Eri Maldives — Hotel in Malé Atoll

After finishing our Holidays on the Maldives, and we returned to our home we still feel (now, without any boosted emotions) that the experiences with Smartline Eriyadu isn't acceptable. I booked two deluxe beach bungalows with All Inclusive package on the Resort of Smartline Eriyadu at the beginning of June 2018 for end of October. The booking have been done directly the facility via Email. Since we checked the map of the Island and red plenty of reviews (where concerns have been written about the left side of the Island – former Superior rooms 144 – 160 mostly due to noise and beach quality) we explicitly requested an area where we would like to have our deluxe bungalows next to each other as we are a family (requested 205 – 221). We even asked if it is requiring additional fee, and confirmation received: no. Since there was no information that such reservation is not possible and we received confirmation email, that they booked the bungalows according to our request, we finally selected the Island as our journey destination and pre-payed the trip. On the invoice stated room numbers 220 and 221. Experience: The transfer itself was inconvenient already since only a very small boat has been organized where people had to seat with luggage in-between the seats during the appr. 50 minutes trip. We never had such transportation on Maldives before, hence our disappointment was already set. After arriving to the Resort, we received the following rooms: 255 and 248 which are not beside each-other, are beside the noisy power plant and are on the left side of the island ignoring all the conversations and agreements above. Since we were not accepting these rooms, we discussed the situation with the resort Manager in person (we requested this from the staff). However he stated that no room reservation possible (which was never highlighted during our booking), he offered that the staff will check the available rooms for the upcoming days (we have to move ourselves) which was accepted by us. After checking the only available rooms 244 and 245 for the next day, we wished to discuss the situation with the manager again because that rooms were still not acceptable (still the former superior rooms). Our request has been rejected due to „the general manager already started his lunch break”. The communication was done via phone between the staff member and the manager, and the staff member communicated with us only. Due to lack of food (no-one recommended us to go to lunch as well and we were traveling since early morning w/o breakfast) and as the emotions were really high, there was a personal conflict between one of our family member and with the general manager including one staff member who dind't wanted us to guide to the manager. However, such personal conflicts must be avoided always, we all agree, we do not feel the behavior of the general manager correct and professional taking the „guest point of view” into consideration. After the lunch break the General Manager asked us to leave the Resort due to the personal conflict. 3 out of 4 member of our family wanted to leave as well due to the above experiences however we still do not feel that the issue is on our side. We got back our pre-payment (based on our explicit request), so we could search for another accommodation on the Maldives on the airport where we have been transferred back. We had luck (however almost every resort island was fully booked) and found another island (with of course extra fee due to the missing pre-booking) and could save the remaining time period (except that horrible day) of our stay. We tried to contact the Smartline Hotel Company and also the Thomas Cook Group as they are belonging together if this is the behavior what people should expect booking directly by Smartline and if this is the „guest always first” mentality?! Is it a Maldives „specialty” only and would the situation have a different outcome if we are booking via a travel agency? We haven't received any feedback from none of...

