and similarly for the French who head to the Indian Ocean paradise in their droves to escape the European winter. Together, they form the thrust of the 900 000 (and growing) tourists who touch down on the island every year — and who have an increasingly diverse range of holiday options available. Luxury escapes head that list, beach-fronted palaces over-looking azure water and endless palm trees; cue the Heritage, a quiet corner of laidback indulgence on the south coast of the island.

The north and east coasts of Mauritius have traditionally been the bastion of five-star living when on holiday, with the town of Grand Baie the central hub of tourist activity. But the south and west coasts are quietly muscling in on the market, and doing so in some style, with Heritage leading the charge. 45 minutes drive from the airport, through the gentle dilapidation of rural Mauritius, Heritage offers an unhurried sanctuary from the real world — and large men with French accents rubbing warm oil into you…

The Seven Colours Spa is a headline attraction at Heritage. Based on the concept of your inner chakras and the associated colours, it’s ideal for the lentil and hemp sandal brigade, but even if you don’t have a wardrobe dripping in tie-dye and Green Peace t-shirts, it’s enormously good fun. Assorted massages, body rubs and exotic treatments, coupled with steam room and jacuzzi, offer a focal point for a rejuvenating break — and pretty soon, there’ll be a menu to partner the spa.

The team of chefs at Heritage are hard at work creating a foil for the chakra repair work at the core of the spa’s endeavour — whatever colour needs work (yellow, in my case, which I think means I need to spend more time on island paradises, living on lobster and French champagne while Scarlett Johansson massages my feet), will be supplemented by dishes specifically created to ensure you float out of the hotel on a cloud of good karma.

...more dark wood for an Afro-island feel...

Not that you’d struggle to leave the place in anything but high spirits, mind. A lazy spread of infinity pools lead off the front of the hotel — all cool space and dark wood, but still full of light, a tribute to some thoughtful architecture — and across white sand to the gentle break of aquamarine waves. The beach isn’t the finest of sand, the island’s coral reef resulting in a fair crunch in parts as you stroll along, but that’s a minor complaint; and anyway, a therapeutic foot massage at the spa will sort you out in moments.

Five star status extends to the rooms, more dark wood for an Afro-island feel that spills out onto a veranda, with a generous bath — only an open blind away from the television, should you so wish — and a shower you could get the better part of a rugby team into. Throw in three restaurants, Mauritian cuisine (a blend of spicy Creole, spicier Indian, and exotic Chinese, all a tribute to the varied ethnic composition of a culturally vibrant island), and you could happily shack up at Heritage for months at a time.

Should you wish to venture beyond the hotel grounds, however, the Peter Matkovich-designed Golf du Chateau is a mere four-iron from the front gate, while 40 minutes down the road, the new Tamarina Golf Estate offers 18 holes most splendid, the course quickly growing into one of the island’s most impressive. Quad biking, island tours, catamaran trips, shopping excursions — they’re all available should you want them…

…but you’d be entirely forgiven for simply giving yourself up to the hotel, and wholesale restorative pampering. The north and east are busier, certainly, and your preferred destination if you’re after a more action-packed adventure — but for unhurried island life, a blissfully tranquil hotel, and one hell of a spa, head for the Heritage. C’est magnifique, mes amis…