Reviews from Tots Too guests at Diva in the Maldives.
Review from SD, guest in May 2011: "We had a lovely holiday. Our comments on the hotel are as follows:
Review from JP, guest in February 2011: We just wanted to let you know what a fantastic week we had at Diva in the Maldives. Thank you so much for all your help on deciding on the best island for us and with the final booking, we have already recommend your company to some of our friends and we wouldn’t hesitate to do so in the future.
Diva itself worked out so well for us and T and D (aged 4) and I’m still not sure which of us had the best time. From the moment we arrived in Male, the Diva staff looked after us, the lounge at the sea plane airport is a real bonus, and although we luckily didn’t have a long wait, the air conditioning, cold towels and refreshments were welcome after the long flight. Once at the island the interconnecting rooms that you suggested were ideal and really enabled us to feel comfortably close enough to the boys, but without the challenges of having to share the same room. The facilities on the island were great, the staff were all so friendly and always went out of their way to speak to the boys and make them feel at home. All of the restaurants were a good standard, and again really looked after the boys and made them feel welcome, those that were not buffet style all had a kids menu and made sure that they took the boys orders and brought their food to the table as quickly as possible.
The kids club was also a real success and the boys wanted to spend some time there almost every day, they were always well looked after and kept entertained. We got into a bit of a routine most afternoons were the boys would go to the kids club for a couple of hours, which would allow us to go out on one of the afternoon snorkeling trips, we would come back and take them to see the baby sharks or sting rays being fed and then we would all end up at the swimming pool, were the boys played and drinks were provided by the excellent bar staff while the sun set.
The watersports team were all great and one day we hired a speed boat for the four of us for a couple of hours. Two of the staff took us out to a sand bank, and whilst one of the team came out snorkeling with Mum and Dad, the other stayed on the sand bank with the boys and built sand castles with them until we got back, again another great example of how they went out of their way to look after everyone.
Finally I also wanted to say thank you for the recommendation of the all inclusive package, although it obviously added to the upfront cost of the holiday it was so much more relaxing while we were there to not be thinking about the price of the meals or drinks, especially if one of the boys decided that they didn’t like something. The choice is also still very good in all the restaurants/bars and you always have the option to order a la carte if you chose to do so. Once again thank you so much for helping us book such a fantastic holiday for the whole family."
Review from IH, guest in February 2011: "We had an absolutely amazing holiday, and really can't thank you enough for suggesting it. We were very fragile, after a tough couple of years, and it was just what we needed.
Review from DH, guest in January 2011: "We had a fantastic holiday, thank you very much for your recommendations and booking. Diva was a great resort for kids, lots of children there and the beaches and water sports centre great for them. The adjoining rooms were perfect and well equipped. We took lots of snorkeling gear but it was all available free at the water sports centre so maybe worth letting people know as it takes up luggage space and you really don't need it.
The kids club was good, well equipped with nice staff. Baby sitting services were great. And the kids enjoyed eating lunch there, the kids menu was also good. Quite often the organized activities didn't run because there weren't enough kids around, I think if maybe there was a more energetic management of the club maybe more European direction leading it then maybe more kids would be interested in attending. There often seems to be a lack of momentum in these places and bit of a baby sitting mentality as opposed to inspiring the kids.
Had a great holiday and would highly recommend the whole experience. Sea plane was good and no problem with kids."
Review from MV, guest in December 2010: I just thought I’d let you know what a fantastic time we had at Diva. We found it very family orientated.
The staff were outstanding, so helpful & polite, they all fell in love with our daughter who was spoilt rotten !!!
The food was delicious & fresh everyday & they really went all out for Christmas & new year. New year’s eve was a great party. I’m very glad we took your advice on the all inclusive option as I think it was good value and so did everyone else we met.
Anyway I just thought I would let you know that we absolutely loved it and will probably go back there, so thank you for your personal recommendation, it was much appreciated."
Review from EH, guest in November 2010: "We absolutely LOVED Diva! Thanks so much for organising it. The hotel by far exceeded our expectations - the food was amazing, the staff were lovely and the setting truly breath taking.
