Great resort - outstanding staff
Apr 14, 2021 PetulaClark1964 Saudi Arabia
We have just returned from a fantastic 10 day stay at Centura Grand Island Resort and Spa, Maldives. We stayed in a two bedroom luxury beachfront pool villa (8) and opted for the Ultimate All Inclusive package (soon to -basically- become the Grand All Inclusive). We arrived from Saudi via a 7 hour layover in Doha in the Al Mourjan Lounge…
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We have just returned from a fantastic 10 day stay at Centura Grand Island Resort and Spa, Maldives. We stayed in a two bedroom luxury beachfront pool villa (8) and opted for the Ultimate All Inclusive package (soon to -basically- become the Grand All Inclusive). We arrived from Saudi via a 7 hour layover in Doha in the Al Mourjan Lounge (excellent), and transferred by TMA seaplane (hot and sticky!) to finally arrive at the resort at about 11am after quite a long journey! If it is of interest, we flew both legs with Qatar airways who were very good.
We were met by Bell, who helped us carefully disembark from the seaplane in choppy conditions! From there we were transported by boat for an extremely comfortable check in sat in the Reef bar sipping champagne. The room was ready for an early check in as Alok had been in touch by WhatsApp before arrival to help us arrange this.
The Room
For a family with 2 children (ages 9 and 6), the pool villa was excellent. A sloped-to-1.4m deep infinity pool right outside leading out to a sandy beach with calm, clear waters only 2 metres beyond was fab. While a water villa may have been more visually spectacular, there were large portions of the day where the tides would have precluded swimming straight out of the villa. (They have a nice sunbathing deck though.) No such issues with our own pool and the shallow beach. Black tip reef sharks, blue tangs and even a turtle right outside. I was really happy with our room choice.
Location
The house reef is wonderful, and with the resort-provided life jackets, and water sports centre free snorkels and flippers (return before 1700hrs the day prior to departure) snorkelling over the beautiful reef was a delight. Stingrays, eagle rays and nurse sharks all come for dinner at the 6pm daily fish feeding by one of the bars. The drop off for the reef is only 20-30 meters out, and there are a lot of fish to see.
Food and drinks
Drinks on the AI package were excellent. Cocktails were freshly made with proper ingredients. No pre-mixed diluted horrors. The staff were happy to suggest drinks or make off-menu items. Good brands and an excellent choice.
The Italian and Thai a la carte restaurants were extremely good - far better than I had expected they would be on an AI package. We pretty much flip-flopped between each restaurant each night and everything was delicious. While the Italian was extremely good, the Thai was exceptional, made more so by the chef (‘Wow’) who came out each night from kitchen to say hi. She is a treasure, and has even helped me out with my own attempts at Thai cooking! I have fussy kids who prefer burgers and nuggets to everything else, but she made them bespoke Thai fish dishes and platters that they devoured - I have never seen them eat this well anywhere.
The buffet was well stocked but definitely caters for a more Indian clientele. Breakfast was fine but lunches and dinners weren’t great for my unadventurous kids, so we ate lunches and dinners in restaurants almost exclusively. Personally, I loved the curries and freshly made Indian breads, but it was just much easier for us to have table service than foraging for the kids at the buffet. No limits on how many times you can book the restaurants - just call up a couple of days in advance to secure the time you want.
We had the Teppanyaki one night - the usual teppanyaki chef wasn’t there to fling knives around and such (COVID travel restrictions) but the chef that stepped up to live-cook the salmon, shrimp and rice did an excellent job and it was delicious.
Activities.
Snorkelling is fab and all gear is provided. The dive centre is well equipped and offers some excellent options, including a wreck dive only a few meters off shore at a depth of 20-26m. My 9 year old daughter had a Scuba ‘bubble maker’ session and loved it. Banana boat ride was fab, pedalos and windsurf/kayaks all available too. Kids club looked good, but aimed at younger children (I’d say <8) than my eldest. Teens club looked good too but was closed for maintenance. Huthu looked after us really well on the sunset cruise - no dolphins that time, but some swam right up to the resort beach on the last day!
The staff
Apologies I have misspelt any of these names, but from Alok assisting us before we even arrived, followed by the excellent arrivals service by Bell we were in good hands. Susitha, the food and beverages manager, was on hand immediately to help us find the best eating options for our kids - he really couldn’t do enough and I think we saw him every single day at one mealtime or another as he came to check we were happy and having a good time - we always were!
Lax and the rest of the team in the Coral bar were extremely attentive and made excellent cocktails and mocktails. Shareef looked after us most mornings for breakfast and was really friendly. And as I have already said: Wow in the Thai restaurant is as passionate about food as she is friendly.
We used the spa twice, and the ladies who worked there were skilled and friendly. I had a Thai massage and later an oil massage from Hota, who was amazing. I’m no authority on massages (this being my first spa experience) but I certainly see the appeal and both massages made me feel amazing afterwards.
Finally, one lady who made our stay so special was Christine. She seemed to be working everywhere - I do hope she gets some time off occasionally? Anyway, she always went out of her way come and talk to us and ask how we were doing. My kids thought she was lovely, and we were genuinely sorry to be saying goodbye at the end.
I don’t go on vacations to make a list of staff names to give them a shout-out on tripadvisor, and you’ll see from my history that I haven’t left many reviews before, but this island was so small and intimate and the staff were so unbelievably friendly that we really felt we got to know them a little bit while we were staying there. I don’t think I’ve ever had an experience like that before. It was really something.
The negatives - if that’s what they are?
The island is a little tired compared to more recent Maldivian constructions. However, whether that is a negative or not is up to you - I preferred the “wood stone and sand” look to a sparkly/shiny new build. I say this so you manage your own expectations. It’s what I think of as a ‘barefoot island’ - apart from in the restaurants, of course!
The resort was transitioning between two different types of all inclusive, which made things on menus a little confusing (UAI vs GAI). However, it never became an issue and all that stops on 1 May anyway.
Buffet is quite Indian-orientated, based on their expected clientele. It’s delicious, but might not to be to everyone’s tastes. However, it’s easy enough to just eat in the restaurants anyway for more cuisine options.
A couple more electric fans in the bar areas wouldn’t have gone amiss at lunchtimes!
Overall.
We almost never go back to the same resort again. The world is too big, and there are to many new things to try. However, Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa is going to be an exception. In the current climate, the Maldives tourist board have managed to make travel to/from as easy as possible, and the staff at Centara have taken every possible precaution without overly interfering in your holiday making. Therefore it is currently an excellent choice at the moment. However, what has swung it for me 100% has been the people. There are often a few staff members who can really make the difference in how you look back on your holiday, but I’ve never stayed in a resort where every single member of staff greets you like a friend every day. For that reason, I am now keen to return as soon as possible.
Happy to answer any questions while the answers are fresh!
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