I have been to maldives (bandos) twice before for 2 weeks and chose this island for a week at the end of a hectic week in thailand.
Usual standard of service, smooth transfer, great waiters, friendly staff, lagoon villa was lovely, beautifully clean - everything you expect when you go to the maldives.
Downside was the island is very small which makes facilities limited, very small beach so no 'private' sunbathing which you can get elsewhere, limited spa facilities (lovely girls though).
Snorkelling great for the non adventurous, big lagoon area, not much coral and waist high, and the usual over the reef....The island itself is not that pretty, little in the way of flowers, no romatic palm trees leaning out over the water, not great for romantic walks. And I was very surprised that to see the sunset you have to peer between 2 villas - a good businessman would have built a bar out over the water to make the most of romantic sunsets (other islands have them).
The pool was functional for kids but right next to the restaurant so if youwant to sunbathe during the day you are overlooked by diners.
Evening entertainment dire - kareokee led by the diving instructor (great guy but you have to feel sorry for him having to do that!), balinese dancing demo (girls from the spa), diving film, crab racing (led by the bar staff) - and the bar shuts about 11.30 regardless of whether people still want to stay. When you get interested in asking about napkin folding classes you know you're getting desperate!
Food was ok - the all inclusive buffet had plenty of choice, well cooked but unfortunately half of which was curry (breakfast, lunch and dinner), desserts fab and fattening. The only other choice was the grill which was a fenced off area with a 'straw' roof so not particularly luxurious with the average main course being $40 and more if you want things like lobster, starters and desserts $10/20 - the choice and price didnt really make it worth moving from the all inclusive buffet for a change.
We went deep sea fishing - caught a 14kg fish which was whisked away by the kitchen staff as soon as we stepped off the boat - they cook it for you how you want for dinner but think about it... we paid $250 for the trip, we got one dinner and the rest of the fish went where? One can only guess that'll be the palm grill where they charge $40 for catch of the day!!! To be awkward i'd like to have insisted we kept the fish!!! The man in charge of the dive school/watersports was very friendly/helpful.
The sea plane excursion was $95pp for 30mins over about 4 local islands - a good experience but not convinced worth the money - thankfully the dollar rate makes it all much more acceptable!
The island is shutting for 6m in april to upgrade to 5* - will be interesting to know what they plan to do.
The other irritating thing we found was when they serve a drink (and we had many :-) )the waiters say please enjoy your drink and then come round and ask if you are enjoying it and when you finish check again!! Very tedious after a while..
Would I recommend the island ? Not sure, it was very relaxing, easy, good service, friendly but just be aware it is small so very limited facilities - and it is owned by indians so if you like curry you'll be in heaven.

My wife and I spent our honeymoon at the Taj Coral Reef. We loved our stay. Would recommend a visit here. Ideally, spend half your holidays here and half at another resort to get a varied experience

Positives:
+ Friendly hotel staff
+ Great rooms
+ Relaxing atmosphere
+ Feeding the manta rays
+ Great for honeymooners

Negatives
- Very tiny place - might become crowded and confining in peak seasons
- Not as many activities as some of the other resorts
- Protected coral reef is very tiny - not safe for beginner swimmers due to strong waves
- Food gets monotonous after few days
- Water villas need to be spruced up from outside - they look a bit dingy. Beach villas are great.

We stayed at the Taj Coral Reef from September 15 to 21 2007. I was a bit worried about the weather as it was inter monsoon season. It ended up being nice about 65% of the time, a couple overcast and rainy days but there are plenty of indoor activities and our room was cosy and well equipped so not a big problem.

We flew Sri Lankan which was the cheapest option available. I had organised my trip (which also included a trip to Sri Lanka) to take advantage of the direct flight to Male that Sri Lankan runs from London. When we got to the airport after finally getting to the check in desk after waiting in a queue for over an hour a surly check in lady slapped a paper on the desk saying "read this" - which informed us that due to "operational requirements" that the flight was being redirected via Colombo which would delay our arrival by about 3 and a half hours. This was a big disappointment but the other thing was that the plane made really scary noises on ascent and descent - rattling, clicking etc. As I had read that they use quite old planes I was scared the plane was going to explode or something but it didn't!!! However I am happy to say that on the way back either they fixed it or it wasn't the same plane. The food was quite good anyhow and so was the entertainment.

We have been to the Maldives once before and stayed at Kuredu so this tempered our opinion somewhat. Kuredu has an amazing beach, particularly on the bit we were staying in (beach villa) - you could swim out over perfect soft white sand and be guaranteed to see turtles right in front of your villa. In comparison to that the Taj's beach is not even in the same league. We booked a luxury beach villa (220) which cost 110 pounds extra for six nights but I think it was worth it as they appeared to be loads nicer than the standard villas. However I understand that the resort is closing down for six months in six months for renovations so I can't say what the situation will be like then. Anyhow, there was no white sandy beach in front of our villa (see photos), it was too rocky and corally really to swim so you had to walk to the main beach(es) near the jetties. The island literally takes about five minutes to walk across though so that doesn't take long though!!! These beaches are OK but by Maldives standards nothing to write home about.

I picked this island partially because you could get there without taking a sea plane transfer (which adds to the overall cost and can lead to delays on both ends waiting for your planes). There was a short delay in getting the speed boat from the airport. It was a really bumpy ride - I think it is better if you sit at the back at the boat as it may be less bumpy - but if you suffer from motion sickness then maybe pop a pill before getting on.

