Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
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About
#1 of 1 hotels in Vilamendhoo
Location
4.8
Cleanliness
4.8
Service
4.7
Value
4.6
Travelers' Choice
Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa, surrounded by a beautiful lagoon, an excellent house reef and long stretches of white, sandy beach, is the only Resort on the island of Vilamendhoo, South Ari Atoll. It is 900 meters long by 250 meters wide, about 55 acres. Your seaplane transfer from Velana International Airport is a scenic, 25 minute flight. The 194 Rooms include 30 Jacuzzi Water Villas, 30 Jacuzzi Beach Villas, 111 Beach Villas and 23 Garden Rooms.
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Property amenities
Free internet
Pool
Fitness Center with Gym / Workout Room
Free breakfast
Beach
Canoeing
Children's playground
Indoor play area for children
Wifi
Hot tub
Pool / beach towels
Infinity pool
Adult pool
Outdoor pool
Plunge pool
Yoga classes
Bar / lounge
Restaurant
Breakfast available
Breakfast buffet
Breakfast in the room
Complimentary Instant Coffee
Complimentary tea
Complimentary welcome drink
Kid-friendly buffet
Snack bar
Special diet menus
Wine / champagne
Poolside bar
Diving
Game room
Snorkeling
Tennis court
Water sport equipment rentals
Windsurfing
Billiards
Darts
Evening entertainment
Fishing
Table tennis
Board games / puzzles
Nightclub / DJ
Kids pool
Highchairs available
Airport transportation
Spa
Couples massage
Facial treatments
Foot massage
Full body massage
Head massage
Massage
Salon
24-hour security
Baggage storage
Concierge
Gift shop
Shops
Sun loungers / beach chairs
Sun terrace
24-hour front desk
Dry cleaning
Laundry service
Ironing service
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Room features
Blackout curtains
Bathrobes
Air conditioning
Housekeeping
Private balcony
Coffee / tea maker
Cable / satellite TV
Walk-in shower
Room service
Safe
Seating area
Sofa
Telephone
Wardrobe / closet
Bottled water
Clothes rack
Laptop safe
Minibar
Electric kettle
Flatscreen TV
Bath / shower
Complimentary toiletries
Hair dryer
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Room types
Ocean view
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
Languages Spoken
English, French, Russian, Spanish and 5 more
Location
20187
Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
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Highly recommend this resort which is value for money, good mood, stunning view, and the marine life in the sea nearby is absolutely fantastic, you may easily find sting ray, eagle ray, reef shark, turtle, nemo and dory, soft corals, etc. We do enjoy our stay in this resort and all staff on this island make you feel so warm, they are nice and enthusiastic.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
+1
Hotel's Favorite
//Summary// Unsure how anyone could rate this hotel anything less than 5 stars. It’s the best example of paradise I have seen and judging by the steer amount of ‘returners’ (people who come back year after year), I’m confident the vast majority would agree (more on why they come back later). The staff are extremely friendly and polite. Our waiter Ilham was very attentive, lovely to speak to and generally a great laugh, Irham who tidied our room every day, went above and beyond whenever he could and Avoy was extremely friendly and welcoming every day at breakfast. All the other staff we spoke to were lovely and are a credit to the resort. //Break Down// -Weather- Our biggest concern going into the holiday was the weather. A lot of information we read was conflicting and the local weather reports didn’t look good. We arrived on the 31st October for two weeks and after the first two days, the weather reports showed showers and/or thunderstorm for the remaining 12 days of our holiday. Completely ignore these reports! During that time we only had two sets of short showers during the day and one persistent set of rain on the morning we left (last from 9pm until 11am). -Money- Everything is priced in US Dollars. It’s important to note that you don’t need any physical cash unless you want to tip. Everything is put on your ‘room’ to be settled in cash or card when checking out. To give you a steer on the cost, we spent £740 on a whale shark trip, nurse shark trip, turtle trip, a manta ray trip & two fridge magnets at the shop (all trips for two people). Not cheap but we’re all worth it (will attach some photos). -Travel- A quick note on travel, the sea plane trip lasts around 30 minutes but you might be unlucky (like we were) by having to wait 3-4 hours at Male airport for the transfer to the resort. It felt fairly brutal after travelling nearly 17 hours from the UK after a brief stop in Doha. -Hotel/Island- The resort is small. Only 900 meters long by 50 meters wide. Considering the hotel was 85-95% full while we were here, it felt incredibly quiet and peaceful. Other guests were quiet and reserved (not once did I hear shouting or music other than the main entertainment). Saying this, the average age of people on the resort is older so not exactly club 18-30 😂 The resort seems particularly popular with Germans and Swiss guests. I think the next largest majority would be British. After speak to one German Couple (for context, they have been back 8 times here after visiting 7 other islands), they said they come back here as the island is nice and small (some other islands are rather large), the resort has its own coral (more on this later) and generally the other guests tend to be German/Swiss who they can speak to in German or English. -Food- Food was great and we felt like we had great choice each night (they having a themed night for each day of the week). My partner is a vegetarian and she had no issue at all. If you have any allergies then they seem very accommodating and all the food is clearly labelled (including if it’s suitable for vegetarians/vegans and how spicy it is). The only shame for me personally (I know this is being picky so shame on me), the chicken almost always had bones in it which put me off