My family booked this hotel as part of the Qatar Airways bubble holidays. We booked it last minute based when Eid holidays were announced. It was our first trip out of Qatar in two years and we booked as to recover from a family tragedy. We trusted the 5 star rating on the Qatar airways holiday app to mean the resort is up to 5* international standards but sadly this is not the case.
We took a flight at 1.45 am from Qatar and arrived at Male at around 8.45 am. No one was at airport to greet us and we had to navigate our own way to sea plane on our own. Luckily some kind stranger helped us. We have been to the Maldives twice before and have always been met by a hotel rep. We sat at the airport for almost two hours without knowing when our flight would depart. After an overnight flight with a child, we paid a lot of money to be looked after.
On arriving at resort, we expected to be greeted by name and made to feel welcome (you can always tell a proper 5* hotel when they greet guests by their name on arrival). The warm welcome we have received at previously hotels in the Maldives hotels made us think this was standard. Diamond has now proved that is not true. Unfortunately we were left to walk with our heavy rucksacks down walk way on our own. The staff had no interest in us.
We booked an overwater villa which is nice but not amazing. It is looking tired around the edges (the outdoor furniture is breaking and rusty; there is a green mould in shower and scratches on floor boards). The room has a slight musty smell (they have kindly but a perfumer in your room but you have to pay $10 for the scents!) The guy who took us to our rooms did not put our suitcases in our walk-in wardrobe but dumped them in doorway. Again after long flight, those little details make all the difference. It is why we are paying premium prices. The mini-bar is included in package but not particularly well stocked
Mainly I am disappointed with room as we stayed in Finoluhu before (it was a similar price point) the specification of their rooms is so much higher. There is no bath. We thought this would be standard for a 5* hotel room. The toiletries are also more limited than other 5* hotels
We have just gone for lunch and again were left disappointed. As we walking to the restaurant, it started to rain heavily. We got soaked. The thing that made this worst is that the guy with the buggy sat and watched us get wet. He did not move the buggy to come and get us. I was shocked by lack of care. We arrived at restaurant dripping wet. While the front door staff too our umbrellas, he failed to take my rain coat (which I placed
Dripping wet on back of my chair in the end) nor offer any towels to dry ourselves off. When I requested that he go find some towels he was less than impressed and return with 1 towel for three people
The food is al a carte because of covid. I read other reviews before coming which raved about food but again the standard is not up to other 5* hotels we have dined in. The pasta in the dish I ordered was undercooked and the squid overcooked. We are all inclusive but the wine choice is limited. There are two white wines available at the restaurant today. Both Italian but neither great. I understand why choice maybe limited,
due to covid, but quality should not be compromised.
The hotel on Qatar airways holidays is lacking details on hotel. But we went on hotel’s website before booking. It advertises that there are 5 restaurants but please note, at present, that only
one restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. It alternates between the over water restaurant and the beach restaurant.
General landscaping and facilities: It is important to note there is NO SWIMMING POOL at this resort despite the 5* rating. The gym is also very small (one cycling machine and one running machine). There are also a lot of exposed sandbags around the beach which can easily be tripped on. There is also some constructing boarding up around beach restaurant for some reason.
I am writing this review now as I am sure like my family this may be your first opportunity to travel since the start of the pandemic. My initial experiences to others reviews reported online don’t seem to be the same. At present, we are regretting our decision to come here especially given price paid.
The plus point is that we have already gone snorkelling and the reef is more alive than other places we have been to in Maldives.
