Canareef Resort Maldives
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Hulhudhoo, 19060
Update from hotel: This property is temporarily closed until 31/07/2021.
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Situated in the southernmost atoll of the Maldives, lies the idyllic Canareef Resort Maldives, a 271 villa resort that presents the best the country has to offer. Our island spans 4.5 kilometres, which is the longest island resort in the country. Indulge in the multitude of activities the resort has for you to enjoy. Go beneath the waves, experience our 25 unique dive locations and spot dolphins all year round. Leave your inhibitions at home and 'Step Out of The Blue' with us. Canareef Resort Maldives welcomes you with 271 spacious rooms for your honeymoon, friends or family. Each villa is refined by nature and designed for guests to enjoy the lush natural vegetation of the Island. Our villas consists of 80 Sunrise Villas, 71 Sunset Beach Villas and 120 Jacuzzi Villas from sizes of 76sqm - 97sqm. The Equator Crossing to the Resort would be one of the key highlights of your trip to our Island with your loved ones or friends, as guests get to view breath-taking aerial view of the Maldives expansive turquoise blue atolls riddle in the Indian Ocean. All guests to the Island via domestic flight will receive a personalised Equator Crossing Certificate from the Captain of the airplane. Just when you thought the fun and thrills was about to stop, hold on to your seats and be blown away by a short 10-minute exhilarating speed boat ride from Gan International Airport.
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Property amenities
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Fitness Centre with Gym / Workout Room
Free breakfast
Beach
Bicycle rental
Babysitting
Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)
Wifi
Hot bath
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Restaurant
Breakfast available
Breakfast buffet
Poolside bar
Diving
Tennis court
Fishing
Table tennis
Kids club
Airport transportation
Shuttle bus service
Spa
Couples massage
Foot massage
Full body massage
Head massage
Concierge
Sun umbrellas
Dry cleaning
Laundry service
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Room features
Air conditioning
Private balcony
Room service
Safe
Minibar
Refrigerator
Flatscreen TV
Room types
Ocean view
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Family rooms
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HOTEL STYLE
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406Reviews142Q+A97Room tips
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+1
Place is acceptable if it was priced appropriately. I've stayed in dumps... I also paid an appropriate price for it. Charge a 4-5 star price we expect that level of service. 300usd a night over Xmas. 140 usd "required" Xmas eve and new years eve dinner... Written in small fine print to scam people with sticker shock coz we didn't read down to the bottom. Charging 70 usd for a 10 min boat ride and then saying you need to pay additional 150usd coz you're the only guest?? That wasn't in the fine print... And you still won't honor the fee you charged. Great excuse manager "we aren't like those 5 star resorts near Male, Maldives"...We're a budget operator ripping you off. Mop the floors please... Throw away stained curtains. The acoustics of the villas are terrible... When it…
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Date of stay: December 2019
Helpful
Response from KevinGTheseira, General Manager at Canareef Resort Maldives
Responded 9 Jan 2020
Dear Agrios, Thank you for taking the effort to leave a comment on Tripadvisor. We have looked at your concerns and would like to inform you of the following:- Please note that it is the norm in Maldives to levy a supplementary charge for both Christmas and New Years Eve Dinner for all Resorts. This would be indicated online as well as if you had booked through a Travel Agent. It will also be again indicated on the Email confirmation. Yes, we charge guests USD 70.00 per person for a return transfer Gan-Canareef-Gan. I however do not understand why you would say that you would need to pay USD 150.00 for the transfer unless you have requested for a private hire. Guests are sent and picked up based on our rates as we group our guests for departure and arrival. If you had requested for a different time and a speedboat for yourself then only would you be required to pay USD 150.00. If you indeed paid USD 150.00 for a transfer that was already scheduled, the Resort is definitely in the wrong and should reimburse you for the charge.Please contact us if this is so. To say that we are ripping you off is definitely not true as you were previewed to the rates and charges prior to booking. We are also sorry that our staff did not take good pictures, but isn't it a norm to look at a picture to see if it was to your liking. I have also checked and no guest was charged USD 150.00 for transfer. We did however have a guest who arrived with Jet Crew who decided to stay on after the jet crew departed who requested for a specific departure time but when informed that it would be a private hire decided to go with a combined transfer. Your view of floors, curtain, supplies and a proper Chef have been received with thanks and we will look at these areas in order to give our guest a better guest experience. Again Thank you for your comments
