Taj Coral Reef North Male Atoll

When I read the previous reviewer's complaint against the hotel, I felt sorry for him and thought it wouldn't happen to me because I booked our Christmas break through Expedia back in July, who told me the rate in US$ and the total for our stay.

Then, as I asked the hotel to email me their excursion and menu prices, they very helpfully mentioned our reservation dates and rate(s!). It transpired that the rate Expedia quoted me was only valid up to Xmas eve, and for the rest of our stay (which was quite a number of days) the price is hiked up by 75%, just in the case of the previous reviewer.

I questioned this with reservation and they emailed me a memo between Expedia and the hotel with the line 'Rate Change applies during stay' - no mention of how much and when. And the most insulting of all, no mention of that in my itinerary whatsoever.

This is simply outrageous behaviour on the part of the hotel and connivance on the part of Expedia. As the previous reviewer said they probably saw the hotel is full and, even if they hike up the rate as much as they have (which is unheard of even at that time of year - probably to recoup the losses on their other resort due to the tsuanmi) customers would just have to cough up or risk losing their possibly non refundable air fare, and all other similar resorts are full.

We were lucky in that we didn't find out as we checked out to be faced with a considerably heftier bill. But the whole business still leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth. We will have to cancel our flights, look for a Xmas break somewhere else, which is very late now and are seeking legal advice to get the cancellation fee back from Expedia.

Scam indeed!

Just returned from 10 days at the Taj Coral Reef, staying in a Beach villa.

We were dealt with efficiently at the airport and taken to a luxury speed boat for our 50 minute trip to the island.

The hot towels and cold drink on our arrival at the island were a welcome relief after the journey. We were then taken to our Beach villa where our bags were waiting for us.

The villa was large with a lot of storage space, even though there was a lack of drawer space. The air conditioning was very good. We looked at a Lagoon villa to stay in later on in our stay but decided to stay where we were as we enjoyed the option of being on the beach and using one of the large hammocks tied between the palm trees!

The staff were very attentive and sorted out any problems straight away. We had a slight problem with our air conditioning which was sorted out within 10 minutes! It appeared the ratio of staff to guests was very good, in that there appeared to be as many staff as guests, and all the staff took time to greet you when they saw you.

Although the resort was, apparently, quite full there never appeared to be many people on the beach at any one time and the restaurant never got crowded.

We booked our own flights and this resort by e mail. We decided on 'Room only' with complimentary breakfast but were offered half-board and all inclusive rates on our arrival. There was a good variety of food in the restaurant and there was a different theme every night. If any dish got low it was promptly replenished with freshly cooked food.

There was not much entertainment in the evenings but this is a small island so you expect that to happen and it helped not to detract from the 'laid back' feel to the island which is really could be called a 'shoeless' resort.

The daily highlight were the sting rays that arrived at about 4.30pm to be fed. Although not tame they are not averse to being touched whilst they are being fed.

This is an ideal place for a relaxing holiday in beautiful surroundings.

We were very excited when we initially booked a room at the Taj Coral Reef. We had made the booking in June for a trip in January, reserving through Taj Central reservations. Three months after we made our booking, the hotel said that our rate was being increased by 75%. They said that the Central Reservation Office quoted us the wrong fare, despite the fact that we had an e-mail confirmation and had made a reservation on our credit card. They admitted it was their error, but refused to honor their initial rate. By this time, every resort in the Maldives was booked. So we ended up canceling our vacation. I was amazed that an internationally renowned hotel chain can act this way. My guess is that they booked up since it was the holiday season, and realized they could raise everyone's rates. If you have a reservation with this hotel, be sure that they don't try to scam you too.

We stayed at the Taj Coral Reef for 14 nights over the end of July / beginning of August 2005.

On arrival at the airport we were met promptly and transferred via speed boat to the resort. The journey took about 50 mins. I would recommend sitting downstairs if you are white skinned as there is little shade on the top and the sun was very fierce, even through cloud.

