Dear Pullman team,
We want to sincerely thank you for an unforgettable vacation! This truly is a special place.
First, we want to say thank you to Nichula who worked tirelessly to fulfill every wish of ours. We were a larger group of 8 adults and 2 babies - certainly not an easy crowd to please but you and your exceeded our expectations!
Here some of the highlights:
We traveled very far from Toronto (Canada) but it is absolutely worth it!. I would argue that if we can manage to get there with an 8 month old baby you can get there too. I agree with other reviews, it is no fun and a long journey (you will likely be stuck in the lounge for several hours) but as another couple told us at arrival, it is not easy to get to paradise. And this is true! The underwater world is different from anything we have seen in the Maldives. So if you are an avid diver or snorkeler accept the long journey, you won’t regret it.
From the moment we set foot on Khoodoo we were treated like royals. We waited briefly for our suitcases and were accompanied to a lounge. It is a quick 15 minute boat ride (it is a fun and calm ride). When you arrive you get greeted by the wonderful staff and drums. It is just magical.
They knew we had 2 little babies so the check in was extremely quick. Asanka did a quick island tour with us and brought us to our stunning and very spacious rooms.
Housekeeping: The housekeeping team comes and makes your room twice a day. The minibar gets constantly refilled. We truly miss our beautifully clean room and the view! We had villas 104, 105, 112 and 614. We can absolutely recommend these rooms. All the beach villas had fine sand in front of them. 614 is further out but has a gorgeous view.
All Inclusive: Pullman advertises the most generous all inclusive and they are true to their words. There was nothing missing. To our surprise the only extra cost we had was upping our free 45 minutes massage to 1 hour and the dives (although you can use your voucher also for a dive, including equipment!). As a comparison we went to LUX South Ari last time and one thing we truly did not appreciate was all the extra costs we accumulated. With Pullman you truly get everything included and it is beautiful to not worry about anything. They also only ask you for the room number but you never have to wait for a bill to sign. This makes a difference and we really appreciated the concept.
Dining: The team is doing everything to fulfill your wishes. We had 2 babies with us and daily they asked us what they can make for them (Special shout out to Ramila!). Zin also always helped us to clean our baby bottles, we appreciate you. We truly want to thank the entire Melange team for accommodating us and fulfilling every wish of ours. Seafood night and steak night were superb!
Sol Rising: It really is the best restaurant on the island. Huge shout out to the chefs and the team. The food was delicious, especially the steak and the risotto! My sister loved your lunch!
Diving: I am surprised there is little talk about the absolute beauty of the underwater world here. Hundreds of turtles, cowtail stingrays, eagle rays, spinner sharks, even the occasional bull shark (I had no idea they existed in the Maldives), mantas, mobulas and hundreds of dolphins. If you are a diver and are concerned about finding some amazing dive sites, do not hesitate to book the Pullman. Mara and her team are outstanding! Special thanks to Po, Sara, Jessica, Valesca and Saalih and the Captain (sorry I never got your name!) for bringing us repeatedly to the best spots. The channel will be forever one of our favorite dives. Unforgettable. Also book the turtle snorkel tour, it is an unforgettable experience.
Events: We had our wedding at the Pullman. And the Pullman team exceeded our expectations. They beautifully decorated the beach and we had an amazing wedding cake (thank you chef it was outstanding) and coconuts to sip on the beach. I had an amazing hair and makeup stylist (I am so so sorry I did forget your name) and Shinattey took the most beautiful pictures of our special day (So many people were asking for your contact information, you might need to visit Canada and Austria to take some wedding pictures).
Entertainment: The live music couple was outstanding. Her voice is mesmerizing and he is outstanding on the keyboard.
Beach: It is not a fully barefoot island. Some villas do have more coral rubble in front of them than others. It is good to mention your preferences to the reservation team before you arrive. We asked and got some amazing villas (104,105,112) with very fine sand. Also now there is some sea grass in front of some of the villas. Seagrass is a sign of a healthy ocean. I saw some people complain about this. It is not an impediment when going into the water but if you are concerned about it just raise it to the reception team to accommodate your room and ocean selection.
Weather: 10 days of pure sunshine. March is a great time to go but be aware it was hot!
What we would improve:
I had to think very hard about that one and only little things came to mind.
It would be great to know of a schedule when the fogging is happening. The island needs to fog to minimize mosquito growth which is very understandable. We just sometimes found ourselves stuck in the villa because of the timing.
Some extra sun chairs near the pool on the beach would be amazing for individuals who would like to go into the ocean instead of the pool. Especially for individuals who have a water villa.
It would be fun to have a restaurant on the beach. I did miss sitting on the beach with my feet in the sand for lunch or dinner but this is a nitpicky point!
We all gained a decent amount of weight from the delicious food.
Nichula one more time, thank you so so so much for making our stay and wedding special. Thank you for the upgrade and the wedding gifts and the back of house tour. Your team is working so hard and we can see it and we really appreciate it. My entire family had an outstanding stay. We can’t thank you enough and we can’t wait to come back (maybe for our anniversary).
Here are some of the many people we wanted to especially thank (I am so so sorry if I missed anyone): Faisal, Ari, Nisha, Subratha, Parvesh, Zin, Ramila, Subrata, Asanka, Sabar, Solaiman, Abe, Po, Saalih, Valesca, Nichula, Hassan (F&B manager), Evalyne, Dharmapriya, Wayan , Asanka, Shah, Manjula, Nyoman, Vindalhan, Shaheem ,Nawaal, Faisal, Armicca, Harsha and Parvesh. You made our vacation special.