Right hear goes.

Travelled to the Lily beach for 14 nights with Tradewinds & Qatar airways flights via Doha.

On arrival at the hotel we were greeted with a flower garland round our necks and fresh juice drink and sandwiches which were very welcome after the long flight.

The check in was fast and courteous and we were offered a water bungalow for the first night as our beach bungalow was not available. This meant that we could not unpack but it did give us the experience of one night in the water bungalow which we thought was great but in our opinion not worth the extra cash.

The staff were very helpfull throughout the first night and carried our bags etc to the room.

We were first allocated room 211 and the moved the the beach bungalow 122 which was a great location in the middle of the island between the pool bar and the main restaurant.

Our roomboy Faruhad was very professional and the room was serviced twice a day and we had some lovely floral decorations over the two weeks we stayed.

I signed up for the Discover Scuba package with the Ocean Pro dive team which gave me one lagoon dive off the North side of the island and one dive to 12m off the South side. I think if you have ever fancied giving diving a go try it at the Lily Beach. The instruction and the underwater sights on the house reef were fantastic.

The restuarant served a good selection of meals and the soups were fantastic. We especially enjoyed the Wok Fried meals offered at lunchtime. Our waiter was also very friendly and was a wealth of knowledge when it came to the football scores.

The main bar served a good selection of drinks and two different cocktails each night which were potent and included in the all inclusive package. The waiters were all very mannered and took great pleasure in ensuring you never had an empty glass.

All in all this was a dream holiday and i cannot fault the service or the quality of the island and would definitley visit again if possible.

The food was excellent and varied.

Everywhere was very clean and our room was made up twice a day. Most of the staff were attentive and friendly.

We were looking for a chill out break and that is what we got.

No shoes No news as they say! Fantastic.

My husband and I spent seven perfect nights a Lily Beach in a superior room which was immaculate and cleaned twice a day by our room boy.

The bar and restaurant were also spotless with the waiters picking up dirty dishes and glasses as soon as they were put down.The food was buffet style and even the most fussy eater would struggle not to find something that they like.

Breakfast consisted of a choice of: a selection of fruit,cereals,yogurts,musli,pancakes and cooked breafast items: additionally, the chef would make any variations of egg that you requested.

Lunch and dinner choices were again wonderful (especially if you enjoy curries and spicy food) with a good choice and variety of dishes which always included fish.

We kept the same table throughout our stay and also the same waiter who was exeptionally attentive and smiled constantly, even though he always appeared to be on duty.

The bar staff were also wonderful and as soon as your drink was finished (or nearly Finished) they were over looking to offer another.

Entertainment was very low key and was based in the Pool bar and although we weren't looking to be entertained, we did attend a live band one night which was very good.

The hotel did have a very good mixture of nationalities who all appeared to integrate well together.

There were a few children who were all very well mannered and behaved - apart from one small group of English boys aged about 8-12 yrs who had obviously struck up a friendship and on most days hung about the area of the pool,but occasionally ventured on to the beach to hire(free) pedalos etc without the supervision of their parents.They clearly enjoyed the sound of their own voices and made sure that everyone around heard them) This however was not an everyday occurrence and certainly did not spoil our holiday.

Well here goes

Trip report 05/03/2006

Arrived at Gatwick Airport at 1.30 pm, used Tudor Rose meet and greet, just rang them as we exited the M23, waited at arrival for them for about 5 minutes before handing the car over to them, they charged us

What a fantastic island! We had read so much before we went that we hoped it all lived up to expectations. Wow! it certainly did. Arrived After a good First Choice flight and stayed in rooms 156 & 157, which was right at the back of the restaurant, so there was no chance of walking off all that wonderful food. Not being a great curry fan myself I did try some and the vegetable curry was superb, so much so that I went back for seconds. Also real cheese in abundance, which I love and ate at every opportunity. The staff in the bars and restaurants were wonderful and always there to help you if you needed anything. Entertainment was very low key, but no one seems to mind the peace and quiet with no loud music blaring. People tend to sit and talk at night or play cards.

We had only just arrived and were going into lunch when we saw lots of people standing on the beach, so we went to have alook and there were the dolphins out in the ocean. A wonderful sight which we have never experienced in all our times in the Maldives.

Our rooms were always clean and tidy and well serviced. We also tried the laundry service which was excellent.

We were situated on the north side of the island and had the sun all day long. The sand had quite a lot of coral in it and made walking a bit difficult at times, but nothing a pair of flip flops wouldn't sort out. The snorkelling was wonderful and you didn't have to go too far to find some wonderful fish. We found snorkelling by the turtle pens was brilliant as you had some really big fish there and sometimes the turtles would swim by.

