Went for a relaxing holiday in early December 2011. We stayed in a water villa and had a fantastic time. Was great to have the privacy and be able to swim in the lagoon right by the villa. The ocean side is definitely best for snorkelling. The snorkelling is absolutely wonderful, made the holiday totally worth it. The resort was full when we arrived but you never felt like it was crowded.

We wanted a holiday to the Maldives and so browsed through the Kuoni choices - we picked this resort specifically because the Kuoni brochures and the resort advertised great sailing facilities. It turned out that they did not have the boats they described (there are no lasers). They had only two boats - one pico and one catamaran which you cannot take out without instruction. We are keen sailors so we were not very happy about not being able to sail. The boats were not great to sail and in any case, the boats/watersports centre was on the ocean side rather than the lagoon so taking the boats out risked damaging the coral - which was fair enough, we did not want to cause any damage or problems...we were just annoyed that the facilities were not as advertised. The good things about the holiday made up for that though.

Swimming with the whale shark was unforgettable but there are too many people on the group trips (disturbed the whale shark too much). Staff on the animations team were great. Lovely, Lovely staff in the PADI dive centre, really helpful and patient, particularly Mara.

The water villa restaurant is lovely too but not much variety for vegetarians. If you dont eat meat and fish, expect to eat a lot of carbs! Pasta, bread etc. All in all, a beautiful destination, fantastic snorkelling and felt very lucky to be able to go there in the first place!

We just spent a month in the Maldives--we stayed in 3 different island resorts and 1 week on a dive boat. Our favorite island resort was Athuruga Island Resort. The island is quaint and smaller in size but one you can walk all the way around. The natural beauty, the elegance, the comfort, and the food of the resort is wonderful. We stayed 1/2 the week in a beach bungalow which had a very nice beach in front (bungalow # 31 had a nice breeze at all times) with a nice patio with lounges and a somewhat private beach with lounge chairs as well for each bungalow-the beach bungalows have a great outside bathroom and shower which was so fun--the weather was so warm and perfect--January is a good month weather wise. We then decided to try the over the water bungalows and these are amazing--the size of the water bungalows are very spacious and they have a good sized separation from the other water bungalows. The outside deck area is huge with very fancy furniture (2 large sofas, 2 lounges, dining table with 4 chairs and a huge coffee table--the deck opens to the bedroom with sliding doors which we kept open all night--this outside deck is surrounded by clear opening panels that can be opened or closed with drapes if you prefer privacy--the over the water bungalows also have their own over the water restaurant which is only for the water bungalow guests--it is a la cart and served and is included with the water bungalows. This restaurant is open to the breeze with great views. Food is fantastic--as is the regular buffet restaurant. This is an Italian resort and the chefs are fantastic. This resort is all inclusive and included so much more than other resorts we stayed in--such as free laundry, cappuccinos and expressos, fine wine tasting at your table etc. A wonderful resort--Snorkeling is fantasitc in the home reef---we will definitely go back again and stay in the over the water bungalows where we actually swam with manta rays, and eagle rays just down our private stairs from our bungalow.

I am going to Athurugua for 2 weeks in February having traveled to this wonderful part of the world since 1999. Whilst I can not pen a review of the Island at the moment, I just wanted to say that I have emailed Dinesh in Reservations on 3 seperate occasions over the last few months and have always received a response within 24 hours. I just wanted to put another point of view in case someone wanted to contact the island and felt they wouldn't receive a response in light of the comment in the very negative review dated 25th January. Carol Magill

We spent our honeymoon on Athuruga in an Overwater-Bungalow , All Inclusive .
Before having arrived I tried to contact the resort for several reasons by e-mail, they never answered . This already had given me a strange impression , but having read all the excellent reviews I didn´t bother about this any more.
Should have known better ,should have cancelled the trip...Afterwards you always know better.All the reviews stating this resort as " average,poor or terrible " are right !

The resort is definitely not 5* , only the price is so...
You find tranquillity and nice views everywhere else in the Maldives , so go there instead and save your bucks.

