ROBINSON MALDIVES

I have been staying here for a week, and I have been silent and patient though all—refusing their own officially price and overcharging me by $300, lack of towels on the beach, telling me off to bring my own, leaving me without coffee or bringing me milk with something vaguely smelling like coffee and presenting it as cappuccino, through the lack of variety of food, especially at breakfast, through inedible fruits, through shows (better no comment here, they are doing what they can), lack of lounge chairs or simply water stations where people snorkel, on top of ongoing construction on the site… I am here not for food or shows. I am here for relaxation and nature. The current executive manager running this show is the one who interfered with my main goal: relaxation. It’s time to stop being a silent observer and turn into an honest reviewer. I am a solo traveler with no one to stay by my side except myself. I refuse to be a target. Enough is enough. When I say I was silent, I mean it literally. All I said for an entire week can fit in a few short sentences. I didn’t talked and didn’t complain. When for the 1st time in a week I decided to talk to my family in a place where people sit and talk to their family members, I was approached by Laura, the executive manager, who told me to stop talking to my family because some guests apparently asked her to. To ask me to stop talking to my family. Yes, you read it correctly. In a place where everyone around me was talking to their families, louder than I ever did. Before you assume: it was not a silent event. It was in an open place. I was very quiet and discreet and talked in a hushed voice. The volume was as down as it could go. So, why in the hell was I singled out? Why am I the only one who was told off for talking when everyone around me was literally doing the same? The only difference was that other people were sitting across from each other while my family is thousands of miles away and I used my phone to talk to them. There is no “no phone” policy. There is no “no talking here” policy. So why are other people entitled to talk to their loved ones and I am not? I asked myself: what would I have done on Laura’s place? Would I do the same and ask not to talk because some guests don’t want to hear or see a solo traveler a few tables down to be talking to someone who is not physically here when they sit and talk to each other? My answer is: no. I would have played it smart. I would have asked if a person is comfortable and if everything is alright. I would have then asked if they maybe wanted to move and sit somewhere more private to let them think that it’s for their own benefit when in reality it’s fixing the problem of those complaining guests. Result? Both parties would have been satisfied; the minor hiccup of a problem solved. Did Laura do any of it? No, she chose to ruin my evening and effectively the whole goal of my vacation because she was not capable of solving some other people’s problems. Rude cowards, really, to seek a manager in this case. But that’s on them. I am reviewing the management, not the random guests however entitled they might think they are. Back to Laura and to what I would have done in her situation. I would NOT have told the other guest about the complaint. Why? Because none of the rules were broken, and all guests have the same rights in this particular place. Taking sides in a situation where nothing was violated speaks of either personal preferences or simply incompetence. The question is: why did I have to be the one to solve both the problem of a complaining party and Laura’s incompetence? Only because Inal a solo traveler, a seemingly easier target? I refuse to be the one. Since management incompetence is what I continue to observe, I can’t and will not recommend this place. The coral reef is amazing. But the lack of organization, management incompetence make me say: come to The Maldives, please, do, but choose some other hotel.