Accomodation:

Stayed in a water villa. The room had lots of space consisting of large wardrobe with dressing area, safety deposit box, large bed, full width window, private sun deck with steps down to the water and two comfortable sun loungers. Bathroom was large and well fitted. 17 channels available on TV though obviously not all in English. TV Reception was satisfactory. The variet of fish life is astounding. Throw bread rolls into the water from breakfast to see hundreds of them feeding. Amazing.

Bar and Evening Entertainment.

Medium sized bar serving range of drinks. Various 330 ml beers US $4. Cocktails $ 7. Non alcoholic cocktails $5. Coke etc $3.

Service at the bar was friendly, if a little slow. Hot nuts served with evening drinks. View and seating excellent. Board games available though they are well used and could do with replacing.

The evening entertainment is not really necessary - you do not go to the Maldives for it. However they put on things like Balinese dancing (did not bother) Crab race (over really quickly) beach disco (did not bother) and diving information. All in all they try but it isn't really much use and in my opinion a waste of time.

Food

We were on a FULL BOARD BASIS. Breakfast tries to cater for all tastes. Try one of Maneesh's (show kitchen chef's) omlettes. You will not go hungry. The pastries are amazing, especially considering the remote location.

Lunch is buffet style. Japanes, European, Indian foods. Often you can get chef to cook pasta for you in the show kitchen.

Dinner is like lunch only themed -Italian x2, Indian, Mexican (Fajitas in show kitchen), Barbeque (well a drumstick anyway), East Asian and Maldivian.

Puddings are the weak link as I guess it's hard to get fresh dairy other than eggs. All puddings seem 'eggy.'

After a week you will start to bore of food but it is good and hygienically prepared - no one I heard of got tummy upsets.

A la Carte

This is different gravy from the buffet. I had this on our sun deck with private waiter as part of a 'romantic escapade.' I had Asian snapper and my wife stuffed chicken breast on mashed potato. Both were absolutely exceptional, better than most restuarants at home. Worth every penny of the sur- charge. Ask for the melting chocolate pudding for desert - sublime.

Activities.

We had a Balinese massage which was excellent and did a sea plane trip -$85. Do sign up early for this as they need 12 people for it to run. Expensive but amazing.

Also did a snorkelling trip as part of the romantic escapde and 3 dives. Dive instructors are Japansese and though while totally competant they do not safety check as much as at home. House reef is reasonable but the boat dives are fabulous.

There is a well equipped gym and badminton court and billiard room.

Cost

On top of the holiday we racked up $1300 on drinks and activites. Unless you are a heavy drinker you may not find it worthwhile to go all inclusive. A bottle of water 1.5 l is $3. Try to haggle over all inclusive costs.

Opinion

Impressed with staff and accomodation. Evening entertainment is dull but not really necessary anyway. Island is well maintained and had a very relaxing time. Would recommend over a week stay as you wont be ready to leave.

ps there is a library where people leave and borrow books so if you are tight on luggage leave books at home and you will find something to read.

THIS IS EASILY A 4+ STAR RESORT AND NOT A 3 STAR!!

If you like clear blue water, soft white sand and beautiful sunsets all coupled with excellent customer service at a reasonable price, then the place to be is the Taj Coral Reef.

We went during the monsoon season and it didn't rain for a second!

We would thoroughly recommend a Lagoon Villa as you have the benefit of using the beach as well as the lounge deck in your villa that over looks the vast ocean.

I take my hat off to the focus the management team have on ensuring total satisfaction for their guests. These guys simply do not say 'no' to anything.

The horrific Tsunami was at the back of our minds, but the efforts and safety measures that the Taj staff have in place should give some comfort to their guests.

We got married in Sri Lanka in March of this year, then we flew on to the Taj Coral Reef for 13 nights for our honeymoon. What can I say? We thought the resort in Sri Lanka was heaven on earth until we arrived at the Taj Coral Reef!

It was absolute paradise. The island is beautiful, the colour of the water is unbelievable, and all of the staff treat you so well. We stayed in a lagoon villa, which was spacious and well decorated. The bed was huge and extremely confortable, and the view from the wall long window was out of this world. Having your own private sundeck, with steps directly down into the lagoon was fantastic. The snorkelling is wonderful too, and you do not have to venture far to see wonderful, colourful marine life.

