Angsana Валевару

After an interminable pause in our travels due to the global pandemic we went big with a family trip to the Maldives which was a long held ambition of ours. It was no small relief that Angsana Velavaru delivered exactly what we needed. This is a small (22-mins for a leisurely walk around the entire island perimeter) but perfectly formed tropical paradise. It’s no surprise this is an Instagram hotspot as the views are nothing short of incredible. We had a beach villa with its own infinity pool, a white sand beach beyond that leading to a sea teaming with tropical fish. We regularly saw Rays, sharks and more types of brilliantly coloured tropical fish than we could count. It was like living in an aquarium. Out of the water there are lizards, bats, parrots and crabs by the score. The island is also unspoiled by plastic pollution (unlike Mauritius) leaving us feeling there is hope for the future. The resort itself is great. The staff are nothing short of incredible… Shibin never left us feeling unattended in the bar and couldn’t do enough. Similarly Littu was never still and never without a smile even when impossibly busy at peak time. We actually looked forward to coming into the bar to see them both. In the restaurant Shah seemed to materialise out of nowhere with just what we needed when we needed it. Eternally friendly and attentive. We never had to wait for a plate to be cleared or to order a drink. Exceptional. Sajwan always seemed to be on the hottest job at every serving (omelettes at breakfast, flambé at dinner etc) and even while juggling half a dozen orders he could hold a pleasant conversation and provide an unfailingly accurate weather forecast. Ahmed and the active 5-a-side league welcomed my 18-year old son to play and he quickly built up some strong bonds. Playing twice a day with the staff quickly became the focus of his day and he intends to stay in touch with his new friends. My 12-year old (part mermaid) daughter snorkelled with me everyday so in the 10-days we stayed here we never tired of the place which is testament to how engaging a place this is. The rooms are a little care worn but every minute spent in the room is wasted when nature at its finest is available only feet away. We’ll remember this for a long time, it was extraordinarily expensive to buy the holiday and the journey from the U.K. is brutal but it was worth every penny/hour to get here. We’ll be back. Magical place. (Just avoid the obnoxious, shameless, rude, greedy Russian a-holes) 👍🏻

