Kuredu Island Resort & Spa — Hotel in Faadhippolhu

Went with my girlfriend to Kuredo for 6 days. We often prefer places that we can walk around, sightseeing, museums and food tasting. Although, she is pregnant so this time we decided to try the Maldives. Still, we were a bit concerned that it would eventually become boring, based on the fact that we don't really like to stay the entire day relaxing on the beach. Not that there is a problem with that at all, it's just not our personal preference.

After arriving to Male everything was quite seamless. TMA, the airline, handled everything pretty well and out luggage was taken care of. The flight in the water plane was a fun experience and the view is amazing, even if a bit overpriced in my opinion.

When we landed to Kuredo, everything was also seamless. We were received by our host Sinjo, which took care of our needs wonderfully and took us to our Beach Villa with Jacuzzi. The room was even better than what we were expecting from the pictures, so I do suggest to improve them (FYI we booked from Booking). Everything was prestine clean, the outdoor bathroom and the jacuzzi was spacious and very nice and the beach was right there. The room service was also very frequent and not invasive at all.

At our first dinner we met Manu, our waiter. He took care of us the entire week and it was flawless. Actually, every member of the staff was very nice to us at all times. From the gardening staff, to the bar staff and restaurant staff, everyone was overflowing of happiness. This mood is definitely something that stood out and made our stay very special.

As explained before, we were are not very keen on staying the enitre week on the beach so we signed up to the turtle search snorkeling trip. The search was with Emily, the Biologist from Olive Ridley Project which works at Kuredo. Emily gave us an amazing introduction about sea turtles and the conservation measures they are taking. We azlso got some good practices on how to act around sea tutles, which are quite easy to follow, so if you have the oportunity to swim around them one day, do a quick search! Anyway, we went snorkeling with Emily and we actually saw multiple turtles around the Kuredo lagoon. It was an amazing experience and we got totally hooked to Kuredo's wildlife. We ended up renting the snorkeling equipment for the rest of the days and went to two other snorkeling trips. I must say that this was definitely the highlight of our stay at Kuredo and the main reason I would like to be back one day. Emily's passion for her job and sea turtles is contagious and made our stay very special. We ended up snorkeling a lot by ourselves and saw a lot of cool wildlife. I 100% recommend you to go turtle searching with her! Thank you for everything Emily, keep up the good work.

We went with full board, which means that we had breakfast, lunch and dinner included. The meals were varied enough that didn't get tiring for the 6 days we stayed in Kuredo. Quality was also good from the starters to the desert. Drinks though are overpriced. For instance a glass of packed juice is 6,5$ so we stood with water and coffee for lunch and dinner and only had juice for breakfast, which was included. I would definitely had consumed more if they were between 3$ and 4$. At night mocktails go around 8$ and cocktails around 12$ and 14$, which is an acceptable price for beverages of tha tier in my opinion.

We always went on foot everywhere, so I am not really sure how the bus service works, since we never needed it. Walking around is also pleasant since you can also see interesting wildlife, like lizzards, birds, crabs and even pretty big bats at sunset.

It was a fantastic stay. We took most of our time snorkeling around the lagoon seeing tutles, rays, sharks, the reef and so many fish! I can't recomment Kuredo enough as a snorkeling site. Go with Emily on the turtle search! Don't forget to check out the free photo shoot.

Again, a special thanks to our host Sinjo, our waiter Manu and to Emily...

The fact this hotel got such a high rating is … surprising. We did have a great stay overall, but definitely not a 4.8/5 stay.

TL:DR : wonderful island, ok hotel.

Now I’ll go into more details for those who want to read.

Let’s start with the good : the island is stunning. It’s very beautiful and full of wild life. Birds, bats, insects, crabs, lots of colorful fishes right next to your room ! The staff is very friendly. We met great people and almost everyone was very welcoming and warm, special thanks to Janish who was adorable and very helpful The room. The room itself was great. Cleaned every day with great care, the AC works great, the bathroom being half roofless is very cool

Now, the meh : the food. The food is .. weird. Some dishes are delicious, very tasty and cooked to perfection. Some are extremely dry and overcooked. There is also a major issue with keeping some things cold/fresh, because of the restaurant’s temperature. For exemple the fruits, deserts/entrees are always hot. So you’ll have, for exemple, hot strawberry mousse cake, hot melon, hot muffin, hot everything. This is pretty mindblowing to me that nobody within the staff noticed the issue, it has to be fixed. By the way the morning juices are powder juices, and it’s aweful. Also, I witnessed something very weird. Some cooks don’t behave the same way with men as they do with women. I won’t explain everything in detail but I’ll give an exemple that sums it up well. I went to the grill to get some fish. On the grill, there were some parts that were cooking and were just done, fresh and ready to serve. Some other parts were already cooked and therefore drier, sitting on the side of the grill. The cook looked at the woman in front of me and gave her the fresh, just cooked pieces. He then looked at me and gave me the drier ones. And this kind of stuff happened to me a few times here The animations. There isn’t much to do after diner. Some parties were cool with nice music, the rest was just meh

