Hotel Westin a Miriandhoo

What an amazing holiday. I travelled with my husband and 2 teenage children, my 80-year-old parents, my sister and her 2-year-old baby girl from Australia. It was our first extended family holiday. We stayed in the 2-bedroom beach villa which was modern and generous in size, with a separate bedroom, lounge and oversized bathroom, comfortably accommodating 8 guests. The beds were heavenly and each night I was able to have the deepest sleep. The Westin was built in 2018 and the modern look of the bedrooms and bathrooms was apparent. It would have been nice to stay in the over-water villas, but these were occupied at the time. Unfortunately, when I was booking the accommodation, the reservations staff incorrectly advised that the over-water villas could only accommodate 3 people – whereas when we were able to peak inside one of them when we there – they clearly accommodated 4. The hospitality was second to none – we have travelled all over the world and would have to say that the staff at the Westin were, by far, the most professional, courteous and well-meaning hotel staff that we have ever dealt with. From waiting at the Westin Lounge in Male, where we were treated with yummy snacks, to the huge musical fanfare welcome on arrival, we felt very indulged from the moment we arrived into the Westin’s safe hands. At breakfast and dinner each day in the Island Kitchen - Deepak Kumar – Head of Food and Beverage and Laurent Reynieix – Resort Manager – made us feel that they genuinely cared about our comfort and well-being. They connected with us on a very personal level. Head Chef Fahdrul and Chef Min went out of their way to accommodate our dietary requirements and make our favourite dishes on request. My dad who spent his childhood in Malaysia was treated to some very special authentic Malaysian food by Fahdrul. There was plenty of variety from Italian, Continental, South-East Asian and Indian with both vegetarians and non-vegetarians being catered for. Desserts were plenty. My daughter and father were well looked after by Santosh and Rohit on the tennis court and in the well-equipped gym. Whilst we were lucky that there was no rain during our trip, it was extremely windy and difficult to swim and snorkel safely in those conditions. The beach was rocky and it was hard to navigate the rocks to get to a safe snorkelling depth without getting scratched. Once we made it a safe depth the fish and coral we saw were beautiful and colourful. It was like swimming in an aquarium - much like the Nemo movie. We saw a baby shark, a turtle and some dolphins off the island. Whilst the Dive centre was very good, including instructors, Brianna and Chad – who took my husband and two children on our first scuba dive, I think it would have been better if there was more complimentary “supervision” and guidance for snorkelers swimming on the island. Whilst there were activities such as volleyball, yoga and tennis – which was great – complimentary guided snorkelling for an h