Exterior
Check availability

Reviews of Holiday Island Resort & Spa

3.5 out of 5
Holiday Island Resort & Spa
Dhiffushi, South Ari Atol, Dhiffushi, South Ari Atoll

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 11 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 9 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 4 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 30 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 2 out of 30 reviews" "

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

7.8/10

Amenities

7.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Ri, England

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
What a beautiful paradise. All rooms facing the water. Excellent service all around. Would go back any time.
Stayed 13 nights in Jan 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
bad
I stayed on Holiday Island Resort since 12th of until 21st of March with bookings from Hotels.com with my family. The initial booking was until 15th but due to CoVid-19 outbreak we were forced to stay here. The manager wasn't willing to do any compromise about the room price and we had to pay from 15th to 19th at normal room price. Our international flight was initially on 19th but the flying company rescheduled the flight to 21st. As the Maldivian government required to all resorts to suspend all check-ins, Holiday Resort was unlisted from all hotel bookings sites on 18th and we were enforced to pay directly from the resort at 20% higher rates than at the entire stay here. Another problem was that we booked a room with breakfast included but at the breakfast time, the waiter told us that we have ONLY room paid! I showed the manager the booking number, finally he admitted I was right. The room design is far from a 4 star hotel, rather a 2 star one. Old furniture, A/C doesn't work properly, many small ants all over the room. The beach is not cleaned , many algaes are on the shore. The only positive part of the vacation here were the waiters and the service people, but they are very kind in every island! In the end, avoid this resort if you want stylish design rooms, and not even mention luxurious ones, or come here if you want to ruin your vacation
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2020

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
bad
I stayed on Holiday Island Resort since 12th of until 21st of March with bookings from Hotels.com with my family. The initial booking was until 15th but due to CoVid-19 outbreak we were forced to stay here. The manager wasn't willing to do any compromise about the room price and we had to pay from 15th to 19th at normal room price. Our international flight was initially on 19th but the flying company rescheduled the flight to 21st. As the Maldivian government required to all resorts to suspend all check-ins, Holiday Resort was unlisted from all hotel bookings sites on 18th and we were enforced to pay directly from the resort at 20% higher rates than at the entire stay here. Another problem was that we booked a room with breakfast included but at the breakfast time, the waiter told us that we have ONLY room paid! I showed the manager the booking number, finally he admitted I was right. The room design is far from a 4 star hotel, rather a 2 star one. Old furniture, A/C doesn't work properly, many small ants all over the room. The beach is not cleaned , many algaes are on the shore. The only positive part of the vacation here were the waiters, the chefs and the service people, but they are very kind in every island! In the end, avoid this resort if you want stylish design rooms, and not even mention luxurious ones, or come here if you want to ruin your vacation!
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2020

2/10 Terrible

Marius

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
AVOID THIS RESORT!
I stayed on Holiday Island Resort since 12th of until 21st of March with bookings from Hotels.com with my family. The initial booking was until 15th but due to CoVid-19 outbreak we were forced to stay here. The manager wasn't willing to do any compromise about the room price and we had to pay from 15th to 19th at normal room price. Our international flight was initially on 19th but the flying company rescheduled the flight to 21st. As the Maldivian government required to all resorts to suspend all check-ins, Holiday Resort was unlisted from all hotel bookings sites on 18th and we were enforced to pay directly from the resort at 20% higher rates than at the entire stay here. Another problem was that we booked a room with breakfast included but at the breakfast time, the waiter told us that we have ONLY room paid! I showed the manager the booking number, finally he admitted I was right. The room design is far from a 4 star hotel, rather a 2 star one. Old furniture, A/C doesn't work properly, many small ants all over the room. The beach is not cleaned , many algaes are on the shore. The only positive part of the vacation here were the waiters and the service people, but they are very kind in every island! In the end, avoid this resort if you want stylish design rooms, and not even mention luxurious ones, or come here if you want to ruin your vacation!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We were not informed that transfer from main airport was not included in price of our stay. When we arrived we had to pay $250 each for round trip flight from Male. This was the only negative experience we had. All inclusive (breakfast, lunch, dinner and alcohol) is $75 per day per person. Alcohol has limited hours 10am- 1am and only select items are part of all inclusive package. This island is beautiful with amazing beaches! Trip to Sun island is free but if you have all inclusive it only works on Holiday island but still highly recommend going. Thai restaurant on Sunday island has the best Thai food we every had! All inclusive food on Holiday island is buffet style and is excellent with different options daily. We went on swim with whale sharks snorkeling trip and actually got to see one which was amazing. Don’t be fooled from what we were told by locals it’s not that common to actually see one. Over all this was a great first trip to Maldives. It ended up being almost double of what we thought would be our cost due to transfer cost and all inclusive. We could have booked a much better hotel for what we ended up spending. Highly recommend comparing prices with hotels that included all that’s mentioned in upfront cost.
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This trip was my 22 nd to the Maldives at 11 different locations ,the hotel compared very well with previous hotels I have stayed at .I would say that one of plus factors were the staff , at all levels ,and in particular the house keeping,waiting on , and bar staff. The addition of regional airports helps a lot as sea planes were getting expensive and over crowded with long waits at the terminal, now transfers are quick and convenient.This resort gives an excellent experience of a Maldivian holiday ,at a reasonable price,without lose of standards.The facilities on site are very good with a range of sporting and non sporting options, or you can just spend time on the well kept beaches.i
Stayed 10 nights in May 2019
Response from Razaan on Jun 5, 2019
Thank you for your shared comments about your experience at our hotel. This feedback will uplift and motivate our staff and help improve our customer service efforts to go one step further during your next stay with us. We will be happy to welcome you back for another wonderful Maldives experience. Thank you