The food in both restaurants was delicious, and very varied. Even the snacks served in the bar were mouthwatering.

And if the beautiful location, weather, food and snorkelling wasn't enough, the service is second to none. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. Nothing is too much trouble. We were thoroughly looked after and made to feel extremely special.

This was a once in a lifetime holiday for us, but we enjoyed it so much that we are desperately saving every penny so that we go back next year!

Just returned from Taj Coral Reef and absolutely loved it. Staff, food, room (water bungalow) were all excellent. We had two weeks and it flew by, we didnt want to come home, though a third week may have just been a bit too much icing on the cake! It is very hot in the afternoons (41 degrees) and you need very high factor sun creams or you will frazzle. It is a beach, book and snorkle holiday, though if you dive they have a ship wreck which is supposed to be fascinating. The spa was v good, had a couple of massages, well worth the price of 52 us d. Totally relaxing holiday, couldnt recommend it highly enough.

We stayed at the Taj Coral Reef for 8 days. This was quite enough. The island, and indeed all the Maldives are beautiful. An island hopping trip is well worth it. If you are looking for total relaxation then this is where to go. There are some pedalos, windsurf boards etc to use at the Taj, but they had not been taken out for some time - we took a pedalo but were exhausted!! Except at meal times, the resort seemed almost deserted - most guests were honeymooners and spent their time in the room. The lagoon villas are worth the supplement, as the verandah is private and the direct access to the sea is good. Plus you dont get anyone passing the window - except the odd enthusiastic pedalo! Although I was a bit disappointed with the standard of the bathroom. The stingray feeding was a daily highlight, and the crab race was excellent fun. We took our 8 year old son - he enjoyed the snorkelling and swimming, and amazingly didnt get too bored - the TV channels available in the room were excellent - which helped! The food was good - not as repetitive as I expected, and the beach restaurant was very good.

As expected from a Taj, it is a wonderful place, great rooms and the option to shower outside is a quaint touch.

The Feeding of the rays is also very exciting.

However, this is the experience we had,

Everything needs to be in USD (We are from Aus). a bottled water will cost you $3USD so if you are coming here buy an all inclusive package.

I would not recommend more than 3 nights here as it gets very boring after a while. Honeymooners will be ok if they are going to stay in their rooms. We thought the hotel had low occupancy but apparently the honeymmoners visiting did not leave their rooms too often.

Here is the worst bit.

Our final bill came to about $751USD so I duly handed over $750USD travellers cheques. The manager looked at me increduously and then informed me that I was short.

Obviously I felt stupid and proceeded to pull out a $2AUD coin and handed it over. I was duly informed that the payment had to be in USD. When we told him that we were Aussies and did not have any USD change, he did not care. Then after much arguing he agreed to be paid in AUD but it had to be in Notes not coins. When I told him there were no $2 notes he did not care. By this stage I was furious. I had just spent over $2000USD on various Taj prperties and then to be insulted for a dollar was...Anyway, the hostess finally saw all this and agreed to pay the $1USD from her wages and that was the end of the matter

We were on our honeymoon and spent 10 days at Taj Coral Reef. We stayed in the Lagoon Villas in August 2003.

There are two restaurants on the island, the main one is part of the all inclusive deal we had. Good level of variety but I wouldn't have wanted to stay longer as it had just started to become repetitive.

Second restaurant is on the beach with much better food but supplements are charged.

My wife & I had a massage in the resort (chargeable) which was excellent.

Diving is good, easy to spot small sharks and rays on one of the off-island trip. I actually preferred the dive close to the island around a wreck though. I felt that safety checks were not as good as those I have experienced in the UK, so I would learn in the UK before travelling.

Feeding the stingrays off the beach was a great free activity, as was snorkelling around the lagoon.

The single bar was OK, but entertainment was repetititive and the islands shop was small and expensive.

Use Sterling or Dollars, not Maldivian currency - we made the mistake of changing money at the airport which was expensive (as was the Coke we bought).

Malidves was everything we expected, but I doubt I would go back as there can be little to keep you occupied for a longer holiday.