+ Frequent promotions when HB = FB.
+ Great coral reef.
+ Well-groomed, green territory.
"-":
- Rooms are rustic.
The food in the restaurant is disgusting, tasteless and monotonous, the cheapest products, the simplest fish, everything is terribly peppery, no seafood. The maximum number of hot dishes is 4, only pasta is allowed. Drinks are normal, including alcohol on the all-inclusive system.
There was no shark feeding at all, although there was an announcement that it would be at seven o'clock, but during the 8 days of stay at the hotel it was not even once. Feeding stingrays is terribly primitive, a maximum of two small stingrays that sailed twice during the entire period of our holiday, the rest of the days the employee just stood and looked longingly at the sea, fed the heron and said that he could not do anything. This was an incredible contrast to the Sun Island Hotel and its feeding of sharks and stingrays - a lot, rich, exciting, if the stingrays did not come, the employee himself lured them and lured them. People tried to make our holiday interesting and exciting, in contrast to the staff of Paradise Island, who did not care about absolutely everything. Once the electricity went out in the room, I went to the reception three times - zero reaction, no one deigned to send a repair worker, went the fourth time, again threatened with a complaint and, lo and behold, an employee was immediately found. It took 4 hours for everything about everything.
There are a lot of mosquitoes in the hotel, they were poisoned for the first three days, then they stopped, I had completely bitten legs, it was generally scary to look at small children - there was no living place, everything was bitten.
For dessert, the most important thing is our birthday, which we were so eager to celebrate in the most wonderful place on Earth. We knew very well that in the villa hotels chain it is customary to decorate tables for a birthday, give a cake and a bottle of champagne to the birthday boy, all this looks very festive and solemn. Our tour manager notified the hotel in advance that the birthday boy was coming and upon arrival we saw how everyone was having birthdays and congratulating everyone, so on our day we dressed up and went to the restaurant, completely confident in our holiday. But our table was not dressed up, which surprised and upset us incredibly. I turned to the employees to find out what was the matter, to which they answered that our birthday was allegedly not displayed in the system, although they were written about this in advance and naturally showed their passport during registration. And they asked me what I really want. Yes, really, what I want, I want to sit and watch how the hotel celebrates the birthdays of all the guests, except for you. He brings champagne to everyone, decorates the tables, noisily congratulates absolutely everyone except you with songs and applause. They didn’t even apologize to us, not to mention that they could have decorated the table at least the next day, since they screwed up so much. But the staff just didn't care. This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I do not advise anyone to go to this hotel, I myself will also continue to refrain from visiting any of the hotels of the villa hotels network, including Sun island, the black sheep ruined the whole flock. I am not writing this review in order to receive a banal apology from the hotel representative, and I will not receive it, there are no Russian-speaking staff in the hotel, they will never translate the review properly, I am writing all this so that no one goes to this hotel and does not spoil rest for yourself.
They get to the island by boats and boats. By time on a small speedboat 15 minutes, on a larger boat -25 minutes.
Rooms and beach: The best location is at the beach bungalows from 304 to 320. Everything is nearby: the main restaurant, and the bar where shows are held, and the pool, and the pier, and water sports. The only thing is that in rooms 319 and 320 you can hear the disco louder. We lived in 318, she did not interfere with our sleep (with the window open). And most importantly, here is the coolest beach. Gentle entrance, low tides are almost imperceptible (on the other sides, the situation is much worse, and on some it is absolutely terrible). When I was driving, I was worried about swimming in the ocean from the point of view of its inhabitants (I can’t relax when sharks, rays, etc. swim around me). That's just on our beach no one swims around you (fish do not count). On our side, there are all the inhabitants of the ocean, but they are concentrated closer to the breakwaters and it is easy to swim to them, but they do not interfere with swimming.
Prices: We took FB (breakfast + lunch + dinner) and did not lose compared to ALL (all inclusive). The difference in price for a ticket was 1360 dollars (all inclusive is more expensive). In fact, we spent about 700 dollars on alcohol. Although the hotel initially states that on FB drinks are included only at breakfast, in fact water is included in lunch and dinner (also a 1 liter bottle of water per person is added daily in the room for free). Free tea and coffee in the room. This is quite enough. So it makes no sense to overpay for ALL. Moreover, on ALL they give only homemade wine from wines (I drink only wine, so I can only compare it), which is sold on FB for 6.1 dollars. per glass (in a glass at best 150g, but most likely 100-120g. ). In the minibar in the room there are small bottles of Chile wine 187 gr for $ 7.32, but believe me, this is heaven and earth to taste and the price is more profitable. The same is with beer in a mini-bar, a can of beer 0.33 -4.88 dollars, and in restaurants and bars bottled beer (there is no keg) 0.33 - from 7.32 dollars to 12 dollars. I give prices approximately taking into account 22% (taxes and service). Wine in a bottle at the bar in the menu is declared from 25 dollars + 22%, but in fact there are only from 40 + 22%. There were prices in an Italian restaurant: pasta with seafood -32 dollars + 22%, pizza with seafood -28 dollars + 22%. , tomato puree soup -12 dollars + 22%, ice cream -7 dollars + 22%, fresh juices from 3 to 7 dollars +22%. I must say everything was very tasty. But be sure to check the bill - we were charged extra on drinks. I drew their attention - they fixed it, but as they say, the sediment remained. It should be noted that if you take pasta or pizza not with seafood, it will be cheaper from 18 dollars + 22%. Lunch at the main restaurant (buffet) costs $55 per person. The food, although it varies, is mostly Asian. Delicious desserts, pancakes, pancakes, waffles, a la shawarma. The price for a late check out in our 318 was $98. There are categories of rooms where late check-out is $50. Tip - do not buy SIM cards - the Internet is available almost everywhere and it is enough to use it. A big plus: in the main restaurant for the duration of your stay, a table is assigned to you, next to the bungalow, sunbeds are assigned to you. In conclusion, I want to say - it's very cool there, plan carefully and you won't regret it.