10/10 Excellent

Alina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Honeymoon stay
We enjoyed our honeymoon there. Very relaxing, calm and the personal are amazing. The water is like out of the picture. Very light blue, very romantic sunrise and sunset!
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2019
Response from Razaan on Apr 18, 2019
We are grateful for your shared comments about your Maldives experience at our hotel. This feedback will uplift and motivate our staff and help improve our customer service efforts to go one step further during your next stay with us.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Stayed 8 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Management on Jan 5, 2019
Dear Guest, Greetings from Holiday Island Thank you very much for the great review score and we wish to welcome you again to Holiday Island for another great experience. Well wishes

10/10 Excellent

Brandi , Burbank, CA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel, great staff & amazingly accommodating
I was booked on another island and had to find a room at the last minute. This hotel was amazing to me and my friends. We arrived on the island around 8 am, long before check-in time, and the staff was great to us. Made sure we had a table for breakfast (even though we were not checked in yet) and worked extra to get us rooms as soon as possible, which they did and we had rooms by 11:15am. I cannot thank them enough for how they treated us and for turning the weekend that started off as a trip from hell to a wonderful, quick, getaway. If I ever have the chance to visit the Maldives again I will stay here for sure.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017
Response from Holiday Team on Aug 12, 2017
Dear Guest, Greetings from Holiday Island We are happy to know that you have enjoyed your stay with us. Thank you very much for the great review and shared comments. It will be our pleasure to serve you again in this beautiful Island. Thank you and hope to see you soon

10/10 Excellent

Sam, South Africa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Honeymoon Paradise
We had the amazing opportunity to spend our December 2013 Honeymoon at the Holiday Resort and Spa... Coolly welcomed with a fresh fruit juice! It was the best holiday we've been on by water... From clear waters and white beach sand to a king size bed and ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL CUISINE!!! Well worth the money we spent to be there and absolutely cannot wait to go back!

2/10 Terrible

Dr. Salil, Houston, TX

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A Nightmare Stay in Holiday Island Villas
Horrible experience! We were detained upon arrival at Male airport for 3 hours at the specific instructions of Nazeer (or Naseer), the reservation manager because we supposedly underpaid for our youngest daughter, Ananya's reservation who was booked as a child/infant by Expedia although we clearly told Expedia that she is 14 yrs old at the time of booking and she was booked as an adult during the Air India flights between Bangalore and Male. Nazeer forced me to write a promissory note for $600 at Male airport before he let us fly to Holiday Island. Upon arrival at the resort, he made us pay the extra $600 plus the total domestic transportation charges of $1150 (or 5 adults) although it was supposed to be collected at check out. Nazeer was awful, rude and obnoxious and he did not listen to any reasoning. The room 203 was flooded twice on 29th of Dec upon showering and the hotel staff's response time was very, very late during these occurrences. The bathroom toiletries were never provided for our two rooms, 203 and 204 -- no soaps, shampoo and conditioners were replenished. They were reluctant to give extra bath towels at the resorts -- and it was supposed to be a beach resort. The food was generally tolerable, but the Maldavian Night food (29th of Dec) was terrible, food was mostly uncooked and tasteless and uneatable. The restaurant staff was generally unfriendly, rude and inflexible except a few gems of guys including our personal waiter, Aili Ali at the rest., Kamal.

