We had a split stay - 3nights in a beach villa(upgraded from beachfront room and 2 nights in a sunset water villa The beach villa were superb! Out of ur terrace onto the sandy beach Try to aim for rooms 154/155/156/157/158/159/160/161 ( pic attached is the terrace of our villa 159 They have perfect views The villa itself had an open roof shower which was magical, clean simple classy furniture ** hint for the instagram buddies if u want nice pix dont miss the egg beach swing by the beachfront room 235 ;) also the shark and ray fish feeding by grill bar is around 5 pm as far as i rmr We tried Umiyaki restaurant which was excellent ! Grill bars food was also very good! Bring along ur snorkeling masks and water shoes since some beaches are rocky Ull see everything ur self just dip ur head into the water and enjoy the views :)

If u dont drink or like us are a muslim couple, i wouldnt recommend the all inclusive ; many drinks are not in the AI package and the gallery restaurants food although good os quite basic and always crowded and not cool enough to sit

Perfectly maintained, exclusive location , variety of activities and cousins.

I’d love if the kids and babies are fully charged as adults! For a limited land space on a such a large distance they were way too many. Not only you have to listen their cry on 10h flight but you end up with them on small island. I’d prefer if there are not that many babies and kids crying and screaming. You hardly could avoid them and honestly they don’t match with the atmosphere at all. It’s just not the right resort in all means for babies ! I doubt kids are happy there either ! Sometimes you feel you are on a playground in the bar or dinner or just reading your book on the beach! It’s just wrong ! Besides that it’s a great and exclusive place !

Good buffet for breakfast and dinner

HUGE SCREEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RECEPTION DESKS HIDING THE STAFF AND PLACING A BARRIER BETWEEN THE STAFF AND THE CLIENTS. A PEACE OF ADVISE FOR THE MANAGER OF BANDOS RESORT; PLEASE SEAT LIKE A CUSTOMER AND FEEL THE FRUSTRATION OF TALKING TO A HUGE SCREEN WHEN ARRIVING AT BANDOS RESORT. THIS IS NOT THE WELCOME MESSAGE THE CLIENT EXPECT TO RECEIVE. THIS MAKE THE FIRST CONTACT WITH THE RESORT COLD, AND PROVIDE THE CLIENT WITH THE MESSAGE "JUST PAY AND MOVE'!!!! ABSOLUTELY DISAPOINTING..

What was not to love about this glorious resort... one of the original in the Maldives resort options ...but age definitely does not mean 'tired'.. Obvious renovations in villas and, the soon to open new restaurant complex, add comfort and refreshing style to facilities and only 15 mins boat transfer from the airport meant plane to island beach was very swift. The stand out observation for me was the staff... every single person greeted with welcome and kindness. Whether reception, house, garden, or kitchen staff, each person appeared to bring a joyful pride to their tasks. I later learned and considered if energy and general happiness at work was due to the staff being rostered for 8 hour shifts and an annual 45-day holiday, apparently, unlike many other resorts where managers expect longer hours of work. For me, and a number of other visitors, the staff caringly created special situations to celebrate birthdays or honeymoons, really leaving a respectful sense of 'every customer is important ' My villa was so spacious with a relaxing lounge area, a large bed and clothes wardrobe bedroom, and an eeenormous bathroom, including large vanity bench, a bath and open shower-room. While an over water villa may be enticing, the closeness to the beach felt like it was my private beach. The beach areas around the entire island provide perfect swim areas with ample sun-lounges lining the perimeter of the island. A delicious and vast selection of food varieties is offered in the main buffet restaurant (with new complex being constructed) breakfast included in my booking but I soon added the evening meal option as well, then enjoyed mid day snacks and drinks at one of the other bars/cafes around the island. The buffett was duplicated to enable very swift access, and included a small area where the Grill, or Grillardin chefs cooked omelette or pancakes specifically as chosen.

