Cocogiri Island Resort Maldives — Hotel in Felidhu Atoll

We have now been fortunate to have visited 7 islands in the Maldives, which is our favourite place on earth.||Not being in the wealthy class we have to search for bargains and have a budget for our holidays.||A deal come up for Cocogiri, when we looked at the island online we saw that it was a small island with only 40 rooms, 20 beach villas and 20 water villas.||One bar, one restaurant, one pool etc. ||The island does have a dive centre and water sports facilities for those who want to use them. ||So the island was small which was going to be a new experience for us, but the reviews were good and in our mind we had not been on a bad island (if any exist) so we booked for two weeks this May, we arrived home a couple of days ago.||To travel to the island from Male airport you have the choice of the speedboat, one hour ten minutes or seaplane. We have had both in the past so on this occasion we opted for the speedboat the main reason was that this was included in the price and the seaplane was going to be a lot extra.||On arrival in Male a member of staff was waiting for us in the arrival area, there was a delay in our speedboat transfer as we had to wait for another two passengers, when they arrived we were off. Boat trip fine, good weather.||We arrived on the island to a very warm Maldivian welcome and looked after in reception by two ladies, Cho and Baram, both excellent. They are originally from India but spoke excellent English.||Welcome flannel and drink, short form filling and we were all set.||We arrived on the island early morning and check in is normally 2 pm, but the ladies said that someone was still in the room allocated to us but that we were being given another room so that we could have a sleep and a shower before moving to our own room later in the afternoon. This was most welcome as we had been travelling for 23 hours.||We were given an introduction to the island and taken to our temporary room.||The island restaurant is a buffet, which we partially like. One thing we had not thought through was the selection, on all the other islands we had been on the buffet selection had been extensive, on Cocogiri it was reduced. It stands to reason with reduced number of guests the island being small they were not going to put on a selection of 40 main courses. What they do is the normal selection of deserts, salad bar, soup etc and a choice of 15 main courses. |When we arrived Cho and Baram explained that if we could not find anything we liked in the buffet tell the chef and he will cook us something to order. Well that did not happen as what we found was that the chefs they had are excellent and the food was fantastic, we did not find any dish we did not love.||The buffet also had an open chef station. The challenge then became to control ourselves and not eat too much.||Cho and Kevin are supported in reception by their supervisor Kevin, another person who could not do enough for you. All three were absolutely great.||Normally you also get welcomed by Valentina (Tina) the general manager, she was not present when we arrived as she was away receiving an award for the island, but more about her later.||A plus on the island was in reception they had a library which had a wide selection of books, we used the library and on leaving the island left the books we had brought with us to add to their selection. ||We stayed in an overwater villa, sunset facing, great accommodation and the only small issue we had was in the afternoon there was little shade on the deck so we spent a number of afternoons by the pool.||A big plus in the room was the size and quality of the bed which was great.||One thing that could be better is the wi-fi which is free, but not a strong signal all over the island. Being out on a water villa there was times when we could not get a strong signal. It was OK for looking at social media (which is not us) but for more extensive use it was not great. The island provides a mobile router for a small charge, we used one and it was excellent. ||On all the other islands we had a member of staff allocated to our room, normally given the title ‘room boy’. ||Here it was different and housekeeping was done by teamwork, the team, Mustafa, Kalyan, Banai, Stavan and Surya were great. They had the room done in about 20 minutes and it was spotless, they also could not do enough for you. We noticed with all the staff on the island, tradesmen, gardeners etc they would give you a big smile and wish you good morning/afternoon or evening whenever you were near them, the housekeeping team were likewise always pleasant.||On the island my wife went to the Spa on two occasions and was looked after by Aya and Era, both very good at providing the service and again very pleasant. My wife loved the massage and body scrub and only funding stopped her having more treatments. After visiting the spa my wife would return and her description was simply “Loved it”.||People visiting the island who are looking for a party atmosphere should look elsewhere this is an island for relaxation and snorkelling. ||The house reef was very good and nearly all day the majority of guests were either on the beach or snorkelling, or in our case relaxing on our deck.||The reef is full of fantastic fish, together with turtles, rays, octopuses and the occasional reef sharks (harmless). || A number of people also took up the water sports plus paddleboats, wind surfing etc.||The island restaurant is next to the bar and the bar staff, Mahavit, Dev, Vinay, Helal and Vimod all multifunction and look after the bar and restaurant.||The staff were again great and nothing was too much for them.||The all-inclusive was good with a choice of 7 cocktails and about the same number of mocktails on the menu, as well as the normal spirits, beer and wine, we had everything we wanted.||At times when we visited the bar and the pool we were the only persons there, when there was more people you only got up to about a dozen at its busiest times. ||Due to the small number of guests there is not entertainment at the bar, light background music or if you ask the staff they would put requests on via the internet linked to the large overhanging TV. ||On two night there was entertainment on by acoustic singers, who were fine and we enjoyed them. So those looking for disco’s etc this is not the island for you.