Diamonds Athuruga

Our third visit to this resort which didn’t start too well as , unfortunately , the hotel made a mistake on our arrival time and consequently instead of being on the 10.30 am seaplane we were scheduled on the 16.00 flight so nearly six hours in the terminal. Eventually, TMA, to their credit manged to get us on an earlier flight at 14.00. However, quickly settled into the Arthuruga lifestsyle in our favourite beach villas and great to see so many of the same staff which is what , for us, makes this such a wonderful resort. More signs of erosion around the island which will need a lot of work and the coral on the house reef is , like most around the Maldives , very much dead but the variety of fishes is still great coupled with the turtles, rays and sharks makes it a fun snorkel . Wife and daughter progressed to the Advanced Diving Course and had some great dives with Stephano who looked after them very well and helped them pass. The overall atmosphere at Arthuruga and the beauty of its setting coupled with the staff makes this place very hard to beat and remains our Maldivian favourite. Because of the uncertainty of the return flights, the hotel agreed that we could move out earlier than scheduled to the water villas although didn’t tell us that the water villas restaurant was going to be closed after just two nights! We did enjoy one of the “ gala dinners” with the guest chef who produced a most enjoyable meal. However, we actually like the buffet restaurant where there is a wide choice for all meals whereas the water villa restaurant, although a lovely setting, disappoints slightly in having a fairly restricted dinner menu which did not change in the two weeks we were there. By the second week , there were no new guests coming in but the staff continued to provide first class service and food choices on the buffet were almost as plentiful as ever despite the obvious logistical difficulties in bringing new supplies in. All this with the staff themselves, being uncertain about what was going to happen to them with the impending closure so even greater credit that they looked after us so well. The spa was very good and enjoyed by all three of us in a much nicer setting on the water villas. In the last few days, the stress levels were raised as on three occasions our return flights were changed then cancelled without very good communications from our agents, Kuoni and additionally as the Resort Manager and most of the European staff disappeared on a flight home . However ,the deputy manager and the remaining staff excelled. Always the staff and the chefs had a cheerful smiling welcome and our waiter was excellent looking after us so well as did our house boys in the beach villas and the water villas .The room decorations to welcome us and for my birthday were incredible. I had a most enjoyable birthday celebration at our water villa with other guests and the Maldivian evening was one of the best we have experienced with all the staff and guests joining in .We were lucky that there were some great guests which seemed to make life even more enjoyable. On our final day, the send off by all the staff was very moving . We will be back , hopefully, before long in better times and hope everyone comes through Covid-19 . Many thanks from Richard, Tracy and Emily

We arrived in Athuruga on the 12th March, we asked to be placed in a WV facing south which we were delighted with and appreciated the fact that the room was ready early and lovely in decor and outlook. Our room was looked after twice a day by Jerry who was outstanding and was always in tune with our basic needs as it does not take much to make us happy in the Maldives, Jerry is a great asset to the island. We were on AI and were then able to eat in the WV restaurant which is a nice place to eat in for breakfast but is limited in its menu if you were to take all meals here, I would suggest that the half a dozen or more meals offered are newly rotated on a weekly basis otherwise the menu is quite limited. The main buffet restaurant had a much better choice and the first week we were there we started to eat here at least 50% of the time, the staff here and everywhere on the island are a delight and always greet you with a beaming smile and always try to do their best for you and will try to get to know you, this must be a Indian ocean cultural thing as we get the same feeling from the staff wherever we go, a big thank you to Abdula who looked after us for the 2 weeks were there.. I did 7 dives while we were allowed to and the diving in this area of the Maldives is fantastic, the Idive team of Fede, Micheal and Stefano, are a really friendly professional team and made my stay a pleasure, the dives to Himandhoo, Fish Head and Bujamadhi for the Mantas and Shark population is spectacular especially with a scooter. The bar areas, the service and friendliness of the Athuruga team is first class and it was always nice to relax in an area where the service allows you to relax in a fantastic area which looks out at one of the nicest views you could ever find on this planet, Athuruga is a beautiful place and its natural beauty will not be bettered anywhere in the Maldives and in my opinion anywhere on this planet. The island with its natural beauty needs looking after and the resort needs to be reviewed on the North shore area, the erosion here needs to be thought about, we have been to islands where this shore has coral blocks to protect the beaches and island bungalows, the work thats going on at present does not look adequate and its a choice between defences which can look unobtrusive or issues with land slippage, ill leave this to the professionals because i know this will not go down well with some. The negatives for us about the island are that in our second week the restaurants and food and beverage choices and activities were either stopped or run down, we paid for 2 weeks but feel we were only there for 1. The other disturbing element for us was that the senior staff and the GM left the island before their guests during the COVID Crisis and before repatriating the local workforce who were left in a state of confusion, if you take on this position then you make sure you are not one of the first to leave, Plan hotel should review their choices of senior management going forward and add in a couple of criteria one being who will stay in a crisis. We met some lovely friends, we stuck together though the crisis, we had a fab time with the workforce and the service was second to none, the diving was spectacular, the food was mediocre, the senior management were a disappointment. Would we come back, I don't know? Planhotel needs to raise its game, Ill read the reviews going forward and as long as they are honest then maybe well be back especially for the diving. On our parting day the whole island team that was left, came out to see us off, ill never forget this, we were all in tears even the island staff and a big thanks to the stand in GM, Mr F for arranging this as it was well thought out and it felt as if we were leaving a people who did not know what lay ahead for them. Good luck to all through this crises and hope you and your family are well over the coming months ahead. Love Lynn&Diane xxx

Recently visited with my wife and daughter for 2 weeks. Great experience in an amazing location. Cannot praise the housekeeping and operations teams enough, especially Mr Fahumee, and the general manager. Would love to come back k. Thank you