Thank you for all your help with the trip. We will definitely come back to you for more recommendations for other holidays."
Review from SB, guest in November 2010: "Just want to say thank you very much for your help with regard to finding us our holiday. We had a lovely time and it was great to go to a place which catered for children. The inter-connecting room was perfect and without it I think the holiday would have been very different! So thank you for finding that too.
We will definitely look you up again when we look to go away again."
Review from JW, guest in August 2010: "We had a fantastic time. Would definitely recommend you and Diva. It was truly idyllic. The service was impeccable and very child friendly. We were worried that we may interrupt the honeymooners but our children were v welcome.
Couple of niggles, v minor but in the spirit of continuous improvement, they were:
1. Babysitting, I was under the impression babysitting was $10 dollars an hour but it was actually $10 per child per hour. It didn't stop us enjoying ourselves though.
2. We asked reception a couple of questions which were ignored, even after repeating them a couple of times! Again wasn't a big deal.
3. We had to wait 2 and a half hours for a seaplane on the way out. That was annoying and tiresome, but the lounge saved the day. Without that I think we would have complained.
Finally we are due to go to Abu Dhabi at Xmas could you recommend any good hotels?
We would definately book through you again."
Review from guest in May 2010 "We went to Diva with our four children, aged 10 to 4, to celebrate my 40th birthday. At Diva, it really is a Robinson Crusoe like existence with beautiful clear water surrounding the island, golden sand and amazing wildlife from herons to bats to stingrays. We had interconnecting rooms in a beach villa; the rooms were very spacious and beautifully tidied by the staff twice a day. In addition, there are two fabulous infinity swimming pools, efficient and friendly service, a wide variety of restaurants and bars with fabulous food, and a wonderful diving school (dive boats going out in the morning and afternoon every day). Our children had not really been to a 'Kids Club' before but thoroughly enjoyed the acitivities run by Zu and Imma at the Kids Club in Diva. I have no hesitation in recommending Diva for a family holiday. It was very stylish whilst providing lots of fun for the children and happy memories for all of us.
Anabel"
Review from guest in November 2009: "Deborah, Just to say that we had a fantastic holiday in the Maldives. Diva was beautiful and they looked after us very well. We really appreciated both upgrades to full board and the Junior suite, and the sea plane transfer was an amazing experience. The food was very good and we loved the wildlife.
I must mention the kids club, which was excellent and the lady there who ran it, called Zuu, was just great with Maddy. It's a far superior kids club to others in the 5* hotel peer group that I could mention.
Once again, thanks for all of your help with our family holiday. I shall continue to recommend you to friends and shall be in touch again for our next venture !
Best regards
Sarah"
Review from guest in November 2009: "Dear Ann Marie
Thanks for your email, we had a lovely time and didn't want to come back! Thank you very much for all your help - everything ran very smoothly and we didn't have any problems and we even managed to get the upgrade to the water villa so that was superb advice from you.
The Maldives are lovely and the resort [Diva] is immaculate with crystal clear turquoise water and beautiful white sand. It has great facilities and restaurants especially the spa which is fantastic. The staff at the resort were lovely - only bettered by the help, advice and service we got from Essental Escapes / Tots Too which was absolutely excellent as it always is.
Thanks again for all your help especially with all the little details. We recommend you to anyone and everyone!
Good luck with all the plans for the wedding.
