Our last stop in the Maldives was at Soneva Fushi. A lush island with nice beaches, delicious food, and fun activities. We stayed there for a total of 3 nights, and we had a great time!
I’ve always wanted to visit the Soneve Resorts, and I’m happy that we not only got to visit Soneva Fushi but also beautiful Soneva Jani over a day trip.
We had two relaxing days at Soneva Fushi, and down below you can read more about the luxury resort in my Soneva Fushi review.
Table of Contents
Room Standard (Villa #4)
I’m not really sure what’s the name of the villa category that we had, but it was villa number 4 at the Soneva Fushi Resort. We had a big beach villa with 2 bedrooms, three bathrooms, pond area with outdoor tub and jungle shower, a terrace with outdoor furniture, balcony with big couch and also a private pool.
Villa #4 was really cool, and I just wish that you could have seen my face when we entered the villa for the first time haha. The front door was just as tall as the 2-story house and there was more than enough space for both me and Alex and 4 more persons.
I really liked the style of the villa. Everything was made of wood and had a really cool natural look to it. It felt like we were staying in a luxury tree house, which I think has been the most peoples dreams as kids. I must also mention that I liked that we could choose how soft/firm the mattress should be, the fluffiness of the pillows and also the scent of the toiletries in the villa – very luxurious if you ask me.
This is what you get when booking Villa #4
- 2 story beach villa
- 2 Comfy bed with mattress and pillows of your own choice
- 3 Bathrooms: 2 with toilet and 1 outdoor bathroom with toilet & shower
- Free toiletries with scent of your own choice
- Livingroom area with flatscreen TV and sound system
- Pond with outdoor tub, jungle shower and outdoor sink area – really cool!
- Kitchen with minibar and free water
- Desk in bedroom on the first floor
- Closet/luggage room with a great make-up mirror, racks for shoes and hangers
- Terrace with outdoor couch and table
- Balcony with two big and comfy outdoor couches and tables
- Private pool
- Air conditioning
- Daily cleaning
- First Aid Kit
- Free mosquito repellant cream, aloe vera after sun, and lotion
NOTE: Bring your own toothbrush and toothpaste, because I don’t think this resort provides that for their guests.
Breakfast
We had breakfast at the main buffet restaurant every morning during our stay. Like I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I’m not a big fan of buffets, but, this one was good. They had many healthy options with lots of fresh salad (from their own garden), different nuts (the had pistachios!!) dark bread and freshly squeezed juice and fresh coconuts. There was also sweet options, local food, Asian food and Indian dishes. We tried little of everything, and from what we tried, it was a good breakfast buffet. They also served different style of coffee and tea.
One thing that I really liked about this breakfast buffet was that they had a small section for the vegans, and they also had soymilk if you wanted to have with your cereals or in your coffee. I haven’t seen that at other resorts, so big thumbs up Soneva Fushi for being a vegan-friendly resort!
Outside your villa
Outside your villa, there are many things for you to do. The resort is surrounded by white soft sand, turquoise waters and a great reef for snorkeling. Other than that, they also offer a spa, several restaurants, bars, cafés, activities, and trips.
One thing that I really like about Soneva Fushi is that it’s a lush island with lots of trees and animals. So make sure to bike around, have a look at the bunnies, birds, and bats that are haning upside down in the trees.
Sunset Dolphin Cruise
Our last day at the Soneva Fushi Resort, we went on the Sunset Dolphin Cruise. It was a nice cruise where they served us champagne and snacks while sailing around the island. The chance is quite big that you get to see dolphins, but sometimes it happens that you’re not so lucky. We were really lucky and had dolphins around the boat all the time jumping up and down in front of the boat – a magical experience.
We even saw them jump up in the air spinning around, and just being happy wild dolphins – like it should be!
If you visit Soneva Fushi, I can definitely recommend you to go on this cruise. Even though if you wouldn’t see any dolphins, it’s still nice to get out at sea and just relax with a glass of champagne in your hand.
Lunch & Dinner
We got to try different restaurants during our stay, and overall, the food was good. For lunch, we had the buffet at Mihiree Mitha two of the days. The food was good to be a buffet, and I was satisfied and happy after leaving the table. We also went to the vegetable garden for lunch one day, to Down to Earth for dinner, and last but not least; the treehouse restaurant, also known as Fresh in the Garden. Down below you can read more about the restaurants.
Down to Earth
The food we had at Down to Earth was very good. We tried some vegetarian dishes, and we both loved the saffron pasta – which was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had. It was a cozy environment by the sea and the service was good, but it was a bit too dark for my taste.
Fresh in the Garden
Fresh in the Garden was probably my favorite restaurant at the resort. It was up in a cool treehouse and we were surrounded by lush nature and could hear the sounds of the animals. The food was good, and I especially liked the dish with prawns, grilled veggies, and couscous.
Vegetable Garden Lunch
I loved the lunch we had at the Vegetable Garden. The lunch started with a little tour around the garden where we got to taste different herbs, veggies, and fresh salad. After the tour, we sat down at the tables next to the garden and had several vegetarian dishes with ingredients from the garden. It was a lovely experience with delicious food, and I can definitely recommend you to make a reservation while you’re staying at Soneva Fushi Resort.
