I will try to express my joy from the trip.
1. My wife and I were going to the Maldives for a long time, the first time we got together in September 2011. The hotel was chosen for a long time and scrupulously, because we are not rich people, but here ...Maldives! ! ! After long ordeals and choosing a hotel by the whole office, we settled at the Medhufushi Island 5 * hotel, but common sense won out and we went to Cuba (review available http://www.turpravda.ua/cu/kayo_santa_marija/Melia_Las_Dunas-h24246-r64280 html.
2. Repeated symptoms of the approaching vacation began to appear in January 2012, when after the New Year holidays I really wanted to take a break. I started choosing a hotel, calculated flights, routes, and mentally was already in Kenya, but it wasn’t there ...my wife made her own adjustments ...
and one fine winter day I received an SMS on my phone saying that an advance payment for the hotel had been deducted from my account in favor of the Maldivian agency Attol Paradise. That is, the choice of a hotel has ceased to be an urgent issue for me, and the choice of a flight has become just as irrelevant. In general, in February, we paid for the flight Kyiv-Abu Dhabi-Male and back (744 US dollars per person (Etihad Airways with UIA (Sambukiya agent) and a hotel (water villa) for six nights HB (2400 US dollars) from 03.05. 2012 to 09.05. 2012.
3. We bought swimming trunks, slippers, etc. ...we are waiting for the approach of May ...And when there was a month left until May, a cheerful girl from Sambucia called us and provocatively informed us that our flight was canceled and they were ready return the money. Just as happily, she informed the airline that the client had taken the money and refused the flight (although this did not happen and we did not take the money until the last minute).
Thus, we ended up with a paid hotel without a flight and without the right to demand a replacement flight by the Airline. Thanks again Sambuki! ! !
4. We reported the situation to Paradise Atoll (nice girl Nurgul (without irony). A few days later we found a flight through Moscow for $ 1000 per person and one day in Moscow (Aeroflot). We call Nurgul, but she tells us that in due to the uncertainty with our flight, the hotel sold our room to another agency ((. With suffering, the room had to be changed to a beach villa.
5.02. On May 5.2012, we nevertheless took off from Kyiv and after 12 hours, taking into account the connections, ended up in Male. The flight was not difficult (Aeroflot pleasantly pleased). At the airport in Male, we were met by a representative of the agency, led through passport control, and put on a bus, which took us to a small airport, from where we flew by seaplane to the hotel (forty minutes).
6.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we were met by a Russian girl Elena, who for some reason communicated with us in English. We did not resist - who knows how they do here in the Maldives. But at the 10th minute, my wife decided to interrupt her English speech with some Russian word, such as "hello" and then our communication with Lena was exclusively in Russian.
7. And now impressions about the hotel:
Territory The first impression of the hotel was, to put it mildly, not very good. I was very disappointed by the uneven dirt paths with black sand, lined with coconuts instead of curbs, and the complete absence of flowers in the hotel. But we decided for ourselves that, most likely, there are no laid out paths or additionally planted flowers in the hotel due to the fact that local authorities forbid spoiling the pristine landscapes of the islands. Like it or not, I do not know, but this thought reassured.
When choosing a room, focus on the Beach.
Beach: The best beach turned out to be near the restaurant, pool (numbers 101-110), the worst, on which there is practically no entrance to the water near numbers 157-170, near the rest of the rooms it's a matter of taste, rooms 197-218 have a wider beach and a view of the sunset , and numbers 191-196 view of the moon and at high tide the water almost comes up to the trees. Good views from water pitchforks, so better choose one. The only thing is that at low tide, villas 153-156 and 113-116 can be practically on land. Do not take Honey Moon villas, there were days that they stood on land due to low tide - a sad sight. But the main drawback of all aspects of this hotel is algae (they are not big, they look like lawn grass - but they are there and it's not pleasant). And at low tide, they swell a little. For comparison, in Cuba we didn’t climb out from the sea, but here we went into the water 3 times.
Staff: People are friendly, nice, but absolutely useless.
It seems that there was at least one worker for every vacationer. Moreover, the peculiarity of either this hotel, or the Maldives as a whole, is that this staff was visible everywhere, there really were more of them than tourists. They always come across on your way - on foot, on bicycles, with bags, with carts, until you get to the room with a dining room, you get tired of saying hello and smiling. Particularly pleased with one dude, whose duties included the delivery of water to the rooms. From morning to night he wore it in his purse for 3 bottles. By the time he gets to the last room, the water is already running out in the first one))), but everyone is busy))). And they are like that in everything! ! ! In reality, half of the employees there are simply not needed.
Food and drink: There are no questions, comments, suggestions regarding food. Everything is good, tasty and with a claim to diversity. We had HB (breakfast and dinner). I rarely wanted to eat at lunch, we dined 3 times a week, and then we didn’t eat anymore, but drank beer.
Prices for food and drink are not encouraging. All drinks are 6-7 dollars (see photo). All will not save you either. The program includes only lunch and Australian wine, beer and water and some vodka. In total, we spent about 600-700 dollars on food and alcohol. By the way, do not change the currency at the airport and do not change at all (calculation for everything at the hotel in dollars or euros).