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its the Maldives, exactly what you should expect... .beautiful beaches and sea. the rooms are spotless and the facilities are good for a tropical island. Get a sunset villa and they come with bikes if you do AI. Food is very good in the restaurant. But here is the catch. Dont bother with a hot tub room. you get the hot tub, but they charge you $50 everytime you fill it up! and it carries on from there. there are hidden charges everywhere and i was overcharged when doing some diving. i had to argue this out with the jobsworth cashier who sorts your bill out at the end of the holiday. it seems he doesnt know the meaning of customer courtesy. Most of the staff were similar though, especilally the bar staff, i felt guilty ordering an alcaholic drink. All in all, a stunning place but…
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Date of stay: December 2019
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from KevinGTheseira, General Manager at Canareef Resort Maldives
Responded 10 Jan 2020
Dear MikeC265, Thank you for taking the effort to write about Canareef Resort Maldives on TripAdvisor on your stay and giving your comments. You stayed with us from the 30th of December 2019 to the 4th of January 2020 in room 163. With regards to the Jacuzzi, if you had booked a Jacuzzi Villa it will definitely include the filling of the Jacuzzi. Your booking is for a Sunset Villa and therefore does not include the use of a Jacuzzi. As we do have some Jacuzzi's in Sunset Villas we charge USD 50 per fill should the guest wish to have that as an extra feature. The Jacuzzi takes about 968 liters of water and you can understand that there would definitely be a cost for the water and the running of the Jacuzzi. We are sorry that you were not explained of this on arrival. On the issue of the Dive Center I have gone through the invoice and the problem that you had faced. This was clearly an error from the Dive Center where they charged you on the 31st of December 2019 for a Dive and again added that amount to the Dive on the 3rd of January 2020. You had brought this up when receiving your bill upon checkout. The Dive Center management was contacted immediately and rectification was done to your bill before your departure. We have already contacted the Dive Center Owner to inform him that we cannot afford such errors as it greatly affects our guests. They have assured us that more measures will be introduced in order that this does not happen again. The speedboat trip between Gan and Canareef is 15 minutes on a good calm day and can stretch to 20 to 25 minutes depending on the sea condition. We charge between USD 35 and USD 40 per person per trip depending on the contracted rate. We do apologize for the issues above and again thank you for taking your time to write concerning your stay. We can assure you that we are not in the business of hiding charges. Thank you.
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Canareef Resort is a decent resort, however not 4-star as advertised. We had bed bugs in our bed and we were bitten by them. There is not much activities/excursions on the island. Check-in was disorganised. Most staff do not know or understand English, causing a language barrier. The room champagne and snacks we ordered were flat and rotten. The restaurants did not have most of the wines on their wine list menu. The buffet menu got repetitive and boring during the stay.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Helpful
Response from KevinGTheseira, General Manager at Canareef Resort Maldives
Responded 10 Jan 2020
Dear Vacationer532381, Thank you for making the effort to write about your stay in Canareef Resort Maldives on TripAdvisor. You stayed with us from the 15th of December 2019 to the 22nd of December 2019 (Room 118) We have investigated the issues that you have brought up and have come up with the following: - • On the 16th of December 2019 at 8:42 Hrs you had requested to spray your room, this was done and reconfirmed at 9:37 Hrs that the room had been sprayed. • On the 18th of December 2019 at 9.26 Hrs you had requested to change the bedding's which was done. Checked again at 10:26 Hrs confirming that it had been done. • On the 19th of December 2019 at 15:39 Hrs you reported that one of your reading light was fused, this was replaced. Checked again at 16:15 confirmed done. • On the 15th of December 2019 at 19:14 Hrs you had a room service order of: - 2 Mineral Water/1 orange Juice/1 Mango Juice/1 Taitinger 375 Ml/ 1 Cognac 50 ml and 2 packets of Cashew nuts. You are totally correct in saying that there was a problem with the bottle of Taitinger 375 ML that it was flat and the cashew nuts which were not crunchy as they should be. Both items were checked and you were asked if you would like the items replaced, at which you preferred to cancel the order. The order was then cancelled and you were not charged for the items. Please note that it is not normal for a Bottle of Taitinger to be flat and we would only be able to know about it after the bottle is opened. During your stay after the first night you did approach our GRE to inform her that you had bites on your legs and arms and a swollen eye. You have above mentioned that it was due to bed bugs. Numerous checks on your room revealed no bedbugs when checked during your stay to the present. What’s even more surprising is that you had felt better during the latter part of your stay without changing your room which would not be the case if it was bedbugs. You were also