Venelin
+: We already stayed here two years ago, so we knew what to expect. The fact that we returned already speaks for itself. Highly kids-friendly. We had no issue at all with having a 13-month old in the water villa (and later at a pool villa). Buggy service is amazing and very efficient. We really thank the drivers Milan and Harka, they were reachable also via WhatsApp when needed. Concierge service Tamanna also responded promptly. In the beach villa we stayed afterwards the room service done by Mohammed (Modex) was also great and friendly with our kids. Asian restaurant is our favorite - excellent food, broad variety and amazing staff (thank you Martini and the rest of the team). When saying on the restaurant deck, thousands of kilometers ahead there is nothing all the way to Africa - a perfect feeling of complete remoteness, which we appreciated. All staff member, regardless of position, were truly warm and courteous and looking forward to be helpful. Villas are extremely spacious and very well equipped. Beds are very large (appr. 2m) and very comfy. Water villa was reachable also from the nearby beach by swimmingwading. Air conditioning was able to cope even with the hottest hours. Blinds and curtains provided enough cover in the early morning. We also spent around 1 hour at the seaplane airport lounge - brand new and very comfortable. Enough sea life to see even below the villa pillars, also at night a shark might pass under the floodlight. Amazing sunsets seen from the pair-numbered villas. Noise from seaplanes hardly heard despite the landing strip is close by. Pool area was very good, with three different pool sizes, incl. 40cm deep one. My wife took one refresh dive and the diving center was very well equipped and her instructor Victoria did a great job.
-: We were expecting that a return visit for a longer stay, likely also longer than the average stays, was not awarded with some complimentary perk. We did not receive anything on top of the package booked. It's not obligatory for the resort, but it would have been a nice gesture. A perk heavily advertised in most long bookings is -25% off the seaplane cost. However, seaplane costs in general are not transparent as air tickets - I could not know what is the going rate anyways. Some resorts, but unfortunately not Furaveri, report all pricing including of taxes. While always specified "plus taxes", we constantly had to calculate +25% to get an idea of the full price. Buffet dinner felt a bit expensive for a family with small kids which does not have the luxury of having a long dinner with tasting many foods. Eating at a restaurant often ended up being slightly cheaper. Buffet variety was very good, but some foods tasted average. Orders from the daytime bar (also providing the in villa dining) came slowly, around 25-30min for an order of 2-3 dishes. Too few lounge chairs by the pools, given the size of the resort. While villas have very good facilities, those around the common areas, e.g. reception, buffet and bar restrooms, buffet area, etc. felt very basic and old. Kids center opening hours could be a bit longer; the resort is full of kids. At another resort that we visited, kids were kept busy with different activities. House reef is ok, but not spectacular.
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