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I personally really liked the beach villa with direct access to the beach and the good size pool. The actual villa had a smell of damp that we noticed throughout our stay, that maybe was caused by a leak during the heavy rain? We couldn't use the wardrobes, which were musty, and we had to live out of our suitcases for the week.

The bed was very comfortable and it was great that Nizan, our butler, could manage to change our bicycles for the newer green ones because the black ones were old and rusty, so we could not spin the pedals. He mentioned that they would soon receive new bikes...

I loved the rides around the island with mature gardens and greenery and seeing the huge fruit bats! The island is gorgeous. The house reef is fantastic with so much coral, plenty of fishes and the odd eagle ray and turtle also.

The only issue we had was what should have been the highlight of our trip and the reason why we choose the location of this hotel in BAA Resort: the amazing Manta Experience at Hanifaru Bay... which was very disappointing. I felt the advertising was in a way deceitful. I mentioned this to Diana, the instructor at the Ocean diving center. I was very happy with the hotel team picking me up from the Spa and taking me to the water sports for the manta on call program (you enlist on arrival and they call you with 15-20 minutes notice if the Mantas are spotted, so you don't waste time visiting if there is nothing to see).

When we were on our way to Hanifaru Bay we were told that the manta encounter was not guaranteed and should the mantas have moved we would have been taken to a snorkeling spot which came to a huge surprise to me.. I did not book a standard cheaper snorkeling trip and would have rather come back to the resort and go back another day? When I was picked up they guys said they believed 8 mantas had been spotted which I thought sounded ok. However, when we got there, the reality was that the sea was rather bumpy and I think we only saw 2 mantas at the beginning and then they moved to another spot, and we tried to follow and always saw the same mantas moving around?

My husband had gone on a diving trip and I was on my own, not being a confident swimmer I asked Diana if I could hold to the ring to feel safer, I only held the rope and there was another couple also holding the ring, with the lady being seasick all the trip and vomiting next to me ...

As I am writing this I remember my husband asking me what was the highlight of my trip to the Maldives and it makes me extremely sad that the manta trip wasn't the highlight, because this was the reason for us to specifically choose this place and this time of the year. We had been to the Maldives in March and hired a private boat and saw mantas, too. We had also seen mantas in Bali previously. I understand mantas are wild creatures but when a trip is offered at this rate of 255 dollars per person, then anyone would have expected to see more than what we got. And when my husband asked about the possibility to refund a small amount to account for his late arrival and poor experience, the Ocean dive centre manager requested for us to attend the dive centre so he could explain "how it works". My husband visited the manager reluctantly on holiday, as he didn't want to waste time on our last days of our holiday, for the manager to say "Did you see a Manta? If you did then you must pay the full price for the experience like everybody else"! The funny thing was that my husband, an experienced PADI IDC Staff Instructor with thousands of dives under his belt, had completed 2x boat dives that same morning and watched the mantas right next to him when diving, with amazing visibility, and paid less for the complete experience than he did for the 40 minutes Manta On Call! So he was also extremely disappointed with the HaniFaru experience, as it isn't cheap, and he was treated like a naughty schoolchild being summoned to the headmasters office, and then told off outside the dive centre, in front of the instructor and other staff. That is not how a manager should react or treat guests, in a dictator capacity!

Finding out that what the advertising shows, a huge number of mantas, is only seen in maybe 2% of the trips sounds dishonest marketing. I will also add that I was rather annoyed by the other groups of manta excursion that joined us in the bay, doing free diving and coming up in the same spot where we were with the safety ring making me feel unsafe, a girl nearly ended up inside the orange ring with the sick lady and me holding on to the ring rope. They also chased off, and scared the mantas, spoiling the experience for anybody else at the surface. These other snorkelling groups were encouraged by the instructor to chase the mantas, which goes against local ethos and stresses mantas. Very uncomfortable and disrespectful, especially after we were all told to strictly not try to touch or chase the mantas...