8/10 Good

Honeymooners, Beirut, Lebanon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Great Island with awsome beach
Excellent experience, it was better than we expected, traveled to Holiday Island on July 4, 2013 and stayed there until July 9. We had 1 day of rain and storm, 1 day of party cloudly/rain and the rest blue sky, perfect temparuture. We selected HB for food and it was plenty and very tasty (international type for all), you will not get hungry before dinner and would not have time to eat anyway with some sports activities. Spa was great and price was excelent, they offered us 30% off if we come between 9am to noon, ended up paying $175 for 2 (50 min message and 30 min bath). Price for drinks was not bad afterall, paid around $12 for cocktail, soda $4. They gave us 2 water bottles daily. We stayed in villa 173, the best we think, great view to the beach. They have free boat ride between Holiday Island and Sun Island (5-10 min), dont miss it, it is a great to walk there (pretty big, rent a bike $4/day), we went and saw the shark feeding and Sting rays for free. They have disco next to swiming pool so you can dance if you want. Overall it was great experience and we were very happy to have chosen Holiday Island for our Honeymoon.

4/10 Poor

Wajih, Kuwait

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel far from comfort , no facilites at all
Not easy to get what you need , difficult to go any where , transportation very limited , you have to stay in the hotel and excpt what over to you to eat , practice activites, and to move. Sorry , it's like military camp ,no body smile .

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Return Travel to resort

10/10 Excellent

DMITRII

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 10 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Struttura tenuta molto bene personale fantastico ottima cucina. La spiaggia è molto bella e silenziosa
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 13 nights in Aug 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Fantastisk strand, god mat, bra service med vänlig och tillmötesgående personal.
Stayed 10 nights in Jul 2019

4/10 Poor

K

Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
There is no house leaf so I cant see any coral and fish in this resort
Stayed 12 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Razaan on May 4, 2019
Thank you for taking your time to leave a feedback. The house reef at Holiday Island Resort & Spa can only be accessible via Boat as it is far from the resort itself. Please do feel free to contact us directly if there is anything else we can try to improve.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
La spiaggia stupenda...il nostro beach bungalow superior era in una posizione favolosa direttamente sulla spiaggia e vicino alla reception bar e ristorante
Stayed 6 nights in Apr 2019
Response from Razaan on Apr 18, 2019
We are grateful for your shared comments about your Maldives experience at our hotel. This feedback will uplift and motivate our staff and help improve our customer service efforts to go one step further during your next stay with us.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Struttura molto carina e ben organizzata, personale veramente molto cordiale ed ospitevole.. isola molto bella con mare stupendo.
Stayed 11 nights in Feb 2019
Response from The Management on Feb 19, 2019
Dear Guest, Greetings from Holiday Island Thank you very much for the great review. It is a pleasure to know that you have enjoyed your stay with us. Your review will uplift and motivate our staff to give a better service on your next stay with us. We wish to welcome you once again to Holiday Island for another Maldivian experience. Well wishes

10/10 Excellent

Anna Malgorzat

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
La struttura molto bella , pulizia, gentilezza,cibo buono
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Management on Jan 15, 2019
We would like to thank you for choosing us as your preferred choice for the ultimate Maldives experience. It was our pleasure to serve you and provide you the ultimate holiday experience that you deserve. At Villa Hotels & Resorts our customers are our first priority. We value any feedback regarding your stay so that we can further improve and accommodate you once again. Thank you

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
L isola merita personale efficiente food pessimo e tutto molto caro
Stayed 6 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Management on Jan 15, 2019
Dear Guest, Greetings from Holiday Island We apologize for the concerns you have raised about you stay with us. We will take measures to improve or amend these matter for a better experience. We assure you that at Holiday Island customer service is of the utmost importance and we try to give our customers the best Maldivian experience. We would like to take this time to thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will spare no effort in improving the experience and hope to welcome you once again to our hotel in the future. Thank you and well wishes

8/10 Good

Nocka, インド バンガロール

Liked: Staff & service
青いビーチの側でのんびり過ごす
スキューバダイビング目的で宿泊しました。部屋の裏手にはビーチが広がっており、ダイビング前後はビーチを散歩したりシュノーケリングができました。ダイビングでは外洋に近い分、ボートで30分程度のポイントでジンベエザメやイルカを見かけることができたため、すごく価値がありました。また、桟橋で毎晩実施されている魚の餌やりは、1m超えのサメやエイが大量に集まってくるので、迫力があります。 ホテルスタッフやダイビングセンターのスタッフはフレンドリーで、ご飯も美味しかったです。値段通りのクオリティだと思います。
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2018
Response from Razaan on Aug 28, 2018
We are grateful for your shared comments about your Maldives experience at our hotel. This feedback will uplift and motivate our staff and help improve our customer service efforts to go one step further during your next stay with us. We will be happy to welcome you back for another wonderful Maldives experience with villahotels.com THANK YOU

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Bello anche se datato
Bell'hotel su una spiaggia incantevole con la possibilità di recarsi anche su Sun Island ancora più bella

10/10 Excellent

Katya, Lucca

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relax assoluto
Fantastico, un vero paradiso! Consigliato a tutti coloro che vogliono staccare la spina e dedicarsi al relax assoluto.. lo staff, super organizzato e molto cordiale farà il resto! Per il mare non ci sono commenti.. lascia senza parole..

