Finolhu, a Seaside Collection Resort — Hotel in South Maalhosmadulu

I have been to Maldives 9 times n this is the worst resort I have been to in its class. I would NOT recommend to anyone and will NOT come back. It has been a while since I wrote any reviews, but I am compelled to write one because of how terrible my experience with this resort was. The management n the front office are people who have little knowledge of what guest experience means. I think you will only like this resort if this is your 1st time to Maldives.

Maybe I was spoiled by the other 8 resorts I had been to. I have other properties to compare to and I must say Finolhu was the only one that disappointed us. All the activities offered was mediocre with almost no one attending and staff who did it half heartedly. We tried to go to a few before giving up going cause they were all so lame and the staff was not even focus on engaging us.

We have 2 rooms. One for my husband and one for 2 sons (one is under legal drinking age). I appealed so we can have our room on premium mainly because I do not like the wine they offer in the all inclusive. They said not possible since they do not allow people traveling together to have different package. Please note that the main difference of the AI and Premium AI is on the alcohol list. I said I would think about what to do. When I came back a while later, a different person attended to me and say it was okay. He understood that one of my sons was too young to drink. It was okay. I was grateful and appreciative of his understanding. He told me our premium package (my room only) will be effective the next day at 12pm.

Next day, we had lunch and have no problem. Dinner time, a waiter questioned us. When I told the story, the receptionist who told me was okay came over and deny everything he told me. Someone was lying. I really mind when someone questioned my integrity.

An assistant manager came over and making it worse by saying that I had some hotel credits USD2400++ (one my sons could not come). So what if I have some credits? I said that I could use it for my diving. She said that the diving company is a 3rd party and I couldn’t use my credit for it.

More than a couple of people in the resort refer the dive centre as a 3rd party. They clearly don’t understand why people keep on visiting Maldives. One day we had to leave early for our dives. I asked the dive centre if we could have our breakfast on the boat since we had to leave at 7:45 n breakfast starts at 7:30am. The person told me I had to arrange it directly with the hotel. Really? A while back they called to say that it was arranged. Breakfast was in a cardboard box, 3 pieces of lame pastries, prepared with not care. In other similar resorts, they went all out to please us on the boat. Fruits sticks, yummy cookies and even hot chocolate after our dives. We don't know if the dive centre is third party or not. We only care if we are happy. N I must say, the dive centre who also responsible to arrange all excursions is normally one of the main reasons we are so happy to be in Maldives. Finolhu did not know guest experience. The way they treated Dive Butler as 3rd party instead of their partner was so repulsive.

We took out a boat for a private fishing trip. Happy to catch 6 fish. Rainbow fish, what kind of fish is that? Anyway, I understand that there is cost involve in preparing the fish for a meal. The guy told us USD65 per person, NOT per fish. I said, okay let's prepare for 2 of my sons as they were the ones that caught the fish. I said I would just try a little bit. The person said, they would still charge me even if I just had a bite. Seriously? I didn’t want to eat rainbow fish. I am on premium package and have so many food offerings. I just wanted to nibble as my sons caught the fish.

So many more … Google limits the number of words I can write. I cannot write more. I went to 7 resorts in Maldives (cause I went to one in similar price to this one, twice) and I always left with happy hearts and 5 stars reviews .

Finolhu is just shocking to my...

