Filitheyo Island Resort Faafu Atoll

My Wife and I made our first trip to the Maldives this year. After many hours of research we decided upon a trip to Filitheyo. This is quite possibly the best decision we have ever made. After the dissapointment of our last holiday in Jamaica we really needed something special, and Filitheyo did not let us down.

The staff are fantastic. Special thanks to Adam, our waiter, for being so attentive at meal times, with further thanks to Mohammed at the sailing centre. Not only did he provide excellent advice on how to improve my windsurfing, he also let me use his own equipment as it is better than the resorts.

A quick summary for you: Food is excellent with lots of choice. Rooms are great, especially the way the bed is prepared on return from dinner (mossy bet etc). Bar staff are efficient and always keep you topped up. Cleanliness can never be faulted (rooms cleaned twice daily).

In short, I am off to re-book for next year. I know this is a little boring and I should really try something different, but I know what I like.

Just back from an excellent 10 nights. 1st trip to the Maldives, so I don't know how high the local standards are accross the board, but have no hesitation in recomending ths island. Accomadation is fine, food was excellent and dive school was helpful and friendly + local reefs easliy accessible.

We have just returned from a ten night holiday in Filitheyo, Maldives and Dubai. Wow! Our holiday began with a thrilling sea plane journey to Filitheyo which provided amazing views of the various atolls. Following a short dhoni trip to the islands jetty we were greated with hot towels and a coconut cocktail.

We stayed both in a deluxe beach villa and water villa during our stay on the island. The villas had a very natural feel, beautifully furnished and meticulously cleaned. We liked both the beach and water villas equally, however, the storm we encountered during one night in the water villa was quite a scary experience!

Filitheyo is absolutely beautiful - and half of the beauty is found under the water. The best snorkelling is on the north side of the island between exit point 6 and 8. We saw a multitude of fish - picasso triggers, clown triggers, titan triggers, parrot fish, indian banner fish, surgeon fish, pipe fish, moray eels, black tip reef sharks, porcupine fish to name but a few. For us the most amazing were the turtles. Also if you are lucky you will see dolphins passing the water villas during the early evening. Make sure you take snorkel, mask and flippers because the hire of them from the dive school is quite expensive. We had masks and snorkel but you really needed flippers to reach exit point 8 where there is a strong current. We were also lucky to do some diving. Our dive instructor was Mari who was very helpful and courteous.

Finally the food at Filitheyo has to be mentioned. We were expecting to become a little bored with the buffet style for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, this was just not the case. The variety and quality of dishes on offer was absolutely fantastic. Very rarely was a dish ever repeated and there really is something for everyone.

I cannot speak highly enough of this resort and can't wait to return to the Maldives. The problem is will anything ever life up to Filitheyo - a top class resort and excellent value for money.

Compared to some of the islands in the Maldives, Filitheyo has only been a holiday island for a few years and as a result, it still feels a little 'wild'. In the depths of the island, there is an ancient burial site! Very mature vegetation and very natural. If anything, just like a typical brit abroad, I craved some 'pretty' vegetation, like frangipani and 'sweet smelling' plants that smell strongly in the evening or after a rain shower.

The rooms were sublime - all natural materials, polished floors and rustic looking roofs. We had the superior beach bungalow and the shower was outside, so when you were showering, the water sparkled in the sun. A memory I'll carry to my grave! I wanted to stand there forever!

The no.1 and best part of this island is its food - top quality London-hotel standards. They won an award in the year we were there for the best food in the Maldives.

This island also has an uninhabited sister island which we were taken to for the afternoon - an island to ourselves. They left us with a wonderful hamper and we didn't see anyone again until the late afternoon when they came and picked us up! The water around the island was so shallow, I went snorkelling and at one point stood up to the waist and the island was so far away, it was the size of my thumb nail!

Do go to Filitheyo if you want to be spoilt and not have to be charged an absolute fortune. It does cost but compared to some of the islands we've been to - the very best. The problem is that it sets you at a higher expectation from the other islands which is difficult to shake off!

