Island Closure ....

As a 6 time repeater to Komandoo, I have just been notified that my forthcoming holiday has been cancelled. The island will be closed end of May 2012 - July 2012 for major refurbishment including the building of a swimming pool.

Well I guess this will totally change the character of the Island that we all love. As a 5 times repeater I’m sorry that they have gone down this road. Whilst I would say that the bathroom area of the villas will benefit from an upgrade, the inclusion of a pool is not to my taste. The natural progress from that move is to start the relaxation of the young children policy. Yes families need a holiday, but some of us who have been there, done that, enjoy a quieter break.
There were always rumours that they wished to earn the extra star grade and the only block to that was the lack of a pool.
Where will it be situated? There is space down near the Water Villas or perhaps in fill between the restaurant and the service jetty.
Richard

Can't confirm it, but I think the swimming pool is to be built somewhere up near the spa & restaurant end. They are also converting the Starfish villas (the last remaining beach villas on sunrise side near the dive centre) into jacuzzi beach villas. So all the sunrise side will be JBV's at premium prices.
I think they are about to lose a huge chunk of repeat visitors personally. Having said that, we have spent the last 4 days desperately trying to find a similar replacement without any joy so far. Any suggestions for a quiet island, no kids, good accessible housereef from the beach, good diving,and affordable prices - then let me know quick!

Hi all
Hope you don't mind me cutting in here, we are going to Komandoo in early March for the 2nd time after a fabulous holiday there last year. Getting to the topic of the upgrade we are saddened to hear this but the same thing happened to Thudufushi last year, we had been there 5 times running & loved it for what is was at the time, but the owners decided to build not only water villas but a complete over water resort with its own restaurant & pool.I can not see the point of a pool when you are a step away from the Indian ocean but as you say it can only benefit famalies.We have decided we will not return to Komandoo after this year & we will be telling the management exactly why.

Babsie and Happydays......and anyone else reading of course

Babsie have you found another Island that fits the bill yet? I would appreciate any feedback on any options you find as we were planning on returning next year.

Well Happydays, make the most of your trip and ensure you enjoy.

Not sure if I will totally rule out a return, perhaps wait and see if there are major policy changes ie kids etc.

Perhaps it's just that the continual overspill from Kuredu have complained that there is no pool. Sorry just venting another sore point with me

Richard

Hi Happydays & Richard,

Interesting to read your replies so far......you're obviously as gutted as us! If the prices don't rise steeply then I am sure we will be lured back once husband has got over his anger of their late notification of the closure. I want my t shirt with 7 dolphins on it!
Trying to find a similar island over the weekend was horrendous - it takes months of research to find exactly what you want.
Having splashed out last year on 5* Villingili (stunning but sooooo expensive), we sort of narrowed it down to Veligandu but then decided that it was more than we wanted to pay this year.DOH!
In desperation we have now transferred our booking to Centara Grand in South Ari Atoll. All inclusive island, excellent dive school reputation, excellent marine life - whale sharks and hammerheads, excellent housereef straight off the beach for snorkelling.
In fact it looks and sounds very good.....the drawback? KIDS. Oh well, until I win Lotto we will have to make do.

we have just been informed of the closure, shame we were going for the second time. After trying five other islands finaly hit on the perfect one and now they are changing it of course all holidays etc have been booked so changing dates is not realy an option. Have accepted a water villa on Kuradu. Not sure about the size but it seems the Sangu resort is fairly self contained and does not allow kids.

Hi Chrish,
Sorry to hear you were put in the same predicament as us. If you had settled on Komandoo for the blissful peace and quiet (and beautiful surroundings), then are you aware of how big Kuredu is? I think it has the reputation now of the resort with the most rooms - and therefore most people!
We refused the offer of an upgrade on Kuredu as it's just not for us. We similarly had time off work booked and airport parking booked so just chose another island and paid the difference with out travel agent.
I've never had a bad word to say about Komandoo, and 6 visits show how much we loved it, but this last minute cancellation has really upset us and maybe we do need to explore new islands in the future?

Hi All,

Hope you don't mind me joining in here... We were told last October that the beach villas on the sunrise side were all to be upgraded to jbvs, and the jbvs on the sunset side will all be converted to beach villas so there'll be one price for the West side of the island and one price for the East side. Apparently this tiered pricing approach is meant to 'compensate' for the views of Hinnavaru on the sunrise side. Having stayed on both sides of the island plus the end of the island in the water villas I have to say the proximity of Hinnavaru has never been an issue for us. I must confess however that we do prefer the sunrise side but that's simply because we like the lagoon better.

