OBLU SELECT Sangeli

Summary: We had a wonderful stay in a Water Pool Villa, accompanied by excellent service from our outstanding room attendant Sikdar, who helped us discover the Maldives in a very special way. We were able to see many marine creatures and thoroughly enjoyed our honeymoon. Water Pool Villa: The villa was beautiful and located directly facing the sunset (as all Water Pool Villas are). It is very spacious with a large bathroom. The bedroom has air conditioning, but the bathroom does not, which means it could get quite warm at times. The room was in good condition and cleaned daily. We could enter the sea directly via a ladder from the villa. Depending on the time of day, the water was sometimes a bit shallow for snorkeling. While snorkeling we saw many fish in front of the villa (reef sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, and many colorful fish). Service: The entire island employs a large number of staff who are all extremely friendly, attentive, and helpful. You won’t miss anything. Every guest is assigned a personal manager; ours was Sara, who kindly showed us around the island. In addition, each villa has a dedicated room attendant. Ours was Sikdar. Without exaggeration: with Sikdar we experienced the best service we have ever had on any trip worldwide. Not only did he keep our villa perfectly tidy and clean, but he also took a lot of time for us, explained many things, came to get us when dolphins were nearby, and even showed us how to fold towels into animals on a rainy day. For us, Sikdar was not just the room boy—he was an allrounder who accompanied us throughout our stay with tips and recommendations. Thanks to him, we were able to discover all facets of the Maldives and benefit from his local experience. Additionally, Ashfag refilled our minibar and snacks daily and was also very courteous. Food & Drinks: There is one main restaurant (buffet) and two à la carte restaurants. The main restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The à la carte restaurants offer lunch and dinner. The food in the main restaurant features a lot of Indian cuisine, but it is so varied that there is something for every taste. There are also themed evenings, which we liked. We especially enjoyed the live-cooking with Torre. The food quality was very good. Of the à la carte restaurants, we preferred Just Grill over Just Wok. The food quality here is also very good and the dishes taste good. However, some dishes at the à la carte restaurants are put together somewhat uninspired—for example, the side salad is plain and the mashed potatoes are not seasoned at all. One should not expect complex flavors. We also found that the tenderloin beef offered at Just Wok was quite tough (I doubt it was actually tenderloin). At Just Grill, we ordered the lamb chops medium, but they unfortunately arrived more than well done. The beef steak, on the other hand, was excellent in quality and perfectly cooked medium. The drink selection is extensive and well prepared. Activities: Each stay includes one snorkeling trip at the house reef and one fishing trip. We enjoyed both. With the guides, we always felt very safe. Spa massages were also included, as well as several reservations at the à la carte restaurants. Other: The stay was accompanied by an app. It included all activity bookings on-site as well as further information about the resort (beverage menu, map, daily program, chat function to communicate with staff -> communication in the chat was a bit difficult here because the employees didn't always understand what we mean). We found this app very convenient. However, during departure we were pressured to leave a review that was said to “only take a few minutes”… Normally not a problem, but since we then only had 15 minutes at breakfast (due to our very early departure), it caused us a lot of stress, which we felt was inappropriate. Read less

Positives: You are on an island in the Maldives. Accommodation is what you would expect for a 5 star Friendly, competent staff, nothing is too much trouble for them Nice spa (ask for Chamine) Negatives: Coral has not recovered from the building work Buffet restaurant offers repetitive, predominantly Indian based food, despite different themes listed each evening. Lunch offers a lot of left overs from the previous evening. Papaya and Dragon Fruit hidden from view, as are tomatoes and cucumber so remember to ask if you would like them for your fruit bowl or salad. Broadband less than 5Mb, and regularly disappears so be careful if you are trying to complete a transaction. This resort should do much more to retain its 5 star listing Read less

We loved our time here! From start to finish it was amazing, the staff are friendly and attentive, our water villa was very special and the experiences we had great. Sikdar our room attendant was great, very friendly and looked after us, he also made some very creative towel art each day. Would definitely recommend this resort, it was 10/10 for us all round Read less