OBLU XPERIENCE Ailafushi

Stayed in August 2025 as a family group.. I'll start with the good stuff. The resort itself is fantastic. Convenient for Male airport when travelling with family. The staff in the main are excellent and work hard to keep everything just right. The food was great allowing for it to be All Inclusive buffet. Regular changes to menus, especially the Asian counter which rotates through Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Malay and others meant we didn't get bored. The Dive Staff were fab. 2 of our party did their PADI qualifications whilst at the resort. We were able to dive with them and got 2 pax x 4 dives for a very reasonable amount. The rooms were nice and well kept, although the floor desperately needed replacing which in fairness we could see being done in other villas. Our Air Conditioning wasn't great whereas the villa next door was brilliant. Luck of the draw. Saw so many creatures around the resort, from crabs, sharks, fish, lizards, parrots, cranes and even a large ray when we were getting ready to depart. A highlight was the underwater restaurant. Far from cheap but a great experience. The transfer in was fun as was a windy day - boat was rocking but the kids loved it. Now for the bad: The main pool area is loud, very loud, from 10am until mid-afternoon on some days. It is mainly the same songs on repeat every day accompanied by a booming bass line. There was little care taken with content of the songs, including lots of f-bombs which ain't great with small children in the resort. Things like the Pool Party were fun, however guests seems to think they were in Ibiza rather than The Maldives. Dancing Dude - you know who you are - thanks for the laughs, we were trying to guess what you were on! Evening entertainment was dire. A loud 4-piece Philippino band who seemed to enjoy murdering the classics to an empty bar area. Much room for improvement. Sadly, when they were on the area was regularly deserted - almost as if they were paid to clear the resort in the evenings!! We went to the 2nd a la carte restaurant, the Copper Pot. With only four parties in, the service was dreadful. After 2 1/2 hours of waiting we had 3 small mushrooms and a small bowl of soup. By the time the mains arrived they were tough and cold. We left the restaurant and went back to the cabin to sleep, then at 10.30pm there was a knock on the door where someone brought round a cheap bottle of red wine, by way of apology but waking us up. We were amused at the idea of giving wine in an All Inclusive resort! We complained the next day, the reception staff and manager seemed disinterested. Eventually he agreed a meagre discount but overall we feel stung by the high cost and poor experience on that evening. Oblu Xperience would be a solid 5* for one change. There is a shop and cafe area that due to it being a paid service, no one ever used. Change this to a more relaxed area in the evenings where people can have a relaxed drink and chat and they'll be on to a real winner. Either that or get better entertainment with more appropriate sound levels at the main bar to encourage an atmosphere and people to stay. Read less

Firstly, the positives Nice clean rooms friendly staff nice food, good choice (it is AI so its going to be a buffet) Great gym I would say 'negatives' Location - not the secluded desert island you would expect. From our room (725) we looked out towards the airport and Male city. Large tanker was berthed throughout our stay Restaurant at peak times is really uncomfortable, firstly just to find a table! Then , and I guarantee this, you will forget where you are sitting. Wine and beer. Very holiday like, both will give you wind and indigestion if you drink too much of it Extras – the Maldives are very expensive: Certain ‘premium’ drinks (never know why they call it premium its just the alternative to cheap, local booze) are extra Copper pot and underwater restaurant are extra, allow £120pp for the restaurant The promenade café – ice cream and coffee – extra Water sports (most are extra and v expensive) Excursions – turtles and sand bank – disappointing and £130 pp for 4 hours. Speed boat to reef, weather was so choppy people were getting out of the water to be seasick,. Reef located next to an island which was basically an industrial estate. Oh we didn’t see any turtles (although they did say that) Sand bank – nice but covered in plastic bottles and a wooden pallet Male city tour £100 plus each. Great guide, took us to the fish/fruit market and other sights Remember everything extra attracts ++ service charge and tourist tax totalling 27% so remember to add that on! Entertainment. The girls do their best….Bingo (Russians found this all a bit confusing) Bar and setting- not really a nice comfortable place to sit, very much 3 star. Beach areas, lots of old material wrapped around the sea break rocks, just cut if off and tidy it up! Tips Yes take the beach shoes the coral is very sharp Take dollars for any tips and visit to Male Suncream – yes is very expensive in the shop Full face snorkel masks – we took the ‘cressi’ which is very good and not expensive Read less