Huvafen Fushi Maldives

Huvafenfushi, which means Dream Island, more than lives up to its name. The magical island is but a short boat ride (so no waiting around for seaplanes) from Male yet has a house reef that equals those of resorts much farther away like the Conrad and Park Hyatt. I saw more reef and nurse sharks snorkeling (including at night) there than anywhere else. It was only recently renovated and the hardware is top shelf. Food was consistently excellent. The breakfast spread in particular was terrific consisting of both a buffet and an Ala carte menu (with surely the best bibimbap in the Indian Ocean). Our personable butler Ziraar was extremely patient and attentive, as was Sayali, the yoga instructor, (who couldn’t have had a literally more inflexible student in me). Oscar, the F&B manager was always checking in with guests, including at Salt, easily the best restaurant on the island. Sun, sea, sand, saline (infinity pool) and salt (pool for floating therapy) — what more could one possibly ask for? Go and cocoon yourself in paradise already.

It was like a dream! Such a wonderful little island, so well-maintained, a fantastic beach villa with two pools, superb food, and the underwater spa is something you absolutely have to experience and see. Our butler, Soppe, was simply amazing; he took care of everything very discreetly. Thank you so much, we will definitely be back. The management was also frequently on hand! And of course, thanks to our fantastic travel agency Edeltravel, especially to Ms. Brunecker , Top service and organization. Eleni and Chris

The resort itself is very private and quiet. It is small compared to some others we have been to.....45 villas split equally between overwater villas and beach villas. The standard base accommodation is the smaller overwater villa whereas the much larger beach villa or larger overwater villas are both an upgrade. We frankly liked the standard OW villa more than the larger suite since the former had a very nice outdoor covered bed where we would spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the views. Frankly this is a resort where one has to make sure of the kind of vacation you want. It is great for someone who values exclusiveness & quiet and privacy. To some it might appear too quiet for comfort and if you are one of those who like to see people around and buzzing activity you might see in larger resorts, you might be left wanting.

We were so excited to stay at Huvafen Fushi and originally booked six nights, but we ended up shortening our stay to four because the experience was nowhere near what you would expect from a luxury Maldivian resort. We have never in our lives shortened a holiday before, and we honestly never imagined we would feel this unhappy in a place like the Maldives. But despite trying to stay positive, we just didn’t feel good there. Management did refund the unused nights (I’m still waiting on the refund), and the staff were generally friendly, but unfortunately that’s where the positives end. The food overall was a huge disappointment. Portions were extremely small and the quality simply wasn’t good. The sushi restaurant was especially terrible (honestly the worst sushi I have ever had in my life). Breakfast was also far below five-star standards. There is a buffet that looks nice, but the food is tasteless and underwhelming. On top of that, you are only allowed to choose two items from the à-la-carte menu, and they very explicitly point this out to you. It’s not about wanting to eat more - it just feels cheap, restrictive, and completely out of place at a “luxury” resort. The only dishes that actually came in decent portions were the Asian dishes, everything else felt small and unsatisfying. The restaurant staff were kind, but clumsy and disorganized, often asking for our room number multiple times before we even sat down. Our butler truly deserves full credit, he was wonderful and genuinely tried his very best to take care of us. Sadly, even with his kindness, it often felt like the resort simply didn’t really know what it was doing. There’s a lack of professionalism, structure, and confidence in how things are run. Where things truly became unacceptable was the condition and cleanliness of the room. Although the resort claims the villas were renovated last year, it feels more like a superficial renovation focused on cosmetic interior updates, while the core infrastructure is clearly old ( the gym is also very old and the equipment and gym itself are really dirty). From the outside, many villas look deteriorated and tired, which is shocking considering the price level. Inside, when we arrived there was mold in the shower area, black hairs on the floor and even on towels, and housekeeping standards remained poor. One night my fiancé became sick, and I asked the next day for the bathroom to be properly cleaned. When we returned, it still wasn’t clean and I ended up cleaning it myself (which is simply unacceptable at any hotel), let alone one claiming to be luxury. The infrastructure issues continued: the water temperature constantly jumped from freezing cold to extremely hot (and sometimes barely got warm at all), the AC inside the villa was loud, and right next to the front door there is a space with the pool water pump and AC machinery which made an incredible amount of noise. Every night they had to turn the water pump off so we could try to sleep, and I already wear earplugs. There was also a general sense of clumsiness everywhere. Things felt unorganized and not thought through. At one point, housekeeping even decorated our bed with “Hope to see you soon,” as if we were departing, even though we weren’t checking out yet. Moments like this just reinforced that the resort does not operate at a true five-star level. Another thing worth mentioning: do not book a lagoon-side villa. We stayed in Lagoon Villa 25 and while it looks nice, there is literally zero sea life outside your room. If I had known this beforehand, I would definitely have booked a villa on the ocean/sea side instead. To be fair, there were a couple of things we genuinely enjoyed. The turtle expedition was truly beautiful, and in the evenings the sea life you can see around Celsius restaurant is amazing. Those moments reminded us of why the Maldives can be magical - unfortunately, they just weren’t enough to save the overall experience. Management did try. They removed excessive charges from our bill and the General Manager came to speak with us about 10 minutes before we left the island. He had been away on a trip and was extremely kind and sincere, which we genuinely appreciated. But unfortunately, kindness alone cannot fix fundamental issues with food quality, cleanliness, maintenance, and infrastructure. I know many online reviews are extremely positive, but honestly I just cannot understand where they are coming from based on our experience. We have stayed at Joali on another trip, and you simply cannot compare the two ( Joali is on a completely different level in every aspect. If you can afford it, don’t even think twice). People work incredibly hard to afford a holiday like this, and I truly wish I could write something more positive. But I have to be honest: we felt genuinely unhappy here, and I would not recommend Huvafen Fushi.

We stayed there for 4 days and our host Abdulla is incredible. He answered to our every request right in time, and finished them perfectly. He also introduced every part of the island to us and helped arrange wonderful events. He made our journey so wonderful.