What is there not to like... nothing

Great location, 15 min speed boat from Male, beautiful island, good food. We asked the hotel for a room as close to the beach as possible and they did a great job with it. I don’t think we could get anything better than that, so thank you very much to the reservation team. The check out was very well organised. We didn’t need to worry about the luggage to be collected or transfer time. The hotel did it all by themselves. We just got the timetable the day with times of waking up call, luggage collection, breakfast time and transfer time. Great job with this.

Internet WiFi is terrible. Except the restaurant and the lobby it didn’t work anywhere else, so make sure you get a data before you arrive. Also the check it process could have been a little faster. After we arrived we just wanted to go to the room as quick as possible and start our holiday. We were sitting in the lobby for too long waiting, especially that we arrived 1 day later, as our airlines missed the transfer in Doha.

We enjoyed our stay in September, 2024 at BANDOS Island. The island is located quite close to the airport, which makes the transfer very comfortable. The accommodation was perfect, the room service was excellent. The food at the main Breeze Restaurant was varied and tasty. Due to our late departure we needed to prolong our stay, which was kindly organized, even though the hotel was practically full (special thanks to Russian speaking receptionists). We will definitely recommend BANDOS for the beautiful and comfortable holiday. Looking forward to come again.

Very good location, great views, very friendly staff especially Russian speaking staff, spectacular views from restaurants , very good beaches with transparent water, everything was great. Good gym with equipment in good condition. The breakfast was excellent. I think it was too expensive, but it is ok for Maldives! ) . Transfer was on time and very fast. Jet ski was also great, a lot of space to have fun on jet ski.

everything was great

We were upgraded to premium beach villa which was spectacular with a quiet, private beach and calm, shallow water. The interior is modern and high quality and there is a picturesque beach view from the bedroom. The ground floor bathroom in the premium beach villa also features a lovely jacuzzi. Food was definitelly the highlight of our stay - everything was delicious and good variety. Special shout out to the gentleman at the breakfast pancake stand who made beautiful, artisan pancakes for the kids e.g shaped as butterflies or Mickey Mouse. The hotel reef is a short walk from beach villas and turned out to be really impressive and full of diverse sea life. While snorkelling, every day we were able to spot a new creature including turtles, sting rays and black tip reef sharks.

Everything was perfect.

The place is beautiful, the beach equipment is good and clean

Overall you don’t feel relaxed if you are not all inclusive, stuff is asking you to order something all the time, and whatever you order you need to consider to add + 16 or something percentage tax, so its gonna cost you a lot of money. Also overall stuff seems to be not very friendly and tired, but special thanks to Guru from the sandbar, he was sooo friendly and a warm person

Absolutely stunning location, beach area feels very remote and private. Sea water is warm and although there are lots of rocky parts in the beach there are sections where you can swim properly in the turquoise warm water and spot fish. The food is excellent, I recommend all inclusive option. The entertainment ranges from great to not so great (wonderful local singer named Grace is phenomenal, the local drum group not so much). The staff are very friendly and the standard beachfront rooms are a MUST, absolutely worth it because they’re lovely inside and you wake up literally just opposite the beach. I recommend reserving your seat on the beach before going for breakfast (just place a beach towel on the seat) if you want to be sitting in a less busy part of the island, but there’s plenty of room even if the hotel is full. The minibar is all included with all inclusive and has a good selection of soft drinks, couple of beers and some chocolates and nuts and crisps. There is also a gym on the island which needs a bit of TLC but is good. There is also a spa which I didn’t use. At night you can see interesting fish and bioluminescent algae at times near one of the bars (they light up the water). Overall a lovely experience.

Watch out for the taxes on top of everything you buy. Booking.com writes the extra tax in small print. I ended up paying an unexpected extra 250 USD in tax so just keep an eye on that. I feel the price was a little steep, could be brought down a bit to allow for extra costs like the boat transfer from and to the airport, an extra 46USD each way.