Birthday trip with wish to see large amount of Mantas at Hanifaru Bay

Honestly the best holiday we have ever been on, from start to finish the Dusit team were seamless, exceptionally professional and made us feel like we were part of an island family, rather than just another tourist caught up in a profit driven machine. Starting with the Dusit rep at Male airport (so sorry I don't remember your name, we were so in awe of everything in front of us! ) the super elegant, comfy and well thought out seaplane lounge, the rep was so friendly and helpful, just a taste of what was to follow from the rest of the dusit family. The seaplane is an exceptional experience, would highly recommend it, just try to get on near the front of the que as the window seats go quick. We were met at the island by management and Staff who look after you for your stay, everyone has a smile and a few words to say...we were extremely lucky to have Saeed as our "butler" (we prefer to say friend) he was amazing, very helpful and super efficient within his role but also made our holiday extra special with his awesome sense of humour and again made us feel like part of the island family rather than just another tourist to please. Thank you so much Saeed, our holiday would have not been half as enjoyable without you, I hope the management appreciate you as much as we do! The Ocean villa room was out of this world, super comfortable bed, amazing bath and the deck/pool/steps down on to the reef was incredible, we spent so much time watching the fish/rays/sharks/dolphins/birds/sunsets/stars out on that deck, just couldn't get over the colours and exceptional beauty of the whole place. The housekeeping team were superb. The bikes to get around the island are great, the jungle is so natural and fantastic to explore, some fascinating wildlife. The staff who maintain the island are incredible, tirelessly working to keep everything in order and always have a smile on their faces. As it's lower season they are all working hard to replace the thatch on all the rooms, updating the air-conditioning and general upkeep on wooden walkways etc, you can tell that everyone puts their heart and soul in to their jobs, to give everyone the best experience they possibly can! The food is something else, can honestly say there is not one meal that we didn't enjoy, fantastically cooked, well seasoned and incredibly delicious food at all restaurants. The staff at the restaurants were all fantastic, but special mention to Mai and Majeed in the Market, Slyp and Rabeeu in the Sea Grill and Lasantha in the Sala bar who all took time to really talk to us, make great recommendations and provide exceptional service every single time we saw them, we miss you all! The spa...oh my word, what an incredible experience, honestly the most relaxed we have ever been! Ying and Duang provided an amazing massage experience, definitely recommended! Book in advance and use the private pool, sauna, steam room, hot and cold plunge pools for an hour before your massage, fantastic setting which really sets the mood for your massage. The dive shop, Zezo is an absolute legend, his patience and calm demeanor really helped this diver who hadn't been in the water for some time, wish we had more time to explore with you, I hope our paths cross again. Diana, thank you for the manta experience and for sharing your top three experiences with us, your passion for the ocean is clear to see and is very inspiring! The manta on call is a great asset to this island, not only is the island super close to the action but they also offer to reduce the price to half if you dont see the mantas (no other island offers this benefit, they very clearly do not want to rip you off, they cannot control nature and am very glad they dont try to, places we have been before have fed the wildlife to get them to come closer, this is a recipie for disaster and destroys the natural balance...extremely refreshing that this is not the ethos at dusit maldives) if you do not see the mantas they offer to take you to a snorkelling zone, so at least you get something from the trip. For the first week we were here the mantas were nowhere to be seen locally, so we were offered a lucky manta trip to raa atoll as reports were coming in that they had been seen in that area, we were very  lucky and had a great experience swimming with a few mantas, not quite the hanufaru bay experience we had read about, but definitely better than not seeing the mantas at all...luckily in the 2nd week of our holiday, 2 days before we came home, a manta on call came through with reports that the mantas had started to appear locally (the weather started to get a little rougher which is when the mantas food starts to appear) we were extremely lucky to swim with numerous mantas, seeing both the iconic manta train and barrel rolling...honestly an experience that we will carry in our hearts forever. The dive team clearly do their utmost to give you the best experience possible and we cannot thank them enough. I also want to say how patient the dive team were with numerous guests who could not communicate, could not swim and did not listen to instructions well, it was infuriating to see, but the team remained calm and extremely professional at all times - kudos to you all! The house reef snorkelling is just mind blowing here, we spent hours exploring the reef and didn't get to half of it. Highly recommened the section between Benjarong and the dive centre jetty, honestly did not know where to look first, absolutely teeming with life! The island management make a point of checking in with you on a regular basis to make sure everything is going well, this doesn't feel intrusive, they all clearly care about you having an amazing experience and give you ample opportunity to bring up any issue you may have....we had no problems, so just had lovely chats. We would come back to dusit maldives in a heartbeat and recommend this island/staff to anyone seeking complete relaxation, true rustic/natural island luxury, a place where you are made feel completely welcome, truly cared for and gain memories that will last forever. Thank you Dusit family, we truly miss you all already!

