Alison Hendry
My husband and I have just returned from holiday on the beautiful island of Malahini Kuda Bandos We booked a week at the resort in one of their luxurious sunrise villas. These are truly special and include all you could ever need for your vacation. They are immaculate, cleaned each day and the staff will provide anything you request if you need it.
The food at the restaurant is excellent and provides a wide range of international cuisine beautifully presented at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
All the staff are friendly, approachable and nothing is ever too much trouble. They take time to interact personally with all their guests and make them feel at home.
Our holiday experience illustrated their personal interaction and caring approach taking it to a whole new level. My husband suffered quite a bad accident on our first day and ended up in hospital for a week in Male. Each day a representative from the resort accompanied me to the hospital to visit my husband. They helped me negotiate the ferry, taxis back and forth to the hospital in Male as well as helping me cope with all the issues linked to my husbands admission and hospital stay. I will always be eternally grateful for that support. Each day all staff at the resort asked after my husband and always made me feel cared for whilst on my own
We can’t emphasise enough how wonderful this resort is and how in every way the staff go above and beyond what they will do for their guests. Their caring and thoughtful approach to all their guests is a credit to them and we are very grateful to have witnessed that during our time there. I’d like to make a special mention of our appreciation for the support that Yadanar extended towards us in our time of need. Also to Vanessa, the restaurant hostess and her staff for their care and attentiveness.
We hope to be able to return to visit again and have no hesitation in recommending Malahini Kuda Bandos to anyone looking to visit the Maldives.
Elizabeth Streeter
We went for our honeymoon for 3 days, 2 nights and it was fantastic! Mahaasin and Alif were particularly amazing and lovely at looked after us really well. Food was delicious and there is a lot included on the full board. There are additional fees for things such as espresso martinis but at a reasonable cost (lots of other cocktails available) the Snorkelling is amazing here! We saw 5 black tipped sharks, squid, sooo many species of fish and really beautiful corals. The beaches are spotlessly clean (the staff clean them each morning) with white sand and clear water. Flying foxes fly over at night which is also magical! The whole thing was magical. The intimate island made it extra special as you can walk round the whole island in 7 minutes! Thank you!
Sara Teele
We just returned from a short stay at Malahini Kuda Bandos, and we genuinely had an amazing time. The only possible negative I can come up with is that the rooms and some facilities are a little bit run down with a lot of wear-and-tear, but not in a way that seriously affected our trip or our enjoyment. Everything was clean, comfortable, and more than sufficient for a relaxing beach escape. Loved the ceiling fan in the room so I could skip the AC!
The true highlight of this resort is the staff. Every single person we interacted with was friendly, warm, and incredibly helpful. Special shout-outs to Vanesa, Ansari, Leona, and Astini - they were absolute stars and made us feel so welcomed.
We did have a rocky start due to a 5-hour flight delay, and some confusion over WhatsApp where we were mistakenly told that the resort had no plant-based milk options and that we could not bring our own. As vegans, this worried us. But the moment we arrived, we realized the complete opposite was true. The team went above and beyond to accommodate our dietary needs. They had plant milks, vegan butter, a chef familiar with vegan cooking, and staff who were eager to make delicious meals for us. We felt so cared for.
One of the highlights of our trip was the private beach dinner. It was absolutely worth it; romantic, beautifully set up, and surprisingly affordable (almost the same price as the buffet). They created a customized 4-course vegan menu for us, full of flavor and beautifully presented. The only thing missing was a vegan ice cream - like coconut milk ice cream or dairy-free sorbet - which I hope the resort considers adding because it would make the dining experience even better!
We were only there for two days, but we left feeling relaxed and refreshed. Another huge plus is the location: just a 15-minute speedboat ride from Malé Airport. It saves so much time compared to resorts requiring long seaplane transfers. There is a bit of light pollution from the Malé coastline, but we still saw plenty of stars and enjoyed the peaceful island atmosphere.
Overall, we loved our stay, felt truly looked after, and would happily return. With a few small updates to the rooms and some vegan dessert options, this resort would easily be perfect!
Lisa Chadwick
What makes this resort for me are the staff; they are all lovely, so nice and helpful! the food is good and plentiful and I was expecting prices to be much higher for drinks, $8/9 for a cocktail is very reasonable I thought (I wasn't AI) and they were delicious. Yes you can see Male even though it's a good distance away, but this is the payoff for only a 12 minute speedboat ride. This island is a good choice if you don't have megabucks to spend. The standard rooms were more than adequate, comfy bed, good air con, roomy, good water pressure & hot water. The only thing i didn't like about the standard rooms are lack of balcony ; yes you have chairs outside your door, but everyone walks past to access their rooms, so there is no privacy there, which is a shame. If you are going to shell out for a more expensive room, choose the sunrise side, the view, beach and reef on that side is much nicer. I was pleasantly surprised by the reef, saw some beautiful fish i hadn't seen before and black tipped reef sharks. I would go back for sure!
Joanna Butchard
Disappointing stay – far from Maldives standards!!
The Maldives should be paradise, but this resort was far from it. The reality did not match the pictures shown on Booking.com at all.
We paid almost $800 per night for a garden room that felt like a basic backpacker room!! Yes, backpacker- please see the pictures, it was a pavilion with small rooms facing each other, zero privacy! The bathroom was tiny and barely suitable for two people, probably understatment, two people did not fit at the same time. We were also woken up at 5am by an animal screaming, which continued throughout the morning.
We were so disappointed after the viewing, we asked for a refund and were ready to leave the island. Only then were we offered an upgrade.
The all-inclusive package is extremely basic – no Jack Daniel’s, no Malibu, not even a proper piña colada. There is no swimming pool on the island unless you pay for a higher room category, and even then it looks worn down.
Service was poor overall. Hana at reception lacked empathy and warmth. She is not someone you expect to meet in your paradise, treats you just as another number. On the other hand we were really looked after by Vanessa and Rosie, both were lovely and made mealtimes more pleasant. The food was suprisingly good, which was one of the few positives.
The island has potential, but at its current state it is well below Maldives standards and absolutely not worth the price.
Stay away
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