Best Ailafushi Hotels

It’s incredibly hard to put Oblu select lobigili experience into words but the first word I would think of is perfection. We are homesick having spent the first two weeks of December in the Maldives and on our return back to the UK, we keep thinking of the incredible people and friends we have made at the resort. From the moment we came out of the airport to the moment we got back to the airport, everything is looked after for you. The boat ride offers chocolates, a cold towel and a bottle of water of which when you reach the resort, you’re greeted by Jennet the wonderful and talented saxophone player alongside the team at lobigili. You receive your own island hostess/butler and they show you around and make you feel super comfortable. We feel so lucky to have met Ruchika who throughout our entire stay ensured we were looked after, our needs were met, no request was too much and who offered us countless lifts to breakfast, lunch and dinner in the buggy. Ruchika is a kind and smart human who genuinely made our stay full of happiness and smiles; she is super hard working especially after we came to know how many people she is the island host for. Her poor phone was forever pinging away but she always kept on top of every single request. Our entire island stay would never have been the same without her! We genuinely miss her everyday and think of her often and if you’re lucky enough to have her, know that you will not go without! The breakfast, lunches and dinner have such incredible options that you are never short on food or bored of the variety. The food is Michelin standard and plated so beautifully every single time though I’d encourage the staff to use slightly smaller plates so we can fit all the delicious food on the tables. The chef’s are constantly thinking of new dishes, they are full of innovation and there is a daily menu on rotation at dinner. Breakfast and lunch is a mixture of buffet and table service and the drinks and desserts are so delicious. The underwater restaurant is also such an amazing experience having seen the black tip reef shark there several times but our heart lay with the ylang ylang restaurant as we looked forward to seeing the staff there everyday. Though my review seems to be more around the staff than just the island, it’s because we still cannot get over the kindness and happiness of the staff and how amazing they made us feel daily. It must be incredibly hard to be constantly switched on for all the guests to forever show them a constant stream of humility, smiles, relatability, genuineness, happiness but all of the staff manage exactly that! Chef Gede and Chef Aamir, Chef Padam and the kind chef at Gaadiya (Chef Sharma) have gone out of their way to ensure we have been constantly spoilt; from sharing their lotus stem recipe and granola bars recipe to providing us with the most incredible sushi on our last lunch; to ensuring that though I couldn’t handle the spice levels, by personally coming to speak to us

Thank you to Manik and Abu for the amazing attention to detail, they were so friendly and just brilliant! They have went above and beyond to help me surprise the husband for his birthday, there is no words to tell them how much I appreciated all their help.

...to enjoy your vacation. We have spent 10 days at the Bandos resort in September, and the place and staff are absolutely amazing (more about the people at the end). Unfortunately, there is currently construction work going on and we were only informed about this by our travel agent after the booking. Our beach villa did not really have a beach (yet) as this was still being prepared. The shovel excavator started doing its work at 7am in the morning and sometimes only stopped at 10:30pm. This was the unfortunate part. We do not necessarily blame the hotel for this as the renewal has to be done at some stage. The Bandos resort is soon getting 50 years old and it is good that it is being kept up to date. The new villas at the front left side are really nice. We would just have hoped that the current circumstances would have been better described on the web site and that the prices would have been adjusted accordingly. We had the all-inclusive package which is kind of a must, otherwise the vacation will be very expensive. With AI, you will have a wide choice of drinks and really good food for breakfast, at lunch and dinner. You definitely have to try the different curry's, they are excellent in taste. The best thing about the resort is its team. Everybody is fluent in English, very kind to you and can somehow read your mind and wishes that you have. The management must give their employees a really good training upfront. At dinner, Tanuj, xx, xx and xx gave us a perfect treatment. After a few days they recognized us, despite having to take care of so many visitors. Special requests, such as different beverages or food, were being taken care of right away. At the last day of our stay we had a table that was already prepared for us, The decoration looked wonderful and it almost felt like a honeymoon. The location gets 5 stars. The current construction works (and the way they are handled) reduces it down to 3-4 stars. However, the kindness of the team brings the overall impression back to 5 stars. A personal thank you goes to Tanuj, xx, and xx for making our vacation unforgettable!

the island is small but we we see variety of fish ,small shark, Manta Ray, we went snorkeling along the trench, fish groups there! despite the coral are dead, the ocean is beatiful, relatively clean and limpid; people there friendly, service good and efficient, breakfust also delivious and sorts covers a wide range of food; sedfood is seldom; others are very good, also the pizza very tasty. the island is suit for me since it is my first time come to maldives, when we come for annual leave within Christmas and New year days; the hotel arrange us at very calm place, I even saw the captain of an airplane in uniform one day night for 1day stay at my neighbor next door; I like Malahini very much! the lovely people , the seashore view, the sky when at night the twlinking stars so near when you look up. i will be back beatiful Maldives!

