Guest reviews on Google
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Although waving goodbye to guests upon arrival and departure may seem like a nice gesture, our experience revealed a very different reality behind it.
Since the resort does not have its own transfer boat, guests may experience long waiting times for transfers. This can cause significant inconvenience, especially on arrival and departure days.
Our biggest disappointment occurred on the day of departure. Although the official check-out time is 12:00 PM, and we repeatedly informed the resort that our flight was at 7:30 PM while kindly asking them to take this into consideration, we were forced to check out at 7:00 AM. As a result, the last day of our vacation became unnecessarily stressful and exhausting.
The resort stated that transfer arrangements were the responsibility of the travel agency. However, we were informed that the transfer reservations themselves were organized by the resort. For this reason, we did not find it reasonable that all responsibility for the transfer issues was placed solely on the travel agency.
My intention is not to blame any individual or the resort itself, but simply to share our experience so that future guests can make a more informed decision. The natural beauty of the Maldives is, of course, beyond question. However, the quality of a vacation depends not only on the scenery but also on the level of service and the overall guest experience. Unfortunately, our stay fell well below our expectations, and our holiday ended on a very disappointing note. I sincerely hope future guests will not have to go through the same experience.
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Natalie Atemasova
3 months ago
It was a great vacation. The staff is helpful, pleasant, and friendly and truly wants to make your stay better. The house reef is gorgeous. Absolutely fantastic. They provide free snorkeling gear. The water villa is wonderful. Cleaning is twice a day. The food is delicious and varied. Highly recommended!
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Dominic Pinkert
2 months ago
What a tiny slice of paradise 🏝. This is the third time on the Maldives, however the location of the island with its amazing underwater wildlife is just breathtaking. Completed by a great service of everyone working on the island (hotel staff, animation team, watersports center as well as diving center) and excellent food, what is there more to ask for? Last but not least, you can see and feel that they do not only care about their guests but also about mantainig and preserving their environment with various sustainability activities, projects and education of the guests. Great job 👏. We will definitely recommend Sandies Bathala to others and would be happy to come back for ourselves as well 😎.
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Daisy Mabuya
5 months ago
We went there for an anniversary trip and my fiancé had purchased me a new ring. The hotel didn't do anything to make it special, even though their website is littered with 'romanatic' room set ups.
There was no room service, even at the water villas which were far from the main restaurant and bar. The bar closed at 22:00 and we couldn't drink at the pool.
The excursions were amazing, the on-site seamstress made really great garments for us and the people we met made the stay awesome but I wouldn't go back to Sandies.
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Whale sharks excursion
We went to the water sports to ask about whale shark excursion. We talked to Sabrina — tour guide and asked if the chances are good to see a whale shark (whale excursion was 170$ per person, mantas was 75$ per person). She said “chances are very good”, we still asked what if won’t see it, the response was “it happens rarely”, but if so they would take us to see mantas or turtles. We had to wait until 12 people wanted to go too. When we reached the place, guides couldn’t spot it, so they took us to mantas, we swam for 15 minutes only. All the process lasted 5 hours to only swim 15 minutes with mantas and money was wasted. We told Sabrina directly that we are not satisfied, she advised us to talk to the reception. Mirsaid (receptionist) shared this information with manager, we met him and explained that as we saw mantas only it would be fair to pay for mantas, and waive the rest of the amount. As they breached our privacy earlier, I consider it would be fair enough to accommodate us. Manager said that the boat they used was a 3rd party’s boat and they spent money on that, so they cannot waive that amount. I don’t understand how the information about the 3rd party is related to our case, but he just kept on saying “we are sorry for privacy breaching, but we cannot waive the charges as we used 3rd party’s boat”. It shows management’s attitude towards the guests, “sorry” is just a regular word for them.
The best they could do for their visitors is to improve the excursions’ rules. We understand that there is no 100% guarantee that you will see the animals you booked the excursion for. Nevertheless, considering the significant cost, it may be worth offering a partial refund or trying to give the guest another try!!!