Member Reviews: Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort

Trip of a lifetime. First time I ever really felt "connected" to Earth. It was saddening to leave.

Bring your own sunscreen. Definitely do the scuba. Snorkel off the reef. Do all excursions. Pay for late check out. No need for a jacket. Get the pool over water villa.

We had a great and relaxing time at the resort. Enjoyed the food and the staff made every effort to make us feel welcomed and appreciated.

It was a wonderful stay. We enjoyed snorkelling near the villas and on snorkelling excursion.we enjoyed the food. Mr Anuru the chef patisserie is an artist! We thank him for spoiling us every day. Mrs Koruna,duty manager makes all the efforts For guests comfort. In a word -excellent stay,good staff -we will be glad to return

Have Maldives on your bucket list? Yes: Add Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort! No: Put it there! Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort (MMKR), was it just a dream? Yes, the water is that color. Yes, the OTWB (over the water bungalows) do look exactly like that! They did not white wash the culture and put another 5-star resort (insert the brand that you like, ie., Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton) that could have interchangeably been in Bali, Hawaii, Cancun or Maldives. If you want that then this is not your place. It feels a bit more rustic like Hawaii must have been in the 1960s or Tahiti in the 1990s but now both of those have become over commercialized. This is not! Thankfully, there were no grand Broadway-style shows! This feels authentic where it needs to be and still insulated from the environment where comfort dictates; for instance, they spray for bugs 2x/day and mostly keep them out. One time we had some ants and within literally 5 minutes there was a guy in our hut spraying! Food was amazing & each of the buffet options had a card that labeled what was the name of the dish, what was in the dish and also what allergens were present! They were happy to accommodate your food sensitivities. Now don't want to look through rose-colored glasses so here are some shortcomings of MMKR: 1) There's a mini-step up from the bathroom to the living area. Toe-stub alert day one! Same thing happened to others in the resort. That should be easily filled in with a cement ramp. 2) The photo-op swing as well as the ladder that comes up from the sea to your hut are algae-riddled. They should be cleaned monthly if not weekly. 3) No Jacuzzi/Whirlpool. This is a major detractor! I think that they should convert a kiddee pool that is adjacent to the main pool into a Jacuzzi! 4) No temperature control of your own private pool at your OTWB. 5) They handle scheduling the 1 hour plane ride in and out of Kooddoo (GKK). On the way in, it was seamless and they take you to an A/C domestic "luxury" lounge. That option was not the case outbound as our 8 pm flight out of Male (MLE) meant that we had to catch the 2PM Kooddoo outbound flight and so we were in MLE 5 hours before our flight. The international terminal opens to you only 3 hours in advance so we stayed in the humid outdoors for about 90 minutes before we could check ourselves in and the domestic lounge was not available to us (even with Priority Pass because it was full). That said, the MMKR staff helped us every step of the way in MLE both inbound and outbound. Some hidden treasures of the MMKR: 1) There are people sweeping the beach morning and night to keep it clean. You may not see them but there there! 2) The WiFi is everywhere. Its reliable. Its fast. ZERO complaints! Even could download movies! 3) The rain shower in the hut was second to none! Great pressure and great hot water! 4) The email communication for months before was an awesome 24 hour turnaround! Lastly a word about tipping. There is no organized way to give tips nor was it mandatory. Staff did not look for tips and were generally happy to be hospitable. I understand that tipping seems to be more an American 'tradition' but wish they had at least a prompt. Felt awkward to go around and tip individually, especially since there were so many people behind the scenes. At checkout I asked, and they had a mechanism to give the tips on a credit card and for them to spread them amongst all the staff; I hope it gets to them! Here's a shout out to some outstanding staff who I'd induct into the SMILE CLUB HALL OF FAME: Layla & Hasan in main dining, Kunal in the Italian restaurant, Pradeep in the bar and Karouna in front office!

PS: A tip about cost? We got ours through TravelZoo; love those guys! Mercure is one of the brands under the Acor hotel chain but you won't get loyalty points on Acor if you book via TravelZoo. PPS: A tip about Over The Water Bungalow choice? As you're walking out from mainland to the huts on the bridge, 300s are to the right & all have sea view with sunset. To the left are the 500s and 500-518 view is the same as the 300s. 519 is the end of the dock and has sea view and a view of the adjacent south island, Maamendhoo. 520 has a view of the sea, Maamendhoo and Kooddoo but may miss the actual sunset. 519 & 520 rival for the best views! Over 520 are all Kooddoo-only lagoon facing.

My sister and I went for my 70th birthday—awesome experience

Amazing location- truly a paradise- and lovely staff!

Had an amazing vacation here!

Gorgeous place for couples! The room is beautiful!! The staff is wonderful.

Very nice staff. Gorgeous place! It would nice to have evening activities.

Beautiful resort, nice staff, property needs some maintenance but overall nice experience.

More options for sit down restaurants will be nice.

Booking was a bit difficult since everything was done via email, which always had a slight delay. Property is great, and (most) of the staff is wonderful. (Gentleman at water sports desk is horrible). Unfortunately, ALL of their jet skis were broken and have been for quite some time. The food is beyond awesome! More variety than we ever expected or have ever encountered during our travels. This is a wonderful place that everyone should experience at least once. Would recommend this property, but we will not be coming back - as we would like to experience other properties in the Maldives.

Over water villas are absolutely wonderful! Very spacious, with lots of natural light, thanks to a wall of windows along the good sized deck. So much fun walking out your door to the deck, and down the steps into the warm sea. The glass window in the floor is fun too!

Our stay was absolutely perfect. The resort staff are wonderful and made our experience so special! We stayed in the over the water sunset villa for 9 nights. Our stay included 4 vouchers for free excursions and/or discounted services plus a free 30 minute photography session with a free 5x7 print. We ended up using all vouchers and paid for additional spa services and a scuba dive. The free use of snorkel gear, kayaks and paddle boards was also taken advantage of. Overall there was so much to do it was amazing. There was not one negative thing about our stay. We went for our anniversary and the staff put together a special display in our room to make it special. I can’t say enough about our stay and how spectacular it really was. Worth every penny!