Best Hotels near B. Maalhos Park, Maalhos

We stayed at Madi Finolhu guesthouse for 4 nights in July 2022. When we arrived, we were welcomed by Marteen and Mamoon, who were both super friendly and did everything they could to make sure we were happy and comfortable. The room was very spacious, with a large big bed and lots of room to maneuver. We especially liked the shower, which was partially outside and provided really hot water continuously - really nice after long days of snorkeling or diving! Breakfast was serviced daily in Marteen's café, we really enjoyed the fact that he provided a local Maldivian breakfast each morning. The reef in front of the island is nice, with lots of fish and some patches of live corals. During our stay, I got my Advanced Padi Open Water license with Manta Tribe Maldives diving center, who were great and took us to some nice dive spots. All in all we had a pleasant stay at Madi Finolhi on Maalhos. Since the ferry was not running due to rough seas, the guesthouse provided private transport to our next island. Thank you Marteen and Mamoon for your kind service and attention during our stay!

After reading plenty of 5 star reviews on Tripadvisor and Google, we booked at Kiha Beach with half-board accommodation. The whole structure is very clean, the room was very nice, the bed really comfortable, the staff very friendly. Still considering that we are not on a resort Island, we rate the structure itself, the rooms and the cleanliness with 4 Stars. In contrast, in our opinion the food deserves max. of 2 stars. While the small breakfast buffet was “ok”, the dinner menu was quite boring. Actually, we were expecting to enjoy every evening a small buffet as we read on all reviews, But in fact, out of the 7 days we spent at Kiha Beach, the buffet was offered only one evening. As for the other days, latest 1 or 2 hours before dinner we were asked to choose dishes out of a menu with one starter, select among two main dishes and 2 desserts. The reason why was probably the low occupancy. Additionally, the staff wanted us to set a fix time for dinner. The food quality was ok, the selection of dishes, however, we found really boring… Ceasar’s salad (all Europeans will probably find the grated parmesan cheese served with it to be terrible) or a soup as a starter. Chicken, beef or tuna fish as main course (the sauces where always quite similar) with a selection of vegetables as side dish that was the same, evening after evening: roasted carrots, potatoes. Ice cream or fruit or chocolate cake or mango custard pudding as a dessert. The mango custard pudding was delicious! For half board customers sprite and cola are included (no need to mention water 😉).  All in all, we rate the price-performance ratio at Kiha Beach not really good.  We were really impressed about the fairness: for health reasons we asked if they would refund us some money if we leave earlier. The management told us, they would refund all the nights we didn’t spend there. It took 3 weeks and several inquiries “where is the money” before we got the reimbursement, but finally the promised amount was credited on our credit card account.  From of the overall friendly staff, we will keep Salim in our heart. A really cool guy, with a fantastic hospitality and helpfulness.  A final comment that has nothing to do with Kiha Beach particularly, but rather with Dharavandhoo itself. We found the island being full of mosquitos (also Asian tiger mosquitos), flies and sandflies. Impossible to enjoy breakfast as buffet and tables were full of flies. Impossible to stay outside or relax on the beach during daylight without repellent, because of the mosquitos and sandflies. For what we could experience, Dharavandhoo does not really have a real/effective mosquito prevention strategy. Especially the area closer to the small forest on the west side is rich of such nasty insects. Therefore, our dream of spending few days with snorkeling and relaxing on the beach vanished short after arrival. During our stay we also learned about 2 persons that contracted a dengue infection during the previous months. O

I spent 12 days in Biosphere Inn with a friend. The rooms are big and comfortable, with a peaceful exterior area for having breakfast, reading or socialising with other guests. But the main virtue of this guest house is that the owner, Hamdhan, the person looking after the inn, John, and all the staff create a beautiful atmosphere among all the guests. They are generous, warm and attentive to every detail. For example, we were lucky than on our first day, they organised a birthday celebration for a guest, where they generously provided food, and some guests and locals played guitar. They organise snorkeling trips typically every other day, trying to adapt to what guests are more interested in, and at reasonably prices, so we took as many opportunities as possible. I’d recommend the Biosphere inn and the island of Dharavandhoo to anyone thinking of travelling to Maldives.