I will write a more detailed review later.
The holiday was unforgettable.
They met us with cold towels and a cocktail, filled out questionnaires and gave us the keys. At that time, there were no Russian speakers there, now there is a Russian girl Nastya (2 days after our arrival, she started working there), she is very nice and responsive, so it’s easier, we don’t speak English well, or rather, no way)).
We did not expect anything luxurious from the room, as we saw both pictures and read reviews (at that time all the water bungalows were occupied). The room is large, of course, not 5 stars, but not so bad either (maybe we just got caught, by the way, they are doing repairs in the rooms, we saw it), there is everything you need, even a bidet)), but there are no slippers and bathrobes . Cleaning once a day. Of the insects, only ants.
Regarding the language, I can say that the spa has a list of procedures in Russian, and in the Italian restaurant the menu, just ask, they say, rush menu pliz. They try to understand you in every possible way, they are painfully hospitable people, which is very nice.
As for the contingent, 95% of the Chinese, there are few of us, Italians too, but they did not bother us and we did not feel any noise from them, as in the reviews. They are there, as we understand, for 2-3 days (such as excursions) there are, because there are a lot of them there.
The island itself is very large and beautiful, the ocean is just a dream, we are delighted, though these dead corals that everyone writes about are not very pleasant, but not "hellish pain", as many write. In addition, they are not everywhere, on the beach from the side of the bar there are practically none. But just in case, buy coral slippers, my husband bought it there and taxied without grief, but I didn’t, it’s somehow unnatural for me to swim in shoes. Buy masks and fins at home, they cost $100 there. There is something to see there, believe me.
Food. . . normal, just a lot for different tastes, but we didn't really like it, they speak better in water bungalows, there is a separate restaurant. But you won't leave hungry. The Italian restaurant is very tasty.
Excursions. The coolest thing for me is a 15-minute seaplane flight - just a waste, the beauty is indescribable (about $ 200 each). We went to Male (about $ 50 each) - nothing good, we went around everything in 15 minutes, we went for souvenirs, but they are more expensive there than in duty free and there are a hundred times more of them in duty free, then they regretted that they had bought them in Male. In short, there is nothing to do there. Were on a submarine, such as a submarine. It’s also bullshit, you go to Male, you get into this submarine, they lower you 40 or 45 meters and sit there for 45 minutes looking at the reef and fish (20 minutes) then you change places and sit stupidly looking out the blue window for another 20 minutes while the neighbors are look at the reef that you looked at, because this submarine is standing in one place, it’s better to dive with scuba gear))), this submarine costs $ 100 each. We didn’t go fishing because they said there is 1 fishing rod for everyone or catch a fishing line with a hook))). In general, they also went to the spa, took an Ayurvedic massage, $ 150 each, rode a water motorcycle for 15 minutes - $ 55 went to a romantic dinner on the beach $ 70 with wine for two, dined a couple of times in an Italian restaurant for 200 -300 USD for two with wine. In general, everyone writes down on the number, you do not leave any depositor upon arrival. We paid for everything at once, so as not to save up and know how much was left. We had all inclusive, so we were given discounts everywhere. In general, we spent 130 thousand on tours and 70 thousand on entertainment, souvenirs and everything else.
In general, we are satisfied with the rest, although we were very afraid to go to this hotel because of the reviews, but we did not regret that we went. Nature is super, words can not convey, you must see, everyone is very friendly, the size of the island does not let you get bored, excursions are like variety. Now I am writing a review and I can not believe that there was. Paradise lacks a bit of comfort, although if the water bungalows were free, it could be a real paradise.
I hope my review will help someone with a choice. The Maldives is a fairy tale, we will definitely return, but not to this hotel.
We flew from Odessa to the Maldives to this hotel for 14 days, the first week we lived on the island . . with access to the beach, sand, ocean . . (the furniture there, of course, is not active, but we didn’t bother about it, I was pleased with a very summer shower in the yard . . ) For the second week, we paid extra money and moved to a water bungalow . . it’s certainly better there . . the room is good, spacious, and modern, with a jacuzzi on the terrace and immediately descending into the ocean... I really liked the restaurant there compared to the island. . Putevki took all inclusive, as we were traveling with children 1 year old and 2.5 years old. and food is expensive. Minus there are no children's swings, slides, etc. There was one old one on the whole island. There is a pool, but it’s small and there are always a lot of people there, somehow I didn’t even want to go into it. The staff is good, if you need to do it without problems, but they don’t speak Russian, I painted everything... If you go there, it’s better to stay in a water bungalow and eat right there in the restaurant... Since the food is different, the quality of preparation, serving, service, etc. And it’s more pleasant to have dinner with a view of the ocean . . Guys, the ocean is gorgeous there - beautiful beyond words! Simply RAY!