Fihalhohi Island Resort Review

Good Points
Friendly staff
Very clean rooms
Relaxing

Bad Points
Only stayed 2 weeks

General Comments
Two adults and one child aged 8 travelled to Fihalhohi Island Resort in the Maldives for two weeks from 17th May until 31st May 2006.



We flew with First Choice which was excellent, and we would find it hard to fly with anyone else now. Once we got to the Male airport we were last off the plane and last to get our hotel details off our rep, which meant more time in an air conditioned airport rather than the heat outside, so only had 5 minutes to wait for our speed boat transfer. This only took approximately 50 minutes, but it was a very enjoyable trip.



Once we arrived at the resort a warm welcome and cool towels were given to us, and after check-in we were shown our room. We had booked a comfort room on the north side of the island, and what a lovely room it was too. Very spacious (even with an extra bed), clean and light. Lovely clean modern bathrooms and plenty of clothes hangers in the wardrobe. There's a front door and a door leading on to a veranda with chairs and a table. At the front door there's a tap to wash the sand off your feet, and at the veranda door a terracotta container for the same thing.



The island is nice and small, with only one main restaurant where all meals are buffet style. Now I'm a fussy eater and I don't eat fish and my daughter would live off chicken nuggets every day if we let her, but we both still found plenty of food for us to eat. What we had we certainly enjoyed. My husband eats anything and everything and he loved it all. We did eat lunch at the surf cafe on the odd occasion, and they served toasties, burgers and pizzas etc., at very very reasonable prices. You can also treat yourself to a Walls ice cream if you want to.



We didn't do many of the excursions. In fact, the only one we did was the dolphin trip which was brilliant. Our daughter said it was the funnest day of her life (her words)! We saw literally 100's of dolphins who put on a spectacular show for us, and an added bonus was that we saw 4 very large manta rays. The only other things we did were hire a catamaran which took us to a sand bank, or should I call it the rubbish tip! unfortunately, a lot of the rubbish washes up on these banks, but the ride itself was great, and again we saw dolphins. The island has it's own glass bottom boat which we rented for $40. It took us all around the island and it was a good way for our daughter to see the different fish, as she's not confident enough to go out snorkeling very far.



Entertainment is very low key, but that's how we like it. We joined in some of the things like crab racing, bingo and we watched the underwater video. The entertainment staff are great. There were very few children on the island and they made my daughter feel very much at home. They always greeted her by name and made a big fuss of her every time they saw her. In fact, I cannot single them out as all the staff on the island are brilliant, and you will not find friendlier people anywhere.



The room boy always put flowers in our room from the lovely plants that grow on the island, and he also brought us coconuts split and ready to eat, and beach towels were changed every other day. We tipped our waiter and room boy $15 for the first week and then $20 for the second week because we appreciated the service. We also tipped the waiters at the surf bar at the end of the holiday because of the service, and yes there is a 10% charge on everything you buy, but that's not a great deal, and it's mainly for the staff that work hard on the island, but you don't really see, such as the kitchen staff, the men who rake the sand every morning, and the man who goes around the island spraying the trees etc. It does annoy me a little when people moan about this measly 10%.



When the sad time comes when you have to leave the island, you will not find a fonder farewell. They shook our hands, kissed and hugged our daughter, and then they all stood on the dock waving us all off. A perfect end to a perfect holiday!



We are now looking forward to going back to Fihalhohi next year for 3 weeks, as 2 weeks were not long enough. My only worry is that one day in the future, like so many islands, this lovely resort will be taken over and made into a 5 star resort with 5 star prices. In my eyes, it is already a 5 star resort but with reasonable prices.