Neil"
Our own Ann Marie from the Tots Too sales team chose to honeymoon at Diva in June 2010. Here is her feedback:
"I recently returned from my honeymoon spending 5 nights in Diva in the Maldives and I must say, it surpassed my expectations in every way. The resort is accessed via Seaplane and upon arrival all Tots Too guests have access to the lounge at Male Airport where cold towels and even cooler drinks are offered. There is even a shower to refresh after the flight if you wish. We were here for a few moments only before being whisked off to the seaplane. This newly upgraded and renovated resort opened its doors in 2008 and expertly combines 5* luxury with traditional Maldivian decor, facilities and charm. The resort offers a wide choice of accommodation including deluxe rooms which uniquely to this resort in the Maldives will interconnect and I would recommend this for a family who want children to have separate sleeping space but be close enough to give you peace of mind. They also offer spacious beach villas, 2 types of water villas , water villa and prestige water villa. The resort was formerly white sands and the standard water villas are the renovated water villas, the prestige water villas are newly added and slightly larger. For families with teens or couples travelling together they also offer family water villas (interconnecting water villas) and finally the Presidential water villa. We booked the beach villa and loved it. You enter into the room either via the luxurious outdoor bathroom or via the side entrance into the bedroom. The rooms are spacious at around 95sq ft and boast a king size bed, indoor seating area, twin sinks and vanity area, 2 large wardrobes backing onto the partially outside bathroom and outside shower. The bathroom boasts a large marble sunken tub, large rain shower and then a separate non-covered rain shower as well. The front section of the bedroom opens on to an outdoor deck with seating area for in villa dining, a day bed and boasts views out to the sea. A few steps off the deck and we have our own loungers and umbrella and as the villas are so spaced out it feels like you have your own little stretch of beach and your own little bit of paradise. We arrived to the resort to find a bottle of chilled champagne waiting for us and we got our swimming costumes on and headed straight into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. I would recommend requesting a room on the Sun Set side of the Island as the beaches are wider and this side is better for swimming.
There are a wide choice of bars and restaurants, we booked on the pure experience program which I would highly recommend as this is essentially all inclusive and makes it really good value for money. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included and you can dine in almost all of restaurants and there are specially marked items which are included in the package and if you want something else you simply pay for that. The hotels main restaurant ‘Noo’ serves a wide choice of food for breakfast and lunch and dinner with a luxury buffet. They served sushi, sashimi cuisine, salads, pastas, meat, fish and vegetables. The food was delicious and did not feel like a typical big buffet. We took our lunch each day in either Seasons, Senses or Veli bars which served casual meals around the pools or by the beach and we could chose from sandwiches, wraps, salads, fish and pasta dishes. The wide choice of dining options includes an Italian and a Japanese Restaurant as well as a Maldivian restaurant and a Thai Restaurant as well as casual dining in the bars for lunch. They even have a pancake and ice cream station available with afternoon tea. We did not have a bad meal!
The resort boasts a Dive Centre and the ‘boathouse’ offers a wide choice of non-motorised and motorised water sports. We enjoyed picking up snorkelling equipment each day and exploring the waters from the shore and we even did the boat trip out to the nearby reef which was I have to say one of the most amazing experiences I have had. Crystal clear waters teaming with a variety of fish and vibrant colours of the coral just beneath us, it took my breath away! You can even see whale shark near the Island and again another boat trip is available for this, unfortunately we were moving on by this point so were not able to sample this but we spoke to some very happy people who had done the trip they day we arrived and they had spotted them!
We both had a massage in the beautifully decorated spa and I also had a pedicure, it’s not cheap but then I did not expect it to be. They did offer some early bird specials so check this out with reception before you book so as not to miss any deals. The hotel also boasts a great kids club called the Nest which offers a combination of arts and crafts and sports as well as keeping the kids entertained with kids yoga, mixing their favourite juices and the young environmentalist program learning about the flora and fauna of the Island. For the older kids they offer the teen club with compute games a fuse ball table and big screen TV. As well as for the babies a sleeping area and babysitting. The hotel can also provide baby foods, nappies, swimming diapers and sterilizers (some charges may apply). They also have tennis courts as well as bikes for hire.
This resort is superb for families and is gaining in popularity, but for couples and honeymooners too don’t worry it is never overrun and there is always a piece of paradise to be found with peace and tranquillity at every turn. Families will love the kids amenities, the kids club staff and the family friendly room set up. Honeymooners will love the wide stretches of beach, the fabulous gourmet cuisine, the beautiful rooms and the multitude of activities. I honestly did not want my trip to end!"
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