We returned from a 2 week stay at embudu village last week.
The transfer from Male airport by boat was about 15min, the transfer time by boat could vary depending on how choppy the sea was. Due to being quite close to Male you could see it from the beach, there was quite a bit of air traffic above during the day, mainly sea planes.
On arrival we were greeted by a member of staff who escorted us to the reception area where we were greeted with an arrival drink and were checked in. We were shown to our room. We stayed in a "superior" beach bungalow, the only other accommodation on the island are the 16 water bungalows so I am unsure as to what they are superior too.
Each block of beach bungalows were made up of 4 sections, each room had a patio area with seats/table and a shoe wrack/clothes rack. We were in 28, the immediate view was bushes and to the right towards the sea was taped off, there wasn't any sand remaining just sand bags. We had to walk a couple of minutes along to get to the beach. There are many sun loungers and they are everywhere not just on beach. We never had an issue getting beds.
The rooms were large with storage, mini fridge(ours was old), dressing side table. There was a small kettle with coffee sachets , teabags and coffee mate creamer powder. There is no form of fresh milk in rooms if you have it in your tea/coffee. I asked at reception, I was told they would bring some to the room but when the man arrived he brought more coffee mate. From our first breakfast I would get a glass of milk and take it back to our room. You received 2 bottles of water daily which were put in room when cleaned. Our cleaner did a fantastic job everyday we were there, was always polite and happy so thank you again. Unfortunately the bed was horrendous, the matteress was extremely firm and the frame was very noisy, the slightest movement made the bed creek loudly. It definitely needs replacing. There isn't a tv in the rooms which we didnt mind, wi fi was also free throughout the island but could be a bit patchy and unreliable some days.
Our room is in need of a bit of TLC, there was quite a few details that need attention, such as toilet roll holder needs tightening, window latches loose, curtain rail wobbly to name a few. Another thing about the rooms that cant be dismissed is the lack of privacy. In those rooms you can hear everything your neighbours are doing EVERYTHING, conversations, if they are in shower, making a cuppa etc , there is absolutely no sound proofing. I found it difficult for this reason to fully relax in the room, we were fortunate that both our neighbours stayed for the majority of our stay and were considerate with noise, last few days new people not so much.
Food for us personally was OK, it wasn't anything amazing, they had themed nights every night but honestly most of the time you wouldn't of been able to guess what the theme was. There's a section which always had more authentic cuisine, could have quite the spice kick, but I do encourage you to try as there was some very tasty dishes and im not a spice fan.
Lunch times were very much a waste, there was never really anything enticing. Breakfast was nice, there was a nice selection of bread, pastries and hot food. I would of liked more of a fruit selection at breakfast but there was plenty of other items.
We cant mention meal times without mentioning Raju, what a lovely young man. He was always so happy to see you, would gladly have a chat take time to get to know you have a laugh and genuinely looked happy in his job. I hope he gets the appreciation he deserves, he is an absolute credit to this hotel and if chooses could go far in hospitality, so Raju thank you again.
The island could be a shoe free zone if you wanted it to be, I could happily walk around all day without shoes, but my husband found some areas under foot very uncomfortable, there are large parts where the sand is quite large/sharp as some areas had more coral fragments or around the rooms there was roots along pathways. The paths were always been raked to clear the fallen leaves etc.
We would go to the bar on an evening. Again the staff were all lovely, if on all-inclusive the drinks menu was quite small, I think it is likely the smallest A/I drinks menu we have come across, however the drinks are reasonably priced if you wanted to venture off the A/I menu.
The snorkeling was amazing and a real highlight of the stay, unfortunately a lot of those staying didnt really seem to respect what was there and there is quite a lot of damage to the coral however that doesnt diminish the wonderful variety of marine life in the waters around Embudu. You have to ensure you snorkel on all sides of the island dont stay on the same side there's so much to see.
Overall we had a nice stay at embudu. If you enjoy sun, sea and nature , at a rough around the edges hotel then this is ideal.
