If, like me, you are looking for a family-friendly resort in the Maldives that offers an amazing and relaxing experience for everyone in your party, then look no further.

We (me, hubby and a 3-yr-old daughter) have just returned from a 10-day experience at Lux and it was truly wonderful in every sense. The service is impeccable - from the reception at the Lux waiting room at the airport, the seaplane transfer to the reception on the island (daughter fell in love with front desk staff).

Lux offers quite a variety in terms of dining - Buffets, Japanese, Italian, Medittereanean, Indian - so we were never bored with the cuisine. The variety on the childrens' menu is really good and there are even specialist meals for 0 - 24 months old on the menu. The staff at the restaurants are amazing and were willing on several occasions to go the extra mile to accommodate my daughter's whims, especially Jamiz, Afzal, and Shakira, who made sure our table was always ready (complete with kids' cutlery set) just before we arrived.

The one comment I would make is that sometimes the service did not quite stack up to what you would expect from a 5 star resort for example, after 10 days at the resort, my husband was still instructing the staff on how to make a basic pot of tea with a tea bag and boiling water. The funny thing was the coffee was perfect but the tea was almost always hit and miss! Or that the complementary bread basket offered during dinner at the Italian restaurant had evidently been prepared sometime earlier in the evening and allowed to sit absorb the tropical climate and humidity (so bread-sticks that should have been crispy were soft and bread that should have been soft and fresh was dry and stale) - oh dear! Now this may sound picky but these are the finer details that should not be overlooked at a 5 star resort.

The resort offers two swimming pools. We hung out (as most families with young kids) around the Veli Pool which is centrally located in the island and offers a shallower pool. The other advantage is that it is quite close to the kids' club where our daughter spent some fun-filled afternoons. Again, the service at Veli Pool Bar is impeccable. After a few days at the pool, Khan (our waiter) was correctly anticipating our drinks/food order before we even asked! Now that is service!!

I must mention the kids' club which was the main selling point for me choosing this resort, personally. Tima and Aisha at the club are superb. Our daughter came back daily from the club having participated in fun activities including henna tattooing, crab hunting, banana boat ride, face-painting etc. There was never a boring moment. Even when it rained, the children watched movies in the "movie room" at the club, and drew and painted. As testament to the club's success, our girl asked to go there everyday!

On the whole, this resort satisfied on every level, however, there are a few points to mention which are noteworthy:

1. This resort is long and narrow. Distance from the easternmost point to the westernmost point is circa 2km. This is a long walk especially in the tropical heat. There is a buggy service for the islanders but sometimes it could be 10 - 15 minutes for one to turn up. There are free bicycles offered by the resort but the one I tried to ride on my first occasion was a bit knackered so I opted to walk instead. They are also few and far between. You can rent a bike to use for the duration of your stay at 4 USD a day. Personally, I feel these bikes should all be offered as complementary and guests should not have to pay any extra to get around the island.

2. We stayed in a beach pavilion villa which has an outdoor bathroom - I thought that was a great idea - and in some ways it is - until the fumigation starts. Fumigation of the island is done on a daily basis around 5pm - 6pm Maldivian time. There were several occasions that we were caught out having a shower after spending all day in the pool/lagoon in readiness for dinner and the fumigation began to kill the mosquitoes. I would summarize by saying one's bathroom experience at that point, gets quite chokey! It's also quite hot and inconvenient in that you don't want to break a sweat when brushing your teeth or slapping on some lotion...

3. The resort lacks a nearby reef and so guests are taken on a daily boat ride to the 'house reef' for snorkeling. You have to book this in advance, and it is therefore quite limiting. And if I am being honest, we were very disappointed on the number and variety of sub-aquatic life compared with what we have seen at other resorts we have stayed in the Maldives. We actually saw more fish/sharks/sting rays etc in and around the immediate environs of the resort (from the piers and jetties) than at the house reef itself. Having stayed in other resorts in the Maldives which have reefs within swimming distance, this is a bit of a disappointment. This is worth bearing in mind if you are going there for the snorkelling as a first priority.

Having said that, overall Dominik and his team at Lux are doing a wonderful job and my family and I are very grateful to you for making our experience at Lux memorable!

Thanks guys!