This is the first time we have ever posted a review on Trip Advisor, naughty when you consider how extensively we use it – will try harder in future!

My partner and I visited Centara twice in the last year, the first time we have EVER returned to the same resort – yes we enjoyed it that much!

We initially visited for 14 nights in March 2011 for 14 nights and stayed in a Sunset Water Villa Island Club. For us the room was ideal, and we spent many happy hours feeding the fish in the reef, snorkelling (which is fantastic) and relaxing.

All the restaurants were fantastic and the buffet (as other reviewers have said) first class, Executive Head Chef Tim works hard to meet the guests and solicit feedback for improvements. Fortunately for us we are big Thai fans and loved the Thai restaurant.

Turning, for a moment, to some of the negatives that you regularly see in the reviews of Centara; the sea defences, yes they are ugly, but they serve a purpose and it is only when the tide is low that they present themselves, fantastic snorkelling around them and you soon learn to ignore them. I am sure the team at Centara will make improvements over time. These are not a reason not to go!

Island Club, is it worth it? For us yes, we enjoyed the superb service of the team headed by the ever excellent Shelly, the pool was used from time to time and the canapés at sunset, along with the Kir Royale’s worked for us. Is it for everyone, no, it depends on what you want from your holiday – for us it was perfect and worth the money.

I would have to agree that some of the charges such as the in-room mini bar and Wifi should be revisited, for me I would like all inclusive to be all inclusive.

Whoever experienced alleged poor service at Centara needs to look at themselves rather than the staff, everyone worked really hard to ensure that we had a great time, and if you engage with the staff they engage with you and always work hard to deliver excellence.

Bugs - you are in the tropics course there are bugs, but they fog every day and you can spray your rooom!

We returned to Centara again just after Christmas and stayed for 9 nights over the New Year. We had not made our return known and on the first day we were “spotted” - the way in which we were treated was absolutely superb, in fact faultless. We have to give special thanks to Ranil, Hamish, John, Doi and Tim for their hospitality and friendship on our return. Every member of staff (particularly the house band – who are excellent) were pleased to see us and genuinely made an effort to thank us for returning. While talking about staff, we should make special mention of King in the buffet who was ever present and provided superb service every day.

We noted a number of changes and improvements on return, with a continuous programme of improvement to upgrade the decking and walkway (better wood was needed and is being fitted), improvements to the beach defences, etc. Centara can only get better!

We had a fantastic evening at New Year, the details of which can be summarised by the quality of the hangover the next day, having got to bed early at around 4am.

Our recommendation would be go and enjoy – if something is not quite right for you, then talk to the team, Hamish and Ranil will always sort something for you - just ask, don’t do nothing and then write a poor review afterwards – the guys are there to make your holiday the best they can and they will!

We’ll be back – John keep that Santa suit ready!

The Maldives have a lot of reputation to live up to, and whether it does really depends on what type of holiday you like.
Centara is a great choice for a family with kids. recommend the beachfront villas over the water villas especially in terms of value for money.
Best tip is to go for the Island Club upgrade. Far higher quality of food, service and the alcohol actually tastes like alcohol rather than the dodgy local brands served in the regular bars.

Snorkelling around the atoll is pretty decent but not a patch on Borneo or Komodo. Turtles, schools of fish, eels etc

Activities are ludicrously expensive. Whale shark trips are rather like low cost safaris in Kenya, underwhelming yet overwhelmed with people jostling for a view. the dive operation at Centara is similarly overpriced with a cavalier view about safety, if you are inexperienced beware.

The floatplane trips are fun but the airport is shambles and barely able to cope with the weight of traffic.

Overall probably not worth the expense, but it is similar to French Polynesia in that if you choose the hotel and location carefully it is possible to get away from the mass tourism feel of the place, where customers are processed through and leave with lighter wallets.

We were at Centara for our honeymoon in the first 2 weeks of December 2011. We stayed in the Luxury Sunset Water Villas, Island Club, rm 63.