assisted by one of our staff Mr. Giyas to go to the local Island to purchase an Antihistamine. You would need to understand that bedbugs are an Innkeepers worst nightmare. If there were indeed bedbugs the first sign would be blood spots on your sheets and darkish blood from their feces which were not present. At no time from the time that you stayed until now have we found any bed bugs. If we had found bedbugs we would have to close down the room for more than a week, and check all items before moving you to another room. The said room would then have to be thoroughly fumigated and dry steamed to kill the bedbugs at a temperature above 180 degrees Celsius to ensure all eggs are destroyed and only opened when we are sure that there are absolutely no bedbugs or eggs remaining. To therefore allege that there were bedbugs when you had an allergic reaction to something would not only be unethical but slanderous. Apart from the issues above we had not received any other complaints from you during your stay. You have further mentioned that there are not much activities on the island. We have Snorkeling, Island Tours, Night Fishing, Big Game Fishing, Morning Fishing, Dolphin Cruise, Various Water sports activities and A fully equipped Dive Center. We also have facilities which you could do on your own like Gym, Tennis, Volleyball, Billiards and Ping Pong. We are sorry that you found our buffet boring as we try to have a mixture of items for everyone. We would also like to apologize and would have to admit that some of the wines from our menus were not available as even though we had kept stock, we had not anticipated the overwhelming requests for wine before and during the festive season. We are also not able to replenish stock immediately as Alcohol is a very controlled item and can only be brought in from Male though a bonded warehouse. Thank you again for your comments.
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+1
Service/travel Coming from Colombo to Male a Canareef representative was waiting for us, bringing us to the domestic terminal and providing us with boarding passes. On Gan island the same, bringing us to the boat. At the island itself a instruction and explanation was given which was helpful. So far a fantastic experience. Sunset Villa Not new, but a great place to stay! Close to the beach, wonderful nature nice deck with table and two deckchairs. Of course AC in the room, satellite TV and an outside bathroom. The fridge is dirty in its rubbers, water is not draining after taking a shower. Again it shows it is an older resort with lack of maintenance. But the sea and location makes it up. Resort itself 1-shop Sels rubbish. I suggest they start selling some more F&B for…
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Date of stay: January 2020
Helpful
Response from KevinGTheseira, General Manager at Canareef Resort Maldives
Responded 6 Feb 2020
Dear marcelbN5727KA, Thank you for the effort and taking your precious time to write about Canareef Resort Maldives on TripAdvisor. I have checked and you stayed with us as follows: Checked in: 1st of January 2020 Checked out: 9th January 2020 Room Number: 150 We are glad that your arrival was well organized and you found your Villa comfortable, the buggy services good. The resort is a bit aged but we are making rectification and renovations all the time in order to better both the Villas and the facilities as well which include the South Beach which was actually only made two years ago. We also try to give a range of food for the Buffet Restaurant which would suit a variety of guests from Vegetarians to guest who prefer meat dishes and have a menu that is fixed for 14 days. Breakfast however is quite standard. Thank you for your comments on your villa fridge rubber and shower drain we will definitely look into these issues. You had commented on no drinks or food at the pool which is not correct, we do have two pools, one at the Meera bar and the other at the Dhoni Bar, both bars serve drinks but food can only be ordered at the Meera Bar. Our bicycles are priced at USD 4 per person per day and beer cost from USD 7.00++ to USD 9.00++ depending on the brand of beer you order. During the high season, New Year’s we did run out of cheaper bottles of wine for a short period, we do apologize for that. For the Spa the usual price for a treatment would be at USD 49 for back and foot massage 40 Minute going up to USD 125 for Balinese full body massage for 80 minutes and more elaborate treatments at higher prices, there was also an early bird massage in December, January for 2-person X 50 minute full Balinese massage at USD 100.00. Our prices are very competitive compared to other resorts and the spa has always got good comments on their service and treatments. I therefore do not know how you can compare a USD 10 an hour massage in Sri Lanka to what we offer here. You have also indicated that “Paying is OK if you are offered a good experience, which is not the case here.” I have however checked and you did not at any time use the Spa whilst you were here. Yes, we do use instant coffee (Nescafe) for our rooms but have fresh coffee available in our outlets. We do not think that our prices are excessive if compared to other Resorts in the Maldives. Please also note that soft drinks, beer and mini bar items are available and would be placed in your room if you order the items, they are however not sold in the shop. The guest shop sells souvenirs, sun cream, ice cream and other necessities