my husband and i honeymooned here in jan '07. we booked a jr suite and half board for our 2 wk stay through firstchoice (uk).

the good:
*the resort is immaculately kept - inside and out. our room was super clean, spacious and well stocked. the bathroom was huge! the hotel services (ie laundry, room cleaning, etc) were usually done promptly.
*being an island atoll unto itself, there were always private spots on the beaches. there's a reef that separates the ocean from the resort and there are tons of little fishes and small reef sharks (good for snorkelling). also, the resort is quite large, with fitness, scuba, tennis, pool, internet, small gift stores, and childcare facilites (including book exchange). the resort also offered daily excursions like snorkelling, visiting other atolls, dolphin watching, deep sea fishing, etc. these were reasonably priced between $25-40 and had half and full day options.
* there were several dining options, but the best, by far, was sundowner's.

the notso good:
*drinks were very expensive - juice and pop were $3usd ea., milkshakes were $5ea.
*they tack on a 10% service charge for everything! whether it's a drink, excursion, internet, etc..
*the resort was better suited for families than honeymooners
*the buffet food was alright, but was pretty much the same all the time.
*don't make int'l phonecalls - it cost us about $8/minute to call canada (where we're from)
*they do the same activities and excursions every week.

final note:
*it is absolutely beautiful and we still had a great time but knowing what we know now, we're probably wouldn't have stayed at this resort.

Bandos is a beautiful island and the resort is also very nice.

But what a disappointment... We were looking forward to a few days rest in the Maldives after our 10 days in Sri Lanka.

Rooms - They were OK, clean. Unfortunately, as a whole new area is being built right now, we had noise all day long (from 7am to 7pm!!!). Tractors constantly on the beach behind our bungalow which was annoying for our 10 year old twin boys who were trying to build a castle and had to move every 5 minutes. The hammering and drilling went on all day and the huge excavators made an awful noise. As for the view from our bungalows... You can just imagine.

Staff - Our room boy was very nice and efficient (he was about the only one!). The staff in the main hall were useless. Their level of English was very poor indeed and you could never get a straight or correct answer from them.

Restaurants - The food is very good. Breakfast is extremely satisfying with a large choice of different kinds of breads, fruit, cereal (warm or cold), eggs, sausages, beans, excellent local food (my favourite), yogurt, fresh fruit juice.

Snorkelling - a few good spots.

From and to airport - excellent service (speedboat).

Our stay in this particular resort does not make us want to go back... If only we'd had what we were expecting, it would have been perfect.

This was to be our first long haul holiday and as it was a suprise to celebrate my wifes 50th birthday I spent a long time researching locations that came within my budget. I finally decided on Bandos, and booked with First Choice upgrading to their Star Class service, which though quite pricey was more than worth the money. Ample leg room, wider seats, tv/games console, but best of all meals were served on plates, and not in the usual tinfoil trays.
On arrival we spent no more than 30 minutes in the airport before we were taken to our speedboat and whisked off to Bandos. Twenty minutes later we were greeted with a fruit cocktail drink whilst we waited for room keys to be allocated. I had booked a jacuzzi beach villa, which was situated just a short stroll from reception. They are fantastic rooms, the outside shower and jacuzzi are brilliant, we spent a couple of evenings in the jacuzzi under the stars, magical !!!
I had booked B & B, as that seemed to be the best choice based on the research I had done, as that gave us the flexibilty to choose where to eat at lunch and dinner. Breakfast was superb, plenty of choice, the omelettes were terrific. We had most of our meals at Sundowners, excellent food and plenty of choices. One evening we dined at Seabreeze cafe, the fillet steak was unbelievable, the best ever, so succulent !!
We had a massage at the Spa, regretted that we did not go back again, it was an amazing experience, so relaxing.
Also tried scuba diving, though not being strong swimmers it took a bit of getting used to, but it was worth it, saw some amazing fish.
Spent our time either on the beach or by the pool just relaxing, and taking in this amazing place. I usually read at least two books during a weeks holiday, cannot believe that I did not even finish one, we were just so chilled we just sat and watched the days go by.
The staff on Bandos are brilliant, they cannot do enough for you, all so friendly. Our room boy even gave us coconuts to drink. And he decorated the bed as a suprise for my wife, for which I tipped him a few dollars.
It is customary to tip the room boys and waiters, and they are well worth a few dollars here and there.
Would we go back ?, we certainly will as soon as we can save enough, as next time it has to be for 2 weeks.

We stayed here as it was on deal on First Choice, £1800 for 2 weeks including flights. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by First Choice who were fantastic. Not what I expected from a charter airline at all.

We were met by a rep at the airport and then taken by boat to Bandos. It's one of the closer islands to the airport, about 20 mins I think.

It's also one of the larger islands, although we walked around it in 20-30 mins. The staff were very friendly, always smiling. We stayed in a delux room, I think there are 3 types of room, standard, dulux room and the super duper delux 2 storey jacuzzi villa.

The delux room was lovely and spacious, the only downside was that it had a connecting door to the neighbour's room. So you could hear each other if you were loud enough. Not ideal.

We did have a look at the jacuzzi villas, which looked a lot more modern, but the TV was downstairs in the lounge and not upstairs in the bedroom. Would have been nice to laze about in bed watching it, having the downstairs makes it a bit more formal! But that's my opinion.

The island was great, several restaurants. The food was nice, although not as good as say Thailand. We were only B&B, but we had dinner a few times at the open buffet, which was very good!

We also did a night fishing trip and had a meal on Kuda Bandosm the small island near Bandos which was AWESOME. We loved it so much, we went night fishing another 2 times!

No need to say, snorkelling was fantastic and we even did an open water diving course for beginners. My wife saw a shark (friendly) and plenty of amazing fish. One of the nicest experiences on the island.

They also had entertainment every night, which was ok, very kid friendly sort of place. There was a squash court, badminton court, pool tables and table footie!

Overall, a great place, very family friendly.