Gili Lankanfushi, Male

Soneva Gili is a fantastic resort where the staff cater to everyone's needs. The over water villa's are superb and out of all the resorts I have visited in the Maldives I feel Soneva Gili are the best. The bathtubs overlooking the sea, the open air showers with little walkways, the private sun decks reaching out over the sea....all absolutely georgeous. The spa is amazing, the staff very friendly and professional, the Yoga and Thai Chi classes they offer are second to none and the spa packages made my vacation. I found the food was very good, everything is so simple but so fresh and healthy....until you hit the desserts. I have read another review saying the eco friendlyness of the resort goes too far, but I disagree the way the staff promote the eco friendlyness of the resort is fantastic...all the staff get involved and ok so some things arn't for everyone but Soneva Gili gets my thumbs up. Sayining thatr the food is not even as good as Club med as I read in another report is an outrage, Club Med is huge amounts of fast food thrown together....soneva Gili is lots of good quality food carefully made and presented....even cooked in front of you to order at the buffets.

We were there on our honeymoon this past Sept, and I have to say that Soneva Gili is an outstanding resort with most incredible service. We litereally felt like we were King and Queen on the island. We stayed in Crusoe Water Villa and the experience was indescribable. Every little detail from sound, smell and color were carefully designed and prepared. My wife was very particular with her taste and yet she was stunned by the excellent quality of this resort! Did I mention that we had a personal Mr. Friday? Oh my, Mr. Friday was not only courteous but most delightful servant. Hahah, my wife was so impressed with my careful arrangement of our honeymoon, till this day I am still suffer (happily) the consequences. By the way, we went to Hilton afterwards. Even though the facility was great, the service they provide truly cannot compare. Soneva Gilli gave us an experience that we would never forget.

OK, so here's the dissent among the accolades. Soneva/ Evason/ Six Senses is the quirkiest, most self-indulgent resort brand in the world. They have a fanatic commitment to ecology, which I love in theory but sadly find silly given the extremes to which they take it and the minimal impact it has. Everything about it is kitsch: the rustic villas (sticks with the bark still on them?), the cheesy restaurant, the self-righteousness that comes with all this. The food, incidentally, is relentlessly mediocre, approximately the quality of a Club Med, or perhaps not as good. I mean that comparison absolutely literally. (And they think their food is so wonderful!...As my husband remarked: "One feels embarrassed for them.") The over-water villas are like bad 1960s bachelor pads; compare this to the Four Seasons, and it's like an immature amateur playing at creating a luxury resort. They fancy themselves eco-luxury. They're not. They're kitsch luxury with a (leftist) ideological streak (a right wing ideological streak would be just as bad; this one simply happens to be the leftist kind), whose impulse to dictatorship is shown in their ripping your shoes from your feet and not giving them back to you till you leave. So everyone is barefoot! Isn't it quaint?! Isn't it just scrumptous? No, it's not. It's intrusive, overbearing, and reeks of falseness and artificiality. People should be led by a beautiful, relaxing resort to remove their shoes on their own, not have them taken away Soviet-style. To avoid at all cost.

Beautiful place, fantastic surroundings, excellent service. I cannot wait to go back! I especially liked the comfortable "villas" on the water, the fantastic sea life (excellent scuba diving and snorkling). I can also recommend a visit to the spa on the island. A combined visit with Soneva Fushi is to reccomend.