Because of its small size, the island never seemed crowded although I think it was near full capacity. And there was I think one baby for the last few days but otherwise no kids (which was also part of the reason I picked this island). It was mostly british, some europeans, and then japanese and indian people - mostly couples. A nice mix of people - all very civilised and quiet.

The snorkelling was quite good although a bit scary as to see all of the house reef you need to swim out beyond these orange buoys where boats are allowed. There was one part of it though which you could see without going beyong the orange buoys. Other than the standard smaller fishes we saw a ginormous purple jellyfish, an eagle ray and a few sharks, one of which was several feet long so that was pretty neat. The snorkelling gear costs $12 a day per person and I don't think they do a weekly rate. I also went for the blue lagoon snorkelling tour - which was fun even if only for the speed boat ride, and the guy from the dive center pointed out a lobster. The coral didn't seem that much better than at the house reef though and I didn't see any other fantastic new fish. The sand bank had litter on it too. That cost $32 per person and includes equipment.

I was happy with the room itself - especially the washroom - and there was a huge and generous selection of toiletries - including toothbrushes and toothpaste!! There are two showers, an indoor and an outdoor, although the outdoor shower didn't have great water pressure.

What really made the holiday for me was the food - I only really ate breakfast as I was on a diet - but I had a look at the buffets for lunch and dinner and they looked amazing too. They cater to British, Japanese, Italians (less and less though) and South Indians. As I love South Indian food I was in heaven as you could eat idlis, uppathams and parathas for breakfast and it was all sooo good. We also got some food from the bar (very good), tried the Palm Grill restaurant (not quite as impressed) and ordered from rood service (good size portions and much better value than the buffet and the restaurant - and can eat on your deck overlooking the beach). There was plenty of choice for vegans and vegetarians. Soya milk is even offered as a drink on its own on all the menus!

I spent a lot of time in the gym as well which was clean and very well air conditioned. The equipment was modern and worked fine. The service in the gym was excellent - Rahim the pool attendant also looks after the gym and was always there to greet you with a smile and make sure you had water and a towel. At the end of your workout he always tried to be there to offer you a chilled wet towel from the fridge!!! I nearly always had the gym to myself - guaranteed if you go early.

I also did the herbal steam bath in the spa for $10 after one workout and this was AWESOME and comes highly recommended. I can't speak for the other treatments in the spa though as I didn't try them. The spa location is not that great as it is located in separate rooms on the edge of the pool - not ideal - would be better if it was in its own building - and I never saw any sign of those beach side massages they use a photo of for their promotional photos.

The service was excellent overall, although I thought our room cleaner could have done a better job. But everyone was very friendly.

I would probably not stay here again as I like to try new places and new hotels but I would definitely be keen to try another Taj hotel after this experience. If you stay here I can't imagine you will regret it!!!

We did alot of trauling around Trip Advisor before deciding where to book our honeymoon of a lifetime. So we thought it would be good to share our experience..

Flights via Dubai with Emirates were painless, just about enough legroom in economy for a six footer and more in-flight entertainment than can be crammed into 11 hours each way. everything ran smoothly with the Dubai transfer and the boat picked us up from Male 5 minutes after clearing customs. We were greeted with cold drinks and whisked off on a 50 minute ride to Taj.

Taj Coral Reef, Fantastic resort. The Staff were friendly and extremely helpful at all times. Not at all intrusive but attentive none the less.

The island itself was lovely, about a 10 min stroll around the perimeter plenty of hammocks for afternoon snoozing. The beach was fairly small yet it was still deserted, the ratio of water villas with direct access meant there was no need ot get sandy!

Weather was good for 90% of the week, hot and sunny with a nice sea breeze, we were told it had been pretty bad for the first 3 weeks of September but had cleared up just before we arrived. It turned a bit rainy after we left Taj for Bandos later in the week. Not too bad for monsoon season though!

We were all inclusive and it is a must, drinks are expensive otherwise, it was nice to get proper spririts included in the deal, Smirnoff, London Gin etc and decent lager. However, the cocktails got most attention, not stingy on the alcohol content so be careful !!! The food was superb with plenty of choice everyday, but we were glad of an al a carte menu during the second week of our honeymoon at Bandos.

As it was our honeymoon we got the package deal including a nice bottle of red, fruit basket, cake, free meal at the palm grill (great fresh fish) and complementary massge. they also made a special effort on my birthday, with more complementarys and decorations all around our room. The attention to detail by the resort staff made it a really special week for us.

Great snorkelling for the amatuer, the sea breaks protected the lagoon making it easy and the variety of fish was endless . Yes, there is some coral damage in areas but it is still thriving a little further out. definately worth taking an underwater camera.

The island is being developed starting April of 2008, to build a new restaurant and bar area with a larger swimming pool. Due to take 9 months apparently the resort will be closing completely during the build, I hope they dont lose the intmate aspect to the service if expanding, it was the ideal quiet, romantic holiday we were looking for and will hopefully stay that way after the building.

Hats off to the staff of the Taj, they were superb at all times, I hope anyone visiting in the future will have a great a holiday as us. Starting saving to return soon.

T&S Staffordshire