PS .. we didn't deal with the diving staff but the others were wonderful - in particular an english lady who looked after the guests - her name escapes me but she had long long hair - what a manager. She did everything she could to make us feel we were on a private island and frequently took my daughter out on the boat, just 'because she was going anyway' and it made all the different to a young teenager. Thank you!

I totally agree with all the reviewers' comments and would willingly go back, if they changed the dive staff. They were tired, tense and stir-crazy (it was the end of the season). They couldn't have been more rude and unwelcoming, pulling stunts like breaking into German in front of us, so as to disguise what they were saying. Unfortunately for them, we speak German. By contrast, the Japanese dive staff were lovely and very courteous and seemed to be au fait with the fact that although diving should always be safe, it should also be fun.

The food really is all it's cracked up to be, lovely rooms and such a beautiful island - what a pity the po-faced rude German dive staff let it all down! I wrote to Werner Lau and explained our exprience and never got a reply (three letters and three e-mails), so I guess it's institutionalised rudeness fromt he top down.

The resort is very chilled and welcoming. Particularly good for divers as there is a very professional school available. You definately get the 'Maldivian experience' , strictly barefoot but with the added bonus of enjoying the luxurious extras. The rooms are basic but have a fab bathroom (deluxe villa).They also provide a CD player which was very handy.The snorkelling is pretty good but there is constantly a very strong current which could prove quite intimidating for a less strong swimmer.

The all inclusive option was not as good as some I have enjoyed in the Maldives. They do not provide branded drinks, or include cocktails and you have to purchase water unless you order it by the glass?

The staff and management are extremely welcoming and they cannot do enough to please you.

The best feature has to be the food! believe me you will not experience anything like it. Apparently there is a renowned Irish chef who oversees the kitchens here and at its sister island. There is homemade icecream, homemade scones with jam at teatime etc etc! I am not a greedy 'foodie' honestly! its just so amazing it has got to be mentioned.

We were in Filitheyo the last two weeks of February 2005 and we had a fantastic time. We had been to the Maldives 5 years ago (Angaga) and were a little nervous that it would not be as good as we remembered, but if anything it was better.

Positives

- The rooms are lovely, they are very close to the beach and the island is a nice size

- The house reef has to be the biggest attraction for this isalnd. It is easily reached from the shore and is packed with marine life. We swam with turtels and and Manta Rays and saw sharks and eels along with what seemed like a never ending list of species of fish. It is a snorkellers paradise.

- The sea is a bit pebbly at one end which is a bit of a surprise, but the beach is beautiful.

- If the reef wasn't enough, the food on offer at the island is fantastic. It is all buffet style but it is of the highest standard. Not once did we not end up piling our plates with far more than we could eat.

- The island is really international and so is not dominated by one nationality. While we were there it was split evenly between the French, British and Germans, with a few Japanese, Italian and Russian guests thrown in.

Negatives

- We were originally in room 92 and there there has been some errosion of the beach which means that you cannot really lie out on the beach at high tide. Plus this is where the sea is very stoney and so it is difficult to go into the sea here. We asked to move and spent our second week in room 48. This had a glorius part of the beach outside and was near one of the best places to snorkel. Most people in the high numbered rooms asked to move and so there was a gradual movement of people throughout the week.

My advice would be to have a word with your tour operator and ask for a specific room. Anything below number 60 is fine.

- We were all inclusive, and you get all the named spirits. However a few of the rules were annoying. None of the cocktails were included. I can understand that some may have been extra but surely they could include a couple.

- Drinking water was a bit of a fiasco. If you ordered a bottle of water anywhere you had to pay for it, even if you were all inclusive. However if you drank water by the glass in the restaurant it was free. Therefore everyone simply orders two or three glasses of water with each meal. Not a huge hassle, but an unnecessary rule.

Overall this is a fantastic resort and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going.