8/10 Good

mauro, milano

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bellissimo
Rientrato da due giorni dalle Maldive e da questo splendido resort.. NATURA e' la parola che descrive al meglio questo paradiso. Hotel semplice, confortevole e molto funzionale. Io e la mia ragazza ci siamo trovati molto bene anche con il cibo, la riservatezza dell'ambiente e con il personale del diving center cordiale. Consiglio vivamente!

10/10 Excellent

CD, Denmark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bryllupsrejse
Vi har lige været på den mest fantastiske bryllupsrejse, hvor omgivelserne og opholdet har været over alt forventning. Øen, resortet, medarbejderne og vejret har været kun været med til at gøre det til en uforglemmelig oplevelse.

8/10 Good

Arnulv, Vest-Agder, Norge

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Veldig greit hotell, men avtal pris skriftlig..
Hotell og hele øyen var veldig bra, og en utrolig opplevelse. Litt byggeaktivitet i endene av øya men merket ikke noe til det. Pass på om du bestiller rom og senere skal oppjustere til "All Inclusive". Jeg bestilte rommet og forhørte meg om pris på å oppjustere vårt opphold der til "All Inclusive" så vi kunne få det greit der. Prisen var grei nok, men da vi kom til hotellet og sjekket inn, så hadde de plutselig en annen pris som var en god del dyrere. Da jeg viste til e-post korrespondansen med avtale om pris, så gikk de plutselig med på å bruke avtalt pris. Men dersom jeg ikke hadde hatt noe skriftlig å vise til tror jeg ikke de ville gått med på det, og ute på ei øde øy hadde det ikke vært lett å gjøre noe med. Og den utflukten som fulgte med "All Inclusive" var ikke å anbefale. Varmt og svettende spasertur uten noe interessant å se, og så vente 1 time på båten igjen mens butikkene var åpne. Men ellers var det en topp tur med herlige omgivelser og en opplevelse å bade der og se de forskjellige fiskene og småhaiene rundt oss.. Og temperaturen skal vi ikke klage på. Så alt i alt en god opplevelse, så sant du har alt skriftlig som vi hadde.

6/10 Okay

Mel

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
Hotel und Insel enttäuschen
der Aufenthalt war mittelmäßig. Im Verhältnis zu anderen Inseln stimmt das Preis Leistungs Verhältnis nicht - die Zimmer waren sauber, alles Raucherzimmer, als Nichtraucher nicht angenehm, wenn die ersten 5 Tage das Zimmer stinkt - Servicequalität hängt von der Höhe des zusätzlichen Trinkgeldes zu den 10% "Servicecharge" ab - die Hotelausstattung ist ok, es ist eine ältere Anlage, aber sauber und die Betten gut. Ein zweites Strandhandtuch gibt es gegen "Trinkgeld" - Lage: kleine Insel, mit Generator, je nach Wind stinkt es stundenlang nach Diesel. aber direkt am Strand, keine 10m zum Wasser -Strand: einiges an Steinen auf der einen Seite der Insel, auf der anderen Seite, schöner weißer Sandstrand - die Insel hat kein Hausriff. Zum Schnorcheln und Tauchen muß man daher Ausflüge buchen - Wifi kostenfrei in der Strandbar ist sehr langsam und nicht im kompletten Strandbar Bereich verfügbar - die abendliche "Unterhaltung" geht bis Mitternacht. Die "Disko" ist hierbei so laut, daß die komplette Insel beschallt wird und trotz geschlossenem Bungalow an Schlaf nicht wirklich zu denken ist - Verpflegung ist ok: Backwaren schmecken immer als wären sie vom Vortag, Fleisch und Fisch meistens zu trocken. Curries hervorragend. Zum Frühstück wird kein Wasser bereitgestellt, hier sind die Flaschen teuer zu erwerben. Essenszeiten knapp und nicht auf die Zeiten der Ausflugsangebote ausgerichtet. Service während der Essenszeiten hängt davon ab, wieviel Trinkgeld man am Vortag dort gelassen hat