that you might need whilst here. We do not serve fried pizza and neither do we have that on the menu. We are indeed sorry that you were served cold chips but wish that you had let us know immediately so that it could have been rectified. We would also need to apologize to you on the issue of beach towels as I can clearly see from the reports that you had requested for Beach Towels on three occasions during your stay and one for bath towels mainly in the afternoon. We have therefore briefed the staff concerned to be more attentive to guests amenities and the expected. As you stated we are connected by bridge to a local Maldivian island. You had stated that you felt unsafe, in all the years that we have been operating there has been no incident with guests on this local island. We do inform guest that there is no cottage industry there and it is only to actually see a native local island which has a school, bank, shops, restaurants, hospital, fishing port, mosque and local residences. Locals are usually also very friendly with our guests. Regarding water sports, The Jet Ski is priced at USD 80++. You are referring to a package at USD 400 which includes guide, private dolphin tour, snorkeling at special sites, inclusive of life jacket and snorkel and mask with video footage of the activities and Jet Ski for two persons. We do however agree that it is quite odd to not be able to ride a jet ski on your own but this is due to the high CC 1,800 of the Jet Ski and the many hidden coral formations where a guide would be necessary to make sure that an accident does not happen. We are however looking at the possibility of clearing an area specially for this activity so guests are able to ride on their own. Again we would like to thank you for your very comprehensive comment on the resort as it helps us to better areas which need improvement and correct service shortfalls.
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We have just returned from a 14-day stay at this resort. This has been an extremely disappointing and horrible holiday experience. This is under no known standard a 4 star resort. We will not recommend this resort to anyone at any price. We have been to the Maldives 12 times before and stayed in various 3 star, 4 star and 5 star resorts before and enjoyed each and every visit thoroughly. However, this is the first time we experienced such terrible service, food and amenities. It was exceedingly unacceptable. It is a massive resort that could accommodate more than 300 guests. Regrettably, they are completely under staffed and under resourced. The blocked drain, a malfunctioning geyser and air conditioner, all in one week, in our room as well as the very limited items and…
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Date of stay: January 2020
Helpful
Response from KevinGTheseira, General Manager at Canareef Resort Maldives
Responded 9 Jan 2020
Dear Sir, Thank you firstly for taking the time to leave your comments on your stay. You had stayed with us from the 22nd of December to the 5th of January. We have checked all the complaint logs for the period and have found that you have made very few complaints whilst here. Most of your requests were for buggy services except for the following: - 22.12.2019 at 11:44Hrs Request for more hangers and confirmed again at 13:00hrs that they were delivered. 02.01.2020 at 08:55Hrs A/C not working well and no hot water this was also rectified and confirmed at 14:30Hrs During your stay our Executive Housekeeper had also met up with you on several occasions and even asked you how your stay was going at which you replied ok. You also gave him several suggestions like serving Milkshake as part of the AI and too add alcohol to the beach bar service. You had also mentioned that you did not like the attitude of some Asian guests and how they did not respect queuing for food. Leading us to instruct the Food and Beverage Manager to inform Asian guest politely should they just barge into a Que. At no time did you approach us with any of your concerns concerning your stay. You have also indicated that complaints from other guests have been totally ignored. Please note that we do take complaints very seriously and will en-devour to solve any complaint from guests where possible. Yes, we do not have a house reef as it is quite a way from the island. Having made your reservation through ATO you would have been previewed to the list of items served by the glass on All Inclusive as well as information on the resort that the resort does not have a house reef. I do apologize and admit that we did run out of Tonic Water and Fanta for one day before having in flown down from Male but due to the logistics and location of the resort most of our guests were very understanding. We have about 97 Sun Loungers at the end of the island and yes I do admit that we had a very busy period. We could have however added more loungers if required. It would have been good if you had voiced your concerns whilst here as we would have been able to perhaps do more for you. Once again I thank you for your comments
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PRICE RANGE
US$165 - US$947 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
j resort handhufushi hotel addu atoll, j hotel handhufushi, j hotel addu atoll
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
J Resort Handhufushi
LOCATION
MaldivesAddu AtollHerathera Island
NUMBER OF ROOMS
271
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