From the moment we arrived to the second we left; we could not have wished for anything more. We had a beach bungalow which was magnificent, and we had total privacy with a small pool a couple of steps away from the beautiful beach where we were able to watch the sunset every evening.
Although I do want to name a few staff who gave exceptional service, I just want to state that every staff member we met offered the very best service, but obviously we didn’t get everyone’s name. To start with the customer service offered on the beach was just extraordinary. On arrival on the beach the sunbeds were immediately made up for us with fresh towels, iced water was regularly provided throughout the day with cold face towels and a mist lavender spray. If you were fortunate to be on the beach mid afternoon homemade fresh fruit ice lollies were delivered to us. The staff who mainly looked after us on the beach were young Dahn, Isuru and Shan. Customer service was impeccable.
Staff working in the 4 restaurants were amazing and the breakfast choice everyday was extensive and delicious. We loved going to breakfast every morning and some of the regulars who greeted and looked after us every day were Ayu (she had the most fantastic welcoming smile!) Nira, Osy and Thoyyib. Just extremely professional, friendly, and so hardworking.
We also had the pleasure of a behind the scenes tour, kindly organised for us by Sharu which was interesting as we met the Human Resources team, Engineers and Kitchen staff. What is evident about this resort is that you can tell that the staff really enjoy working for Four Seasons and they appear to be looked after well. It’s fabulous to see so many young trainees working at this resort with great big smiles on their faces.
One of the things that really impressed us was the water desalination and water filtering system. Before arriving at this resort, we had travelled extensively throughout Indo-China and we saw some shocking land and ocean pollution from plastic water bottles etc. They are making a huge effort to reduce the use of all plastic on the resort and this should be applauded at the effort they are going to. On the tour we were shown the kitchen and the bakery and we had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Sara who gets up at 5am every morning to make the fabulous breads and cakes.
The plants and gardens throughout the resort are beautiful and everyone takes great pride in its upkeep. Wandering around Kuda you feel extremely safe as security is present and it’s lovely to have a chat with security guards on their bikes. Herath even showed us some Octopus hiding under the board walks whilst we were chatting. Lovely man.
There is plenty to do on the resort and we did the sunrise yoga and kayaking trips and both were magical watching the sunrise. They spa and gym are amazing too if you can find the time.
Finally, full marks to the Recreation and Marine Discovery team. This resort is investing to make sure it is doing all it can to conserve this stunning environment and to make sure the guests can get out and enjoy it. It was fantastic to see the turtle recovery centre and the love given by all the staff to look after the injured turtles. We just fell in love with ‘Ari’ who had been caught in a ghost net and lost her front flippers. What a character and we wish her well. Also, the marine life around the newly planted coral frames was fantastic. The fact that guests have sponsored a huge number of coral frames alongside the ones already placed by the resort, shows very positive steps and they are making a real difference to promote the colourful marine life that guests can see from a swim off the beach. We did 5 snorkel safaris whilst on Kuda and Wow it was superb, we saw lots of spinner dolphins, green and hawksbill turtles, stingrays, black and white tipped sharks and on our last day we encountered a group of over 50 Nurse sharks, very exhilarating and a day we will never forget! The marine and recreation team on duty during our stay were incredible and all of this would not have been possible without the input from Ziyad who smoothed all these arrangements for us. They were all extremely knowledgeable, made us feel safe, comfortable and what a pleasure to encounter such rich sea life they found for us. Thanks goes to Oppo, young Rabshau and Iyash from Recreation and the Marine Discovery Team, Bethany, Kelly, Shona, Ale and Charlie for a fascinating and inspiring week.
Our one regret is we didn’t see a Manta Ray, but 2 days after we left the mantas had been seen in the area. Oh well, we will just have to go back to this outstanding resort again!
Mandy Plant and Will Sleddon
