We just got back from a wonderful trip to the Maldives staying at the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa for 10 days! I travelled with my family - husband and 4 kids aged between 3 and 11.
We have stayed at a few other resorts in the Maldives before (FS Landaa, both the One & Only resorts and Soneva Gili), but this was by far our favourite experience and we are already planning our next trip back.
It's a fantastic-sized resort for a family with kids (it's a relatively small island) which means that everything is within a 10-15minute walking distance, or an easy buggy ride. You never really worry about the kids getting lost. The older ones can navigate the resort easily on their own. And the younger ones wander around happily. There is a great kids club too.
This resort has a real intimacy and laid-back and easy atmosphere that is perfect for families that we haven't experienced elsewhere in the Maldives, and the staff are incredibly warm and friendly. Service was impeccable. It really did feel like 10 days spent in Paradise - it is a world away and the perfect place to relax and have fun in the sun! Our kids loved it and are already asking to go back, and the adults got to feel like kids again. Perfect.
This resort is not remote like some other resorts in the Maldives are (it is next to a local island and has a few other resorts within view as well), but I found that that did not deter one bit from the experience. In fact, it was our best experience in the Maldives so far! And the best too in terms of the variety of activities available to do. They have an excellent water sports centre, with top notch equipment (waterskis, sailing, jetskis, wakeboards, tug rides, parasailing etc.) run by an excellent team of people. Great maintenance, and a perfect safety record. You will not be bored! I am told that they rotate the equipment available every few days to keep everything fresh and new. Our 3 older kids (6, 9 and 11) learnt to water ski and wakeboard there for the very first time, and the instructors were wonderful with them.
The snorkelling was great. There is fantastic marine life all very close to the resort. They also have an excellent dive and surf school.
We stayed in a 2-bedroom overwater pool villa on the sunset side of the island, which was awesome. I personally prefer this side of the island to the sunrise side, because the snorkelling was better, and there was more marine life to see just off our deck! There was a whole variety of large and small fish in all colours, shapes and forms, stingrays, octopus, reef sharks.. and a lion fish that would camp out at the foot of our deck every evening. Loved it! The currents are stronger on this side of the island though, so for families with very young kids, probably the sunrise side of the island would be safer. The house reef is on the sunrise side of the island too, where the water is extremely calm. The beaches were lovely on both sides.
The breakfast spread was excellent! Lots of variety, and great quality. Live stations for eggs, juices and pancakes/waffles, and my favourite, the dosa! I loved the little organic corner too - with organic granola, organic cheese, as well as alternative milk like rice milk. Nice touch.
Meals at the Reef Club (Italian) and Baraabaru (Indian) were pretty good. And they do special buffet and themed nights which were great as well. Food is never cheap in the Maldives though, be warned!
The spa was excellent! It sits on its own isle a 30-second cute boat ride away from the main hotel. Beautiful setting. Very tranquil, with the spa rooms over the water. And the gym is also fantastic. Great equipment, nice view. Everything you need (if you can be bothered to work out on holiday).
The resort has a good variety of activities to do every day that don't cost very much to join - diving excursions, snorkelling excursions, photography lessons, twice daily yoga lessons, dolphin watching cruises, sunrise/sunset kayaking, marine talks by their biologists etc.. .
We were incredibly blessed with the weather in the 10 days we were there - blue skies and calm seas most days. And lots of dolphins! Dolphins everywhere! You could see them from our villa frolicking and playing in the sea. And they would play with the boat when we waterskied or jetskied. Big pods of 30 dolphins! Amazing. The water was so clear that you could see them diving deep into the ocean and coming back up again! Big dolphins and baby dolphins. We didn't need to join the dolphin excursion because we saw them on so many days just by being out on the ocean! It was wonderful!
Thank you to the hotel team for a wonderful stay and brilliant memories! We will be back! My only comment would be to see more vegetarian and health food options available on the main menu :) Oh, but that dosa and vegetable curry and chapati that you serve at breakfast? I could eat those for breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Hah! Yum! Could you add those to the main menu too, please?
Holidays don't get much better than this! Highly recommended!