Embudu Village Resort

This was my fifth visit to this lovely island having not been here for about seven years, it was going to be interesting to see how the place has changed in that time. Collection from Male via speedboat was swift and seamless and we arrived on a lovely sunny Christmas Eve ready to start our adventure. I had E Mailed ahead to ask for a room in a particular position and we were placed in room 78 which was absolutely perfect for us, little bit of foliage in front of the room and a nice little cove and beach maybe five steps away from the terrace. With the addition of a sea wall there is now a good beach on this side with very soft sand, its actually pretty well done so far as sea walls go and we spent all our time here. The rooms here are simple, a good size and perfectly adequate , no frills but everything that you need. The beds are super hard but I don't mind that, there is no TV but I don't mind that either. They are kept spotlessly clean by your room boy and water is topped up each day as needed. Nice large bathroom with a good shower, I was more than pleased with my choice. As we arrived on Christmas Eve, we were treated to the gala dinner, wow!!, so much choice , the chefs must have worked very hard indeed to produce such an amazing array of beautiful dishes - we just didn't know where to start. I didn't take a photo of the Christmas Eve menu but I have included a photo of the New Years Eve menu which is very similar. On a daily basis the food is really very good, I have always found the food good at Embudu but they have definitely improved over the years, much more choice now with the curries the star of the show. The island was a mass of tiny Christmas lights - absolutely stunning . There is always the thorny issue of table sharing at Embudu but to date I have never had to table share, the restaurant has been painted ( as has the bar and reception area ) since the last visit and now looks so much brighter. The waiting staff are friendly and nothing is too much trouble - a credit to the island. The bar is also much brighter now and the team that work there are friendly and professional , some same faces here as throughout the island, makes me think that this is a great place to live and work. The alcohol is branded and whilst I mostly don't drink, I made good use of the lovely mocktails. The decking area is a lovely place to chill and watch the sun go down, it was pretty hot when we were there so it was a nice place to sit after our evening meal too. We snorkeled on our first day but due to rather ill health, we did not snorkel again this holiday. The coral reef on the water bungalow side looks very poorly now, I'm afraid and there is a complete lack of baby sharks ( no nightly rays either ) that used to patrol the shallows so frequently. In fact the water goes out so far now on that side that the coral is daily exposed. We met some lovely people on our last day who have visited here 27 times and counting and they were informed b

One word ……. STUNNING!! The staff were friendly and always on hand for anything you needed. The back bungalow was 5 metres from a beautiful small beach which lead onto the house reef where any number of marine wildlife could be found. To have reef sharks swimming around your feet whilst paddling was a hell of an experience. The Stingray City tour was less Stingray and more Nurse Shark which was even more of a breathtaking experience, particularly as you can often see the rays around the boat jetty. Food was varied and great quality. Thank you to all who made our week a holiday of a lifetime

Spa experience can be improved. Similar hotels in the area have excellent spa areas and services. This hotels spa is rather a small left over space with minimal decoration and aura. Prices are quite high compared to facility.