Unbelievable experience!

We’ve always had the Maldives on our bucket list and decided it would be the perfect location to celebrate our milestone birthdays and wedding anniversary.  Our time at Dusit Thani not only met our expectations, it absolutely exceeded them in every way! We honestly felt like we had died and gone to heaven.

Nature has certainly set the bar high, with white sand, pristine water and a healthy, thriving reef ecosystem.  We soaked it all up as much as we possibly could by swimming, snorkelling, and exploring the island either on foot or on our bikes.   The sea life was everywhere and so friendly, (even the black tips).  On land, we enjoyed seeing the lizards and various birdlife.  The whole island was just buzzing with life!

We stayed in a waterfront pool villa, which was fantastic. It was just so relaxing to wake up to that spectacular view whilst listening to the water below.  Then at night, we were able to sit in the pool and admire the night sky with a beer in hand. The food and drinks were plentiful and absolutely delicious.  We really were spoilt for choice and it was hard not to overindulge.

As for the people – they made our holiday so special and we couldn’t thank them enough.  It’s hard to mention everyone by name because they all contributed to the experience and were all fantastic.  From the behind-the-scenes staff, (such as the cleaners, gardeners and maintenance crew), to the bar and restaurant staff, (who knew us and looked after us very well), they were all amazing.  Our butler, Saeed, went above and beyond at every level and we are so incredibly grateful for all he did during our stay.

We left a bit of our heart in the Maldives and cannot recommend Dusit Thani enough!

Dusit Thani – Town (Island) in Heaven

We had an absolutely fantastic time at Dusit Thani Maldives. This was our second trip to the Maldives and our first stay at Dusit Thani.

We stayed in the Water Villa with Pool which was amazing. Our villa was much larger than we expected and included an entry area with refrigerator, mirror, coffee/tea set up. This served as the landing spot for our snorkel gear. Our villa also included a seating area with a sofa and chair, along with a tv and sound system, separate area for our toilet, shower, huge tub, double sinks. There were sliding glass doors for both the living area and the bathroom area leading to our spacious deck with pool, sun loungers, table, outdoor shower, and a cozy couples lounger. I liked having our own pool which overlooked the ocean. However, the pool had a stucco feel (instead of tile) to it so you need to be careful not to scrape your toe or hands on it. I thought that the stucco material was a bit odd for a pool. There are stairs leading from the deck to the ocean which can get slippery so proceed slowly.

We were assigned a butler, Nizam, who was wonderful. He checked in with us frequently and assisted in making our dinner reservations, giving us buggy rides, and arranging our spa appointments. Nizam even switched our bikes from the standard black ones to the mint green ones that I saw and wanted. Nizam really went out of his way to accommodate us and to make our stay special. One day, Nizam noticed that there was only one bike parked by our villa and asked what happened to the other one. I explained that I left it at the Reception area and was planning to ride it back later. Nizam told me not to worry and said he would have someone ride it back to our villa which he did. Upon checking in, my husband told Nizam that he left the batteries for his two GoPros and our water camera at home (fully charged). Nizam looked into finding us batteries. On the second day, my husband found the batteries in his backpack and showed them to Nizam. 