After a very long planning period, we have chosen Seaside Finolhu for our honeymoon. Our holiday started as soon as we stepped in Maldives. Asif from Finolhu met us at the gate and accomodate us in the Finolhu lounge in the airport until our seaplane departure. We had a problem with our luggage but thanks to the amazing Asif, we did not have any stress related to that. He solved the problem and we enjoyed our stay in the lounge. Then the perfect and very peaceful holiday started. We split our stay between private pool villa for 3 nights and ocean pool villa for 5 nights. Both of the villas were designed beautifully and were very comfortable. The outside bathroom in the beach villa was really great and then your (almost) own beach in front of your villa. It was very romantic. Then the ocean pool villa... watching the sunset from your own large deck. We went snorkeling in front of our villa and saw a ray, a shark and loads of beautiful fishes and even an eel(?). We even saw pod of dolphins passing by from our villa. Every details about the villas were thought of and perfectly displayed. As for transportation in the island, you can choose to walk anywhere. The route is very beautiful and peaceful. So we mostly walked but when you do not feel up to it, you can also ask for a buggy which comes around 10 mins in front of your villa. Our second night, we spent an overnight in the beach bubble tent. I have alreay reviewed that part in tripadvisor in a different review. It was such an amazing experience. Our host Ammie and island chef Karan, made our stay so special and memorable. Loved everything there. The food, the views, the pictures that were taken by Ammie. Unforgettable... Our breakfasts and lunches were in the beach kitchen which was buffet style. We also had dinner there couple of times and other times we had dinner in Kanusan, Arabian Grill and Crab Shack. Food is diverse in beach kitchen. For a week stay, it was really great. The chefs, Wiwat, Shyam and Lucky cook great meats and pastas and they present the food wonderfully. They were also very kind and sweet. The service in the restaurants were top notch. Especially Anoos, Ali, Nasru and Firaash made our restraunt experience much much better. They were very lovely and offered amazing service. For the rest of the day, you can either use your own private area to sunbathe and relax or go to the beach club and have great cocktails. We went to the beach club almost every day. Ammadey, Shiyam and Nissha took very good care of us. Ammadey makes great cocktails, by the way. Shiyam in the afternoons and Nissha in the evenings made sure that our glasses were always full and they recommended some amazing drinks. It was a pleasure to have sweet chit chats with these employees and they always made us feel home. Such kind and energetic spirits. Dinner in Arabian Grill and Kanusan were really amazing. We had great time there. Crab shack needs to improve their menu and the taste of the food. We loved the concept of crab shack but we did not love it for a dinner. Maybe it is better for lunch. The island is really a playground. There are so many diverse activities planned each day. For example, a movie night right on the beach, circus show and many other shows by two amazing performers, dive centre excursions and etc.. We visited Finolhu in september, and the weather was so amazing. It rained only in our last day for an hour. Other than that, it was always clear sky and sunny. Overall, we really loved Finolhu. There are some small flaws to improve but in the end, employees make up for it. They have chosen their team very well. Thanks to the people above, our honeymoon was perfect. I would recommend Finolhu to everyone. We will cherish the memories and are looking forward to visit...

From the warm welcome from Mannu at the Finohlu transport desk at Male Airport we were chauffeured around to the Seaplane terminal and ushered into the bright and beautifully designed Finolhu lounge to await our TMA seaplane transfer. This compact lounge is full of quirky yet tasteful art pieces including a ceiling of fish mobiles constructed from recycled plastic bottles by Czech artist Veronika Richterova they looked like blown glass quite stunning. I was able to take a shower and enjoyed a light lunch and relax for the next 2 hours.|As we departed on the Seaplane the weather took a turn and the flight in turned into the best white-knuckle ride of my life the landing was nothing short of spectacular as the pilot used all his skill and daring to get us on the water in one piece as water washed up over the plane. |As we deplaned in a torrential tropical downpour, we were greeted by a very wet GM Mr Steven Phillips and his team who dispensed warm dry towels and quickly had all the passengers into the buggies and off to our villas, but not before he invited us to his evening white party that he was hosting. The villa itself took its key from the airport lounge and was bright, colourful and extremely practical with an incredible view over the lagoon and water access via a ladder off the balcony. The welcome inhouse produced chocolate bar was sublime and the whole interior space felt calming, homely and relaxed with the decor delivering harmonious synergy with the idyllic tropical Indian Ocean environment. |It was surprising, honour to attend the GM's evening party and Steven Phillips, and his senior staff made sure every guest was afforded their time. Resort manager Ishan introduced himself and we were chatting about food (my passion), he then introduced me to F&B Director Sunny who took us through the food and beverage offering available at the many high-quality outlets. The GM Steven then joined us, and we gelled immediately as he is first and foremost a true foodie and we chewed the fat over the world's best produce from beef, seafood and even Melbourne (my hometown) coffee. We had even eaten in a few of the same restaurants in Australia and Spain. Steven had one of his team request Chef Bernard join us. Chef Bernard took us on a tour of the kitchens and back of house operations introducing us to his senior team members. This was mind blowing and almost military precision with the best available produce sourced fresh from all around the world to cater for any gastronomic desire. We decided to try the evening buffet which are themed nightly and Friday night is 'Latin Night" with live cooking stations including meat and seafood cooked to order, the quality, attention to detail, overwhelming choice and the interaction with the kitchen staff on the live stations made the incredible meal ever more enjoyable. The whole dining experience was like a well-choreographed theatrical show. Our butler Asif was attentive and able to arrange even my most challenging requests with professional aplomb and more importantly made sure we got to where we needed to be with a pleasant smile and friendly demeanour. |Good leaders attract quality staff and Finolhu delivers at a high level with a relaxed no fuss can do attitude that I have rarely encountered in high achieving establishments, the packages available allows the guest to tailor their individual experience prior to arrival and caters for all tastes including families. I am sad my stay came to an end as another week in this paradise would be just the tonic before returning to the hustle and bustle of big city life.|Rest assured Finolhu I will be back to enjoy your unique brand of awesome hospitality again. Thats a promise I...