Kuredu Island Resort, Maldives

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Excellent
Shopping	Excellent
Nightlife	Excellent
Ease of getting around	Excellent
Family Friendly	Good

Advantages:	Great food, great people, plenty to see and do
Disadvantages:	Too many people

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Choosing where to go on your honeymoon can be a bit of a nightmare as there are so many places to visit so I decided to give that task to my husband to be, allowing him to choose the destination and where we stayed.

He chose Kuredu located in the Maldives. Kuredu Island opened on the 27th October 1988 and is located inthe Lhaviyani Atoll in the Maldives which is in the North.
Just 1.5km in length and 325m wide mid island it is one of the larger islands offering many activities to keep you busy.

In order to get to Kuredu you will need to have a seaplane transfer from Male International Airport, this will ensure that you get to your dream destination in the shortest possible time, the sea plane took approximately 45 minutes and was a great way to take in the scenary of the atolls on the way.

Kuredu has its own lounge at the seaplane transfer terminal at Male airport which is air conditioned and the beverages are all complimentary.

The Island is 6 hours ahead of GMT and 1 hour ahead of Male, we arrived early in the morning and were welcomed onto the Kuredu by the Guest Relations Officer who took us to the Akiri Bar where there was a non alcoholic refreshment waiting for us and we were asked to fill in the registration forms which required us to put our home address, passport details and full names.

Once we had completed the forms we were given our blue all inclusive wristbands and key to our room, a map of the island and we were also given directions to the room an we made our way through the sandy path to locate our home for the next 15 nights.

When we arrived at our villa our cases were already waiting for us.

*~*Accommodation*~*

Once you decide on your chosen Island you are then faced with other decisions, the type of accommodation that you want to book.

Kuredu has 40 Garden Bungalows
90 Beach Bungalows on the north, 50 Water Villas on the north east, 93 Beach villas on the north east and south side and 100 Jacuzzi beach villas on the south.

We had opted for the Jacuzzi beach villa as they promised to be larger in size than the Water Villas and we had our own private jacuzzi and outdoor sundeck that was not overlooked.

We were located in room 131 which offered an unobstructed view direct from our villa to the Indian Ocean. Every jacuzzi beach villa comes complete with a large double jacuzzi in the shade at the rear of the villa along with an outside bed to relax on.
The villa contained a kingsize 4 poster bed, cd player, table and chairs, desk area, digital safe, minibar at a charge, outdoor bathroom with shower, 2 sinks, hairdryer, 2 beach towels and guest towels along with a robe for each of us.

At the time of our stay there were no tv's but I understand as we were leaving they were upgrading the rooms to include this facility. We had a CD Player in our room and although we had not brought any CD's with us you can rent up to 2 from reception free of charge but be warned the selection is not that great so try to remember to take some of your own.

Each night we were provided with a bottle of water left in our room as the water is not very safe to drink from.

The front of the beach villas had a few steps to climb before you reached your sundeck complete with 2 plastic loungers and a table. The rooms are all non smoking but an ashtray is provided outside and you are kindly asked to smoke outside only.

Our very own stretch of beach is just outside the villa and two loungers are there for us to avail of and a few yards away is the Indian Ocean..............absolutely beautiful.

Every day there was a turn down service and if you did not require clean bed sheets you were asked to put a wooden fish on the pillow, we only found this in the last few days of the holiday so we were not very economical I am afraid.

If we required clean towels then we were asked to put them in the shower so that they could be replaced later that day.

Each night our bed was turned down and each morning our room was made up and the floor brushed and cleaned.

*~*Food and Beverage*~*

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are served in the main restaurants located on the Island. There are 4 main restuarants, Bonthi, Koamas, Sangu and "O"Restaurant. All Water villas are assigned to Sangu and as we were located at the far end of the island we were also allowed to dine at the Sangu Restaurant without having to make a reservation. We preferred dining at the Sangu restaurant as it was child free and a more chilled out atmosphere which was what we wanted on our honeymoon.

Breakfast is served between 8am and 10am
Lunch between 1-2.30pm
Dinner between 7.30 - 9.30pm

Buffets are themed every evening and during our stay we sampled, Indian, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Italian, French, Mexican and many more.

Rice and noodles are plenitful and there are always vegetables available which pleased me. The fish is from the reef so you never really know what type of fish you are going to get, pork, lamb, chicken, beef are all options available and each meal there is a grill where you can have something freshly prepared for you.

Breakfasts were not the best and I ended up getting scrambled egg from the grill and 2 pieces of toast, it was enough to keep me going but if I was after a full cooked breakfast I just was not going to be happy with it here, the sausages were awful like hot dog sausages and the bacon was the type you get in America all hard and streaky.
I was saved by the fresh fruit and pastries as well as the vast array of cereals to choose from.
Even though some of the food was not what I expected I hardly starved on holiday and both my husband I came back having gained weight!

There are also 3 a la carte restaurants located on the main hub of the island. "Francos" is where we went one evening for our meal and it was delicious the pizza was out of this world and I highly recomend the Tandoori Pizza.
"Far-East" offers asina fine dining and the "Beach" offers seafood and steaks in a Californian Style, unfortunately we did not sample the last two restaurants as they were a little on the pricey side and did not offer anything all that appealing to us that we were not already getting on the buffet so we opted just to go to Franco's for that one afternoon.
As an all in clusive guest you will receive 20% discount on all food and drink at the a la carte restaurants.

Our waiter was Mohammed and he was fantastic the level of service that he provided was out of this world, ensuring that we were well and truly pampered when it came to meal times.

********************TOP TIP**************************
Tip your waiter at the end of the stay rather than every night.
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*~*Things to Do*~*

There really is something for everyone at Kuredu.

