The Residence Maldives

Relaxing with great food and weather for 10 days was a treat. All inclusive never failed to provide both food and drink. Disappointed that two restaurants had limited availability - you could only go twice.

We like Libai, buffet break. Sunset and oceans are good. A lot of fish is beautiful. The star sky is dreamlike. All staffs are nice. I'm like all of those. I had 7 nice day.

We stayed at the residence on Falhumaafushi mid August to beginning of September for our Honeymoon. We had an amazing time, the staff treat you like royalty and will do anything to make your holiday perfect and are so kind and friendly. Special shout out to Ishan in the dining room who was so kind and professional each day. The resort is stunning and kept in perfect condition. We saw turtles, rays, dolphins, reef sharks and we are certain a whale. We stayed in 302 on the sunset side which was amazing as most nights we sat in our pool and watched the dolphins swim by, the sunsets are breathtaking. In the room you get given to keep a Residence tote bag that most guests used during the day on the beach, we also got give two lovely sarongs (This was also to be used by men who don't wear long trousers for the Li Bai restaurant) You also get a mosquito plug in for the room and a mosquito body lotion to use. Our lovely housekeeper each night around 5pm also brought us shortbread which we always looked forward to. You're allowed one visit to each specialised restaurant (which I thought was a shame as some all inclusive resorts allow you once per week per restaurant and the resort was only a quarter full) they did let us go to the Chinese twice but you do feel like you are getting a favour of good will from the hotel. The Li Bai restaurant has two menus - one Chinese and one Italian (you're allowed twice to try one of each menu) also on all inclusive you're allowed to go once for lunch here. The Falhumaa restaurant is French cuisine which was ok but we preferred the Italian and Chinese. Then there is the dining room on each island. The hotel was very quiet as mentioned before, only a quarter full so there was always seats on the beach/ by the pool no matter what time of day. But it was very quiet, there were guests mainly from Italy, China/Japan, Germany, USA and only a couple of Brits. The buggies were invaluable. I have feet issues and the islands are huge, you're allowed to phone reception and request a buggy which only takes around 10-20 minutes to arrive to anywhere on the island, some nights you share with other guests. If you are going across the different islands (so for us we went from Falhumaafushi to Dhigurah, you get taken to reception then you swap buggies. There is a gift shop on each island but prices as you can expect are high so take enough suncream with you before. Mosquito repellent was important as the nights I didn't apply I did get 1-2 bites, but they weren't bad or itchy. The speed boat to the hotel is only 5 minute ride, coming back the weather was stormy so that was very very choppy. On the boat on the way there they give you lovely little juices for the boat ride. The hotel is great though meeting you at the Male and then at Kadhdhoo. So make sure to look out for the hotel representatives as we didn't realise they would meet us at the different airports. In Male we got taken to an airport lounge where we were allowed one meal and one drink from the menu. We just had a drink. Check in was very quick, they put each guest family on separate buggies then you are all whisked away to the relevant island you're staying on and we had a dedicated check in at the library bar with a lovely peach tea drink which was refreshing before being taken to our room where our luggage had already arrived. We went with Emirates and didn't realise our 30kg luggage allowance is reduced to 20kg with Maldivian air for the flight to Kadhdhoo. The airline let it slide the way there but they said make sure its under for the return, so we went mad using creams etc to get it below 20kg, but on the return we were over expecting to pay, but no one cared and we went over. Some minor points we wish we knew before arriving - - when you arrive you are asked to pay a deposit per night of your stay, we went for 15 nights so it was $100 a night which amounted to a large amount of $1,500 before you've even started your stay. We went all inclusive to avoid any extra payments behind held like this. - When leaving and checking out, we left the hotel at 3pm. We were told we are only allowed lunch in the main dining room if we didn’t have lunch on the day of arrival. Which luckily we didn't as we arrived 3-4pm. We had a late check out room also which was great but I thought if you're still checked into a room you should be allowed the facilities and a lunch before 24 hours of travelling back to the UK, and not only allowed lunch if you didn't get lunch when arriving. - We went standard all inclusive but there was quite a lot of items on the a la carte menus that were additional charges which was a shame as we went all inclusive to avoid extra fees. The dining room is the standard restaurant and there is one on each island (menus slightly differ) you get an iPad and for