Gangehi Island Resort — Hotel in North Ari Atoll

The waiting staff at the main restaurant. I have seen that the staff members were joining tables during our stay to make it bigger for groups. I have tried to put another table closer to my table where I was seating and the waiter came running to my and almost shouting that I can’t join the tables. I was shocked and explained that I just wanted to bring the table closer so our new friends can seat closer to us and he said it’s not possible due to the hotel policy. The next day he joined the table without any problems. I still have no clue what happened and why. Another thing the serving staff. Some of them don’t put more food even when I asked them for it. I have never experienced such thing.

The availability of food for lunch and dinner. Every time I come to eat at 2pm or 8pm, there is no meat left. How is it possible that there is not enough food for every guest? Is it not counted? If the served portions are small, how come there is not enough food for everyone?

Diving centre staff. What we have experienced from the lady and man in DC is devastating and outrageous. We have decided to go on a snorkeling trip after asking if the trip shows better reef and more fishes than it can be seen around the island, because two of our partners were snorkeling everyday for 2-3 hours so they have went around the island and have seen a lot. The man confirmed that the trip is worth going to even for them. We went on the trip where the first location was okayish but the second location was poor and the boys came back on the boat after 10 minutes. When we came back to the island, Adam expressed his disappointment and said that he doesn’t feel like the trip was worth it and Artur confirmed it. The man became angry and said that Artur is only saying he didn’t like the trip because Adam said so, which is so irrational I’m lost for words. I have been in the middle of the conversation and I wanted to calm the man down and told him that before the trip he confirmed it will be interesting for someone who was snorkeling around the island and he said that it was, because other people liked it. We asked others if they did snorkeling around the island and they said no, and for few of them it was first time ever. How can someone compare others opinions in such situation? And if the man has anger issues than why is he working with people when someone expressed their disappointment and he attacks? Then came the woman, who said „Opinions are free” with irony and a big smile on her face when Adam said that if they are not willing to talk to him and solve the issue, he will write an opinion. First time in my life I felt like a child being laughed at when all we did was express our negative opinion. It is the poorest customer service ever and I would not reccomend it to my enemy even.

Reception. We have went to ask for an upgrade options and the man with nice eyebrows said he will know if there are any villas available in the evening. He never got back to us or so. This is so strange because we came to him and he was the one without the answer so why didn’t he contact us? Another thing. I needed wifi and lost the password. The reception staff told me I will not get wifi. How is that possible that I cannot get a new password for wifi when I am in the middle of nowhere? I am so shocked with this treatment words can’t describe it. I have never been in a hotel or resort where reception didn’t want to give me wifi password, this is absurd.

I am lost for words really. It was meant to be a dream holiday and luckily Maldives are extremely beautiful so they compensate for the poor and outrageous customer service. I would not recommend this resort to anyone because I...

This place is simply great :). The staff is friendly and helpful, the resort is well maintained and well functioning, the food and the Italian chef is great, I can go on and on. In short, we were really happy with our stay at Gangehi, and are looking forward to coming back in the future!

Some practical information:

Alcoholic beverages: ..is quite expensive even when compared with Swiss prices. It seems wine is generally the best value, especially the house wine (which was of decent quality) but also some of the bottles (stay away fromt he cheapest bottle of white though!). The mini-bar in the room only had two beers (+lots of soft drinks), but if you buy a bottle of wine in the restaurant you're free to bring it back to the room.

Being non-Italian: Generally no problem, I think the non-Italian guests actually outnumber the Italian ones this time of the year.

The food: We picked this place largely because of the italian chef and great reviews of the food, and we weren't disappointed! Fresh fish every day, but also chicken/beef/pork dishes, and lots of variety. Also the desserts - especially the home-made ice-cream and sorbes - were great!

Timezone: They have their own timezone, GMT+6 (instead of GMT+5 in Male). This caused us some confusion on the way there and back. (The reason is to "trick" people into getting up earlier in the morning, to get more daylight. It does indeed work, it's just a bit confusing :).

