We stayed here for 5 nights in April 2014. Our first impression of the place were brilliant. We were greeted by the sound of a traditional drum as we walked over the timber pathway which led into the large lobby. We were given a hot towel and a welcome drink straight away and led to the buffet restaurant to have dinner as it was 10pm and they finished serving then. After dinner we were shown to our room which was in a block. The pictures on the website don't actually do the room justice - it is much more luxurious in person we felt. Our bed was decorated with paper hearts and a personal note was left along with a bottle of bubbly and a hand carved pineapple - great start to our honeymoon! We had a walk in wardrobe next to the bathroom which was very handy. We had a private balcony with lush tropical trees in front of us - no view as such, we were looking down at a walkway around the complex.
We found the all-inclusive package to be great. We had breakfast in Balafon each morning (buffet restaurant) where there was a great selection of foods from cereals, fruit, yoghurt, cheeses, cold meats, juices, eggs cooked to order, pancakes, pastries, sausages, rashers etc. It was a great start to the day! At the pool and beach area the bar staff walk around taking drink orders which was lovely. They had water available in cooler boxes at the beach. For lunch we tried Infinity Blue and Amafrooty (which is in the Zenzibar). The food at Infinity Blue was AMAZING - gorgeous pizzas, steak and mash etc. For dinner we ate in Balafon 2 of the nights. The food served here is buffet style. I had steak the first night and it is cooked to order so it was delicious. As other reviews stated you can only book restaurants 2 nights in advance of going so we booked Cyan at the C Beach Club, The Chateau and as part of our package we had a candlelit dinner at Infinity Blue. We found that there was no real atmosphere at the C Beach Club. We went for a drink first to the C Beach Bar and drinks are not included in the all inclusive package in the Awali here which was a bit annoying. We were a little bit early for our table so we expected that the staff at the bar would let us know when it was ready as they knew that we had a reservation. I had to approach them to find out if it was ready 10 mins after our booking time and it was which was unacceptable really when we were the only 2 people in the bar and they were standing around talking! It was no big deal to us really but at the same time the service provided could be improved. Dinner in Cyan was nice - presentation was lovely. Again as part of our package we had a dinner in Le Chateau. The Chateau is really impressive as you get a first glimpse of it however the food was not really to our taste. There were alot of additional costs to get certain meals and the drinks were also not included. The food here was not to our taste really - I had watercress soup which I didn't like but there was nothing else on the menu for me. I had the vension curry and rice which was nice but not amazing. The dessert was a chocolate tart which was delicious. The service here was great though. We had our candlelit dinner at Infinity Blue on our last night which was a set menu and we selected our choices on our first day. This was very tasty but I would have liked to have been able to select from the full dinner menu at Infinity Blue because the lunch menu was so good.
The complex itself is beautiful. The pool areas are stunning and well maintained. It is very peaceful there. It is not exclusively a honeymoon place though with lots of families there when we were there over the Easter Holidays but this was not an issue for us. We went for drinks in Zenzibar every evening and at that stage all the children were in bed. We enjoyed the cocktails and beers while listening to some music. We had a free 45min back and shoulder massage in the spa in a couples room which was so relaxing. The spa was located near our block towards the back of the complex. My husband went to the golf course for half a day to play the 9 hole course which he said was beautiful. They also have an 18 hole course. There are many watersports on offer at the C Beach Club but we did not avail of them unfortunately. The staff really are wonderful - very friendly and smiley and prepared to help you.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Heritage Awali - it was a brilliant start to our honeymoon and provided us with the rest and relaxation that we needed. We ate and drank our fill and left feeling very happy! We would definitely recommend it :)