lunch are allowed 2 courses and for dinner 3 courses. Sometimes at lunch though if you wanted a starter and main it's then a shame if you wanted one mouthful of chocolate for example you're not allowed as you did your 2 courses. All restaurants operate through using the iPads to view food. The breakfast is the only buffet food option. - A slight niggle was every single time you drink or eat, you have to sign a receipt which we were new to having to do especially for all inclusive. It was ok but sometimes when you want to get up and go you have to wait for the receipt. I asked what this is for, and reception said its to keep stock of supplies. - We struggled at night with our water villa, I completely appreciate it was monsoon season we went, but we noticed the floorboards outside on the decking and the gaps in the roof/doors let in a very very loud howling/whistling noise from the wind all night. Also the villa being on stilts meant the waves slapping against the poles all night long was very loud. I had to ask for ear plugs which they provided. - At dinner in certain restaurants you aren't allowed to keep a bottle of their water left at the table which was a little annoying, it was very humid and I wanted to have our water on the table and not be reliant on the very very busy staff who have to keep running around and checking when guests have their water glass empty to then refill. I would have preferred to pour my own water, but as mentioned it was only certain restaurants for some reason when the water bottles are taken away from you. - At every restaurant the food is very very very quick to come out. Which is great with your first course but the second you finish your mouthful, your next course is behind you waiting to land on your table. So most nights we felt we ate way too quickly. 3 courses within an hour. - In your room you do get 3/4 bottles of water a day but this does quickly go. I took a Stanley cup with me and used the refilling station by the pool during the day to have a nice large bottle of water with me. - The curtains in our room broke quite often as they're on a large plastic pole that you have to pull to draw the curtains but it kept coming off the rail so you have to be careful with them. -When having a bath there was no soap next to the bathtub. The only body wash is in the shower room in a separate room in holders that you cannot take the bottle out of the holders. So I ended up getting a dish, going to the shower room, filling the dish up with soap then going over to the bathtub in a different room then putting that next to the bath to use. - Wifi, the wifi is very hit and miss, it was temperamental and quite slow in our room, we tried using our laptop and found we could not have both our phones connected at the same time as the laptop. By the pool the further away you sit from the bar the worse the wifi was, we found the wifi didn't work at all when sitting near the bathrooms in the shade. - We were told when arriving as we were on our honeymoon we were allowed a breakfast in the room, which the hotel did an amazing job with, but it took speaking to a few people as some people said it wasn't featured on our booking and they struggled to understand why we were allowed this, but we got there in the end. If you are celebrating this was a lovely thing to do, we had to just go to the dining room and grab the form to fill out. - Entertainment was none existent which was such a shame as each night we did get bored, you didn't see any guests apart from dinner then everyone goes to their rooms. We went to the bars and where they have a resident DJ but we were the only people there. Any entertainment would have been great and would have drawn more people out of their rooms. They did have movie night and karaoke but this didn't appeal to other guests I feel. - In the room the mini bar consists of - 2 small Pringles, soft drinks and juices, some small beers, and wine. I don't drink beer or wine so I was on the soft drinks instead (1 or two spirits would have been nice in the room as the bar is miles away) Overall this was the honeymoon of a lifetime, it was incredible and I will never forget our time here, highly recommend.

We went for our honeymoon and we couldn't recommend it more. Excellent service from everyone here. Accomodating all our requests, particularly around the weather. We could always find someone at the lobby who would be able to help. More often than not it was Shrini who was a magnificent host. The restaurants are exquisite and waiters/waitresses go out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our experience. We particularly enjoyed going to Li Bai for Italian and Cantonese and the service from Hasan. He always made recommendations based on what we enjoyed and so every meal was memorable. Unfortunately, the tides and current meant we couldn't do a few water excursions so I guess we'll have to come back soon to complete our trip!

We had the most incredible time. The water villa with pool was fantastic - spacious, luxurious, clean and great amenities. The food was delicious - so much choice and a variety of cuisines. Staff were so friendly and helpful. Excursions were great. Keen to return soon!