Kuredu Island Resort, Lhaviyani Atoll Review

Overall Rating

Accommodation
Food
House reef snorkeling

Beach bungalows

We visited Kuredu Island Resort in the Maldives from 30th July to 14th August for our Honeymoon. A week before we left I visited the Review Centre website and was disheartened to read not one, but several bad reviews of the resort. Whereas I fully understand that this was our 1st visit to the Maldives, so therefore have nothing to compare it to, I feel I must jump to its defence, regardless of the fact that others feel there are better resorts to visit.

I can honestly say that from start to finish my wife and I could not fault the place one little bit. It was always impeccably clean, and with first-class service received from every member of staff, we were left wanting for nothing. We stayed in Beach Villa No 203, which had beautiful views of the talcum powder sand and sparkling aqua green sea; a joy to wake up to every morning. The food, in my opinion was varied and very tasty. Everything is cooked fresh in front of you, which was a nice touch, and there was always plenty of it.

My wife virtually lived in the spa, which was also very, very good. On the second day we had the couples massage, which was 50 minutes of pure heaven culminating with a bottle of champagne in our own little wooden hut - that really set the mood for the whole two weeks really!! Being Honeymooners we had the opportunity to upgrade to one of the Sangu Water Villas, but although very nice and slightly larger than the Beach Villas, we opted to stay where we were, as we preferred the sea breeze and the two steps to the beach from our veranda. On booking the holiday we were initially down for a Beach Bungalow, but we paid a little extra to upgrade to the Villa. We were very pleased we did this, as on one of our more energetic days we took a wander around the island (1 hour 20 minutes door to door) and took a look at the Bungalows, which were basic to say the least. Having been spoilt by being just a step away from the beach in the Villa, I would have been disappointed if we'd stayed with a Bungalow, which were no comparison. It felt as if they were stuck on the other side of the island as an after thought, and as another reviewer has already mentioned, it was quite a hike to the restaurant, which to me was important as the average day seemed to revolve around eating!! This is the only downside of the resort, but I must stress, the only downside.

I do agree with another reviewers comments regarding flying Monarch. I'm 6'1" and really struggled to get comfortable. Also, on the outbound flight the cabin crew were very unhelpful. This was all forgotten though once we'd arrived and on the Seaplane transfer, which is well worth paying the extra for. Also, one thing that we were unsure of was tipping. Basically it's up to you. We decided to wait until the end of the holiday and tip our waiter and room boy then. The currency most used on the island is the US Dollar, and it's advisable to take a number of small notes, $1 & $5, for all other tipping e.g. Spa and bar guys.

All in all, we had a fantastic, very relaxing, beautiful two weeks. The only problem we have now is we don't want to go anywhere else, and seeing as it's quite a costly holiday option, it looks as if it's going to have to be once every two years for us from now on. Oh well. In my opinion it's worth the wait.