Villa, Sea View | View from room

Reviews of Gangehi Island Resort

4.5 out of 5
Gangehi Island Resort
Gangehi Island, North Ari Atoll, Gangehi Island

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 202 out of 302 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 65 out of 302 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 11 out of 302 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 13 out of 302 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 11 out of 302 reviews" "

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

8.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.2/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

Adam

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The resort was wonderful, the staff were great, food was good and healthy (aside from the desert bar, haha). My only request to improve the stay is to limit the areas that people can smoke, it was very hard to find somewhere that was free of cigarette smoke.
Stayed 6 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Balázs

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Karen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A Lovely Holiday
We were at Gangehi Resort for 6 nights in March 2023. Our trip was moved from January after I broke my knee bone in December. I was worried the water would be too rough for me to swim in, but it was mostly calm and clear. There was swimming off the beach in back of our room and we swam there every morning. We saw reef sharks as well as several varieties of fish there, but not as many fish as were at the larger beach area near the dining room. In general the coral is hurting, but there were some beautiful and healthy soft corals to see. In the area behind our cabin they appear to be working with some success on building a new reef. The entire resort can be walked around in only a few minutes. There are people working to maintain the grounds all the time. The cabins are cleaned 2 times a day. All the staff we interacted with were friendly and hard working. The two who did the most to make our trip a pleasure were Nafla at the front desk and Rasheed, our waiter. Staff members seemed to come from countries in the area, and those who interacted with guests spoke excellent English. Guests seemed to come primarily from Europe, especially Italy. We appreciated that there were no noisy activities that disturbed the general peace of the island. It was a lovely place to relax! The only thing I would change about Gangehi would be the use of so many plastic bottles. They charge for every bottle of water, even at dinner. Readily available water not in plastic bottles would be good.
Our room.
The view from our porch.
Stayed 6 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Fernando

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very nice stay
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Alondra

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was beautiful. The staff was very professional and nice. The environment is very relaxing. The only downside is that the bed was uncomfortable and it is two smaller mattresses that make up the king size bed. Other than that we had a lovely time.
Stayed 6 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Arnold Augustus

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was a beautiful place, friendly, peaceful and secluded. Everything you needed for a peaceful break. Can't really think of anything negative to say about the resort. To us it was heaven, enough said 🌞😎🙃
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Sanjeev, The Woodlands

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

10/10 Excellent

Amanda

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was the best honeymoon ever. We stayed in the over the water villa and we had the full board meal plan so only paid for drinks. The room was immaculate and comfortable. The wall AC worked well and kept the room cool as long as the curtains were pulled shut. The stairs to the water were the best thing about it all. The staff were amazing and we got to know a few of them through the week. The food was top notch except for breakfast(and I'm a really picky eater FYI). Things didn't stay warm on the buffet for breakfast. And that's pretty much my only complaint of the whole trip. You can always have something fresh made by the omlet/pasta bar chef. All water is bottled and has to be purchased unless you have all inclusive. The reef around the island is BOOMING with hundreds of different fish. Beautiful snorkeling. In the morning reef sharks hang out close to the beach by the bar. We did the manta ray excursion with the dive center staff. It is a MUST DO. And you don't have to be an olympian to do it. I'm of average activity level daily and did fine with the ocean currents during the snorkel with the mantas. We also did the sunset cruise. It was fun, but you don't really see the full sunset because of the wall of moisture. We did a couples massage. It was more than fairly priced and she was really great, I almost fell asleep a couple times. The sea plane transfers are arranged by the resort and is a nice little adventure. You get a sky view of the atolls.
Stayed 8 nights in Mar 2022

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This property is a scam. The staff lies and steals your money.
Stayed 7 nights in May 2021

10/10 Excellent

Aleksandra

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Simon, London

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Everything since we arrived at the resort by speedboat to our departure was amazing and surpassed our expectations based on other reviews and photos. The island is simply stunning and the perfect place to relax and unwind. Every single member of staff that we had any dealing with could not have been more helpful and professional in their service. We would certainly recommend this resort and will hopefully be returning there at some point in the future.
Stayed 7 nights in Jan 2020

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 6 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2019
Response from Prabhath on 8 Aug 2019
Thank you for your comments

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2019
Response from Prabhath on 8 Aug 2019
Thank you for your comments