We travelled as Mum and two daughters for Mum turning 70 in the Maldives. ||This was my 4th time to the Maldives, my mums 2nd and my sisters 1st.||Arrival:|After the 10 hour flight, we had a further 2 hours to wait in Male airport|The transfer to the island could not have been worse! The sea was so rough and it was quite possibly the worst hour of our lives travelling to the island. Lets just say there was plenty of sick and really not a great start to the holiday.|It wasn't the start we hoped for and had to go to the room rapidly in order to lay down and recover.||The Island:|The island itself is very tired and is in need of the refurb it is about to get, after reading the reviews I expected a lot more wildlife than what we saw (Especially having stayed on other islands and have seen much more!) |The sea was quite rough throughout our 10 day stay, which is not the fault of the Islands of course, but it did make enjoying the sea challenging as the coral that was washed up was very sharp and the sea had created a ridge in the sand which made getting in and out of the sea more difficult to navigate. Which leads me on to mum almost breaking her ankle later in the holiday due to this!||The room:|Room 354 - Very tired and dated but one of the best spots on the island I would say. Looking at others we were ultimately happy with the location and with the most photographed palm tree outside it :-)|The waves would almost wash in to our room and covered the outdoor area with sand regularly, but we didn't allow this to bother us in the end. ||The staff:|Huge thanks to Abir our housekeeper, who kept everything as clean and sand free as he could. Special thanks to Nuzufa in the restaurant who was very attentive at meal times. The managers name which I didn't get unfortunately was incredibly helpful with everything including mums ankle and giving us bandages to strap it up to be able to travel back home.|Some of the staff in the bars seemed a little unhappy sometimes and feel like they could have given a better customer experience.||The food:|Lovely food, great kitchen staff and plenty of it but ridiculously repetitive. We loved the food but I would definitely recommend having theme nights in the future. So Italian , British, Authentic Maldivian nights etc etc... |The drinks ......... Where to start. For an All Inclusive Plus (Whatever the plus means, we still never found out) The drinks are awful alcoholic or not. Anything half decent you have to pay extra for! Its definitely a good way to cut down on your alcohol intake.|We found out approx day 5 that a few snacks are out out in the blitz bar, which is the only way to get a snack in between meal times.||The Gym:|The island does not advertise a good gym so I am not going to say too much about this, but if you are looking to use the gym whilst away then I probably would not bother. My sister is a marathon runner and is in training for a Ultra Marathon so was wanting to keep ticking over whilst away, the treadmills are definitely not up to the work! The belts got so hot that they almost caught her on fire! We spoke to reception as one was completely out of order but not sure it was looked at.|These are probably very old and tired and the gym may be in line for a good refurb too.||Overall:|I felt like all of us had a very relaxing time and had a chance to read, reflect, wander, snorkel and generally spend some quality Mother and daughter time together.|The island met our needs on this occasion but we would not be looking to return to this island. If this is your first time going to the Maldives, you will probably fall in love, as I did with my first island but there are many other islands that will tick more boxes, I'm sure this will change after the refurb and will be an...

Prior to arrival;||We traveled as a party of 6 friends and were well aware of all the different reviews of the island. One issue I had prior to our holiday was I contacted the management on Eriyadu in October last year which was a month after making our booking with Blue Bay Travel. I asked was there any disruptive building work being carried out on the island. I was told by the reservations executive May-Ann Rosaban in an email reply on 15/10/2024;|‘Please be informed that, there are no ongoing renovations here at Eriyadu. However, we do have preventive property maintenance in place, which is standard practice for all properties to ensure everything remains in good condition and that we provide better service.’|A total lie and misleading statement. Major work was being carried out as per reviews on other open online information. |On 07/04/2025 I received an email from Blue Bay Travel as follows,||‘Your chosen island Eriyadu is completing enhancements and a preventative maintenance in the resort until 1st September 2025.||The resort has advised the enhancements, and maintenance programme is as follows:||Ongoing beach nourishment programme including the maintenance of the sea wall. This is to help combat ongoing beach erosion affecting the island’s beaches and no guests will be assigned to villas located in front of this.|Enhancements to the Deluxe Beach Villas which include’ s plastering, painting, roofing, and tiling. All guests will be allocated rooms away from the rooms undergoing the enhancement programme.|The hours of operation for the programme are 8am until 7pm.|The resort is committed is ensure this programme does not affect their guest’s experience and have advised there will be no noise and visual disturbance by these works as all areas of work are secured and restricted away from guest.||Initial assessment;|On arrival we quickly realised that the work was considerably more than we expected. I would say at least a 5th of the island is a building site and numerous areas are in a state of disrepair. See photos. Everything is in a state of disrepair and just basic lack of maintenance. ||Management;||Any sort of management interaction is none existent. There is no engagement from them and my feelings are that they are devoid of any sort of empathy towards customers who have paid for a holiday that is sold as a paradise island. Please look at the current description of the island on their website!! Even when our friend’s rooms were flooded and patios made unsafe and not usable they didn’t turn up to offer any recompense. ||The only good part of the island is the general staff. Who work hard everyday day. Noora our waiter, cleaner Sagor a lovely happy young man, and Roger (not sure of spelling!) one of the bar staff who we had fun with. Without these people our holiday would have had no light or laughter.||Other points of note;||The food was what we expected and no complaints of note. Drinks were never served cold especially the beer and white wine had to have ice put in it as did rosey. The Blitz bar and Turtle bars are rundown. The seating and decor is shocking to be honest. It’s as if no one cares about and customers and what they have paid. It’s a feeling of your here now we’ve got your money so put up and shut up!!||All in all we had a good time because we wanted to and didn’t let the lies and bad management ruin our holiday. The price paid wasn’t like what some unfortunate people have l paid but I will be going to ABTA if I don’t get some sort of settlement from BBT.||A word of warning, the island closes in September for 3 months but this will not be the end of the work there’s still...