This was my second visit to the Maldives. My first was 18 years ago, and we went on a dive boat visiting mainly uninhabited islands. I wasn’t sure a week at one resort on one island was the sort of thing I would enjoy, but in booking this holiday, I felt I was prepared for it. A New partner and wanting some peace and quiet and romantic possibilities, And the Cocoa Palm seemed to provide all those. I was particularly pleased when some friends of us told us they had been there some 12 years ago and had found it delightful. Indeed, on arrival, we found that the hotel was planning to celebrate its 25th of anniversary on the Thursday of the week that we were there, and they were building a marquee and stage on the beach for the event. Obviously, this was going to impact on the ambience of the island, but more later.
Arrival was great, and we were met by Daria, who talked us through everything about the resort and was exceptionally pleasant. It was a little annoying to find that my correspondence with the resort having been made in September to book certain experiences a dinners et cetera didn’t seem to have been booked into the system. We had to rebook everything again, which, of course, meant that availability was limited. I’m well aware that in resorts like this, the special nights, romantic dinners treats and couples massages can book out quickly. Which was why I entered into a correspondence with the Hotel, some three months previously This did seem to have been ignored. As a result, we lost out on spa treatments and other options.
Our villa was delightful, a large and comfortable bed, a beautiful indoor/outdoor bathroom with a bath, (which did take a long time to fill, but was worth it) and the plunge pool in front of the villa. A small hidden pathway with some sun beds, meaning that we could be on a very private part of the beach and in the sea within 30 seconds of getting out of bed in the morning.
All-inclusive packages are essential in the Maldives. If you would rather not do severe damage to your credit card and the minibar looked exceptionally well stocked. On closer inspection, however, only the soft drinks and water were available on the all-inclusive package, and the rest of the bar was somewhat astronomically priced in US dollars. So to get a free beer or drink was a ten-minute walk to the bar. The young man who serviced our room was exceptionally polite and efficient, and towels were changed even when we hadn’t requested them. It was an almost perfect hideaway.
The food in the main restaurant is a set of delicious choices every evening. Although the ambience isn’t particularly romantic, the quality of the food more than makes up, and we were lucky to be given a table around the edge of the restaurant in one of the little booths. Breakfast was a delight with lots of food prepared fresh, and the two beach bars had snacks in the afternoons if you would rather not eat in the main restaurant.
The beach by our villa was first class. We booked a private cinema experience which, we hoped, would be set there. More later.
Again, at the bars, there is an all-inclusive menu and the full menu. The idea is to make you go off the all-inclusive at every possible opportunity and add money to your room bill.
One of the trips that we had to rebook was the early morning dolphin boat, which we did on the Tuesday morning and leaving at 6:30. It’s no hardship to get up early on a beautiful morning in the Maldives when the sun is rising, and we set off with six other people in a traditional Dhow, searching for dolphins. But unfortunately, we had a guest who was very nervous about the waves and after 20 minutes insisted that the boat didn’t go any further. We probably were in the best area to spot dolphins at this point, which the boys sailing in the boat new. To satisfy this guest, we hovered around the islands for an hour also before heading back, no dolphins spotted. Our second disappointment came with the booking of a private cinema screening. It looks great on the website and the inference is that it will be set up on the beach by your villa. Having had dinner and a sunset cruise which was complementary and very nice. We waited in our villa at 9 pm. No cinema. The phone wasn’t connecting to reception, so we made the 10-minute walk to reception to find that the cinema was set up on the public beach in front of the bar for us to watch the film choice. This unromantic placing wasn’t helped by the fact that there was a large team of people building the marquee for the Thursday night festivities. The quality of the film was good, but the beanbags are past their best, and the whole experience was probably bizarre rather than romantic. The staff were keen to help to remedy this when we spoke to them the following day, but it did mean that we started to question the other packages we had booked. The special pergola dinner for two is just over £300 and is also set on the main beach. It’s not the most romantic location and given that we would get food on our own inclusive menu, which was a high standard for that evening. It suddenly seemed foolish to spend an extra £300 just to sit on the beach 20 yards away from the barn. We cancelled the booking. We did keep the Villa barbecue booking for the Wednesday evening. This was fabulous. A table set on the beach by our villa with a chef and waiter. Fabulous meal, fabulous service. Worth every penny.
The rain came on Thursday, stopping our plan to kayak around the island. The resort seems ill prepared for rainy days. One pool table in reception. No board games or other options and work somewhat unreliable with do in the villas, Netflix isn’t a choice.
The 25th celebration was obviously great for the hotel, and they’re very proud of it. Rightly so. But a hotel exists for its guests, and through a lack of information, it wasn’t easy to follow what was on offer for us. Service seemed slower as staff were busy with preparations. A nice drinks party on the beach at sunset with fabulous snacks didn’t make it easier to work out where dinner was supposed to be- on the beach or in the restaurant. Most guests chose the latter, and an unfortunate heavy downpour didn’t help.
For our final night, as a treat, we chose the Thai restaurant which has a supplement chargeable to eat at. It’s well worth it with a 25% discount and gorgeous food and great service.
The transfer information for the Saturday morning was published very late after 7pm and we had already gone to dinner, but transfers were very well-organised and executed very well.
The little bumps in the week — lost advance bookings for excursions, and poorly chosen venues for private events, were unfortunate, but hopefully can be remedied. Forewarned is forearmed.
All in all, this was a great week. Not luxury perhaps, but a little piece of paradise nonetheless.