||The views from the restaurant and the bar were stunning, we just loved sitting there and looking out over the ocean.||After 2.30 pm from inside the dive centre a parrot named ‘Rio’ comes out. He or she loves people and comes to anyone around the pool and bar, the bird is a real character and puts a smile on everyone’s face but god knows how many photographs have been taken of the bird as she/he is on camera every day.||The island do a number of excursions but having been to the Maldives a number of times we never went on any this time. Other guests were raving on the turtle and shark snorkelling trips which a large number of guests were going on.||Anyone who travels to the Maldives knows how good the staff are but here on Cocogiri they take it to another level, this we believe is because the outstanding star on the island is the general manager ‘Tina’.||Tina is a true leader, she is everywhere, never stops speaking to guests to ask if she can do anything for them. She is walking the restaurant every meal chatting to guests and making sure everything is perfect from the staff. She greats every guest when they arrive and again when they leave. Prior to retiring I used to be a manager and gave training on management, well I would have used Tina as an example of how to do everything right, she was just brilliant in every way.||The big question is would we return to Cocogiri, well the answer is a big YES.||The best way to summarise the island is something my wife said, when we walked around, went to the pool and bar, a lot of the times we where the only guests and she would say, ”this feels like our own island, just the staff and us”.||14 days in paradise.||If you want first class service with good food, a quiet island to just relax and do some snorkelling then this is the paradise for you.||To close I would like to send our thanks again to all the staff who made our holiday special and Tina you are doing...

I shall confine my review to the Island itself as flights and transfers are outside of their control.|We had booked through BlueBay Travel in the UK and we always arrange our own flights.|We arrived at the Island around noon, Maldives time having a short boat trip from the pontoon to the Island after our short Seaplane journey.|We had a warm and friendly welcome to the Island along with a refreshing drink and towel.|Check in was speedy and informative and we were shown to our Over Water Villa, room 203. The room had everything we needed, was light and airy with a patio door onto the decking which overlooked the Indian Ocean. My only complaint was that the bed didn't face the ocean. |The decking has steps down to the pristine waters and we saw so many fish just standing on the decking.|There is a rope net bathing area on the deck that allows you to sun bathe whilst looking down at the coral around the Villa. Personally I found it uncomfortable and lay on it once to try it out in our 12 days there.|Snorkelling off the steps was like swimming in a fish tank. So many fish of varying colours and sizes. On my first swim out I saw a Turtle and Reef Shark.|Over the coming days, along with the Maldivian norm, I saw a pair of Lion fish, Puffer fish acouple of different Turtles making a regular visit and reef sharks.|We regularly saw a podcast of dolphins from either the restaurant or the water villa swimming in the channels.|From what I saw, the coral was obviously thriving around the Island as the colours were fresh and vibrant. There is obvious recovery here from the "bleaching" often reported in the Maldives.|We went out on one trip during our stay - Sharks and Turtles. It sounds scarier than it is and is superbly run by the excellent Dive Centre on the Island. We had the most amazing memories of that trip and highly recommend it.|The weather was changeable during our stay which was officially the start of the wet, monsoon season. We had one bad day and it rained on several nights. It did not detract from our magical stay.|We upgraded half way through our stay to a Jacuzzi Water Villa, room 214 and the staff made our move simple, taking many clothes still on hangers to save time on packing.|The rooms were cleaned daily and the team did an excellent job. Thorough and always friendly and polite.|My wife is a diabetic and we were provided with diet / zero coke in our room fridge daily.|We were in the Jacuzzi every day and it was hard to extract my wife from it at times.|The restaurant - just the one, Buffet style. The food was very varied and cattered for many different tastes. We learned that there are 12 chefs, yes 12 in the kitchen which clearly showed from the varieties of freshly baked breads, meats, Curries, pizza, pasta, salads, ohhh and the deserts, larges cakes, small individual cakes, chocolate balls, fruit drink shots, doughnuts, biscuits 😋 |There was always a chef cooking something different on the cooking station. Breakfast (eggs, omelette ect), Lunch could be Pita Bread stuffed with meat or vegetables and Dinner, again something different each night.|We personally loved the veggie curries, not our norm but beautifully spiced and flavoursome. There was always nice and varied salad and a beautiful coleslaw.|The waiters were attentive and aways made sure there was cold bottled water on the table and provided excellent service. After a couple of days they knew what you wanted to drink.|The wines were easy to drink and not too bad, which for the Indian Ocean isn't easy having been to the Maldives 6 times previously.|I personally didn't like the house Gin and settled on Rum and diet coke as my preferred choice. The Coffee in the bar went down very well with a brandy on the side. We tried a few cocktails which weren't bad at all.|There was live entertainment, a duo, one night a week, who were very good 👍 |The Island itself had many trees and plants and was far more mature than what we expected for such a "young" Island. The gardeners did a superb job and the beech was raked every morning smooth out the soft sand.