having the curries which were delicious. As part of our stay, we could go to the Asian resturant twice. We went once and enjoyed the view (worth going at least once), but we generally preferred the food at the main resturant (that was just our personal preference and the food at the Asian Restaurant was good). -Wild Life- If you love wild life (like we do), then this is the place for you. I’ll start with the non-trip wild life that you get to see around the island. Herons - They are everywhere (and even take a dip in the pool). They are fairly tame and normally let you walk within a few meters of them. Fruit Bats - Hard to take a photo of as you only see then flying (they fly around during the day). Lizards - See them typically around the trees near the beach. Geckos - Will likely see them in your bathroom (more why later). Various tropical fish - The resort has its own coral (which a good number of other islands do not). You can see them all in abundance (clown fish, angel fish, parrot fish). Sharks - You can easily see them swimming close to the shore (they are only small and are very cute). Hard to see them snorkelling as they are quite skittish. Rays - If you keep an eye out, you should get to see some sting rays and eagle rays. We saw a sting Ray around the Asian Restaurant and around the beach outside villa 125 several times, typically early in the morning. Do watch out as they can sting you if you step on them as they tend to lie and semi bury themselves close to the shore. They are more afraid of you so just ‘shuffle’ your feet when walking into the water as this will scare them off before you stand on them. For Eagle Rays (have beautiful spots on top) we saw one while walking along the water villas (early in the morning, around 7am) and we also snorkelled into a group of 3 while snorkelling at the coral just outside our room (as soon as they saw us, they swam off very quickly, will as a picture of the blurred gopro footage I have). Turtles - You will likely see turtles come up for air around the island (we only saw this along the south east of the island where our room was) however, it’s rare to see them in the water as they are so camouflaged and only seem to be out in the early morning (6.30-8am). We were however lucky enough on one occasion to see a Turtle whilst snorkelling in the water (will add a photo). Trips (General) As a general tip, we split up all the trips as much as possible. Your group tends to be smaller, you have break it up more over your holiday and you don’t have to spend the whole day wet. It’s also worth noting that it’s not uncommon to go out and not see anything at all so I would prepare yourself to have a ‘no show’ trip which you still have to pay for. We got lucky and this didn’t happen but we were aware of this happening to other people. Whale Shark Trip - If you have never seen them before, then I highly advise that you go. For anyone worried about deep water, you can can see the bottom when looking at them (around 15 meters deep). It took around an hour to get there, an hour in the water (in and out) with an hour back. My biggest advice is to ‘be on the ball’ and get off the boat promptly. You will very likely have other groups of people on boats trying to see the same whale shark as you (it was us and 3 other boats so maybe around 40 people total). It would be easy to get into the water last, be stuck behind everyone and only see the whale shark when it has swum downwards (they tend to swim down slowly when too many people are around). Don’t worry if you get unlucky on your first attempt (like I was). You will be getting on and off the boat around 5-7 times as the boat tries to catch up to the same whale shark again or another one. Turtle Trip - Funnily enough happened on the same day we saw the turtle in the morning around the resort. Lovely short trip, was only us and one other couple. Only 20 minutes on the boat to get there and saw 3 different turtles. You could just sit there and watch them. Truly amazing. Would be a great trip for weaker swimmers. Manta Ray Trip - This was personally my favourite. They are HUGE. Out of all the trips, these were by far the hardest to see and they also swim very fast, so more than anything, you need to be on the ball to get a good view but you do get on and off the boat several times to see them so there are multiple opportunities. The visibility on our trip wasn’t as good (unsure if this is standard or not, could have just been the weather that day). Like the whale sharks, be prepared to get on and off the boat several times and be quick to get in the water. Out of all the trips, I think this would be the worst one for weak swimmers. Nurse Shark Trip - Probably my least favourite out of the trips but still loved it. It takes around 75 minutes (via speed boat) to get there. You arrive with other boats who are feeding crabs to the sharks so you see plenty very easily. You travel another 10 minutes to see a ship wreck which is fairly cool. -Room- We have an a-joining beach villa. I was concerned about hearing people next door but I didn’t hear anyone once over two weeks so this is nothing to worry about. The air conditioning works very well and the mini bar is very well stocked (even with cold coffee!) Do be warned that the bathroom is ‘outside’ meaning that basically half the bathroom area is open air (surrounded by a 8ft-9ft wall). You do get used to this and you actually learn to love it (a bit odd at first though). This is why you can’t fly drones on the island. Regarding the ‘best’ rooms, here’s my advice. I will refer to the rooms as North West, North East, South West & South East so you will need to look at a map. Personally, I would avoid rooms on the South West of the island as they have little to no beach. These villas tend be the adult only/jacuzzi. The North side of the Island has biggest beach however, the water is typically covered in stones and coral so it’s not that great for paddling (it’s the more beautiful side of the island though). The South East (where we were) was perfect for us. You get a great view of both the sun