Filitheyo is an absolutely fantastic island to stay on. When we arrived we were given cool towels and fresh coconut juice to drink, while the friendly staff told us about the island, the restaurant, dive school, spa and bars. This was a theme for the whole holiday - the staff are all so friendly and will go out of their way to ensure you are having the best holiday you can ever possibly have. The island itself is beautiful - the beaches are extremely clean and every single angle gives a fantastic picture. We didn't see any mosquitoes on the island at all - they spray every morning to ensure that there aren't any around. The main restaurant had the widest choice of food I have ever come across and the buffet style meant you could try several different dishes - the Hot and Sour Chicken and the Devilled Fish were two of my favourites, but in the two weeks we were there I only had the Chicken once and the fish twice - about only 3 or 4 dishes were repeated in the two weeks we were there - there is just so much choice. Breakfast has English fried breakfast available, omelettes, eggs, continental breakfast, tuna sambal, pancakes, waffles, cereal, fresh fruit and much much more - absolutely fantastic. The staff at the sunset bar - particularly Ali and Mihraj were lovely guys - making sure we were always topped up with drinks - the all inclusive option is a bargain as you get a couple of excursions into the bargain, as well as three (very large - so be prepared to be restrained on how much you eat if you don't want to go home 2 sizes larger!) meals and afternoon cakes, pizzas and sandwiches - though we only had this twice as we were still stuffed from lunch! The horizon pool at the sunset bar is lovely and very clean and there is even a towel boy there to ensure you have fresh towels when you need them. The entertainment on the island includes a beach barbecue on a Wednesday, crab racing on a Thursday and also ethnic dancing one other night - though we only attended one event - we wanted to relax, and after a strenuous day of snorkelling, drinking, eating, sunbathing and reading in pure heaven we were tired very early! Now onto the highlight of our stay - the accommodation - we stayed in a water bungalow and it was shear luxury - the photos you will find on the Internet really don't do it any justice at all! Amazing! A king size 4 poster bed with mozzy net, (which though not needed was put down by your room boy every evening while you are at dinner), which looked right out to the ocean when you open the sliding doors. The room had satellite TV - which we watched only twice when getting ready to go out - the view alone is enough to keep you occupied and the beautiful sunsets were amazing! There is a CD player in the room, mini bar and fridge to keep bottled water in, as well as a safe. Beech towels were left in our room everyday along with two daily towel changes for washing. The bathroom had a jacuzzi and a double sink, toilet and shower and is partially open air - you can hear the water lapping gently around the bungalow while sleeping, washing or sunbathing. Outside on the amazing sun deck there was a portion which was covered with large swing, table and chairs, private steps down into the lagoon and a portion uncovered with sun loungers on - we couldn't have wished for better accommodation. The snorkelling around the water bungalows was out of this world - tropical fish swim right up to your snorkel mask and we saw sharks in the evenings, as well as stingrays, baby squid and to top it all a school of dolphins swimming just in the deep water on the outside of the lagoon one day. All in all the best holiday I have ever had, an island of shear beauty, style, luxury and we couldn't have wished for more. We arrived home 4 days before the tsunami and it was awful to see what had happened - though Filitheyo itself wasn't damaged luckily. We wouldn't hesitate to go again and hope we can afford it again in two years time. Pure bliss.

Very lush Island with good house reef snorkelling for beginners and some challenging currants for the more experienced amongst you.

The accomodation clean and tidy but exterior a little tired.

The resteraunt had wide selection and of an excellent standard catering for all tastes.

Excursions reasonable and good fun.

Definately the best of the 4 islands I have been too and I would return but I will be better prepared with Mosquito spray as only island ever to have been bitten on! and ladies take enough [what only us ladies need] as 13dollars I found alittle excesive.

Other then that 8/10 and I will be Back.

Having been to another resort we were unsure if Filitheyo would match up to our previous maldivian experience - we need not have worried.

The resort has world class diving, stunning beaches, unbelievable food, attentive lovely staff, just the right mix of relaxed, informal atmosphere without compromising on quality.

The water bungalows are huge, spotless and have direct access to the water. We chose the all inclusive package and unlike other resorts everything was indeed all-inclusive.

We cannot recommend Filitheyo enough - simply stunning