Reethi Faru Resort

Well, what a truly wonderful resort! We visited at the end of May to celebrate my partner’s 60th and booked a Water Villa on the ‘All Inclusive Dine Around’ package. This was our second visit to the Maldives after previously stopping at Adaaran Select Meedhupparu in 2021. Our seaplane experience with TMA was not as enjoyable as the first time we visited. Although the views were just as incredible, we had a very long wait for our flight out (over 3 hours at the seaplane terminal) even though the weather was fine. And on our return, we stopped at another Island to pick up more guests and were kept waiting on the plane for a significant amount of time. Not a great experience, but definitely not enough to ruin a truly fabulous holiday. We absolutely loved our water villa, and felt the premium paid versus the standard beach villa was definitely worth it. We were also lucky that for the majority of our 2 weeks stay we had no guests either side of us, making our accommodation extremely private. We were also pleased we decided to pay for the ‘Dine Around’ package which allowed us to eat in one of three a-la-carte restaurants every evening and also for lunch. Two restaurants were directly on the beach and the other was on the pier… all beautiful locations. We were amazed on our first night at the Reethi Grill when the lovely waiter handed us the ‘all inclusive’ wine list with dozens of different bottles to try from all over the world. We did our very best over the next 14 days but still didn’t manage to sample all the options available! And we didn’t have a bad meal in any of the restaurants which we visited multiple times. If you like curry, welcome to heaven! (but loads of other options available if you don’t) If you don’t pay for the ‘Dine Around’ package you can still use these restaurants for lunch and dinner, but you have to pay as you go and the prices did seem rather high plus a significant ‘service charge’. Also, the buffet restaurant was quite small (as all Maldives resort buffets seem to be) so I would imagine it could get a bit repetitive if staying for two weeks. We loved the fact there were a number of different bars doted around the island you could pop into while exploring. The milk shakes in Thari Bar were to die for, as were many of the cocktails. Just a bit strange that “premium” gin, e.g. Bombay Sapphire, isn’t included in the AI package. Snorkelling was excellent, directly off our water villa. We saw loads of different fish plus rays and sharks of varying sizes. If you head out to the ‘drop’ and hang around for a while you’ll be sure to see some of the bigger sharks that appear to patrol the island. Completely safe and beautiful to watch. Nearer the beach are the little sharks which were more to my partner’s liking! Regarding the weather, we noticed a difference compared to when we last visited The Maldives in early April. Although May/June is classed as the ‘rainy season’ we only had a couple of showers during our whole stay. However, it was much windier. This gave us some relief from the very hot temperatures but it did make the sea quite a bit choppier and not quite as pretty to look at. That said there was also some part of the island sheltered from the wind if you wanted to avoid it. And we were told the windy period is only for a few weeks when the Indian Monsoon kicks in. So, if you went a little earlier/later in the year you’d be fine (but definitely hotter!) We couldn't fault the staff. Most of them we spoke to were from nearby Maldives Islands and were all extremely friendly and couldn't do enough for you. The guys working in Reethi Grill, Dhiyavaru and Veggie & Vegan restaurants deserve special praise. This includes the Chefs who, without fail, would pop out from the kitchen to have a chat and check that you were 100% happy with your meal... really nice touch. And a special mention to the Manchester City supporting waiter who worked in the Breakfast Buffet... keep the faith mate, and don't worry... we'll be back next season! We generally don’t visit the same resort twice, but wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Reethi Faru, especially if you can stretch to the AI Dine Around Package and Water Villa.

Excellent stay at Reethi Faru. In particular, Chef Rajesh was amazing - he was very accommodating of the dietary preferences of some of us in our family group of seven, and made amazing custom dishes for us that were not on the buffet. All delivered with a smile and genuine hospitality. The staff are incredibly responsive, the rooms are very clean and spacious and of course the views and the water are amazing. The house reef is very good and the stay includes a complimentary sunset cruise and included wine that is quite good. Would definitely recommend RFR!

The food here was spectacular. The head chef, Rajesh, specifically came to us to ask if there is anything we would like, made it, and brought it just for us. Despite the vast variety of foods, nothing was of low quality, everything was made with the highest quality possible. I would literally spend the nights dreaming about what food might be there the next day.

Arrived by seaplane at Reethi Faru. To our surprise we were upgraded to 2 beach villas, one with a private pool and the other with a private jacuzzi. All the staff, from the reception to chefs, cleaners, waiters, pool guys, sports guys were extremely helpful and assisted us throughout our vacation. A special mention to soul CHEF RAJESH at the Vekara buffet restaurant, he went out of way to accommodate us with special dishes made by himself and his talented team (biryani, an amazing fish curry etc). Our room pool was a real treat, especially for the young adult kids. The resort gym was of exceptional quality, boasting all the modern equipment with a scenic view overlooking the warm aqua Indian ocean. We hopefully will return. Mohamed Varachia and family

We arrived late as BA had issues and had to then nab a sea plane with other passengers to other resorts so we got to see how they welcomed their guests. Other resorts have a warm welcome committee of drums, refreshments and cooling cloths. We arrived t Reethi Faru via boat as it was only 10 mins away from the last seaplane drop off. One staff member came to meet us and we made it to reception, no one particularly bothered with us so no warm Maldives welcome here like we’ve experienced in other resorts elsewhere over the years. Our room was very nice and housekeeping are outstanding with fresh towels and bedding changed twice daily. Getting into a fresh bed every night is bliss. Nothing was too much trouble, and our kettle didn’t work so they brought us a brand new one still in its box. Extra hangers were provided promptly too. Whatever you need just ask me was his comment over and over so he really looked after us. The room was kept spotless by Housekeeping. I recall his name Mezann and we are tidy people so we made a good team. 4 large water bottles were delivered daily and you could ask for more at no expense but if you order water at the restaurants and bars you are charged. We stayed away from the pool area as it was very popular with the kids as the sea was too choppy for little kids. We opted for half board as we don’t drink and eat that much for the extra $75.00 each per day to upgrade to all inclusive so had breakfast and evening meal. For breakfast I liked the fresh fruit and pastries and would have liked yoghurt but it was uncovered and not very well refrigerated. The omelet station was very popular all made to order so super fresh. Dinner at night was themed and our favourite was French night, beautiful beef and the dauphinois potatoes were delicious. We always made sure to get to the buffet restaurant by opening time of 7:30pm so everything was fresh, it can also get a bit crowed. Our server Ahmed was very friendly and nothing too much trouble at all, he even got to know how I liked my tea in the morning with the right amount of sugar and milk to set me up for the day. The other servers were all friendly polite and engaging. We also tried the restaurant on the pier which was fabulous, the food was fantastic and plentiful and again the staff were wonderful. We had a very nice week at Reethi Faru, the weather was hot and sunny with one afternoon of cloud but still hot. I would definitely recommend it, the island is clean, the staff we interacted with were very nice and friendly.