rise and sun set on the beach, the coral is literally 10 meters away (on the other side it’s more like 30-40 meters away) and the beach is lovely. The ONLY downside is that there are white painted concrete blocks to protect the beach. On top of this, one of the main swimming pools (which has a pool bar) which is usually quiet is very close to the middle of this beach (and was directly behind our room of 111). It was perfect to swim in after a snorkel. -Other- Meals - You are allocated a table at the start of your holiday which is yours for the whole visit. We were very lucky (kind of, will explain in a minute) to be sat at the front to see out of the restaurant. If you don’t like your table, I would ask if you could change first thing. Footware - The resort is 100% sand, I didn’t wear any shoes, socks or flip flops for two weeks (amazing). On that note, I never wore trousers either, always shorts. Wheel Chairs/Buggies - Even though the resort is all sand, in reality, the majority is sand covered concrete (you only notice this now and then when it’s rained and has washed some of the sand away). Mosquitoes - They love me, whichever holiday I go on, they find me once it has gone dark (even when I put spray on). Sadly it was no different here. They mainly got me when I was eating at night (the downfall of having a nice table at the front). It didn’t ruin my holiday, just a sad reality of reacting badly to them. My partner barely gets bitten by them and only had around 5 total across two weeks sitting in the same place and putting the same spray on.…
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
17 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from Mohamed Zahir, General Manager at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
Responded Nov 15, 2022
Dear nickm Greetings from Vilamendhoo and thank you very much for taking your time to write this very detailed review in regards of your snorkeling holiday with us. Wow...how exciting this is to read, filled with lots of information that made me joining your holiday in my thoughts...just amazing. I am so happy to see what a wonderful time you had enjoying our offers and services provided as well as exploring the underwater world of South Ari Atoll. Truly stunning and as you say worth every penny to see this gentle giants of the seas and the smaller wild around the Island. I see you have taken home lots of memories and footage that will last for a lifetime. One has to experience itself to understand exactly the feeling and joy that comes along. I can not more agree on all your words as they are most right to the point. The only comment I would like to make here is about the concrete mentioned. Rain will wash away fine sand on the roads however the surface becoming visible is still fine dust and sand compressed by driving the buggies looking like concrete. A 2 week holiday with lots of activities and quite good weather that seems to be a success and to remember indeed. Weather itself is unpredictable and we see that changes of usual patterns are there but overall I can say it we only have good weather in the Maldives as temperatures will not change much. I will share your kind words with my team as they are the ones doing their outmost and with passion to make such dreams come true. We all would like to take this opportunity to once again thank you for having visited us. It would be with absolute pleasure to welcome you back to our snorkelers Paradise Island to further enjoy the True Colors of Maldives and its magical underwater world hopefully soon again!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
A fabulous resort with outstanding snorkelling just a few metres from the beautiful sandy beaches. Our holiday at Vilamendhoo exceeded our expectations all round, it was a pleasure being there. A great place to get away to and switch off.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
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Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
A very relaxing place to visit. The rooms were simple and very comfortable. The catering was great for us and covered all our dietary needs. Plenty of choice. The snorkelling was amazing and the excursions we took were well worth it, especially the Ocean Discovery.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Excellent venue, with very friendly staff. Seaplane transfer was very good. Food was excellent quality and very well presented. The house reef was very close and allowed for great snorkelling. Very clean room and venue.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
We stayed here for our honeymoon. The whole island is pure perfection and we cannot wait to visit again. (Matress was a tad hard but they rectified this with a comfy topper). The island, the staff, the food and drink were great. We were all inclusive and it was worth every penny.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
We stayed at Vilamendhoo in November for the main purpose of scuba diving. I did a lot of research before booking to find the best resort for us, and Vilamendhoo was great. The dive centre, Euro Divers, was super efficient and diligent. They make all divers do an orientation dive on the first day, to demonstrate skills and deploying and SMB (which all divers must have). They also were very diligent at checking nitrox tanks, always showing you the % and getting you to sign. We were assigned our own boxes to keep our gear in, which made everything easy and smooth. Booking dives was as easy as signing your name and box number on the board. The house reef was great, fish like being nine an aquarium. All the standard stuff, moray eels, shrimp, lobster, eagle rays, reef sharks galore. Easy diving either side of the island. Boat dives were added cost, be aware of that. We did a 3 dive whale shark dive trip, but sadly did not see any. We did 3 dives from the boat but the dive sites didn't have much else to see if the whale sharks didn't show. The medium 2 dive boat trip took us to some nice thilas, but the currents were strong (for us). SMB is necessary for surfacing with your buddy. Then we did a 2 dive manta trip, and thankfully we saw mantas at a cleaning station! We just really wanted to avoid the snorkel trips where there are so many people in the water chasing whale sharks or mantas. Anyway, resort-wise we had a lovely adjoining beach villa on the North side (would recommend this side as the south side has the boat jetties and groynes along the beach). The outdoor bathroom and shower were lovely. Room got serviced twice a day. We were on the all inclusive plus package, and this meant we didn't have to worry about drinks or food bills. Due to diving we couldn't drink excessively so probably could have done full board cheaper, but we paid the AIP price for peace of mind. The staff were very efficient (the opposite of our previous experience in the Caribbean!) And friendly. …