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place, pain to get to
Overall, the place is very lovely. The water is beautiful. There is a lot of effort into the gardening and the design of the Island. Room was very nice but could use a little bit of maintenance. The over the water lagoon room has a great view of the ocean and sunset, but be careful going down the stairs as they can be slippery. Water outside is shallow enough to swim in. Overall probably a 3.5 to 4 star hotel. The restaurants all have a nice view of the ocean. I suggest you get the all inclusive package (or at least one meal beyond breakfast) as the buffet meals are super expensive (50 for lunch, 60 for dinner). The Thari restaurant was excellent, but the portions were small in most cases. Really good deserts. Staff were nice. We were greated well and the restaurant staff and gardeners were generally friendly during our visit. They do clean the rooms and treat for pests outside, but you might still see some ants and roaches in your room. The only problem was when our departure to Male by seaplane got messed up. Not sure if this is the resort's fault or the airway's. For a flight leaving Male at 9pm, they booked the seaplane at 430pm. Since hotel check out is between 10:00 and 12:00pm (varies), I cannot understand why they did not book an earlier flight. Who wants to stay 5 hours after check out? Had I known this, I would have booked our trip differently. Overall, it is worth staying but arriving and leaving can be difficult.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2019
Response from Prabhath on 8 Aug 2019
Thank you for your comments

10/10 Excellent

Diego

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excelente. Es el paraíso, súper recomendado. Cara la comida y bebidas
Stayed 2 nights in May 2019

2/10 Terrible

Lily, Tokyo, JP

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
island is beautiful, but staff were extremely unprofessional and unhelpful. Room was kind brokenly, ex.doorlocks and window locks half broken...hard to to lock them. Pretty old property with horrible service. Will not visit again!!!
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Everyone was very nice. The resort was great. Please consider putting umbrellas on private decks.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2019
Response from Prabhath on 19 Apr 2019
Thank you for your positive comments. We will look in to your suggestions. Will look forward to your next visit Thank you and best regards

2/10 Terrible

Owen

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
1)We were walking in the rain from boat to hotel. I complained, and stuff replyed me after 12 hr saying that wind will blow the away. 2) my bed collapsed when I was sitting on the end side trying to put on my socks. Funny thing was that the stuff was there cleaning the room 3) yoga class was terrible. I didn’t even know the instructors name because he never introduce himself nor done any safety briefing. I complain and the answer was: it is a complimentary class, it’s free 4) A picture frame fell from the reception counter and the broken glass was everywhere. The manager said sorry and that it because he said I wasn’t hurt 5) the deck was really old and the wooden steps are falling apart in the water
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Gitak, Houston

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Loved! Nicely organized ! Neat hotel! Great staff!!
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Connie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2018

2/10 Terrible

roee, israel

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Search other hotel to go to him !
I real dont have the power to writen , all the very big list of bad things, that i have to say on this hotel , i dont recomend him .
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Amazing service! Great stay
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018
Response from raffi on 21 Sept 2018
Thank you for staying with us and for your great comment!

10/10 Excellent

Carlyle

Overall, it was a very good experience and truly enjoyed my stay. Everyone is politely and exceptional customer service. Clear water, truly a paradise.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2018
Response from raffi on 21 Sept 2018
Thank you for visiting Gangehi Island Resort and for your excellent feedback.

4/10 Poor

Winson, Hong Kong

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I stayed at overwater villa with my family for six days. Beach is very beautiful water is crystal clear. Hotel service is needed to be improved, basic bath room facilities were not provided, like tooth brush, slippers etc... There were lots of insects in the Bar Restaurant. Dinner buffer was only served with limited food. I had an unpleasant feeling about restaurant staffs. Breakfast time was not sufficient if you want to go diving in the morning. I had asked for 15 minutes more for breakfast before diving but I wasn’t allowed. Lunch time and Dinner time were too short and I was asked to sign bill before finished. WiFi is extremely slow and I could not use it most of the time, even in my room and in the diinner restaurant. Room cleaning is good, twice a day. For me, it was only a 3-stars hotel maximum.
Stayed 6 nights in Jun 2018
Response from raffi on 26 Aug 2018
We are very sorry if we have not met your expectation. We are constantly working on the highest quality of service and we pay great attention to our all valuable guests. Best regards

10/10 Excellent

Paru, Sydney, Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
My husband and I had a great stay at Gangehi for 5 days. The resort is beautifully set up with stunning overwater villas as well as gorgeous bar and dining areas. All the staff such as Victor go above and beyond to make your stay an unforgettable experience. Big thanks to Chef Francesco, Chef Venkat and the rest of the chefs for the amazing lunch and dinner buffets. Our waiter Russel always had a smile on his face and always on the ball. Thank you all! Our only feedback to other guests would be that the “all-inclusive” package is restricted to a certain selection of drinks and buffets within just one of the restaurants. So not really a true all-inclusive if you compare it to other resort stays such as Mexico. Otherwise, it’s definitely a slice of paradise!
Stayed 5 nights in Apr 2018
Response from raffi on 8 May 2018
Thank you very much for visiting Gangehi Island Resort and for posting such a lovely feedback. Gangehi Team will be happy to see you again. Best regards

