Plaine-des-Palmistes: cool nights between Bélouve and Grand Étang

Opened in April 2024 by the Reunionese group Morgabine Hospitality, Le Tuit-Tuit was given its 4-star rating the same spring. It has around ten rooms ( 10 in the official listing, 12 on its website, including two family rooms ), a short walk from the town hall. The heated pool looks out to the mountains, alongside a sauna, a hot tub and a treatment room.

La Table du Tuit-Tuit does breakfast and bistro-style dinners, and the BaRaphia bar lays on an afternoon snack buffet, with live music some evenings. Reviewers describe a modern, well-kept place, friendly staff and a properly relaxing time around the spa.

Together with a spouse, Dominique runs four 18 m² double rooms, each with its own entrance, terrace and walk-in shower. The heart of the house is the big shared kitchen, where everyone eats together and talk soon turns to the next day's trails.

In the evening, the hosts cook with their own produce, and reviews mostly rave about those dinners and the friendly atmosphere around the table. Their hiking advice gets plenty of mentions too. Breakfast was included in the rate we recorded, at €119 a night for two.

Up in the hills south of the village are three units for two: a 38 m² chalet and a 33 m² bungalow, both with a kitchenette, and a 16 m² double room. Each has its own entrance and the rooms are soundproofed, with a terrace, a garden and parking.

Reviews talk about cosy chalets surrounded by nature, attentive hosts and heating that works, which matters at 1,275 metres. The owner farms and loves talking about it. A continental breakfast is served on site, on top of the rate we recorded.

Michèle and Daniel open two double rooms of 16 and 18 m² in their home, each with its own entrance; one has a kitchenette, and there's a microwave, fridge and coffee machine to use. At around 1,330 metres in the Ravine-Bras-Creux area, it's the highest place on our list.

Guests remember Michèle's welcome, the lovely garden and a comfortable, warm room. At our last check a night cost €53, without breakfast: a simple base for anyone spending their days in the forest.

Marie-Hélène Rougemont has been letting this 57 m² house since 2019: two bedrooms with 160 cm beds, a 250 m² garden and a barbecue. Every room is heated, which makes a real difference up on the Plaines, and there's fibre broadband, a washing machine, a dryer and a dishwasher.

Agoda guests rate it 8.8/10 from 127 reviews, and the location, about 700 metres from the centre, gets a special mention. On her own website, the owner lowers her rates for stays of three nights or more.

A large 160 m² villa over two floors, north of the centre on the Saint-Benoît side. According to its tourist board listing, it has four bedrooms including an eight-bed dorm, sleeping twelve. There's a wood-burning fireplace in the living room, heated bathrooms and reversible air conditioning in the bedrooms.

Out the back, a wood-fired kitchen lets you cook a curry the local way, and a play area keeps the children busy. Rated 8.8/10 by Agoda guests, the house is let as a whole: €325 a night at our last check, to split between everyone.