The Robinson Island is a true gem in the Maldives. Of course of you pick on a few things here and there, then it would go from maybe 9.5 to 10. but its mostly semantics. First of all. Its a very long trip to get there. Once you arrive in Maldives, you are promtly escorted to a great little domestic lounge. There you have to wait for your domestic flight!! That can take a while, based on both weather and arrival of other international flights. Then after a few hours you go outside, and board a 50 seat turbo prop flight. Probably not for those faint hearted - but the pilots are great. Then you fly for about 70 minutes, come to the first Island, then others come onboard, then you Are going to your final Island. Only 15 minutes more. Then you arrive at this very small Island AirPort, and are driven to the harbour where a boat is waiting. Then its like another 30 minutes with a boat ride (can get rough seas - so prepare)…. And then finally you are at the Robinson Island. For us - coming all the way from Norway - the trip took 34 hours in total!!! Very rough. But when you Are at the island, everything is so extremly good. We upgraded our basic garden villa to a beach front villa, and we didnt regret it for 1 second. It was totally worth every penny. We staied in 1315, and that was absolutely the best location. If we come back, we would try to secure the same. The cleaning of the room was done so extremly well. It was absolutely flawless every day. We loved every second of it. Its a little strange though that the mini bar is not included in the overall price? With a price of nearly 10.000 dollars - its strange to have to pay an extra 5 dollars for a coke… but ok, i guess there is a reason, but i just dont get that. And the food at the resort are just amazing. Every day there was something new for lunch and dinner. Lovely. And especially for my wife wich is vegetarian. So many choices every day. I actually made most of my choices the same as her, because it was so delicious. And all beverage through the all inclusive menu was extremly good. Good beer, wine and prosecco. We loved it. We did some paddling, and used the training facilities, and everything was great. We just felt the need to mention a few small things. It feels like you are part of a Club when you are there. All the staff members get access to everything like the guests. Like all meals are shared with the employees, all training is shared… and maybe its a strange feeling, but for us it wasnt a problem, just felt a little strange sometimes. And especially one night, where we really wanted to book a dim sum night at the japanese restaurant, but we couldnt because it was full. And that was the only night during our 10 night stay it was open for dim sum. And when we passed the restaurant at night, it was filled with employees only. So there was no room for paying guests. I personally think that that is not a good planning. So we were not able to try. Another thing was the junior staff at welcoming. When we arrived after 34 hours of travelling, we didnt Get anything we asked for. I had written several email before we came, and we had a very good feeling with the place. We told about our wedding coming up, 2 special birthdays and Robinson management really took us so serious. When we came - nothing had been done. Nothing was prepared, not Even the upgrade we asked for. We were really dissapointed, and had to go through more steps there. And we Even came back a week later, and asked for another upgrade just to try the water villa the last 2 days. We got the offer, and later we were told that the offer was wrong, and the price went up by 5 times!!!! The junior staff was not welcoming at all, and the 3 visits there was not good at all. A shame when everything Else was so good. And also another thing - either bring your own fan for dinner and lunch - or maybe Robinson could have them for sale at the resort. That would be Perfect to have the flies away from your food :) just an idea. All in all - the whole stay was beautiful, we loved snorkeling around the island, we loved the beach, but its sooooo small steps that would be so easy to implement to make this a 10. we are returning maldive travellers, so maybe next time we will come back… maybe if the communication was a little better :)

We had returned to the Maldives for our 10 year wedding anniversary having spent our honeymoon on a different atoll and from the moment we set foot on this island we were made to feel special by the team. We were greeted with a bottle of Lion beer and a personal welcome from the general manager Andreas who switched from German to English fluidly and gave a speech in each language with equally as much passion and enthusiasm. We later discovered the island bars didn’t stock Lion beer as standard (it was Carlsberg Export) which we were a little sad about it, however my husband put in a request to get some for our anniversary and we were greeted with a surprise bucket of them in our room complete with homemade chocolates and a card! The island team were a real family, each person crossing departments to muck in (Andreas and some of the diving team serving eggs Benedict at breakfast, different waiters, office staff and gym instructors taking part in the evening entertainment shows etc) and the staff seemed genuinely happy in every role. In particular Hussain from the office team, he gave his all to every role he was placed in and was a real pleasure to talk to. My husband played Padel for the first time there and under Stefan’s guidance has developed a passion for it which he is planning to continue at home. The chefs were incredible. Each buffet station was made to order on the spot and I have never tasted such exquisite food. Harry the patisserie chef was so enthusiastic and friendly (at one point writing our names in caramel on a plate to encourage us to eat more desserts!) and Beno was superb on the breakfast egg station. They were all so friendly, especially the Sri Lankan chefs Gune and Sidath. We loved hearing about their homeland and their lives. When Gune learned I was pescatarian he wanted to make something special for me but there was really no need, there were so many delicious and healthy choices already. We also well looked after by the waiting team, in particular Samim and Main Uddin. They were a real treat to have a chat and a giggle with. We were due to leave by boat at 5am to return home only to discover our flight had been delayed by 12 hours. Nothing phased the office staff; they told us to go back to bed and they would make alternative arrangements for us. We were able to stay in our water bungalow, have breakfast and lunch before making the later transfer to the airport. The care didn’t stop there; once at Male airport we were given access to the lounge for free food and drink until we need to go though security, and we were personally escorted by a member of the Robinson team every step of the way. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Andreas (he was due to wave us off at dawn) so he very kindly sent us a goodbye video wishing us all the best. Truly a remarkable team which made our holiday even more magical.

Big big Big thanks to Zaarath from our team for amazing teppanyaki dinner and the party. The ambiance, service, facilities are amazing. Will come back again.

The experience of this vacation is very good. The reception is very attentive, the environment is great, and the whole person is very relaxed. Every waiter is very good. There are many programs every day. The food is also great, and the living is very comfortable.