 The spa was fantastic. We had two 90-minute treatments at the spa and felt that they were the best massages we have ever had (and we do like to indulge in massages). The spa is advertised as being sort of a treetop spa and you do ascend up stairs to your massage room. However, when you are getting your massage, you are not facing the window (small observation on my part). The spa offers special packages each day at a reduced rate during certain hours. For our second trip to the spa, we were not able to schedule our appointment during the hours of the special promotion but they accommodated us at a later time and honored the special pricing. We highly recommend the spa.

Our primary reason is selecting Dusit Thani was the possibility of snorkeling with manta rays in Hanifaru Bay. We read about the "Manta On Call" excursion and quickly put our names on the on-call list meaning when the water sports team received a call that manta rays were in the Bay, the resort staff (including our butler, Nizam), would reach out to us via WhatsApp or call to our villa to meet at water sports on about 20-minutes notice. We passed on a couple of the calls we received because we did not feel that we would see a lot of manta rays (one call was for 7 mantas). On another day, we received a call that there were 30+ mantas in the Bay but we were finishing up breakfast and my husband wanted to enjoy his breakfast and properly digest. We knew that we were risking the possibility of not being called for another manta trip but we passed on that. On another day, we boarded the boat with other snorkelers and were told that there were 12+ mantas in the Bay. As we left the resort on the boat, Deanna, the resort's marine biologist told us that if there were no mantas in the Bay, we would head to an alternate spot and snorkel with the fish (and be charged half the price of the trip which is about $550 USD for 2 people). While on our way to the Bay, Deanna received word that there was only one manta in the Bay and she wasn't sure that we would even be able to catch it so we turned back and were told that no one would be charged. On our second to the last day at the resort, we received word that there were 30+ mantas in the Bay. We got to Hanifaru Bay and my husband counted between 63-72 mantas. Plus we saw a whale shark. The mantas and the whale shark were a mere few inches from us. We had a fantastic time. The water was a bit rough and we did get stuck in TWO currents. Our guide, Aziz, worked to pull us out of the first current but the second current was extremely strong and it took over 15 minutes and the help of two of our fellow snorkelers (there were six of us on the trip) to finally get out of the current. We then hopped onto the "Rescue Rangers" boat (rangers assigned to watch the Bay and assist snorkelers). The Rescue Rangers also picked up a solo snorkeler from another resort and took us back to our boat which he had to swim to. Thank you, Aziz and the Rescue Rangers, along with our two fellow snorkelers.

We enjoyed the food at Benjarong, the Thai ala carte restaurant, as well as Sand Bar (where you could order food from its menu or from Sea Grill, the other ala carte restaurant). Fon, our waitress at Benjarong was friendly and funny, always eniticing us to order dessert (sometimes hard to do after the delicious and generously portioned entrees). At Sand Bar, we befriended Upali, who always made us smile and was very helpful. 

The house reef was quite spectacular and my husband even saw a manta ray near the jetty one morning. I was with him but due to a slight tear between my ribs, I was not about to swim out to where he was to see the manta. Some of the staff suggested that perhaps my husband saw an eagle ray as it is quite rare to see a manta there but his video of the manta got everyone excited. The staff told my husband how lucky he was to see the manta. Every morning, we woke up before 6 a.m. to walk to the jetty to chat with Raj, from Security. Raj would warmly greet us and tell us whether we should start at water sports instead of the jetty due to the current conditions. 