10/10 Excellent

April, Brunei Darussalam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A wonderful retreat.
A gorgeous way to spend a week. Wonderful staff and service. Food excellent. Surroundings amazing. Highly recommend staying here if you want to get away from life in general.
Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2018
Response from raffi on 8 Apr 2018
Sunny greetings from the Maldives. We were so happy to read your excellent feedback about our Gangehi Island Resort. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day ahead.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best honeymoon ever!!
This was the perfect paradise for our honeymoon. The island is tiny, 10 min to walk the entire circumference and 15 min to kayak around it. The staff was amazing, food was great and the views were unbelievable. Come here to do nothing but relax and scuba dive.
Stayed 9 nights in Oct 2017
Response from raffi on 15 Nov 2017
Sunny greetings from the Maldives and thank you for taking time to share your review on Expedia. we were delighted to read your gracious feedback and we are happy to read that you enjoyed your stay with us. Please come back again! Best regards

10/10 Excellent

Sime, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Small quiet Maldivian resort
Seventh trip which should say it all. I go for the diving and the peace and quiet. For divers you will find expert tuition, instruction and or, guides depending on what you are after and (weather permitting) some absolutely superb dive sites many of which are new. This time EFR & Rescue Diver next time Divemaster. Great resort, fantastic staff, superb food, great accommodation!
Stayed 10 nights in Sep 2017
Response from raffi on 16 Nov 2017
Dear Sime, it is so lovely to read your great comment! we do appreciate your excellent feedback and we are looking forward to welcoming you back for the Divemaster course. Warmest regards from the whole Team of Gangehi Island Resort

10/10 Excellent

Kris

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect getaway
Perfect small-yet-with-distractions island resort, delicious and huge selection of food and beverages, excellent staff and pristine waters for swimming
Stayed 8 nights in Jul 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A lot of Gecko inside the room it is not clean
I have bad experience in that resort, the room have a lot of Gecko and there are Gecko stool in the bed. Also Cockroaches and mosquitoes. I don't recommend it.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2017

8/10 Good

Shaheer, Pakistan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A serene place to cherish our memories!
The place is well maintained and has beautiful and exciting views for the tourists to visit.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The place you need to be at!
I had so much fun, the resort was welcoming. The place was something out of a dream. I'm glad I chose this island out of all the other resorts. Being my first time in the Maldives, it was spectacular.
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Mark, Cardiff, Wales

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stunning resort
I was almost put off going to this resort by some reviews on tripadvisor stating that the staff weren't interested in anyone but Italians. This is an Italian owned resort. There are a lot of Italians there as a consequence. However, not for one moment did we feel any less treasured than any other guest at the hotel. The staff are all helpful and very friendly. Our waiter, Rasel (apologies for spelling) was brilliant. The island is tiny. The resort is beautiful, utterly idyllic. We had a beach villa, which was fabulous. The buffet restaurant produced superb fresh food every day with loads of options and variation. The fish was superb. The chefs were Bangladeshi and Italian. I didn't have much Italian food, but it was of a very high standard. We didn't feel the need to use the a la carte restaurant over a four night stay. The curries were excellent. The choice for breakfast was a little limited, but that is a very minor grumble overall. We'd decided to go all-inclusive which proved to be fantastic value for money with a reasonable choice of wines and an excellent choice of cocktails and liquors. The sea plane transfer from Male is expensive, but amazing and worth it as a special treat.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Amazing stay, amazing location.

10/10 Excellent

Thivagar

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing overwater bungalow!
Absolute paradise! You can snorkel in the clear blue water from anywhere. Spectacular views and the overwater bungalow was the best experience ever! There is even a bed outside over the water. Very small island that you can cover in 5min so you feel very safe and relaxed. I would say only downside is the food as there is only three places to eat with limited options and extremely expensive food if you don't get the all inclusive. Dinner costs at least $55US/person and that's for a buffet. Drinks are on top of that. We were disappointed with lack of traditional maldivian or even neighbouring sri lankan food. To end on a more positive note there is free yoga classes in the mornings and free group snorkelling with an instructor at 4:30pm. You will see beautiful fish of different kinds, sharks and maybe turtles. If you are willing to put up with the price and quality of food this island resort is absolutely amazing.