Over-water bungalow: I wholeheartedly recommend the over-water bungalows for first-time visitors! Walking directly out of your room into the turquoise water for a morning swim is something everyone should experience once in life. As previous reviewers mentioned, the (non-deluxe) over-water bungalows probably have the best location on the island, facing west so you get a great view of the sunset and just next to the photogenic sandbank. We saw lots of fish swimming around the bungalows, including sharks, small rays, and even a lion fish. The west side of the island (where the over-water bungalows are) is comparatively windy, which most of the time is great (think "cooling breeze") but sometimes annoying ("rain storm at 4am").

Weather in June: We were a bit worried that it might just rain the whole week, but it was nowhere near that bad. We usually had a couple hours of sun every day, followed by many hours of thin clouds where you could still feel the sun. It maybe rained once or twice per day, but usually for less than 30 minutes so not really an issue. Two days we had very strong winds, which was actually much worse than rain since it made it difficult to dive/snorkel and even woke us up at night.

Low season: I guess June is as low as it gets, so there weren't many guests on the island. This was for the most part very nice and relaxing, but it did became a bit of a problem since not enough people signed up for the excursions (snorkeling trips, visits to nearby islands etc usually required at least 6 ppl). Also there were no Italian "entertainers" during dinner, which - judging by earlier reviews by non-Italians - might have been a good thing ;).

Information booklet: When checking out of the resort, we were given a very informative booklet with resort information, photos of all the staff and information about all plants, animals and fishes that could be seen around the island. This would have been really useful to get when checking in instead (it's not a mistake, the booklet is labelled something like "hope to see you again"). Maybe you can ask to get it...

Getting there: The transfer from Male airport is quite seamless and I highly recommend the seaplane. I think it's totally worth it. We were greeted right after exiting the airport by someone showing us the resort sign and he immediately took us to the seaplane checkin. In less than 30mins we were already onboard the plane that flew us to the resort in about half an hour. The view from above is extraordinary.

Location: AMAZING! The island is quite small but I think the size is just perfect for this type of holiday. It's very green compared to other islands we looked at before booking with Gangehi. There is so much vegetation and it's really diverse and well maintained by the staff. The beach is just stunning with a sandbar that extends to about 6-700meters on low tide. The reef is also quite well preserved. You have so much to see while snorkeling, and diving is an unforgettable experience for sure.

Facilities: I would say that you have everything that you need. There is a gym, a spa center, a tv room etc. And the diving center is a must! Gil is such an amazing guy. Funny and very sociable but also a top professional. We have never tried diving before and we took the introductory course which was absolutely amazing. We saw so many beautiful corals and fish extremely close to the resort and the experience is of another level when compared to just snorkeling, so totally worth it and highly recommended. We also went on a snorkeling trip and saw the incredible manta ray from just 1 meter away. This was so amazing and unforgettable for us, I can hardly imagine how it would be to dive in other diving spots of Gil's.

Rooms: We tried both the garden villa as well as the ovewater bungallow and both rooms were just perfect with amazing views. Cleaning was well done regularly.

Food: The restaurant itself as well as the location, at the end of the pontoon make up for a really nice experience. And the food is really really good. Serving also top notch.

Staff: Everybody was just wonderful. Very pleasant and friendly. Gil, the diving center manager is a really amazing guy and I honestly recommend spending as much time as possible exploring the wonders of the sea with him. Giorgio, the manager is also a great guy. Raju from the diving center, Armando from the restaurant, and all the other guys we interracted with were so helpful and nice. Amazing people which bring even more value to this place.

Value for money: Top value for the money you pay here! We were there during the COVID-19 outbreak so we got a really good offer which made it absolutely great.

COVID-19 stuff (for the current period): Nothing to worry about here. Staff wears masks and gloves and hygiene seems to be a top priority. The resort is opened and operates normally. We were just a few people on the island but everyone was really friendly and nice and I'd say we were even more lucky to visit during these times.

Overall: The best place for a perfect holiday. Location, scenery, people, experiences, food, accommodation. Everything was just great. We usually prefer to go to places we have never been to before when on holiday but Gangehi Island Resort is already on the top of our list for future holidays so I guess this says it all :)

Last but not least, a special thanks for the tasty cake my wife got for her birthday. Such a...