Chocolate Room and Ice Cream & Dessert Room (FREE SWEETS)
One really cool thing they have at Soneva Fushi is that they have a chocolate room and also an ice cream/dessert room where the guests can go in and eat how much they want. It’s open from early in the morning to late at night, which makes it easy to sneak inside a couple of times during the day and eat a chocolate truffle or two. Both the chocolate and the ice cream is homemade on the island, and both are delicious. You can’t really compare the chocolate to the ones we have in Sweden or for example in Finland or Switzerland, but the standard is really good with creative flavors.
And for the ice cream, I think they have around 20 flavors… And for all the vegans out there, they’ve vegan ice cream as well!!
Staff
The staff was very friendly and helpful when we needed something. Most of them love to chat and always say hello when guests are walking/biking by. The service is good at the restaurants, and the chefs are also really talented.
One of our favorite persons at the resort was Sunny, a really nice girl who loves to chat with the guests!
WiFi
The Wifi worked well in our villa and ok at some of the restaurants – some of them not at all. But I don’t really mind that the WiFi isn’t working everywhere when you’re in such a beautiful place like this one. You should be out in the sun doing fun things, not sitting on your phone all the time.
Environmental-Friendly Resort
One thing that I really liked about Soneva Fushi was that they care about the environment. They try to only use materials and food from the island, and they even have their own recycling station. In the future, they’re going zero-waste, which I think is admirable.
I could almost not see any plastic items at the resort, expect the sealing at some of the snacks in the MiniBar. They even provide the villas with a “Paradise Bag”, so the guests can bring back their empty sunscreen bottles etc, that cannot be recycled at the island.
It’s really nice of them to do all this work for the environment.
Location
Soneva Fushi is located on the island of Kundunadhoo in Baa Atoll, which is one of the largest islands in the Maldives. The resort can be reached by a 30 minutes seaplane ride directly from Male Airport or a 20-minute domestic flight from Male Airport to Dharavandhoo followed by a 12-minute speedboat ride.
Summary of stay at Soneva Fushi
Overall, Alex and I had a great stay at Soneva Fushi Resort. It’s a nice resort with lots of nature (for being a resort island in the Maldives). The beach is clean and beautiful, snorkeling is good and I loved that we could see small bunnies, cute lizards, birds, and bats everywhere. The villas are beautiful, the food was good and the service was great as well.
Good to know before booking:
One thing that I just have to point out is that this resort isn’t like the most resorts in the Maldives. Here you don’t really get to be that close to the sea since they don’t have any overwater villas – which I’ve heard that other people didn’t like that much. And I totally understand why since many people’s picture of the Maldives includes water villas where you can go directly for a swim in the turquoise waters.
Soneva Fushi is different. There they have much lush nature and enormous beach villas, which is pretty unique for resorts in the Maldives. I actually appreciated the nature of the island, since I’ve already been to many of those paradise islands with overwater villas, so it was fun to see something different.
If you’re into the whole nature thing and not really fancy to stay in a water villa, then I can recommend you to stay at Soneva Fushi. But if you really want to be close to the sea, I must recommend you to visit their sister-resort Soneva Jani instead, which is one of the dreamiest resorts I’ve ever been to.
What could have been better?
- One thing that I didn’t like was that they sprayed some kind of chemicals or something in the forest one of the days. We didn’t get a note or anything to say what it was or to warn us about it. So we actually biked right through it on our way to the dolphin cruise, and we could feel it wasn’t good to breathe in – and also because the guys who did it were wearing masks. I have no idea why they did it or how often it happens, but if they’re going to do it more in the future, I think the guests would appreciate a hands up from the resort.
- At the main buffet restaurant and also at Down to Earth, it was (personally) a bit too dark for me. I wished that they had more lanterns around the tables since it was hard to see the food on our plates. I actually have perfect sight but I was still a bit bothered about it, and I’m just thinking about the people who have a harder time seeing in the dark.
Would I recommend others to book this? Yes, as long as you’re not expecting overwater villas.
Useful information about Soneva Fushi
Flights and Hotel
What other guests say about Soneva Fushi on Tripadvisor:
Other guests who’ve stayed at Soneva Fushi has written on TripAdvisor about the jungle feeling and the no shoe policy. Reviewers also mention the service and big spacious villas with their own pool. The complaints I could find made by other guests was that they were disturbed by noise, either from construction or various maintenance.
Another thing that was common among the negative reviews was that some guests felt that Soneva Fushi didn’t do anything special for the guests if they wanted something special above the already high price they had to pay even more. As for the noise, I can agree that there should be no construction when you’re on a luxury vacation, but regarding the staff, I felt that everyone was friendly and tried their best to make us feel welcome.
Does Soneva Fushi have Vegan Food?
Yes, they have vegan options!
Map of Soneva Fushi
Down below you can see a map of where Soneva Fushi is located in the Maldives.
Hope you enjoyed this Soneva Fushi review! If you have any further questions about the resort, don’t hesitate to leave a comment with your questions!
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