Night fishing - a must! So much fun, we went out three times. Caught some great fish which were cooked for us the following evening and tasted delicious, especially the Oily Grouper!!

Went out on the pedallos a few times which was superb, especially on the days when the sea was so still and you could look straight down over the edge of the reef and see all the beautiful fish below you.

The only down side to the holiday was nothing to do with Lily Beach at all, we could not fault it. But we had a 51 hour delay in getting home due to a problem with the aircraft. This necessitated us staying over on two different islands for the next two nights. Not the best end to a holiday, but it did give us the opportunity to see some other islands. We were put up on Olhuvelli and Paradise Island. Very nice, beautifully furnished, but far too big for our liking. We liked the small intimate feel of Lily Beach, so much so that we have booked again for next year. Something we have never done in the Maldives and this was our sixth visit.

All in all I can say it rated 10 out of 10 in our book!

What can I say ? An amazing holiday that left us blue to come home.

The hotel was clean & tidy and the location was perfect. A tiny island in the middle of no where !

All members of the staff were friendly and could not do enough to help.

Lily Beach April 2005


Well, here goes. This report will definitely not be as comprehensive as Joe

Here is my report on Lily beach in the maldives.
26/6/04 - 10/7/04 With Tradewinds and Emirates

We flew out of Manchester with Emirates what luxury for economy class, superb food and drink, excellent service, fantastic entertainments system. It was our silver wedding anniversary and they had given us some extra leg seats for free and also came round with a cake, champagne and strawberrys!!! what a suprize. We changed at Dubai for our onward flight to the Maldives without any stress or hassle.

Arrived at Male for our seaplane Transfer we were met by representatives for tradewinds who guided us through and sorted our luggage. The sun was glistening on the clear green waters of the sea which surrounds the island airport what a site!!

We were soon up in the air and on our way to Lily beach in a sixteen seater sea plane within 25 mins we were touching down at the pontoon with our boat waiting to take us to the island 5 mins away.

We were greated with flower garlands and beating drum as we were shown into reception to fill in the registration card whilst sipping a cool drink and being given cold towels.

We stayed in a water bungelow (204) this was fantastic the water at our doorstep and lovely open air bathroom.
They also knew it was our anniversary decorating our dinner table with flowers and bringing us a special cake, then when we got back to our room we had a bottle of wine on ice along with a large basket of tropical fruit. The room boy had also decorated our bed with flowers and petals, it was so romantic!!

The island is totally all inclusive so no rist bands or money to carry round, any extras such as trips or treatments at the spa are booked to your room and payed for on departure.

The facilities are all first class, the island is spotlessly clean, the food is to die for!!! must have put on 2stone!! The staff all over can not do enough for you . You never have to lift a finger it is heavan on earth total paradise.

The beaches are white sand the water crystal clear always warm and teaming with fish life and coral. You do not have to be a diver to enjoy this as the reef is only few short steps from the beach.

The island it self is full of wild life too. Lots of herons, a pair of fish eagles, a family of fruit bats, gecoes (small lizard) maldivian water hens, even a couple of cockerals and numerous other small birds.

If you can visit the spa it has 3 girls from Bali who can perform miracles!! The treatments are varied but they pamper you from head to toe.

The weather was varied as it was the rainy season we had a couple of very bad storms the likes of which we had never seen before. Even this all added to the tropical experiance, but when the sun was out it was hot, but we found that on one side of the island there was a refreshing sea breeze.

To sum up the whole island is paradise I would recomend it highly to any one and it deserves much more than its 4 star rating.

Will definatly return in the future. Have never had such a relaxing and pampered time as I did there.
EVERYBODY SHOULD VISIT LILY BEACH AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIVES!!

A totally chilled out Marg

Lily Beach resort is one of the best places that I have visited! The hotel is very clean, the rooms are checked twice daily, and the guys who do the cleaning go out of their way to ensure everything is right for you, ask for anything and it wont be long before it's sorted.

Food is all buffet style, but there is a wide and varied choice rnaging from Western, to Thai, Indian etc. Even tried the Banana curry which believe me was excellent.

The location is 25 minutes in a sea plane from the capital Male, doesn't seem that long as the views of the other islands takes your mind off the noise of the planes (good tip is to take ear plugs for the sea plane journey).

Staff are excellent, nothing is too much trouble, yet they are unobtrusive when you're out and about on the island.

Entertainment was a little lacking, but due to the nature of the holiday and where the island is you're not going to get live entertainment every night. There was traditional Maldivian dancing and a disco arranged weekly, but again I don't think it detracts from the whole experience.

Have booked again for next April 2005.