This was a surprise trip for my husband's 50th birthday and we were travelling with my Son Esa aged 8. Once we got to our resort we were greeted and welcomed by Amine and the team. Amine was very welcoming and took us on a buggy around the resort to show us around and escort us to our room. Amine went out his way daily to stay in touch via WhatsApp and kept us updated about all the activities taking place daily. Our room was amazing and we had been upgraded to a beach pool villa:-). The bed was decorated and a welcome card/fruits were placed in our room. The boy's were so excited regarding the private pool. Our resort was amazing and had alot to offer. This resort in particular had a kids club hence why I chose this resort. Guest Relations were amazing and accommodating . Grace also from Guest Relations was very welcoming and came to see us. The restaurant /food was pretty good and had lots of choice. Esa being a child wanted his normal chips/burger or nuggets and was offered this separately which was great. All the restaurant staff was amazing especially Shafiq, Shauka and the team. They all went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and happy. Shafiq had his way of taking care of families and even bringing the yummy special desserts to our table. He would always accommodate us to the best table/view too. Shauka was the head operations manager for all the restaurants and I promise you he was always hands on and ready to serve you in whatever you wanted to eat. He would always go out his way for us especially for my son Esa. Even on the last morning we was leaving he made Esa his favourite waffles :-). Our last dinner was arranged privately by Mr Ejaz (Hotel manager) and Shauka so we can celebrate my husband's 50th. A beautiful table was set on the stilts restaurant with a cake and Shauka personally came to serve us with all the different foods we wanted to eat:-). Absolutely amazing he was. Esa really misses everyone especially Shauka. We had an amazing stay and experience at Villa Nautica. We have already said that we will surely be coming back again and recommending to our family/friends. Small comment regarding the ice cream served at meal times in the restaurant- it was not nice/very poor quality. It was like some powdered ice cream mixed.

I did a lot of research, so I thought I would see ”this is it!” everywhere, but I was impressed far beyond my imagination. It was well maintained, which is hard to believe for a hotel that has been around for over 20 years, and the staff were very unique and enjoyed their work, which was also fun. The breakfast had so many options that I never got bored even though I stayed for four nights. I tried the staff's recommendations and tried the daily specials, and my smile never stopped. The only disappointment was the weather and not being able to see any sea turtles. The weather was not quite clear, so... I went snorkeling at the spot three times, but still couldn't see any sea turtles... It was quite disappointing, but I still had fun seeing various fish and having a full moon dinner. Of course, activities and everything you do will cost you at resort prices, so if you have a lot of leeway financially, I think you won't get bored even if you stay for a long time.

We visited The Molar Wave for 7 nights from 21-28 December. Himmafushi is an inhabited Island NOT a resort Island which is what we wanted and a fact we were aware of before booking. We booked through Agoda and opted for bed and breakfast based on the reviews we saw on other booking sites. Ali, Habibur and Mahesh met us from the ferry with huge beaming smiles and led the way to the Hotel taking our bags with them. We booked a double room and requested a large bed. And when we were shown to it, I have to say it exceeded our expectations. The room was spotlessly clean, smelt lovely, was modern and functional. The bathroom was again modern and very clean with linens all supplied. There is a small fridge in the room and a very efficient air conditioning unit. Perfect for our needs. We were given a refreshing welcome drink which they bought up to us and asked what time we wanted breakfast. The breakfast was outstanding and Habibur and Mahesh greeted us with warm smiles every time we saw them. Every breakfast was different, simple but very tasty, and there was plenty of it. If you require trips, Ali will sort them all for you, just ask him. I recommend the snorkelling with stingrays. We generally only eat once a day, but 3,nights we ate at the molar wave. It was a huge feast, not only for the eyes, but for the tastebuds. Again you really must try it even if it’s just the once. The boys take a lot of pride in their work and do their utmost to make you feel welcome. I can’t rate it highly enough they all work incredibly hard, not just in the molar Wave but in other inns as well. There is also a very strong sense of community. it was the best 7 nights with these wonderful people. Nothing was too much trouble and there is a lovely laid back feel to the place. The bikini beach is nice, not huge, but clean with loungers and only a short walk away. Jail Break surf beach is also walkable but bikini are not acceptable there. All in all a fabulous experience and would go back tomorrow. Easily accessible are other islands in the North Atol should you wish to explore further. I would say if you’re a surfer this will suit you down to the ground. Alternatively if you want to spend time with genuine people and help the local economy this is the place for you

Stayed beginning of June 2023. Place is new, clean and staffs are all wonderful. We were two surfer girls from US and happy we chose this place. Pros: You ARE on the island where you can walk to ‘Jail Break’ Staffs can give you a ride if they have time. (Check the tide since entry to this point is tricky with corals. You might consider bringing booties). We chose the smallest room with two beds to share our luggages made it little hard to walk around but room has small fridge, bathroom with shower and rack to hang staff. Bikini beach, where you are allowed to expose your skin, is just a steps away if you want to chill. Hotel staffs will go and beyond to help arrange the boat to surf spots and other activities. Oevaru, even though this restaurant is NOT part of the hotel, it’s right next door. FBH has just opened it’s own restaurant for hotel guest around the corner where we had a nice breakfast. Wifi worked good throughout our stay. This is NOT a resort you think of Maldive. This is the ‘Guest House’ so don’t expect breakfast buffets or anything fancy. They’ll provide basic needs. They may fix your sheets but they won’t be washed unless you ask for it. Cons: (Place is new and they are working on improving it for surfers.) They don’t really have a surfboard rack outside. You have to leave your board at lobby or bring up to your room in small stairs. Hot water shower may take 10-15min of running water and not much pressure(local small island with minimal infrastructure). Place has a common area to sit down/eat on 4th floor but it’s too hot to hang out during the summer time. Himmafushi island has no resort, Only three restaurants on the island that were open when we were there had same menus and it’s hard to find vegetables/fruits since they must import food from somewhere. You are expected to cover your skin and no alcohol are allowed on this island. If you want those western cultures you may find to stay in ‘Resort’ or have a day trip to ‘Resort’.