Hotel Review - Kanuhura

Kanuhura Maldives

Stayed in June 2010

On arrival in Male we were met and transferred to the Seaplane terminal where Kanuhura has its own lounge where you can relax with a drink and even have a shower. After an hour we were taken to the Seaplane which we which took about 40 minutes.

On to our Beach Villas and an introduction to our Butlers who were there to cater for your every whim!!!

We ate at Veli Café as it served Asian Fusion and had a lovely setting right on the beach, the meal was fantastic with lots of choice (Chicken Curry not too hot) a bottle of really nice Pinot Noir was approx £60.00 but we thought at so what we were in the Maldives.

After a great night’s sleep we went to Breakfast where there was everything you could possibly want including Champagne to start off the day, then we had time to have a swim and lay by the pool until about 11am when we went and changed ready to meet the others (we didn’t think it was fair to meet them in our swimwear), they finally arrived at Midday after a delay of 16 hours but they did say how well Emirates had looked after them.

Lunch at Kandu which is on Jehunuhura Private Island and again the food was excellent as was the service, by now some of the staff remembered our names; well we had been there nearly 24 hours.  A Sunset cruise was next on the agenda, we went out to see Dolphins which were quite close to Kuredu and on the way back we saw Manta Ray and Turtles. This evening we ate at the Olive Tree where we had a table set up next to the pool and again a brilliant meal was had.

I saw all 5 types of Villa; Water Villa and a Duplex Villa, the Grand Villa and Grand Water Villas. All of the villas were really nicely decorated and kept updated but the Duplex had a rotten view of the Water Villas so I would avoid these.
   The Water Villas were all being renovated and the decking was being upgraded (or copied from Reethi Rah) which made them quite unique or not that unique as they were in fact a copy…

A must is to go to Thin Rah restaurant where you joined the chef for a cooking class, I must say it’s the best curry that I have cooked; it was so good we had it for lunch.

We actually snorkelled just off of Kuredu in an area called The Caves and saw all sorts of fish and a couple of turtles. One thing to be aware of though is that there are some strong currents in this area which for us was no problem as our boat followed us then picked us up and took us back to start again.

You can have a private meal on the private island of Jenunhura where I had the best steak I have ever eaten, I must say it was very strange coming back in the small boat in the pitch black of the night.

The Olive Tree was great for lunch serving Pizza, Salad, Club Sandwiches and generally just the sort of food you wanted after eating rich food for a few days. A tuna baguette wasn’t a bad at $15USD the Pizzas started at $20USD but were big enough for two, a small beer was $7USD and a bottle of water $4USD.

On Saturday night there is a nightclub – Nasha which has a great concept as all of the locals on the island are invited every Saturday to mix with the guests, I though this was a great idea as normally you go to these places and you are the only ones there. It’s also a credit to the staff that the management have the confidence to encourage them to mix off duty.

Kanuhura is a true 5* resort that should be able to compete with many others, I though that at 10 years it would show its age but it didn’t.

The staff here are really exceptional and the food is fabulous, there is lots to do or plenty of places to do nothing. There is a really good Kids club and a big plus for me was that there are no protective walls around the island..