We stayed for 10days on Paradise Island with our 7 and 10 year old. WOW!!! We arrived at Male hot and sticky after an uncomfortable flight and were whisked away to Paradise on a speedboat which took 10 minutes.

On arrival it looked beautiful and just what you imagine paradise should be like. Greeted with cold towels and the first of many cocktails!

We went all inclusive and found it to be very good value for money. All soft drinks ,spirits and water included. Drinks at lunchtime were were either soft drinks, wine, fruit juice or beer.

All inclusive drinks have to be bought from main or beach bar but they do serve them in plastic glasses if you want to take them back to your room! Food was nice and lots of choice. Choice of English, Chinese, Italian and Indian on every serving with lots of extras. All very tasty.

The Italian restaurant at the end of the getty is a must (reef sharks swim round there at night) .We went there on 2 occasions and although not included on the all inclusive was very reasonably priced.

Rooms and all areas of the resort were very clean although not super plush but what we expected really. Air con was very welcome.

Staff were so friendly nothing was too much trouble. They were absolutely fantastic with our kids who enjoyed all the attention. Pool was small but adequate. Why would you want to swim in a pool when the lagoon is nearer?

Evening entertainment was nice. Had a crab racing night which was a hoot and everyone enjoyed it. Also had beach barbecue night, Island hopping trips and night fishing which was great fun. Apart from that a couple of live bands and fairly quite music. Don't go to the Maldives for the nightlife.

The lagoon is great. Walking out to thigh height in the water and putting your head in the water introduces you to lots of different fish. Youngest child saw lots of fish snorkeling in waist deep water including a baby reef shark that swam under her.

Eldest went on Padi bubble maker cause off the reef and saw turtles, Moray eels ,sharks and manta rays to name a few.
Try the sunset cruise if you want to spot dolphins we saw hundreds they followed our boat for ages.

All in all a fantastic holiday which we are hoping to do again next year. Same time hopefully as it didnt rain once!

Brochure misleading if you go all inclusive to this hotel, you can only use the main buffet without paying extra, the Italian and Japanese we expected to be included as well as cocktails.

Becareful when signing for drinks as mistakes are made and you will be expected to pay. Full board have to pay for bottles of water 5 dollars from mini bar 3 dollars in restaurants.

Building work is still going on one side, re building water bungalows and sea food restaurant, no beach bar bbq, rock hard sun beds.

On a positive note quick easy transfer, lots of fish out on reef, clean beach bungalows, good location, beautiful sunsets, outstanding beach, turquoise sea.

Stayed for 10 nights in beach bungalow on the east side of island quite a walk from restaurant and main bar/reception (room 342) if you dont want a walk ask where your room is -you are given a map on arrival.

I know some people changed rooms to be near bar/restaurant. While we were there the east side of island was calm sea and no wind - west side of island very choppy water and very windy.

Our room was cleaned at least twice daily to an excellent standard.

Could not fault hotel food plenty of choice and buffet style we upgraded to hb from bb for $20pppd well worth it.

Drinks are expensive around $3.75 small can Becks same for 330ml bottle of soft drink, water $3 litre bottle.

All purchases are signed for, check what you sign for we got caught for a few items that were not ours on checking our bill at end of holiday eg ice creams and coffee from coffee shop that we never had!!!!!

Did not eat/drink there all holiday but were charged for items.
Hotel staff are friendly and helpful. Entertainment was ok live music/disco/karokee most nights.

Our second visit to the Maldives and our second visit to the Villa chain of hotels (our previous stay was at Sun Island).

The journey was long and we had an stop off at Dhoa for a couple of hours. The speed boat ride from Male to Paradise only took about 20 mins - the whole transfer process was quick and easy.

Found the Island still recovering from the disaster on last Boxing Day in some areas - the water bungalows were all closed for refurbishment - as was the Sunrise Resturant. A corner of the island was like a building site - although it was screened off.

However, this in no way affected our holiday. We found the staff service exceptional, the cleanliness of the hotel also exceptional (our room was cleaned twice daily with out fail)Towels changed daily or twice daily as required. Beach towels also supplied daily.

The food was of a very good quality but became some what repetative after about 10 days - although the chef should be complimented for trying many different dishes. The desserts were delicious!

Stayed on an all inclusive basis which we found to be good value for money and many full board guest also said that this was good value for money. Everything was signed for - no cash exchanged hands until the final day when the bill was paid (including the gift shops, trips etc)The only money that was required was for tipping - we tipped on a weekly basis to our resturant waiter, room boy etc.

Limited entertainment on a night but hey, that's what you expect in the Maldives (live bands, disco, crab races, etc )Nothing to do during the day except relax, read, snorkle, dive and totally chill out (there is a gym, squash courts, table tennis and snooker for the more active) . Would not recommend for kids - long journey and not much to do (there is a swimming pool - small but perfectly formed and very clean. Decent bar with low, soft whicker chairs.

We stayed at Paradise Island for nearly 2 weeks on our honeymoon earlier this year.

After the tsunami hit we were concerned that the island would be damaged so we spent time researching the internet and were reassured that the island was 100% operational.

When we arrived we discovered that this was not strictly true as 2 out of the 5 restaurants were not open and one side of the island was a no-go area due to debris and clean ups.

This did not affect our enjoyment of the island, we would just have preferred to know this before departing.

We stayed on an all inclusive basis and would recommend this to anyone else. The food in the restaurant is buffet style but there is a lot of choice and we ate superbly the whole time. We went to the Italian restaurant once (you have to pay - but it is very reasonable for the food).
Drinks however are very expensive, even soft drinks.

All 3 meals must be eaten in the main restaurant at the same table and out of these times only drinks are included.

The staff make you feel part of a family and are very welcoming.

We spent a glorious week here in a water bungalow (room 171) in June last year.

The island is absolutely gorgeous right from the moment that you arrive by boat.

You are greeted by a cool drink and a hot towel to refresh you after the long journey. It is spectacular - when you walk through the trees and the water bungalows appear in front of you it really is a sight which will bring tears to your eyes.

The rooms are basic but very clean.

Beaches are idyllic - we hardly ever saw anyone and spent most of our days snorkeling or swimming off our own private steps into the water from our water bungalow.

The food is amazing and your personal waiter (ours was Abdullah) really looks after you - as soon as he saw us enter the restaurant he had our drinks ready and pulled our seats out for us. These people really do everything they can to make your holiday enjoyable. Our waiter lived on an island which took him 3 days by boat to get home to - he spent 3 months at a time at the hotel before getting a few weeks off - if he was lucky the hotel would sometimes pay for him to have a speedboat but perhaps only once a year - it really does make you think -

I would strongly advise anyone to visit this hotel we intend to return later next year

This was our fourth visit to the Maldives and by far the best we