My husband and I stayed at Kanuhura for 7 nights in April. The holiday didn’t start off to well as our sea plane transfer was delayed 45 minutes, then another 45 minutes...etc. In total we waited over 3 hours - not ideal after a long flight and when you’re paying good money you want to max your time at the resort, not in the airport. When we finally left we were told it would take 35 minutes, but we had to drop some people off at another island first and so it actually took an hour.
When we arrived at the resort we were taken straight to our villa, skipping the usual introductions at reception because they were aware of the delay and knew we’d be tired. Our villa was on the sunset side, which I requested, but on the south side whereas I’d requested the north side. On the south side you’re close to the generator and the kid’s club, so we also had a family with young kids next door to us. We asked to move, but they could only move us on the 3rd day.
I didn’t sleep much for the first 2 nights because I was being attacked by mosquitos. Take repellent with you because they don’t provide it. They only provide the plug-in’s which don’t work. I got one bite on my eyelid and my whole eye swelled up and I looked horrendous for 2 days. Luckily I could hide it by wearing sunglasses!
Ok, so it doesn’t sound like this review is getting off to a great start. But really, we loved Kanuhura! After the second night we moved to villa 137, further north of the beach and this was so much better. No mosquitos here at all! The beach on this side is much bigger, and there was also a lovely breeze throughout the day, getting a little heavier in the evenings. We often walked over to the sunrise side, mostly during the late afternoon because during the day it was too hot with no breeze at all. In the afternoon this side was in the shade and much cooler. It was so peaceful and quiet here. We loved to feed the fish on this side, they get really close and swim in between your legs. Every day the restaurant would give us extra bread so we could go feed the fish.
We stayed at One & Only Reethi Rah in December and it’s only natural to want to compare the two, seeing as they were once owned by the same company. But really you can’t compare them. The high level of service is the same and there are some similarities in the pool service, freebie snacks etc, but overall they have completely different concepts. Kanuhura is much more chilled and relaxed and more rustic than Reethi Rah. You don’t feel you have to dress up in the evenings, but you can if you want to. There were quite a lot of kids here, but they were much better behaved than at Reethi Rah and if any one of them stepped out of line at dinner time, then one of the staff would kindly escort them back to their parents.
We also found this resort to be very sociable. We met 3 other couples who we will hopefully keep in contact with. At other resorts we found people tend to stick to themselves. We like our privacy too, but once in a while it’s nice to have someone else to talk to!
We spent most evenings relaxing at the sunset bar. This was our favourite spot and the sunsets were always perfect. The cocktails were generously proportioned and the free snacks and canapés were welcomed. We even had dinner here a couple of nights. The lounge at the arrival jetty was always empty when we went there and it was nice to see the sting rays and feed the larger fish that were attracted by the night lights.
The food was excellent at all the restaurants. Breakfast was my favourite! I think the best breakfasts we’ve had in the Maldives, in terms of layout, location, variety and freshness. We loved picking our fruit and having it freshly prepared in front of us. We also loved the free champagne of course!
We went to the seafood bbq on our first night, which was the best seafood bbq we’ve experience ever (and there have been a few). At $90pp we thought this was good value. At the other restaurants you could get a 3 course meal for just under $90pp, which we thought was expensive (more so than Reethi Rah) so maybe the buffet is worth it. But we prefer al a carte so went with this option on most nights. One night I really felt like Snapper (I saw a boat arrive with them, but couldn’t see them on any of the menus) so I asked the chef who happily prepared it for me. Our favourite restaurant for dinner was Veli Café. Families with kids under 12 are only supposed to have dinner there until 8:30, to allow for couples to have a quiet romantic dinner later in the evening. It’s just a pity that some parents chose to ignore this rule!
The staff were really excellent. The F&B manager always remembered our names and greeted us accordingly each time we saw him. The service in general was very attentive and always polite and friendly. We were impressed to see that someone walks around the island handing out fresh cold towels, snacks and cleans your sunglasses, so you don’t miss out if you hang out by your villa rather than by the pool.
We met some of the management team on the cocktails night (where champagne flowed freely and canapés were also on offer) and had a good chat with most of them. The manager Allessandro really impressed us. He was always dressed really well - no matter how hot it was, he always looked smart.
We didn’t see the point of having a butler. We only saw him for 2 minutes on our second day. But we didn’t really need him anyway, as we booked all our dinners and activities directly. The island is small enough that this isn’t a problem. At other larger resorts the butler concept works much better.
The water sports team were great. We learnt how to windsurf and after just one lesson we really got the hang of it. We also went on a 2 hour dolphin safari and snorkelling trip. We asked to share the boat with another couple to bring the price down and within 15 minutes they had found someone to go with us. We saw loads of dolphins, including babies, and they played and chased the boat and gave a good performance. The snorkelling was very disappointing though. I thought we were going to the ship wreck but we ended up off a reef of another resort and it was the poorest snorkelling we’ve experienced in the Maldives. There were other group snorkelling trips which some friends went on and they said it was amazing and saw lots of turtles. We didn’t go on this trip though because it was at 2pm and too hot.
They have a really good gym and my husband was impressed with the equipment. I think this is the first holiday where we’ve actually used the gym. It was in a good location and next to the spa so you could freshen up afterwards.
Overall I think that Kanuhura is an amazing place. Apart from dinners and alcohol being expensive relative to other resorts (and even London prices), I think it represents very good value for money, especially given the level of service and all the little freebies along the way (smoothies and sorbet by the pool, snacks and canapés in the evenings, champagne at beakfast, cocktail evening, fruit basket in the room etc). They have a really good thing going here at Kanuhura. The only downside is the sea plane transfer to get there. And I think they could do with some new towels, in all areas including the spa. Other than that, I think our expectations were by far exceeded and we would love to return someday.