|Talking of sand, all the paths and restaurant are soft sand, so you don't need shoes or flip flops other that midday when the decking gets hot.|Clothing - you don't need as much as you think! |For me, 4 x shorts, 4 x thin shirts and 4 x Tshirts was enough along with swim shorts. Take a couple of Tshirts for snorkelling to save burning your back and don't forget the sun cream - back of legs and neck when snorkelling is most important - ouch.|Finally, the staff. I couldn't fault a single one! From housekeeping to gardeners, waiters to chefs all were friendly and attentive.|The staff on reception were always extremely polite and helpful.|The dive centre didnt push trips, excursions or diving- again friendly, helpful and informative. One person stands out for special mention - Tina, the Island manager. What can we say?|From beginning to end she was visible, yet in the background. All the staff are superbly trained and organised.|Tina is friendly, approachable and extremely helpful in making your holiday unforgettable.|Of all the Islands I've personally visited, she stands head and shoulders above all others.|Tina is Cocogiri, she lives it, breathes it and goes the extra mile to make sure all her guests are happy.|The staff are a reflection of her and her attention to detail.|A good example was when a storm came in, we saw a lone snorkeller on the reef. The man's wife had run to our villa as we were the last in the line and two other concerned ladies had joined her.|The snorkeller disappeared from view, so we called Tina. She and her assistant immediately came to join us having already put the Dive Centre into action who had immediately sent a Jet Ski and found the man in no trouble at all as it happened.|The reaction of all concerned was refreshing to see - like I've previously stated, a well run Island and a first class team all round.|We hope to visit the Island again at some point and this would be the one of only Islands I would return to -...

We went here for a 3 nights 4 days vacation as it was highly recommended by pick your trial vacation planners!||After we landed at 2:30 and came out of the airport their representative was waiting with a placard and explained that our transfer via speedboat will leave at 3:45pm and showed us to a waiting area and said we can have lunch there, he did not take our luggage but we had to take it ourselves! The boat arrived on time but the staff was confused and showed us the wrong boat and changed thrice! Also he said our resort was nearby and it will take only 3 minutes to reach there, however it took us more than 90mins to reach. We were welcomed with a welcome drink, we expected a traditional Maldivian welcome like all luxury resorts do but got nothing! But there was a wild pelican which was standing at the entrance which brought a smile on us. ||During check-in the staff said we will be given only 2.5 litres of water everyday and there will be no refill until the next day and we should drink water when we go to the restaurant and made us feel uncomfortable, so we were drinking water sip by sip as a 500ml water bottle costs 2$ to only realise later that they will give any no of refills as confirmed by room service staff! So in many aspects the staff were either ill-informed or not trained properly, as each staff gives a different answer for the same question!||Now coming to room it was clean and spacious, we stayed in beach villa for first two nights and one night at water villa!|You can step out of ur room and play at the beach with just a few steps, there is a hand shower area to sand off your feet after playing which is very nice. We were playing at the beach at room service cleaned our room during that time. Once we came back the room got dirty so we asked to send them someone to clean just the floor, they said sure and called me back after two minutes and said, room service just cleaned your room few minutes ago , are you sure you want it again? Being a beach resort they should not question like this, after complaining to the manager they said we will clean any no of times, so this whole process was frustrating!!!||Now coming to food we chose this particular resort as pick your trial said they serve very good Indian food and it is baby friendly as we wanted both having a 22 month old! |The food was decent and Indian food was average, nothing more than this and the staff at the dining area were interested only in european/US nationals as they consume lot more liquor than us. Having a baby we asked them to get something so they said this is a buffet, we only serve water and Paid drinks! Once we complained to the manager about their behavior they started serving us forcibly and always with a long face, no smile or intent of service was visible! |Also they have a protocol for serving baby food Once requested, yes having a protocol is good but it shouldn't be such that it makes it difficult/inconvenient to the guests, so it goes like this, if we want something for the baby we have to explain it to the ones serving, then to the chef and later inform/request the manager about the same, however the manager was never available when we enquired! They definitely have to change the procedure to internal, if we inform any one of the staff they should get the required approval from the manager & chef etc. Not the other way round where we have to run around with the baby and talk to the entire staff for a plate of food! ||The wifi speed was slow and not reliable, so even a WhatsApp voice call was not clear. So the tv too was working for sometime and down for sometime. The room service staff were good and happy to do service!||We shifted to water villa after two nights and we had a great experience there, as we could see so many kids of fish just from our balcony, not even needing to snorkel, we got to see baby shark and a sting ray as well, if not for this i would ve rated a 2!||Overall it's a small resort with pretty good facilities and average food , staff won't accept other staff/department responsibilities , we have to inform them ourselves, hospitality needs...