We were given a bungalow on the lagoon side ( shade all day, nosiy seaplanes and dhonis,loud music from the island ) , so we asked to be moved to the lagoon side, which was not possible as told by administration staff Monica , ´cos they were fully booked.I told her we were on honeymoon , this did not change anything .

My wife ist very keen on decoration . Upon arrival I told Monica to do me a favor and have the bed of our bungalow decorated. I had to repeat my wish for several days with several members of the staff , the day before our departure we found the bed decorated ,finally...

Once I ordererd pizza to be delivered to our bungalow . The guy on the phone accepted the order , but it was never delivered .
There is no alcohol in the fridge in the room . Whenever you want to grab a can , you have to call the main reception ,happens they deliver , sometimes happens that not. Housekeeping did not refill tea bags, coffee and water .
They are all attentive , but there is little understanding in their smiles- as stated before by reviewers - and worst of all , obviously little will to fulfill clients´ wishes.

We never ate the mayonnaise dripping, egg or tuna sandwiches served at the bar and being delivered to the room in the afternoon , we found out that they had been prepared at lunch time and waited for hours in bare sun, without cooling facility ,to be delivered to clients . And keep in mind , it is the tropics.We travel a lot, we know. We did not get ill .

Beware of the water. Some reviews tell about ear infections and diarrhea. On a windy day you will find sewage sludge and foam on the surface of the water round your bungalow as we did. When asked , the cart´s driver lied at us that this was coral and sand .
Mate, we were silly enough to come to Athuruga , but we are not that silly to believe such a bad lie...
When snorkeling , we found the sewage line under water ... No sewage plant existing for sure...

Only clients , who have booked the more expensive Overwater option can have dinner in the Overwater Restaurant which is included in the rate, when having booked a beach bungalow , you have to pay 110 US $ extra per person .
Food and service in the Overwater Restaurant were Mediterranean Style , enough options to choose from .We were being served by Saamy , who really was perfect .
Once we decided to have a look at the buffet style dinner in the Main Restaurant on the island :
We are kind of people who like to combine different dishes and take out .
So we went for some curry and tried to take it out to the seats in front of the restaurant , which was the bar area actually, we did not know.
Waiter Zareed told me off immediately , the barkeeper did the same to my wife .We found out that it was forbidden to take food out of the restaurant and that we could only have dinner there when having reserved one day in advance . That day the restaurant was fully booked and Zareed could not offer me seating ...although there was obviously some empty tables .More than that , he even asked me if I was a guest of the hotel . Well , what else... on an island in the big ocean ?
As a 5* client you do not expect all this .
I have to explain that having buffet style dinner in the Main Restaurant is included in All Inclusive ,too, but I got a bad impression as it seemed to me rather loud there, music, children grabbing into pots with their hands , the people all seemed to be more kind of clients travelling on a budget . The beach bungalows on the island seem to be rather loud with music, activities and only Italian guests.

The only thing to complain about the Overwater Bungalow is the noisy Air Condition . Always smiling administration lady Ming told me that Planhotels had improved all the things which had gone wrong with Athuruga on the new island of Thudufushi .
Well ,that didn´t help us with problems caused by staff...Would be easy to solve that for experienced managers...

They offer laundry service. Ming offered us express service . After two days, acutally the day before our departure, we were getting anxious where our clothes might be . No one from the reception knew and seemed to care , guys just smiled at us . Administration lady Monica told us literally : " Maybe you will find them in the evening in your room . " Maybe ?
Not the answer you might expect ...So the express service did not work this time ...Maybe...

What left the ultimate impression, on the day of our departure , was the question of always smiling Ming if we could give up our room one hour earlier than having been informed on the departure information form given by the main reception . She told us that there would be new arrivals . Guess what ? Within that hour, we could not see any arrivals to the island .
So we discussed a lot with her , she apologized , finally we were allowed to keep the room for that hour and get even one more lunch .
You really do not want to push staff all the time , only to get what you want on your holiday ,for things which you take for granted, don´t you ? That causes unnecessarily stress.

All this left a very ,very poor impression for a 5*resort . When travelling on a budget , you do not expect more.
When travelling and paying 5* , you do not expect what we had to experience on our honeymoon , which was ruined by the staff of Athuruga .
We will definitely not return and were happy to leave .