Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru

Our first time to the Maldives and we were delighted by the whole experience. The transfer by boat was seamless and soon we were being greeted by Fatima and having our footprints in the sand photographed. This really is a barefoot resort and we adjusted to that quite quickly. We loved Villa 14 which felt sufficiently private and had a top class sunset view every night. We were HB and had no regrets. Our final bill was only $350 for extra food and drinks and we had one alcohol drink each per day of our 5 day stay. We paid $200 to keep our room until 430pm on check out day and thought this was not unreasonable. We had some cans of soft drinks with us when we arrived and used those instead of buying. We did not touch the minibar items ! The cocktails in Madi Hiyaa were worth a splurge of $24 each on a couple of nights. We enjoyed all the food and I preferred the buffet nights as the choice was extensive. Especially Friday nights when cocktails or wine beforehand are included. We are not strong swimmers but amused ourselves on the lagoon side of the reef or across at Dhawa Ihuru island where there is much to see close to shore ie lots of colourful fish. As landlubbers, we enjoyed the talks by Aman the marine biologist and Laura from UK who is new. Both the coral reef talk and the history of the Maldives talks were ace. Go and meet the collector urchin who babysits the infant coral cookies. I spent some time bird and bat watching. The fruit bats come along at around 4pm and (literally) hang out in a tree near Madi Hiyaa. We had perfect weather in mid-November, a little wind every day. Fatima greeted us each day and all the staff were marvellous. We were hoping that there would be a shared tips box when we checked out as we only had large notes. Apparently there is not such a box. I think it would be good to have and it is more comfortable for us from cultures unused to individual tipping. 5 days was ideal for us at the end of an action-packed 2 week holiday in India. I get the appeal of the Maldives and cannot fault this resort at all.

Second time at Vabbinfaru and we enjoyed as much as the first one. The new restaurant is a nice addition. Special thanks to Liu who made our stay special!

We wouldn’t normally visit the same island twice but after last year we decided a second visit was a must!. The Banyan is everything we want from the Maldives , the seamless transfer from the airport gets you to the island in less than 30 mins , the beach villas have been renovated since last year so wha was lovely for us was to see the changes that had been made . Fatima our host was exceptional, she worked her magic and ensured we had a villa we were happy with , her daily messages to say enjoy your day just gave that lovely personal touch, Lui also from the front staff made us feel very welcome every day and special thanks to Waheed. The food is delicious , Fipit one of the servers was just a pleasure to be greeted with every day , always a smile on her face and nothing too much trouble . The island is small , it’s run like a well oiled machine , and we couldn’t fault anything with our second stay. The staff are a credit to this island , and what makes people Come back, who knows we may come back for a third visit ! Thankyou again Banyan keep doing what you do !

We had a truly pleasant second stay at Vabbinfaru. The resort continues to offer a very good level of service and warm hospitality. The spa treatments were excellent, providing a relaxing and refreshing experience. Housekeeping was consistently good, and the restaurant staff delivered attentive and friendly service. A special mention goes to our concierge, Liu, who made sure every detail of our stay was well taken care of. Her attentiveness, kindness, and gentle manner made us feel genuinely welcomed. Thanks to her and the entire team, our visit was comfortable and enjoyable. We look forward to returning again!

Very friendly and clean. Cozy room and Beautiful sea. I would love to come again.