A library can be found at the Entertainment Centre behind Koamas Restaurant allowing you to swop books or if you don't fancy taking your books home just leave them behind for someone else to pick up. I picked up two very good reads whilst I was there and it was great to have somewhere to go when my husband was out diving.

Entertainment Centre is located next to the The Library and offers a pool room open from 9am to 1pm, darts, fuzzball, table tennis and chess.
If you want to use any of the games in the Entertainment Centre you are required to leave your key in the Babuna Bar and only 1 item can be given out at a time.

To the north of the Island is a golf course with its own little golf bar and driving range. We found it too hot to have a go on the course but did make use of the driving range and it was $10 per tub of golf balls.
The golf bar is an ideal place to go if you want to watch any sports and we found ourselves watching the F1 at Silverstone in the bar and there was quite a crowd that gathered.

Dive Centre is located a few metres from Reception allowing you to rent equipment such as scuba diving equipment, snorkels, life vests and underwater cameras. You can also book onto various boat trips and if you wish you can complete your PADI course.
A free introduction to snorkeling course if on offer and is well worth taking advantage of.
Snorkelling tours are pretty reasonably priced and I can highly recommend the Wall Snorkelling Tour it is amazing and well worth having an underwater camera with you.
The Dive Centre is opposite and stocks a range of swimwear, snorkeling equipment, and diving accessories.

Watersports are available and windsurfing, parasailing, kayaks and pedaloes are all available as well as the banana boat ride if you want a bit of an adrenaline rush!

Next to the Dive Centre you will find the tennis courts where you can play tennis or badminton again it was just too hot to even attempt to have a go.

Gym is located opposite the Dive Centre and is free to use but you must have a pair of trainers to use any of the equipment.

Next door to the gym is a gift shop offering clothes, hats, souvenirs and more.

Sifani Jewellery is on the corner opposite reception and they have somme fantastic Jewellery on offer and it is know that the price he offers is not the price that you should take so practice your bartering skills before you leave.

To the left of Reception is the Kuredu shop and this is where you will find souvenirs a plenty and some fantastic handcrafted goods to take home with you. If you want to catch up with people at home then they have an internet café for you to avail of and is reasonably priced, you can also pick up any toiletries you may have forgotten and crisps and sweets.

All items will go onto a tab that you are required to pay the day before you depart so try to keep a running total of what you spend so that there are no nasty suprises at the end of the holiday.

A large swimming pool can be found to the right of reception and it is open from 8am until 8pm. If you take a look at the Kuredu Website the 24 hour webcam shows you the view from the pool.

Duniye Spa is where I spend a lot of my time during the honeymoon it is an absolute haven and I can highly recommend it to anyone due to visit. As my husband wanted to complete his PADI Course I found that I had a few afternoons to myself and slowly was making my way through all of the treatments but they offered such good valued for money I just could not resist.

***********************TOP TIP***********************
When you arrive on the Island you will be given a discount voucher for 15% off in the spa if you have a treatment within 2 days or arriving, it is an ideal way to get the holiday started.
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On Kuredu there are two Duniye Spa's the land spa that is located a few metres from reception and the over water spa that is located to the North of the Island towards the "O"Resort.
For each of my treatments I chose to visit the land spa and it was the most relaxing experience I have had it was amazing and I have below the treatments I personally tried and tested all in the name of Dooyoo!!
"Maldivian Island Paradise"
This was my first treatment and it lasted 150 minutes for $155. I got an exfoliating foot scrub to start followed by a gentle exfoliating body polish, deep Moisturising signature massage. A hydrating mini facial and a head massage to finish.
I then went outside into a secluded garden area and used the shower to rinse the product off and then I was able to enjoy a mango milk bath with floating flowers and a refreshing drink of Kurumba (baby coconut)

"Honeymoon Indulgence for Two"
This treatment I had with my husband and it lasted for 120 minutes and cost a total of $250.
We had both really been looking forward to this and we both went into the same room and enjoyed a foot scrub we then had to strip to our panties which were provided and I had a Balinese massage and the vitamin C, Papaya and mango body envelope, and my husband had the deep cleansing ginger-lemongras body rub with a deep tissue aroma massage.
I had a replenishing hair scalp massage with rosemary oil and hubby got the Indian hean massage with reflexology to follow.
To finish we both had an orange and mango bath soak and half and hour to enjoy it with an amazing papaya banana fruit punch.

"Cocoa Island Experience"
This was one of the most amazing treatments I have ever had as the smell of the products was delicious.
This experience lasted for 120 minutes and cost $125.
Once more it began with a foot ritual and then I had the dry skin brushing which felt really good and is meant to get the lymph flow going, then sensous jasmine lavender body cleaner was added before the cocoa-cinnamon cocoon wrap which was really cool when applied so I was wrapped up to keep me warm whilst I had a head and foot massage.
After a warm shower to remove the cocoa-cinnamon wrap I returned to the room for the oriental massage which was really relaxing and when I had finished my treatment I left the room to enjoy another Papaya Banana Fruit Punch Yum!!

To finish the treatments my husband was really keen for us to both have one again so we opted for:
"Full Moon Magic"
This treatment lasted 120 minutes and cost $295 for us both.
We had an aromatic foot scrub and massage to begin with and then we were both given and oriental full body massage and we both had the cocoa- cinnamon body wrap and whilst this was doing its magic we had a head and foot massage.
Once again we both shared a milk bath whilst enjoying champagne and fruit it was a great way to end our honeymoon in paradise.

Kuredu really is paradise, it is one of the larger islands out there and is an ideal place for the first time visitor to the Maldives.

Summary: Visit Kuredu and you'll be in paradise