Entertainment: The Maldives is boring! ! ! Of course, if you are not a diver and not Honey Moon. If you are a diver, then you must be a rich diver (one dive with an instructor is about 110-120 dollars, and without one - I don’t remember exactly, but about 60-70 dollars), and if you are Honey Moon, then in principle you generally everything should be all right, and an original lesson will be offered for you there - to plant a palm tree in honor of your wedding and put a sign with names near it (it looks like a graveyard for dogs) forgive me newlyweds. Diving, really good, - the Germans keep it. Don't be fooled by such bullshit as a trial lesson - you will be like .....
dive at a depth of 70 cm under the restaurant. I plunged))) then I was ashamed. All other entertainment is also present - wind surfing, tablet, kayak, all from 10 to 30 dollars. at one o'clock. The familiar Germans went fishing and somewhere else, they liked it.
SPA: Wife writes: "Spa treatments are, of course, a pleasant thing, but expensive. An average of 100-200 dollars. Everything is beautiful and pleasant, with delicious aromas, even with treats after the procedures in the form of a fruit plate and herbal tea. I recommend trying it at least once these sensations. "
Bottom line: rest in general, normal, but counted on more. For 7 days, with additional expenses, an overnight stay at the Marriott in Moscow and deutiks, we spent about 6100 dollars (2000 - flight, 2300 - hotel, 700 - food, 200 - hotel Moscow, 800 - duty free and souvenirs). Our decision: "Come on, these Maldives - we won't go again. " Now we are looking at Mexico, and I would like to go to Cuba again. And the Maldives, most likely, are all the same, except for the Luxary hotels, but they are many times more expensive.
Our decision not to return at the airport was reinforced by the local customs officer, who managed to spend about 2-3 minutes per passenger when queuing for 3 huge planes.
Have a nice holiday.
1. Territory. Well-groomed and beautiful. Everywhere and often cleaned: on the beaches every day, the territory inside the island - all the time. Also, along the path to the bungalow, pure white sand is poured from the beach. It is very pleasant to walk barefoot. By the way, throughout the territory, including the buffet restaurant, bars (except for one a la carte restaurant) you can walk barefoot. Near the pool and at the entrance to restaurants, bars and villas there are vessels with a "ladle" filled with water. You can wash the sand off your feet before entering. Probably, since it was "out of season", on the side of Honeymoon villas, many beach villas were closed, and they were not cleaned there. It is very problematic to get around the island, due to the dense vegetation on the eastern side (Honeymoon fork side). The territory is planted as much as possible. Many beautiful palm trees and a special slope for photos, I guess.
2. Villas. At first, I ordered a villa from the Water travel agency, but there were no free ones, so I had to "be content" with the Beach Villa. Upon arrival, it immediately became clear that we were lucky. Water Villas stand on the shallows, swimming from them does not bring much pleasure - around the knee-deep water for a very long distance. The interior decoration of Water and Beach villas is the same. The sea view is the only plus, in my humble opinion (although this is a matter of taste, see below). We had Beach Villa n. 211. Spacious room, bed with insect net. The showers and washbasins are outside, the toilet too (for the impressionable - it's clear that everything is closed, and no one will see you or steal anything). There was also a terrace of 13-15 meters with a swing, a table and a chair. View of the "jungle" - that's what I called them. Of course, these "jungles" bear little resemblance to the real ones, since every leaf is constantly removed there and the cleanliness is total. When you pass through these villas - you go out to the "quiet" beach. There are your personal sunbeds. In general, I really liked the "jungle" because there was something to see: some interesting birds were constantly flying, bats sometimes flew to hang on the branches of trees in front of the villa. I also saw an outlandish: ) lizard. Honeymoon villas are expensive, but absolutely not suitable for me. Getting to them by boat is exotic, which turns into a boring event for 2 days. Often you don’t ride - you have to sit in the villa more often. : ) Although, I’m sure that someone needs it more than my lizards and bats. : )
3. Nutrition. I will not write much - you will not advise here. In short, the range is not very wide, but everything is of high quality. I was pleased. The "All Inclusive" system will be covered in the pictures.
4. Excursions. There aren't many of them. They will be painted in the photos that I will attach. Each villa had flashlights and you could walk along the beach with a flashlight in the evening - a fun nightlife on the beach : ).
5. Service. Always good and friendly. There were no problems. An important point: it is better to go to this island with at least basic knowledge of English. No one (except for one Gestrelish) speaks Russian. All menus and information are also only in English.
6. "Contingent" (during my stay). Mostly couples, but there are a small number of families with teenagers (not with small children). There are a lot of Britons, CIS-shniks, a little less - Germans.
7. Weather. When I left, 5 out of 5 sites promised rain and thunderstorms in Male throughout the rest. In fact, there was not a single rain during the day. At night there were a couple of times short-term (up to half an hour) warm rains. Everything dried up in the morning. In general, the weather was sunny, sometimes with a slight breeze, and sometimes (when without it) it was completely hot. By the way tropical umbrellas in every room.
Okay, gotta turn around. You can also read additional information in my photos to the commentary. There is about the Internet, the work of bars, "all inclusive", etc.
Thanks for attention! Hope it helps someone : )