Embudu Village Resort

Real Maldives flair. Great staff. And an amazing kitchen crew. An island with only 3 stars and that's a good thing. If you need a swimming pool in the Maldives, you've come to the wrong place. The most beautiful and best pool is less than 10 steps from the bungalow.

We spent a week in this village. Let's start from the positive aspects, the food is of excellent quality, the choice is very varied, I repeat and underline the food is truly excellent with particular attention to the desserts. The beaches are well-kept, the uncovered parts are maintained very meticulously on a daily basis. I advise you not to be assigned rooms that overlook the Malé side. The negative aspects concern the rooms, which in my opinion are a little dated and should be cleaned thoroughly. I highly recommend not buying the drinks package unless you are a heavy drinker, the prices of the drinks are reasonable.

The resort is old and could do with a refresh, for example sheets and towels are in rather bad condition, however cleaning is always done regularly, the staff is very kind, we liked the food especially local, those who don't like spicy food will do a little of effort. There isn't a lot of beach available but everything is compensated by wonderful nature, the greenery is very well kept and then the barrier is just a few meters away with an immensity of fish (it really feels like being in an aquarium). No TV and quite satisfactory WiFi available throughout the island.

Embudu in March/April 24: for the 2nd time in 13 years ——————————————————————————————————---------------- As long-time, experienced Maldives lovers (27 times to the Maldives and seen over 50 different islands) and snorkelers, we prefer islands with house reefs! Well, twice is enough! Here too: Our previous island contacted Embudu the evening before and told us approximately when we would be in Male and from there we would continue with a boat transfer! We found the Embudu check-in counter ourselves, but NOBODY was there, the counter was NOT manned and to begin with no one from TUI either! I asked at the “Help Desk Point” and they knew NOTHING, had no clue; in other words, couldn’t and wouldn’t help!! After half an hour I wanted to call the island of Embudu myself (from my iPhone) but I had no reception, neither WiFi nor anything else... I then asked another local tour guide very close by at another counter with a mobile nearby if he could PLEASE call Embudu for us! This man kindly did that straight away! We then just had to wait at the counter, which took over an hour!?!? Then I saw a man wearing a TUI T-shirt coming 3 counters further on and I asked him if he could help us! The very slow local man was almost shocked because at first he didn't want to know anything about our island of Embudu and had to unpack and "install" his iPad first. Then he came to us with a list and he looked through our names, but found NOTHING, then he looked for our names using the reference number, but the guy was really overwhelmed. Normally they have a list and after a quick check you can find the names! Then, after well over an hour, the “responsible” man from Embudu suddenly arrived and had us on the list (but he was NOT a TUI tour guide). Then we finally checked in and we were finally able to move on. To the island of Embudu: 100 bungalows lined up in blocks of up to 6 - with little to no privacy - after 3 days we had to change bungalows because we didn't have a section of beach! And it was so dark around our area because of the dense trees, there was simply no light, even during the day when the weather was sunny! Afterwards, on the other side, it was OK! The rooms are simple but good and sufficiently equipped with the essentials! But we had to reserve deck chairs and towels every morning because they weren't numbered! And I “love that kind of thing”!! - it's not “my thing” at all! But there was no other way with this “island concept”! On practically all other islands it is different: there are 2 deck chairs for each bungalow - and that's it! Almost only Germans there, and a few Austrians and even fewer Swiss, who share the smallest proportion with English, French (or French-speaking Swiss

We were passing through by boat and decided to take a day trip to "Embudu Village": it was a good decision. We didn't snorkel but the wonderful bays are wonderful and there are lots of trees to protect us from the sun. There is free WiFi and plenty of clean toilet facilities. The buffet here is really great: sophisticated and varied. The lamb was amazing!

We particularly appreciated the organization of the bungalows because we did not have the impression of being on top of each other. Small beach nearby almost for us, easy departure for snorking. We liked the possibility of easily isolating ourselves and being quiet, the multitude of fish, the simple beauty and ease of this island and finally the very pleasant staff at the restaurant. On the day of our departure, we even had the surprise of spending a few hours in a water bag while waiting for the speed bora to leave for Male.