As for the pool, this is hugely disappointing - we asked about it and were told that management were resisting any requests for a pool as so many of the repeaters had objected to the idea. I can't imagine that there has been a sudden influx of repeater opinions in the last five months saying that yes they think it's "a very good thing to do..." (wasn't that Pooh bear?) so it can only be that the management have decided to ignore the opinions of the faithful and the true and go for the extra star regardless.

No doubt that it will impact on the pricing - and there seems to an unrealistic idea of what the ceiling on pricing is - as lovely as Komandoo is (this will be our fourth visit so we clearly love it too!) it is after all a 4* island not 5* yet but they're already sliding the pricing up. When we started looking in December (as soon as the flights were released for October!) they had put the prices up by 13% on last year although they've released a few deals now that have brought the prices down a bit.

I don't want to start sounding negative because it is a truly beautiful and tranquil place and I'm already counting the sleeps until October, but there are other truly beautiful and tranquil places in the world and I'm sad to say that I'm starting to think this might be our last visit to Komandoo, for a while at least.

All best,
Jan

Hi Jan,

Thanks for your imput which just echoes the thoughts of all us repeaters I think.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts after your next visit in October.................but I'm sure it will still be fab even if there is a flippin' swimming pool!
I can feel the pull of Eagleray 13 as I type hahaha! I don't know who I'm trying to kid, I know we'll be back, but for now here we come Centara Grand.

We thought we would give Kuradu a try this year. I know the island is quite big they have even had a traffic accident!
A colleague at work has been and stayed in a water villa and says that end of the island is still nice and peaceful
Here's hoping.

Chrish

Hi everyone,

Well as you know we had to find another island for May at short notice thanks to the late confirmation of the closure of Komandoo for the refurb/swimming pool works.

I hate to say it as a faithfull Komandoo repeater guest, BUT we had the most amazing Maldive holiday ever on Centara Grand (despite the presence of kids - 3 of them when we were there!!).

House reef knocked spots off Komandoo, actual island itself was visually stunning, rooms were amazing, choice of 3 all inc restaurants was amazing, choice of 2 very different bars was amazing.

Never ever thought I would say this but................there ARE better islands out there. Sorry to say it.

I'm sure anyone going to Komandoo in the future WILL have a great holiday, and I'm not saying we won't ever return, but we had the best holiday yet (7 times in Mladives).

Babsie

Hi Babsie
Very interested( & pleased) to hear that your holiday turned out so well, nice to have another option.
Our hol in Komandoo in March this year was again excellent but was spoilt for us by the daily, and I do mean daily, influx of people from Kuredu being shipped in at no additional cost .
This did sour the holiday for us so we have decided to give Komandoo a miss next year and have booked to go to Gangehi instead. Not saying we will never return to Komandoo, but will wait and see what the situation is after the pool is built and starfish villas upgraded to JBVs.
Will be very interested to hear what Jan G has to say after her visit later this year.
HDs

Hi Happydays,

Oh Gangehi was an island we've only very recently discovered and one that we had put on our shortlist for next year! When are you going?

I do feel like a traitor discussing other islands on here, but we are all here for the same reason WE LOVED THE OLD KOMANDOO!

Yes like you we are anxious to hear opinions of the new Komandoo...............

Babsie.

Good evening everyone...

I'm so glad that you had such a great time at Centara Grand Babsie, it's good to know from someone's personal experience how other resorts measure up. Gangehi looks fab HD, and with only one family room on the island it's hardly likely to be overrun with minors which is a massive plus.

I must confess I'm disheartened that there is still the constant stream from Kuredu, and from what I hear that's not likely to change any time soon either. I just don't understand how management can think it's good business practice to fill empty rooms with people who aren't actually paying for them especially when so many repeaters/full paying guests have expressed their opinions and made it clear that they're not happy about it. Surely if the rooms are empty then they should consider what they can do to attract full paying guests. It seems they're turning Komandoo into a mini-Kuredu/overspill, as well as the swimming pool I believe there will also be a gym (although I must confess I'd probably use it in an attempt not to put on quite so many pounds before I go home!). Looking on the positive side, the restaurant is being upgraded and all the villas are being revamped (not only the upgrade of the BVs to JBVs) so there will be quite a few changes made by the time we get there in October.

I'll certainly post when we get back and if I can work out how to do it on here I'll put up some photos too. I'm still looking forward to going back to lovely Komandoo and counting the sleeps (133!) but I have to say that our holiday plans for next year are wide open at the moment!

