Batuta Maldives Surf View — Hotel in Malé Atoll

Ajoo – Manager Musa – Master Chef Kamal – Server Imam – Cleaning Guy THE STAFF: Sir Ajoo was such an accommodating and inviting soul!! He was always eager to make sure we were taken care of. He made it easy for us to change rooms to the upstairs unit which we enjoyed and were thankful for every morning!! He also coordinated Emirates Airlines’ replacement of my wife’s luggage bag, which was damaged during the flight to Male. This was monumental!!

Sir Musa (aka Master Chef). One of the sweetest and funniest guys around!! He always has an infectious smile that makes you feel so welcome! His menu was fresh, tasty, and fulling! We really enjoyed his culinary gifts!! Every day was something unique!! As a bonus, we caught lots of fish on the fishing excursion and he coordinated the most fabulous fish feast/BBQ on our last night on the island. We ate like kings and were treated like royalty that night.

Sir Kamal was our server. A very soft spoken and kind soul. He was always fun to spark up a conversation with, and he has a great since of humor, he laughed at my jokes which was cool too lol. I’m not a picky person, but he made sure that I had chopped pepper with the eggs for breakfast after I initially requested it. Whenever we needed something with our meal he was right there with a smile! Sir Kamal is also a good chef!! Sir Musa aka Master Chef claims to have taught him about cooking, however, I give him all the credit lol.

Sir Imam was our housekeeper. What a polite and modest guy!! As our housekeeper, he made sure that our room was stocked with fresh linen and toilet paper. He moved in silence in that you could never really tell when he was making our room so nice!! We would come back to our room pleasantly surprised!! Sir Imam also maintained the lobby area upstairs outside of the rooms. This was great because we always had a clean and comfortable common area to chill while it was raining, watch the ocean, and even do some remote work on the common area table. Every attentive and kind hearted.

THE ACCOMIDATION: The star rating scale doesn’t do Batuta justice. The star rating system is subjective, and it doesn’t account for the human to human connection you make with good people like Sir Ajoo, Sir Kamal, Sir Musa aka Master Chef, and Sir Imam. These guys are friends now, and no star rating can capture that. I can only hope that I can one day accommodate them in my house and show them the same level of hospitality and kindness that they extend to us. The layout of Batuta is perfect. It’s right on the beach and only steps down from the bikini beach and snorkeling. If you just want to hang out around the guest house, it’s very comfy to just lay in the hammock in the front or go on the roof top and get a bird’s eye view. The rooms are spacious, and the A/C came in handy for a great night’s rest.

THE FOOD: Maldivian cuisine is very clean tasting and made with fresh ingredients and attention to detail. I personally loved the tuna curries. Aside from that, we also had amazing grilled fish and chicken dishes. The portion sizes were always filling and our friends staying at another guest house opted to eat at Batuta a couple of times because of the quality.

THE EXPERINCE: When Sir Imam and Sir Ajoo picked us up from the speed boat, when we first arrived, I didn’t know what to expect and I had no idea that I would eventually come to admire these guys dearly and consider them as brothers not simply our staff! In the almost three weeks at Batuta it felt like we knew them for years. We originally booked the second half of our trip to Maldives at another accommodation on another island, however, after the first week, or so, at Batuta, we cancelled that accommodation and decided to stay the entire time with our friends at Batuta!!!! What a great decision!! I was quite sad having to leave and even shed a tear for the beauty of friendships and connections that life brings us on our journeys and...

Stay away from Batuta Surf View!!!! 😡😡

We spent four nights at Batuta Surf View. This is the most terrible hotel I have ever stayed.

We booking three rooms for our group. While most of the staff were friendly and helpful, what happened during our stay was extremely disappointing and unsettling experience.

On our last full day, while we were out for lunch, the hotel manager allowed a group of strangers into one of our rooms without our consent !!!. We found out about this because my boyfriend have to return early then he saw those strangers were in one of our room. He asked “what is going on” and the stuff said he just show the room the those people !! This is unacceptable action and also those people should know that this shouldn’t be right to get into another guest room. “It is the privacy we paid for”

The room was left just as we had left it with our valuables, passports, electronics, and personal items lying around. When we asked the manager about it, he first denied anything happened, and only admitted the truth after we insisted. This was a clear violation of privacy, and left us feeling extremely uncomfortable and unsafe.

After raising the issue, we expected a responsible and sincere effort to resolve things. Unfortunately, all we were offered was a free dinner, which didn’t feel appropriate given how serious the breach was. We politely asked for a partial refund (50%) as a fair resolution but the owner refused, never spoke with us directly, and only sent messages repeating apologies without taking any real action. We didn’t receive any meaningful follow-up or compensation. Just vague promises that “they’ll improve” which did nothing to address what we experienced.

We’re sharing this review not out of anger, but to warn others as nice as many of the staff are, your privacy and security may not be respected here, and if something goes wrong, management may not handle it seriously.

To recap Good part Nice staff Help for booking ferry Big portion of food

Bad part Lack of communication between their staff members. Violation of privacy as long story I explained Owner not take any serious action from incident beside from AI text messages and refuse to talk on call and in person. Breakfast was not on time (The night before I kindly ask for early breakfast because I have early diving and one of staff say yes for that. Then in the morning I also ask again and address exact time. The staff say yes. But in the end we wait for a while and I didn’t get any breakfast as asked so I left before I late for meeting)

It was smoothly stay for first two days but last two days 💩...

Sadly, this place has failed us in every imaginable aspect. Hygiene was dismal in many areas - from the mold in the bathroom over nasty stains on the bed sheets and towels to a positively disgusting bathroom next to the breakfast area. The fan was broken, the "hot" water is scathing hot for about 15 seconds before it goes cold and back to hot. The kitchen that was listed turned out to be a water kettle and mini fridge. The beach in front of the guesthouse is covered with coral and rocks which makes it unpleasant and painful to get in for a dip, aside from the dangerous and rusty metal poles that are sticking out. My husband (on day 2) and I (on day 4) both got food poisoning from the breakfast that's included. To top it off, there are two major and one minor construction site right next door! From 7am to 9pm they were constantly running power tools, banging on metal and rock and yelling. Also, it's dusty and the construction workers have a great view right into the room. From the looks of it this project will continue for at leat a year. The owner communicates swiftly but important information was faulty (the price for the airport transfer was incorrect for example - 385 MVR instead of 150). He insisted on us paying full price and was absolutely unwilling to find any reasonable compromise to make up for all the shortcomings. We could not transfer to a different place because everything in our price range was booked already. The pricing on this place is too high, although any money is too much in its current state. If you can still cancel your reservation, we HIGHLY recommend you do so. If you are looking for a peaceful comfortable vacation spot, please keep looking! On a positive note: The on-site staff...