Banyan Villa Maldives Dhangethi

This was our first time in the Maldives and we wanted to keep accommodation costs on a budget, so we could spend more on activities and try out new experiences. After a bit of research, we found Banyan Villa with quite convincing reviews and decided to contact them directly to make the arrangements. They replied to us quite swiftly and could consult on the most important questions before the journey, so we felt secured and informed from the beginning on. After arriving to Male airport and nearly 2 hours trip on a speed boat (which was actually quite bumpy, so be prepared), we finally came to the Dhangethi island. We were picked up on a pier by a hotel manager who organized a transfer of our luggage to the guesthouse and showed us the main parts of the island while walking to it. After a few formalities and a detailed explanation where to find what on the island we got the keys and could check in in our garden view room. It turned out to be commodious, clean and had all necessary things in it except for a safe, but the manager assured us that it's not necessary and there is a surveillance system outside of the rooms, so that was fine for us. Also later on we noticed that there is no soap provided for general hygiene purposes, but we could get an extra bottle of shower gel instead.👍 After that we had a meal in the villa, nicely prepared and pretty delicious. It tastes more like a homemade dish rather then a usual hotel-like food, but we actually appreciated it even more because of this. You can really taste local food there. In the coming days we had different types, usually fish and everything was tasty and prepared with love. A big thank you to the cook there! Btw a small tip: ask the guys to prepare you a maldivian breakfast, it's amazing. I wish we did this earlier and not only on the last days. And another tip: try out night fishing, it's not only fun to do so, but also guys will grill you the fish you catch on coconut shells, that's really something to try out. So we left our belongings in the room, picked beach towels provided to us and headed to a beach. It's good to mention that there are 2 types of beaches: touristic one also known as a bikini beach and a local one where you should be covered (i.e. it's not allowed to wear close where one could see a swimming suit underneath). The bikini beach is public for all tourists staying on the island, but it's not very occupied, there were around 15 people tops at the same time. You can find wooden sunbeds there if needed. Sand there is trully white, water is clean, warm and looks amazing, like on the pictures. The only downside is that it's pretty fleet, no more than 60 cm at the deepest point.. but that seems to be normal for Maldives. We found a deeper spot in 10 minutes walking/swimming distance in direction to the local beach far end. Aside from that, we tried out many different activities: snorkeling, diving, fishing and so on. The underwater world on Maldives is terrific and magnifice

Banyan Villa is a wonderful place to stay! I really enjoyed my time there and the very homey feel of the villa. The staff, especially Husnee, Ashraf and Habib are all so incredibly friendly, accomodating and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality. The villa was very clean, the food was wonderful, very healthy and so fresh. Thank you to all the staff at Banyan Villa for making our stay in Dhangethi so wonderful and memorable! We will definitely be back!

Spent a week here with a booking linked to South Ari Dive. Accommodation was good and the staff went above and beyond. If you want an experience other than a resort and want to see the real Maldives, this would be a good choice. Great value and the food was wonderful.