Finally, the bad : Money. If you are not on the highest all inclusive plan, you’ll find out that everything needs to be paid. From simple juices to even pop corn, cocktails are very pricey despite being basic. Excursions are extremely expensive, which is to be expected in the Maldives. You really feel like money is at the center of the experience, you’re not always a guest, you’re often a walking credit card. We were given two refillable bottles after 5 days (weird), you’d think oh great some bottles for the ecology and stuff, that’s cool ! Then you check out and they ask you to pay 12 bucks for the bottles, even if it was written NOWHERE that these aren’t free, they’re basic refillable bottles. Mindblowing. Be very careful if you think some drinks (Coca etc) in your room were given as a welcome gift, nothing here is free. You have the right to get a « free photo shoot » and at the end of it you’d expect to get the digital photos sent by mail or something but no. You need to pay 210 dollars to have 50 (they often take 90+) photos on a USB key, a free 1 photo print and a book ROOM NUMBER PLEASE ? I’m legit gonna have nightmares about this question. Everywhere you go, whatever you do, staff asks you this question. We’ve been eating at the same restaurant for 10 days, after 9 days the guy who saw us every day still came randomely to ask for our room number even if we didn’t buy anything. You think you’ll go see what all pools look like, the second you set a foot near a pool area someone jumps on you to ask for your room number Management of some things really ruin the experience. After a week, a swarm of tourists arrived and some had kitesurfs, they took them to the best beach and it absolutely ruins everything. You’re here to enjoy this wonderful beach, not to have kitesurfs everywhere on the beach and in the sky

Great for families as there are tons of kids, others should go somewhere else in my opinion. Try to take all inclusive if...

My husband and I recently got the opportunity to stay at this beautiful resort, and here is some feedback:

Firstly, this resort is absolutely MAGICAL! The beautiful scenery, the mesmerizing 50 shades of blue of the ocean, and that instagramable kuredu swing just took our breath away each day of our stay.

However, aside from the beauty of the resort, I especially want to commend the STAFF on the resort. Each and every staff member we came across at Kuredu was extremely friendly, helpful and willing to go the extra mile to ensure our stay was comfortable and happy.

There are few staff members I want to make mention of:

1. Our room boy, Vishnu - definitely our favourite person on the island. We stayed at the private pool villa and had the benefit of Vishnu coming through everyday for cleaning the villa, replenishing our bar fridge, and turn down service. This boy takes his job very seriously and was always dedicated and hardworking... he really did such an excellent job! The bed decoration done by Vishnu on my birthday is by far the most special birthday gift I have received... Such talent from a guy that's only 24. You really have a star employee in Vishnu.

2. Our Island Host, Soneya - she was the first person we met on the island, and she set the tone for the most amazing holiday we have had. She was always available and friendly, and always willing to go the extra mile to assist us. We had booked 4 nights in the pool villa and 3 nights in the sangu water unit. However we loved the private pool villa so much that we asked Soneya to check if it's possible that we stay the duration in our private pool villa. Soneya arranged with main reception and we paid the extra charge and were VERY HAPPY to continue staying in our private pool villa. Soneya is such a great host... She even made sure to meet us at our departing sea-plane to ensure she said goodbye when we were leaving.

3. Chef Mohan - my husband says he makes the best Tikka in the world! Brilliant chef that always served us with a smile

4. Chef Kiron - our breakfast chef at Sangu... We absolutely adored his bubbly personality

5. Chef Vinodh, Chef de Partie - such a brilliant chef who cooked our special candlelight beach dinner for my birthday - hats off to this chef.

6. Our waiter Hassan - he was always eager to serve us everytime we were at Sangu - he knew exactly what drinks we liked, and had it waiting at our table even before we could ask. He was so dedicated and hard-working even on days when he was observing his fast.

7. Head Waiter Bond at Sangu - such a friendly, attentive waiter. He ensured he spoke to every guest and went out of his way to ensure guests were happy and comfortable.

8. Buggy Driver Jeysingh - such a pleasant, friendly person - he asked our names on the first night he met us, and everytime he saw us thereafter he greeted us by name. This is really commendable.

9. The Photographer Sobbe - all we can say about Sobbe is Wow Wow Wow! What a brilliantly talented young man.... Not only is he talented in photography but he is also extremely talented in singing... Such an awesome person with such a bright future.. We are such big fans!

10. Bartender Krishna - extremely friendly and insightful, and he made us some delicious cocktails

11. Gift shop assistants - Dilhani and Sushma - extremely friendly - we purchased novelties from here

12. The Dolphin spotter on our cruise, Sohaya (not sure if I spelt his name correct) what a great guy.... He takes great pride in his job and ensured that we all got good views of the dolphins on our cruise

13. All staff at main reception - such friendly faces and always willing to assist

These are just a few of the memorable staff members we came across during our stay.... Kuredu truly has such amazing people working on the island.... so dedicated, loyal, humble and special.

We will definitely return to Kuredu... And we hope to find these amazing people there...