Just a thought (prompted by Babsie's earlier comment about feeling like a traitor!) - should the forum decide that it's not appropriate to discuss other islands on here then my email addy is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - otherwise I'll see you on here when we get back, if not before!

BR
Jan

Hi Jan,

Looking forwards to your comments on your October holiday almost as much as you are looking forwards to going!

Have been checking out prices for next year and yet again it's gone up quite considerably....I remember paying about £6000 for
14 nights All Inclusive in a Watervilla a few weeks after they'd been opened, oh those were the days.

They seem to be asking in excess of that now for 14 nights bed & breakfast in a Beach Villa. Refurb or not that's an awful lot of money for B & B.

Anyway as the island is supposed to reopen some time in July maybe we'll get some feedback on this site before you go.

One final thought.....Let's hope these free Kuredu/Komandoo upgrades stop after the refurb.

Babsie.

Hi All,
I'm new to this so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong place.............

I am booked to go to Komandoo on 2nd August so was really interested in all your comments above and on other discussions and reviews. It seems that I will be there post refurbishment and I am hoping that I have the same great holiday experience that many of you have had in the past. Between now and then if anyone has any feedback I'd love to hear it so that I can set my expectations appropriately. I have never been to the Maldives before but under recommendation from my partner I have been convinced (he has been quite a few times but never to Komandoo).

We are staying half board rather than AI so info on pricing and what I can expect to spend would be welcome - I like the odd cocktail and glass of wine

Otherwise, I will let you know my thoughts post holiday as it seems that most of you are planning/hoping to return ('repeaters' seems to be the jargon!)

Thanks,
Jane

Hi Jane,

It’s good to hear from someone new, welcome! It’ll be good to hear from you when you get back, I think we’re all curious to hear about the changes

We usually stay Gold AI so my recollection of pricing may be a little flaky, plus of course the prices may go up post-refurb – however I’ll do my best! Last year, lunchtime snacks in the bar were around $15, I can definitely recommend the chicken Caesar salad, the Greek salad and the trio of mini-burgers – all very yummy (sometimes we were just too lazy to walk through to the restaurant for lunch!). Cocktails varied between $12-$15, shorts with mixers were around $10-$12.

There is a shop but it’s quite small and pretty limited so remember to pack all your favourite cosmetic must-haves as the chances of being able to find exactly what you need are pretty slim. Of course the shop may be part of the refurb and possibly will be extended – you’ll have to let us know about that. The dive centre has a small shop with scuba/snorkelling equipment but also has sunglasses, t-shirts etc. Sunglasses started at around $75, t-shirts $40-ish. There’s a jeweller’s next to the shop too but it’s not my kind of thing so I’ve never really looked. That's about it for shopping opportunities!

Komandoo tends to be very relaxed, very informal – don’t worry about packing half a dozen pairs of heels because you just won’t need them – in fact you won’t really need shoes at all except perhaps a couple of pairs of flip-flops to walk across the jetty as it gets extremely hot if you’re barefoot! The only dress-code is to cover up if you’re going in the bar or the restaurant but that’s just common sense/courtesy really. Evenings you can either dress up or dress down for, you’ll find a wide mix of attire but for the most part it tends to the more relaxed rather than formal.

It’s a bit difficult to try to explain what you can expect as the refurb might change things – but one thing I’m sure of is that you will be taken very good care of while you’re there – and hopefully you’ll be a repeater in the future! If you have any questions let me know and I’ll try to answer – and if I can’t then hopefully someone else on here will be able to!

Best
Jan

Good evening all...

Tony came across the following info post-refurb and I thought I'd pass it on -

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or pretty much the same words but this one shows pics of the pool -

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86 sleeps and counting down...

BR
Jan

Thanks for the info Jan, The swimming pool area looks very well planned, its good to see that the scrubby area between the bar and restaurant being made full use of. The changes made to the restaurant sound good, it will be nice to have more tables outside for breakfast & in the evenings. Would like to see what the doors to the villas look like now as it sounds as if they are now all glass?

So only 85 sleeps now, can't wait for your in depth report.

HDs

Thanks for the info Jan, The swimming pool area looks very well planned, its good to see that the scrubby area between the bar and restaurant being made full use of. The changes made to the restaurant sound good, it will be nice to have more tables outside for breakfast & in the evenings. Would like to see what the doors to the villas look like now as it sounds as if they are now all glass?

So only 85 sleeps now, can't wait for your in depth report.

HDs