Canopus Retreat Thulusdhoo

WARNING – DO NOT BOOK WITH CANOPUS! We had been looking forward to our stay at Canopus Hotel for six months, when we finally got there after travelling halfway round the world. We saved money for a long time to come to Thulusdhoo, and we had an ongoing dialog with the manager of the hotel all the way through – everything seemed fine, but we did NOT receive any information about what we`d soon come to experience. We arrived in February 2024 for a 15 day stay, and we were asked to pay the full bill before check in – we found that a bit strange but agreed since we were tired after a 24 hour trip to get there. Everything seemed fine when we were doing the payments but trouble started soon after – no wonder why they wanted all our money up front. We crawled our way over about 100 cats (and their inevitable smells and legacies) to get to our room in order to get a sought after shower and a much-needed rest. It was very disappointing to find a room in a condition far worse than what we expected from the information we were given, and what we think is fair to expect from what we paid – but again – we can manage to enjoy our rest and recuperation time in the Maldives in a not so good ( to say the least) room but as the holiday went on it became unbearable. As soon as we laid down on the bed for a stretch before lunch, they started to do some building work next door that sounded more like demolition – it was crazy and this went on throughout our stay. It was basically impossible to be in our room between 0700am and 630pm. We measured the noise to nearly 130db. We came to understand that the building they were building next door (a ten story concrete block) was done by the owners of Canopus. After shaking off the first shock we went to the beachfront restaurant, just to get the next sad disappointment. We didn’t even get the menus in our hands before eyebrows were raised – bulldozers and big diggers rolled back and forth on the beach moving big rocks and building a seawall. It was not possible to go for a swim out front and it was a noise so bad that we just left our table. The fact that the managers of the hotel, that we had been in running dialog with for six (6) months, did not ever mention ANY of this. What a disgrace! If you for some reason end up going here, bear in mind that: 1. This is a construction site. 2. The management under-communicates and twists the truth. 3. The other guests I was talking to shared my concerns. I was very kind in my complaints towards the staff, but I was not met with the kindness and understanding one would expect from a hotel. I could go on and on but it would be superfluous. The treatment we got and the facilities we “lived” in for 15 days was a degrading experience, and you should avoid this place at any kost. The place has dangerous noise, possible falling objects and bulldozers driving in-between tables and sunbeds. The fact that we did not get ANY information about the place being a con

Lovely large room with balcony overlooking the beach. Delicious healthy food. Breakfast great. Staff organised pick up /back to Male. Local ferry worth checking out instead of motor boat. A lot of cats at the hotel if you like cats. Great place for surfers.

Nice and confy rooms, good decoration and location, but...There is a surprinsingly large comunity of cats in the hotel, roaming at the restaurant, on the couches, counter tops and so on. All these cats pee... so a stinky cat urine smell is the hotel scent specialy and sadly very present at the restaurant and reception area.