10/10 Excellent

Michael, Hobart, Tasmania

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful!
On arrival we were upgraded to the deluxe overwater villa, which is absolutely stunning. Beautiful island, great staff. Absolutely recommended.

8/10 Good

Prax, Toronto

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent Resort
Amazing food, Amazing view from Water villa, snorkeling is the best here.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Mahesh, Bangalore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Just superb
We stayed in Beach Villa for 2 nights. Everything about this resort is outstanding.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Vacation in Maldives
Spent 4 nights there.The view and the beach are gorgeous. Staff are great and very accommodating. The hotel needs renovation.

4/10 Poor

Steven, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Poor value for money
This hotel is situated in a stunning environment, rooms are nice, food is good and most staff are very friendly and keen to help. Although this hotel was definitely not the most expensive to book a room, the real costs are generated from the moment you arrive. Although we have some experiencing in visiting this type of resorts, everything in this hotel is unjustifiable overpriced; 60 USD (excluding drinks) to have dinner buffet, 110 USD per dive (including equipment) to name a few. Nothing was for free and every step you took was definitely put on your account. We felt that the main purpose of guests was to generate as much money as possible for the hotel management. Although the hotel offers some trips, such as manta and whale shark watching, the management is very inflexible in organising this for you. A minimum amount of people has to be reached before they go. Because the hotel was not full during our stay, it was difficult to reach these numbers. We were therefore not able to do these potentially amazing trips. You can if you pay extra for the missing people...... When we wanted to discuss this with the manager, she refused to talk to us. Although they claim to have a gym, it contains one working running treadmill, one hometrainer and some weights of 1 - 3 kg. This is not what most people would call a gym. Although no water was available in the gym (as it would be in all other hotels), they suggested which post-workout drinks you could purchase in the bar.....

10/10 Excellent

BRUCE, Milestone

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Certainly the most wonderful stay we have ever had and we travel much...Thank You Gangehi

10/10 Excellent

Sally, Hahndorf South Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely superb resort. One of the best holidays I have ever had.

8/10 Good

Lincoln, Now in Singapore.

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent except for the Wifi
Most relaxing location and the overwater villa was just nice, right in front of the ocean. The only thing not up to par was the Wifi which was very slow but still managed to connect despite the speed.

8/10 Good

kenzo, malaysia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great island to enjoy your holiday for couples
1. Overwater villa, we stay near the sand bar (room 31) which is very great with just walking distance to their tail sand bar and right in front the sun set view.. 2. Recommend for booking all inclusive as the food there would cost sum as they charge in USD. 3. The staffs all are very friendly when they know we are the only asian in the island during the stay. 4. Weather is great, the view and the sceneries is the same as shown in the pictures!!! 5. The only downside is the bed, is joined by 2 single beds to make it becomes super king size bed.

8/10 Good

Andrew, UK

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Stunning Island but poor food and service
This is a very mixed experience. The island is stunning; the hotel really well developed. Snorkelling is simply amazing. However you are in the Maldives so perhaps that's all expected... Downsides are three fold: Quality of food is poor and of course there's no alternatives. Its also very expensive so doubly insulting!; the staff are generally not well trained for Western guests and the Italian manager simply rude; the journey is very long as there's zero coordination between the sea plane ($500 per person!) and the international flight. Time from leaving resort to London Gatwick was 18 hours. There are probably better hotel options in the Maldives but this is a stunning island.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent! Great hotel, island and staff!
We had a great stay! Service minded staff, great snorkling, clean and a impeccable hotel.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Diving Destination
We came to Gangehi to celebrate our 20th anniversary. My husband and I are both divers, so we wanted to be able to do some diving. Gangehi was a great choice! The dive shop was well staffed - all of the dive masters were excellent. Our dive master for the majority of our dives was Anna - she was superb! She was so friendly and did a great job at making sure our needs were met. We chose to do some additional diving certification while we were there, I felt like they were well suited to take care of that for us. The diving was great! On the days where we did not do diving, we were able to enjoy the house reefs. I was amazed at what you could see while snorkeling. We loved the abundant fish life. We also saw several turtles (which are my favorite!). Our room was very comfortable. Very clean and beautifully situated! I have no idea how many people were staying on the island while we were there, but we never felt crowded. It was a very peaceful trip - it was the perfect getaway! The food was also quite nice. The staff all over the resort were very friendly and helpful. I would recommend this resort to friends and would stay here again!