We arrived at Angsana Velavaru from another resort (Movenpick Kuredhivaru) that we'd spent 10 days at prior to our 7 days here. We had a lovely stay. Upon arrival at the Velana International Airport, we were handed off to the Angsana rep, who handled all of our luggage and got us checked in at the seaplane terminal for our flight to the resort. You arrive at the resort on a floating dock about a quarter mile out from the resort and transfer to a speedboat which takes you either to the island or out to the overwater villas. Upon arrival, you are greeted with a cold washcloth and a small cup of sorbet. Check in is easy. While you are provided a host name, it's really a team that assists you. This was fine, but in comparison to our previous resort, it felt less personable. Once checked in, we were shown to our villa. The villa was beautiful and clean. While it was much larger than the previous resort's, it had less character. There were no windows in the floor for fish viewing and the rooftop was essentially useless for us, as it made access to the pool or ocean impossible without going downstairs and through the villa to the back deck. We only used the upstairs for sunrises and sunsets. It was also way less private. You can see all of the other villas decks from the end of the pool and the bali bed. We did enjoy having a bali bed and a larger pool. There was also a very nice trampoline/hammock to lounge on. The deck area had no shade though, except for a screened cover on the bali bed, which provided some respite from the sun, but also put a big separation between the two of us if I was in the pool and he was out on the bali bed. It was all nice and we enjoyed it, it just felt like the layout wasn't completely thought through. The snorkeling off of the villa was ok, it did require having water shoes as there was coral everywhere. I heard the house reef and other snorkeling trips (they have one at 11am daily free of charge and another paid excursion) were excellent. All of the staff were friendly, but we didn't get the same warmth and family feeling that we had at Kuredhivaru. I think our room boy (I hate that label, I prefer to say housekeeping) was amazing though. I called for ice two mornings in a row and after that, twice a day when he cleaned, he left a fresh bucket of ice in our refrigerator, The resort was a lot less flexible than Kuredhivaru as well. The "all inclusive play package" included breakfast and dinner. Breakfast buffet was pretty good, with made to order eggs. The dinners were also good, however, you both had to agree to eat at the same place (no mix/match) and you either had buffet or you could go al a carte and have 1 appetizer, 1 main and 1 dessert each, all from the same restaurant. The minibar was included in our package, but felt pretty skimpy as they only give you 1 candy bar and 1 small can of pringles per day. Not each, just 1 of each to share. The soda, beer, wine and liquor, however, were unlimited and could be filled as often as you wanted. We are snackers, so the lack of snacks was not optimal. The Play package came with a resort credit of $400 a day ($2400 for our stay). We used it for daily 90 minute couples massages and still had $600 left that we didn't use. We'd planned to use it for snorkeling trips but I was stung by a Portuguese Man o' War, which killed my desire to be in the water. The staff were super great about rushing vinegar to our villa and checked in on me several times, which was super sweet. Definitely go to the island and carefully walk the waterline looking for those blue devils before you decide to get in the water. If you see them on the beach, they are being washed in and will be in the water! The spa here is AMAZING. It's won World's Best awards and it's evident. From the moment you arrive until you leave, it's just peaceful, beautiful and oh so relaxing. Highly recommend. The rooms are outdoor rooms and it's super peaceful until the Maldivian National Bird (looks like a small, long-legged hen) starts squacking, hahah!! You do have to use a ferry system to get back and forth between the island and the overwater villas. It runs hourly-ish. We didn't find it as inconvenient as we thought it might be. It worked pretty darn well. It's a 3 -5 min ride across, depending on who's driving, lol! The resort does offer some evening activities like a free movie on the beach with popcorn, DJ nights, Karaoke, etc. Since we were here for our actual anniversity, we ordered the floating breakfast, floating tea and the beach BBQ. We had wanted to do the dinner out on the floating v-deck, but the seas were too rough. Al 3 of these were well worth what we paid and made for a fun and romantic anniversary. The night before our departure, we were sent a full itinerary letting us know what time our plane would leave, when we should check out by and when we had to vacate our room. Our flight home wasn't until 10:40pm and the seaplanes don't fly out after 3:30 or so just in case there is weather. We had to vacate our room by 1pm and our seaplane was scheduled for 2:45, which gave us enough time for some lunch. We spent a good amount of time at the airport, but there was some outdoor seating in the food court area, so we just made it work. Something to thin about when you schedule your flight out of Male. As we were waiting to leave, a huge storm rolled in. The seaplane pushed back by 15 mins. It was pouring at the point we had to get into the boat out to the dock where the seaplane was. The staff had umbrellas open and ready for us both headed to the dock and on the dock itself. It was a very nice gesture! Overall, we had an excellent stay and we would recommend this resort as a nice place to stay, but our personal preference would be Kuredhivaru simply for the atmosphere they've created. We would like to thank all of the Angsana Velavaru staff, with special thanks to Leila, Vibeesh and Imran.

We arrived to Angsana Veravaru 10 days ago. On arrival we were greeted with cooling face towels and a delicious sorbet. Check in was quick and our InOcean villa was amazing. The staff that work here are so friendly and accommodating no ask was too big. We would especially like to thank Laila for her friendly manner and for always ensuring we were happy with our meals. I would highly recommend this resort for any special occasion, we came here on our honeymoon and we couldn't speak highly enough about this resort. Vibeesh and Littu were also fantastic staff members who work so hard every day and always ensured we were having an enjoyable holiday.

Heaven on earth is here! The staff is as amazing as the place. Many activities to discover, a superb quality of food and an idyllic atmosphere! Thanks to the entire team and especially to Yazid and Yana for their kindness. CHOUKOURIYA! Naïs!

Magnificent hotel, very relaxing with lots of activities to do, incredible scuba diving experiences! Varied and excellent food. A quality of service at the height and very available. Thank you all and especially to Yana and Yazid ! Esther.