One&Only Reethi Rah

This is our last day and first time at One and Only Reethi Rah and I have mixed feelings about value for the price of this resort. Island: The advantages of the Reethi Rah is that it is a vast green island. 40 hectares I believe they said. It is covered in vegetation and shade and is very picturesque, for the Instagram post chasers. It is indeed very very well maintained - trees, flowers, villas, interiors, etc. Food and wine: in restaurants is proper quality and level. Often better than I would have expected and on par with continental restaurants in Europe. Service: top notch, but would not say impeccable. Sports and activities: are ample - grounds for volleyball, football, padel, tennis. Water activities and excursions - are limited by only your budget. Now some downsides that are subjective to me and my family, fully appreciate not everyone would focus on those: 1. Too many russians. They are too loud and they come in numbers. This downgrades the level and vibe of the hotel for me. 2. Reethi Rah does not offer any meal plans - no half board, no full board, only breakfasts included. Which means everything is extra. Everything. They charge for the house water at the beach, which is a bit ridiculous compared to other hotels. 3. If you went for a water villa, you'd want to have access to the beach with sunbeds and cabans to relax at and you would think that this island would have many beaches to relax at, but no. Only one proper beach with sunbeds and cabanas placed so close to each other that you do not get any privacy there. Russians left and right again. 4. Reethi Rah just celebrated its 20 years. That's right - it opened in 2005. So villas are quite dated inside. Still functional but dated. 5. Because it is a very green island mosquitos here bite a lot. It was very tough for our kid. And actually all kids around were in mosquito bites. The hotel does fumigation but it did not help us too much. 6. We spend 16 nights at the hotel, which is quite a hefty su of money, and our flight is late at night. Reethi Rah is charging us $500 for late check out. And they are not fully occupied. Every other hotel would have offered us late check out free of charge. 7. Fruits: for this price - I have never seen mango or mangosteen served. I really expected more of the fruit options. 8. Kids club: is dated, grim and underinvested. It is sometimes the main deciding factor for us, but the kids club here is a disappointment compared to other hotels of this level. For these reasons I believe Reethi Rah does not deliver value for the money it asks for the stay.