It was our first time to the Maldives and after researching various islands for a while, decided on Centara because of the house reef's reputation, proximity to good Whale Shark spotting territory and the fact that given it's price point as a 4 and a half star hotel, we could manage to stay in the best room available, instead of say, a non-water type villa in a 5 star resort.

It met all of our expectations, and beyond. The room, food, service, and facilities were all faultless in our opinion. We genuinely have nothing to point out as a down side, but I might use my review to explain our opinions on 4 distinct points versus some of those in other reviews that potential travellers may be concerned by:

In our pre-trip research, we got the impression that some reviewers were concerned that it wasn't a five star hotel. Well, they don't profess to be a five star hotel - all of the marketing material we'd seen was clearly marketing as 4 star premium. From a food and service point of view, we would argue that they do indeed reach 5 star levels, but perhaps the odd bit of maintenance here and there is required to bring it up a bit further. As already stated though, their price point is much more affordable at 4.5 star than 5 star and all-inclusive 5 star hotels in the Maldives are currently few and far between.

Some reviewers were concerned about the degree of beach erosion, and to some extent, this is a valid point. If you stay in 95% of the rooms it probably doesn't affect you, but there are a couple of patches of beach were some yellow + blue sand bags are visible and the concrete wave barriers are obvious. - if you were unlucky to have a beach villa at these parts, then I can imagine you might be disappointed with your view.

Island Club vs non-Island Club......from what I can gather most of those who paid for Island Club seemed to be glad that they did, while those who opted not to, seemed to think that it wasn't required and would be a waste of money. I have to say that we thoroughly enjoyed the Island club aspect and would happily pay the extra again if we return - it's simply just a lovely spot to be - a great pool, tiny extra touches like pool side service that make a difference, a few more drinks to choose from and another excellent restaurant to eat at.

Children.....can a child-friendly resort also be a good honeymoon destination?.....we travelled outside term time so there were just a handful of pre-school aged children around. the resort never felt busy anyways at the time we were there - no problem booking a restaurant or getting a table at the reef restaurant (though I think going Island Club makes reservations easier). The island didn't feel busy or built-up to us as some suggest (though we don't have the experience of other places to compare with). the snooker table, table tennis table, pool table etc in the 'teen zone' area are a great bonus to adults too......

So overall, the few criticisms we'd seen from others before we went, didn't affect our enjoyment of the holiday in the least.

I think the main thing to add about the hotel that they seem to fail to market to their advantage, though, is the simply stunning house reef. I've been lucky enough to snorkel and dive in lots of different places, but the snorkelling just off the steps from your room is truly the best I've seen. My wife had never been snorkelling before, but loved every second of it - black + white-tip reef sharks, octopus, turtle, sting rays, eagle rays, grouper, anemone fish, all seen on a daily basis, along with hundreds of other colourful species. It was people's reports of the house reef being one of the best in the Maldives that partly swayed us towards this hotel and I personally don't think it can be underestimated how much it added to our holiday - obviously some will enjoy this aspect more than others but if you've got the slightest interest in doing some snorkelling on your holiday then you need to be careful where you travel - plenty hotels don't have much of a reef at all, or else you can only get to it on a boat trip. Within an hour's boat journey from Centara, you also have a chance of seeing Whale Sharks from roughly May to December and Manta Rays from December to May.

Finally, I want to give a special mention to the staff at the Dive Centre. I did a number of dives while there - including the fantastic 50m wreck, just sitting on the sea bed not far from the centre itself, and also the world-class Kudarah Thila, less than an hour away by boat. All of the staff were friendly and professional and you felt in very safe hands. Bela, the dive centre manager strives for and achieves fantastic customer service - nothing is a problem for them and being able to make the most of the world-class diving in the vicinity really helped make the holiday extra special. Thank you.

I have recently stayed at the Centara and I was very disappointed; in my opinion, this resort is highly over-rated.

No value for Money.

The Good; staff genuinely friendly; Kids Club

The Bad; the food selection is limited (Main Dishes); Management staff; bugs in my Villa

Will I ever return? Not Way