Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru

Island is very clean and beautiful 管家fatima 是非常有礼貌和friendly people fish 给我们安排的活动也很丰富，钓了很多鱼，还免费加工给我们吃了，It's interesting island。

客房打扫的很干净，管家Fatima照顾的很周到，为我们安排了有趣的行程，spa让人很舒服，日落钓鱼也钓了很多鱼，准备了很多的蜜月礼，每天打扫完房间都有小礼物.We will come back ! Thank you

It’s our third time at the Maldives, and the first time at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru. We spend there 8 nights in a sunset front view villa with our 2 little boys. Our stay has been a true dream, everything has been perfect and beyond our expectations.  ISLAND The island is easy to get to from Malè by a very short and comfortable boat trip. The island is small, covered by palms, plumeria trees and banyan trees, surrounded by turquoise waters. Everything is clean and beautiful.  ROOM Our Beachfront Bungalow No. 3 with small pool and jacuzzi in the front garden and direct access to a white sand beach and an amazing lagoon, our private cabana on the beach was perfect to admire the beautiful sunsets behind the sister island Dhawa Ihuru.  RESATURANTS The quality of the food was excellent and delicious, we had a all inclusive package and we tried the buffet, the Saffron and the Japanese restaurants and everything was amazing. At every meal a kids menu was always available (even at breakfast they made a “Babycino” as a drink for our little son).  HOUSE REEF and LAGOON The house reef all around the hotel allows for very special encounters with tons of fishes, sharks, rays, turtles, etc It is easy to swim out to and very close to the shore. In addition, the complementary boat trip to Dhawa Ihuru was great as the reef was even closer there and perfect for beginners swimmers (4-5 meters from the shore). We snorkelled everyday and saw every kind of fishes, manta rays, sharks and we swam with the turtle twice at Dwara Lhuru Island. The lagoon was beautiful all around the island (the sea was changing a little bit according to the wind and the currents, during the first days a quite strong west wind was present at the sunset side but in the other side of the island it was calmer, in the second part of our stay the wind was present at the east side of the island and the sunset side had no wind and a calmer lagoon).  STAFF Staff are amazing and deliver 5 star service. Special mention to Fipit, Groud, Nafiz, Aiman Fatima, Moon, Monday, Anaal, Liu. There are so many others we haven’t mentioned here; honestly we could make special mentions for everyone, because all of the staff members played a huge part in making this the vacation of our wildest dreams. Everyone was very kids friendly with our 2 sons. We also tried the baby club ad Dwara Lhuru which was very nice. They also prepared us a Birthday cake and birthday surprise decoration for our son’s birthday. We love the way the staff made sure that everything was taken care of from the moment we arrived in the country to the moment we left.  The facilities at Banyan Tree are gorgeous. There’s a focus on nature and sustainability. Everything you need is here, yet it still has a private island feel. We cannot emphasize enough just how much we recommend it and how keen we are to return.

Returned here after 25 years. The place has changed. Mostly for the good. PROS: * Easy to get to from Male * House reef is easy to swim out to. The addition of complementary boat trips to Dhawa Ihuru is a bonus as the snorkelling off the beach there is easier for weak swimmers and the range of marine life just as good. * Staff are amazing and deliver 5 star service. Special mention to Fipat, Liu and Waheed who made our stay enjoyable and went the extra mile. The manager's mid stay survey is a great tool and the fast and considered response shows this is taken seriously and not just a tick the box exercise for someone's KPI. CONS: *The marketing pictures of the villas give the illusion of seclusion and privacy. The reality is that some of the beachfront sunset view pool villas are not that secluded or private. I upgraded our stay on that basis. You do get a nice pavillion to yourself to watch the sunset - but in reality many of the sunset villas on the side we were on, when in the pavillion, you are in full view of your neighbours and the guests at the Japanese restaurant. Would have been a better option to stay on the other side and watch the sunset from the restaurant which we did anyway. We had to change villas mid stay as there were a group of 6 boys in the villas either side who continually walked across the front of our villa in plain view of us, talked loudly and tried to use our pavillion as their villas were not beachfront. I would hate to stay here if capacity was at 100%. The villa we ended up in was in the general area where we stayed on our honeymoon so it worked out well - it was more secluded but not as close to the water. There is no comparison re: privacy and the sense of seclusion we got from the sunset overwater bungalows we stayed in at the Pullman in July. You stare straight out to the sunset with no neighbours in your peripheral vision. Vabbinfaru is too small to be all things to all people so you can't expect that sort of seclusion I guess unless it's in the confines of your villa. * Upgrading from b&b to half/full board. As with most Maldives resorts F&B is expensive due to logistics. We upgraded from b&b to half board in the belief it would offer better value. Upon arriving and seeing a surcharge for half board/full board guests on many restaurant items it is clear that this is not the best value option. I don't think the food was that exceptional to be able to charge the prices they do on some of those items. But you do expect to pay premium prices in the Maldives and you don't go to the Maldives for the F&B. Waheed took on board our concerns and feedback so it was not an issue for us. I always say the true test of a 5 star resort is managing expectations and addressing guest concerns. Fipat, Liu and Waheed exceeded our expectations and ensured that despite some issues we had a great stay and hope to return.

Wonderful stay and wonderful experience for desconecting and rest. Gazul was always kid and helpful and the rest of the team was nice and helpful. Highly recommended. Hoping to come back!