Olhuveli, Olhuveli Beach & Spa Hotel Review

Good Points
Beautiful lagoon on one side of the island
Plenty of excursions
Stunning Views

Bad Points
Accommodation not as advertised "poor finish"
Poor Food
Mosquito problem
Untruthful & unhelpful customer service
All inclusive finishes at Midnight

General Comments
General Comment:

Olhuveli Beach and Spa Resort - By Colin Jones



I booked to go to Olhuveli in the Maldives on the 9th May 2004 with my partner for 10 days All Inclusive. This wasn't our first choice and poor service from our agent "Dreamticket.com" resulted in this being our destination.



Arrival at Male was smooth and effortless (customs and immigration), transfer was arranged by Speedboat to the island. Was annoyed at the fact we were met by a rep who informed us the speed boat had not arrived and we should sit and wait. So we waited for approx 30 mins in a heat of the day waiting for a speedboat. As it turns out their were 8 other couples that had been waiting quite a bit longer after arriving on a earlier flight. I would expect paying for a holiday such as this prompt service would be paramount. Apparently not as I will further advise in this review. Speedboat journey lasted about an hour. Were not met and greeted like other guests were with the traditional drums.



Rooms:

We had booked one of the few "Deluxe Beach Bungalows" The bungalow had high ceilings and felt spacious and clean. Remote control air conditioning etc. During our stay we met a couple who were staying in the standard bungalows, I was so thankful we had paid the extra for the Deluxe and difference was huge, and im sure the price difference wasn't. The standard of finish in the rooms and bathrooms are not that what I would expect from a 3*/4* resort. The finish was cheap and that attention to detail was missing.



Food:

Large choice available of food of how much you would eat is the issue. I would consider myself to have a wide and varied diet, but I didn't struggle almost of a daily basis. The choice was large however alot of thick heavy sauces accompanied the meats and chicken dishes available. Alot of curry of different types and rice. Salads and pastas. Although most of the food was thick heavy and stodgy, not what you want in 34oC and 90% humidity. Furthermore the amount of flies that were allowed to crawl over the food appalled me. I don't expect every thing to be protected but no effort was made to protect the food from flies which I thought was disgusting.

The restaurant itself was located on the Lagoon side of the island which offered stunning views and the noise of the wind through the palm trees.



Entertainment:

Well what can I say, personally im not bothered whether im entertained or not, I was their to chill out and relax and witness the most beautiful sunsets and gaze at the stars. What I saw of the entertainment was the band "Sultan" who were a local Maldivian band and were actually very good. The Magician was the most strangest thing I have ever seen, the total lack of magic and entertainment was shocking. Romantic night is held every other night which means they do nothing apart from a single candle at each table, for this they feel the need to advertise with posters all round the island.



Service:

If there is anything that saves this Island from me giving it an absolute slating is the service from the Food Waiters, Drinks Waiters and the Room Boys. They work very hard and the service is amazing. Best waiter "Ameez" was a star. The island customer service and the UK rep called Dianne were ok. Although when the issue of mosquitos and the de fuming of the island issue was ongoing they lied through their back teeth and told different stories to many guests. Minibar in the room, Mars Bars out of date, complained about this still got charged for eating an out of date chocolate bar.



Resort:

Beautiful Island visually, and stunning lagoon, grounds well kept. As I said earlier depending on where your located on the island could be the difference on this holiday. Some of the accommodation was located next to less desirable areas such as, water storage and electric generators, satellite dishes and so on. If you are going to this island check this ! and check it again get it in writing. Island had a Mosquito problem which they were reluctant to deal with, people needed to get injections from the Island doctor because they had been bitten so much and of course they had to pay for this.

The House Reef wasn't great the water quite choppy and current strong weak or nervous swimmers beware. The Diving school apparently was excellent and those who were involved couldn't sing its praises enough. Another important point here is there are a high number of Italian guests here for which they have their own chef (nice) but they also bring their children with them, so if your looking for peace and quite then another important point to note. We went in the rainy season and had 10 days of great weather !!



Recommendation:

As you can tell I would not recommend this resort to my friends, for the money we paid we know for sure we could have booked elsewhere and enjoyed another island, even for the sake of paying perhaps a few hundred more pounds I would go elsewhere, I mean you have travelled half way round the world to get here may as well cough up a bit more to get that extra luxury. The Maldives has earned a reputation as one of the best holiday places in the world, I don't doubt that for one minute but sadly Olhuveli doesn't come to the mark.