Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru

Loved this property that you can walk around in 10 minutes. and the absence of over-the-water-bungalows/ Villas are spacious with excellent direct access to beach. The included breakfast is excellent, with many additional items offered at no other charge...eg. the best Eggs Benedict ever!! Japanese restaurant is a gem. A beautiful building inside and out with a pool at the back that few people know about so it like having a private pool. Liked the resort's approach to saving the planet... no plastic bottles and a daily beach clean-up... Staff everywhere..restaurant, house- and grounds-keeping are supernice. Villas are located a bit close, so when you have noisy neighbours (like we did) it may take away a bit of the peace and quiet... Sorry there was no offer for complimentary airport pick-up for us, traveling in April and staying for 8 days as is offered to those arriving in May and staying 3 night for more.. Read less

The island is magnificent in every way, from the moment you arrive the treatment of the Banyan Tree staff makes you feel in paradise. The rooms are spectacular, large, spacious and full of details that make your stay an incredible experience. The views from the room are majestic with the different blues of the sea, intrinsic to the Maldives. The meals are varied and abundant, highlighting the very good Japanese restaurant. The spa is unbeatable, we enjoyed high quality service. The staff is always willing to help you, we had a conversation about suggestions with the hotel manager Mr. Symaad and his understanding and kindness were unbeatable. Along with him, the management of Executive Chef David is very remarkable. And we especially want to remember Latheef, Ahmed, Lynn, Rajesh, Prosanta, Vyaan, Zameer, Zihuan, Habeeb, etc. Thank you all very much for making us enjoy unforgettable days at your resort in paradise. Hopefully we can repeat it in the future. Read less

If we hadn’t visited last year for our Honeymoon I would have probably given it a 10/10 but this year I have to give it 9.5/10. Don’t get me wrong this island is amazing and the staff are awesome as well. The food from the main restaurant is excellent and there was always plenty of choice. Last year when we went we were allocated a waiter who served us for our entire stay and it gave that personal touch and by day 2 was more of a friend than our waiter and knew what drinks we had. This year we didn’t have that personal touch and rapport feeling that we had last year even though the service was very good (talking to frequent visitors to the sister island I gather the policy of allocated waiters has altered there as well). Another thing that would be a good idea is for guests to be kindly asked to mindful of other diners when eating in the restaurant either by way of a polite notice or in the information left in your villa about using mobile devices to watch videos or have video calls whilst dining (we had to move one day just to have our dessert after a couple moved to the table next to us mid meal to avoid the sun but still carried on watching video on their phone). Also a sign saying what half of the restaurant is for smoking/vaping would probably be helpful. We didn’t try the Japanese restaurant as that is not even included in the all inclusive package so cannot comment on that (although a complimentary meal on 2nd night of stay when staying for say over 5-6 nights would have been a nice touch and maybe people would visit again?). The villas are more than spacious enough and are the same regardless of a beach villa or ocean view villa both having hot tub and pool the only difference being beach villas are straight out onto the beach and ocean view villas set slightly back (YouTube videos are great for showing differences). There has been some great additions since last year like the sun beds by the jetty and I gather there are more to come so would be intriguing to see what it’s like next year. All in all this is a truly beautiful island and I may sound like I’m nitpicking but only giving our honest review compared to last year and having not tried any where else yet in the Maldives. Would we visit again? yes we probably would as it holds special memories for us and does feel like going home the moment you step off the boat onto the jetty! Read less