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
+1
This was our first trip to the Maldives ( our honeymoon) and we loved everything about this resort. It's said to have one of the best house reefs in the Maldives and it definitely true !!!. The amount of sea life was amazing - small sharks, so cuteeeee , and thousands of colorful fish. We spent much of our time snorkeling. The room had everything we needed and was very clean thanks to house keeping “i forgot the name”. We found the food to be exceptional and varied. The most amazing things is surprisingly they served soto and nasi goreng ( Indonesian food). We were very pleased thanks to our beloved the waiter in Funama restaurant „waheed“ who always taking care of us, answering our questions and served us with smile and he is truly a lovely person ! Also Adil and team the sport manager a very fun person and their services is excellent!!!! And also many thanks to discovery cruise team shajan and the team, their services and their hospitality is amazing!!!! And wonderful We already looking forward to returning. Tips : Give tip to the guy who always serve you wont make you bankrupt. They really deserved it. My heart belongs to this island.❤️❤️❤️…
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Date of stay: November 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip: - Go excursion during a good weather.,
- all inclusive is for you who plan to drink 10 beers/...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
The best house reef that we saw. No shoes needed throughout the stay. Nice little things as bonuses, sunset boat trip, ala carte lunch and dinner in Asia pavillion (best fish laksa in our life). We will come back.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Rooms
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Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Amazingly beautiful - everything you need and the reef surrounding out of this world Staff always great just a shame that lots of expansion has occurred into the beautiful surroundings of the atoll
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Date of stay: December 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Value
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Mohamed Zahir, General Manager at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
Responded 2 weeks ago
Dear eisabeths Greeting from Vilamendhoo and thank you very much for taking your time to write this review in regards of your holiday experience with us. I am thrilled to see that you had an amazing time enjoying our offers and services provided as well as exploring the reef around the Island making it a home from home. Stunning indeed what can be spotted of the underwater world so easily and I am sure you have taken home a treasure of wonderful memories that will last forever. I will share your kind words with my team who are all doing their best to deliver such a memorable time away from home. We all would like to once again thank you for having visited us during your time in the Maldives. It would be with great pleasure to welcome you back to our Paradise Island to further experience the True Colours of Maldives and its magical underwater world should the possibility arise
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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PRICE RANGE
$455 - $1,253 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
vilamendhoo island hotel vilamendhoo, vilamendhoo island resort, hotel vilamendhoo island
LOCATION
MaldivesAlifu AtollSouthern Ari AtollVilamendhoo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
194
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Claim Your ListingVILAMENDHOO ISLAND RESORT & SPA - Updated 2023 Prices & Hotel Reviews (Maldives)
Frequently Asked Questions about Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
What are some of the property amenities at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free breakfast, a pool, and an on-site restaurant.
Which room amenities are available at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Top room amenities include a minibar, air conditioning, and a flat screen TV.
What food & drink options are available at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast, an on-site restaurant, and a lounge during their stay.
What are some restaurants close to Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Conveniently located restaurants include Compass Beach & Bistro, The Asian Wok Restaurant, and The Blue Moon Cafe.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Yes, guests have access to a pool, a fitness center, and yoga classes during their stay.
Does Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa have airport transportation?
Yes, Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa offers airport transportation for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
Are any cleaning services offered at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
Yes, dry cleaning and laundry service are offered to guests.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Chinese.
Does Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa have any great views?
Yes, guests often enjoy the ocean view available here.