Embudu Village

Just got home from a wonderful holiday to Embudhu Village. The landscape is it fantastic there is plenty of space on the beach and the coral & pisces are veeeery beautiful. Everything was perfect since day 1. We were impressed by the organization and punctuality they have. The transfer from airport, all check in formalities went smooth. Food: diverse and veeery tasty. All the stuff in the restaurant are very nice and welcoming.Our waiter Thasleem was kind and very prompt. I really loved their bunch of choices on vegetables and salads but desserts were the best especially mousseeees!!!!! Everything lookd s fresh -big like. All other services bar, cleaning, reception, spa including medical were very good. They helped us with all we needed covid tests and also send them to us via whatsap when a person from the group have forgotten the test at hotel before departure etc. Also from Diving center we made paddle and kayaking so nice way to spend our day. In this crazy period we are all living, we felt for a week we are back to normal times before corona. Everything was very clean and safe.Looking forward to return someday for Male, submarine and hidroavion trips cuz we were able to do only night fishing. Thank youuuu for making our stay very pleasant!

The main issue here is diving and snorkelling and the surrounding reefs are excellent. The hotel itself is somewhat tired but, having said that, rooms are clean and comfortable and staff and very helpful. The restaurant is upgraded and very pleasant and food is very good. All inclusive wine, like many such islands, is basic. There is much talk of upgrading the rooms and when this is done, it will be lovely. The island is quite big and very attractive and it's not too far from Male airport.

We stayed for 2 weeks in January and would have stayed longer had the pandemic permitted! Staff were unfailingly friendly and efficient - the food really was excellent, good variety and always changing. The rooms are basic but lacking nothing you need for an island getaway. And the bathroom was spacious and nicely refurbished with huge walk in shower. There is a good spa with excellent and friendly service. There are many small beaches all around the island so you could always feel like you were almost on your own private island. Snorkelling was first rate, turtles, rays, reef sharks and numerous varieties of fish to see. There is a dive centre and the diving is supposed to be fantastic. We would certainly return and have recommended to friends and family.

So, this was our first Malidivian stop, myself and three girls aged 9, 12, 14. We were escaping Covid misery in Europe, so arriving anywhere on a speedboat with clear blue sea and beaches is wonderful, of course. We got a pretty good deal - paying well below 50% of the regular rate, and took the dinner included deal. Our rooms were decent sized, and perfectly alright, but the beds were rockkkkk hard, and pillows the same. Plenty of cupboard space and all the rest, and super clean, bathroom too. Good hot water and shower - all fine. Nice little terrace to dry your swim stuff and sit. It is a tiny island - trust me, it takes 7 times to run around it to get to a 5km run. Lovely little beaches on every corner, wonderful water, and plenty of places you can find a sunbed. However, unless you are off diving, i wonder if you would want to stay here much longer, at least in covid times when you cant go explore other islands that easily. The food is edible, nice breakfast, and nice a la carte, but the evening buffet was sometimes a little bit disappointing. Very good dahl though. For the price we paid, it was fine, but i dont think it would be worth the full price at all. The staff were of course lovely, but it felt really a place of tourists, not somewhere we could interact that much with them, really. Nice sunset deck for drinks. Snorkelling was nice - watch out for currents on the Male side! In all, a nice place for a few nights to unwind, before perhaps going on somewhere else, and if you pay a discounted price.

POSITIVES: -The speedboat ride to the hotel itself was quick, it only took 20-30minutes, and it was relatively cheap compared to other islands (we paid USD 78 return per person) -We were greeted with a welcome drink and a quick and efficient check in process earlier than the advertised check in time, which was much appreciated. -The receptionists kindly organised for me to have a room next to my family so that we were in the adjacent bungalows. -Rooms 98 and 99 had a nice green view of the beach. -It was nice to see that every day each room got 2 x 1L bottles of water free of charge in the room, even though we were on half board basis. -The breakfast and dinner had plentiful of choice, however, most of the time food was repeated each day which is kind of expected. -There were always fruits available, be it bananas, watermelon, papaya, pineapple or passion fruit. -Each bungalow had a designated table and a waiter, which was nice as we did not have to fight for tables. -People had to wear facemarks in the restaurant and could only be served by the kitchen staff to minimise covid19 risk. -The beach was beautiful, particularly the lagoon on one side of the island. -The staff arranged us to have a coivd19 test for USD125 each and we got the results the following day both a hardcopy and an email copy. NEGATIVES: -Arrival in the airport - everyone else is greeted by their hotel representatives, however, for Embudu village, there was nobody waiting at the arrivals. What’s even worse, even when you find the desk 14 for the hotel, there is nobody there either! I waited for 10-15 minutes, then asked other hotel representatives, who said that Embudu rep is somewhere in the domestic terminal and will come ‘soon’. This ‘soon’ was another 10 minutes or so. When the guy finally came, he informed me that we had to wait for 7 more people from another plane and it took another 45 minutes or so. Overall, I waited for over an hour in the heat after a long-haul flight, not knowing what’s happening. This was the worst first impression and Embudu should really work on this. -The island and beaches felt overcrowded with lots of people fighting for the sunbeams. No the typical Maldivian experience of having your own little piece of paradise in front of your bungalow. -From one side of the island you can see Male and other construction sites, which took away the feeling of being ‘isolated in paradise’. -The bed was extremely hard! And I mean really hard! I’m in my late 20’s and I woke up with a stiff back every morning! -There isn’t any entertainment at night, however, on one night when there was a ‘party’ with loud music, it went on until midnight, which was blasting through the whole island and did not let us sleep. -We really wanted to do a sandbank tour, however, we were taken to a ‘sandbank’ that wasn’t even visible as it was all covered in water. We were then told that there are no other sandbanks they could take us to. This was very disappointing. OVERALL -The weather was perfect and overall we has a blissful stay in paradise in the midst of covid19, and for the price that we paid (GBP 65 per night for HB) it was perfect!