Breakfast was served at The Market every morning. My husband enjoyed the breakfast offerings and even had a custom shark and a custom manta pancake on two mornings. Breakfast was more on the average side for me. My favorite dish from breakfast was the pork bacon which I rarely eat but found the selection lacking for my food preferences. The staff at The Market were all friendly and happy to assist. We tried The Market for two dinners which also missed the mark for me but which my husband enjoyed. One thing that I wish we were told on our first day is that there are Signature Dishes each morning for breakfast that you can order. We did not order any of these Signature Dishes. We had the all-inclusive meal plan with our villa which came with wine by the glass. I thought the wine selection was small and the wines we did try were a bit subpar. The Market and its staff really try to please everyone. Overall, I thought the food and beverages at Dusit Thani were excellent.

The resort has a doctor on staff which we needed to see twice. Just before leaving for the Maldives, I was experiencing some pain around my ribs. We phoned the reosrt's doctor who graciously came to our villa to examine me. The doctor told me that I had a slight tear in my intercostals and that rest would help. This was a relief to hear as I feared something more serious was going on. The medical visit lifted my concerns and worries. The next day, I stopped by the doctor's office and was given something for a stomach ailment. There was no charge for any of the medical services.

There is live music in the evening at Sandbar. There is a DJ as well as a Cuban sax player. The Sandbar is very cool and has a nice vibe. I was surprised that the Sandbar did not attract a larger crowd at night. A couple of nights there were only 4 to 6 people (including my husband and me). I think it is due to the selection of live entertainment. The sax player was really not good at all and her selection of music is not lively and not suited for her instrument/skill set. It seemed hard for the DJ to maintain a vibe as he switched off with the sax player every 30-minutes or so, it seemed. I thought this was a missed opportunity on the part of the resort to really make the Sandbar more lively and inviting. 

The resort itself is quite large. We were there in early July and it was humid. My husband was sweating profusely the entire time we were there. I found the weather quite nice. The bikes are helpful in getting around. Unfortunately, my husband had two total hip replacement surgeries in 2022 and is unable to ride a bike per his surgeon's advice. He followed me by foot as I rode around to various spots at the resort. 

We did the local island tour with Maama who was warm and very informative. He showed us around the island and explained how the locals used their resources. We have taken island tours before - once while at Lily Beach and once in Fiji. I found Maama's tour to be the best. I highly recommend it.

Overall, we had a fantastic time at Dusit Thani. I felt that the staff really enjoyed working there and wanted to be there. This is not always the case. We are already planning our third trip to the Maldives in 2025.

Fantastic Resort, Snorkeling, and Staff

Had good stay but the touch of feeling was missing. Food is amazing so are the rooms what u felt was sensitivity was not to what we are used to. 
Maldieves is paradise on earth and had loved the country though. Transfers from airport to and back was smooth

Sensitivity Is missing rest all good

Dusit Thani Maldives is located on Mudhdhoo Island in Baa Atoll. It is a 35 minute seaplane journey from Male International Airport and a 10 minute speedboat ride from the new domestic airport.The luxurious Dusit Thani Maldives is located on Mudhoo Island in Baa Atoll - surrounded by beautiful coral reefs and a turquoise lagoon. With a private beachfront and free Wi-Fi - it offers a 750 sqm outdoor pool - one of the largest in Maldives. Modern Thai-style villas are equipped with a flat-screen TV - iPod dock and Bose sound systems. A wine cooler and a Nespresso machine are included. Guests can soak in the bathtub - or enjoy a rejuvenating shower at the outdoor rainshower. Dusit Thani Maldives is a 35-minute seaplane journey from Male International Airport. It is a 10-minute speedboat ride from the new domestic airport - scheduled to open in 2012. For health-conscious guests - the resort has yoga instructors - a modern gym and flood-lit tennis courts. Snorkelling equipment is provided for free. There is also a library and souvenir shop. International buffet spreads are served at The Market - while the over-water Benjarong restaurant offers Thai dishes. Grilled seafood on the beach can be enjoyed at The Sea Grill. Drinks are available at Sand Bar and Sala Bar.

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Dusit Thani Maldives