Kani MALDIVES

Beautiful setting. Crystal Clear water, wonderful beaches. Excellent accommodation both beachside and overwater. Typical Club Med service and staff which are always excellent. Where we felt Kani fell short of other Club Med resorts was the quality and variety of the food. We felt like the basic fare was provided but the quality was generally rather poor, and there was heavy up-selling to premium food such as lobster, premium steaks and shrimp which in our experience are provided at least once a week within the all inclusive packages at other resorts. We also found the upsold packages and excursions to be prohibitively expensive. $85 for a kg of shrimp or $140 for 40 minutes snorkelling. Plus limited sports facilities. No tennis, pickleball nor archery. We did enjoy the sailing however and tried our hands “paddleball” but had no idea how to play. Other than that we had a great time and would certainly return to Maldives.

Our experience at Club Med Kani Maldives was enjoyable overall. We stayed in the luxurious overwater manta suites, and with the full board package, our expenses increased significantly, not including transportation and airfare.

We faced some difficulties when trying to contact reception about shuttle services from the airport to the resort, as it took three emails before we finally received a response.

Although we were greeted and given a brief introduction to the resort and its layout, that was the extent of our formal interaction until our departure. Even with the full board package, we discovered that if we wanted to enjoy a glass of champagne with our dinner, we had to purchase an expensive bottle. The house wine, a blend of Spanish red and white, was more fitting for salad dressing than for a meal. We had arranged a special beachfront dining experience for a birthday celebration, only to find that it consisted of a table on the sand with a self-serve buffet. Once again, wine at this “special” venue came at exorbitant prices, and we had to serve ourselves, making the experience feel less than extraordinary.

The Golden Night Cocktail event was held in the “Exclusive Manta Area,” showcasing promotional videos for other Club Med locations and investment opportunities. This gathering was open to anyone interested, offering complimentary champagne, drinks, and tasty appetizers.

While it wasn’t as aggressive as a timeshare pitch, it was close. It’s puzzling how over 200 attendees were informed about the event, as we, despite being in the exclusive overwater bungalow section where it took place, did not receive an invitation.

In summary, while the breathtaking location met our expectations for the Maldives, we would prefer a non-club atmosphere for our next visit. French was the primary language spoken, which often left us feeling disconnected. Most of the staff were from Bangladesh; some were kind, but many seemed indifferent. There is significant potential for improvement in communication.

We had an amazing week at ClubMed Kani - all thanks to the wonderful Christine from fitness.

She is the most incredible, hard working and positive person we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting (and keeping us fit!).

From the first morning we entered the gym, Christine has been there supporting us through our workouts, yoga and bootcamp.

Taking us on runs around the island, recommending excursions and activities around the Club, and even arranging dinner on the beach!

Christine is the best part of Club Med Kani and we are so grateful we met her.

The Club is set in one of the worlds most beautiful areas - The Maldives is truly spectacular.

The water, the marine life, the sunshine! Maldives is amazing.

Loved the whole vibe at CM Kani! The staff could not be faulted, the beach was superb and the atmosphere was just as you would expect from a stay in the Maldives. Special shout-out to the Queen of stretch, Christine. What a superwoman! The only downside was our room flooded twice so maybe look at renovating the interconnecting rooms at the very far end of the island. Apart from that, LOVED it!!!

We stayed for 10 nights and look back at a memorable family holiday with our two (adult) sons. My review has several nuances though, ranging from 'excellent' to 'needs improvement' and 'avoid'. Let me start with the parts we found excellent. First and foremost, these were the positive-spirited and kind-hearted GO's that made our stay a lot of fun and made us leave with a perspective on Club Med Kani that instigated our overall 4 out of 5 rating. Thank you Daniel, Zoe, Ping and Bianca of the Circus team, Yiseul (Isla), Sue, Dudu and Titi of the Welcome Services/Reception team, Zorro at the bar and GG. Also excellent was all the food served in the main restaurant with an almost overwhelming variety of dishes to choose from. We stayed in two superior rooms and found these extremely small with far to little storage space, but fortunately they did have a decent size bathroom (shower, two sinks and separate toilet). The rooms were also kept clean with housekeeping doing a reliable job every day. The location of our rooms we really disliked: a long walk from the village center, next to two multiple storey buildings that ruin the island feel, big ants crawling on the terrace each night, on a beach without deck chairs available and no possibility to swim as there was a passage for boats. So when you book, consider your location carefully as I do think that where you are located on the island will affect how your review your experience. When we arrived we also had a couple of days with a lot of rain (with one day and night bringing 121 mm during the dry season!). Unfortunately, the infrastructure of the island is completely uncapable of dealing with that (one night we had to walk back to our room in knee-deep (!) water - and this was quite a long walk). Walkways are washed away and activities stop (and do not really have indoor alternatives as there is not a lot of indoor space) and we literally spent a whole day in our (extremely small) room. Of course, new white sand is being transported to the walk ways and beaches to restore them afterwards, but be aware that the unpredictability of the weather can really disrupt your vacation as this resort (unlike some other Club Meds) is not build to deal with it. For us, it felt that we spent the first couple of days of our stay just navigating the bad weather/ entertaining ourselves in our rooms. After the rain had gone, the weather fortunately was beautiful so that the outdoor life, including the White night dinner and party in the sand, could be resumed. One thing that we recommend you avoid is the Coral Garden Excursion. It promised 'an amazing snorkelling experience on a colourful reef with many turtles. Our team will bring you to protected area where the turtles come to feed. You will reach this unforgettable site after 20-30 min. of speedboat then take your time to watch this incredible scenario'. It is a downright scam for which you have to pay a lot of money : no colourful reef, but dead coral, some fish and three turtles in the far, far distance. Before going into the water, 45 min-1 hour of snorkelling was promised, we were called back to the boat after 35 minutes. When I asked where the colourful reef had gone, the guide literally said 'it is dead everywhere because of the warmer water'. They could have informed us about that before buying that excursion. On the way back, the boat stopped and we saw some dolphins in the water, but asking USD 140 per person (!!) for something they knew would be different than they advertised is misleading and a scam of which I am surprised that CM allows it to continue. So, avoid this excursion; the free snorkelling trip every morning and afternoon will give you the same experience.