One The Island

Decent place to stay. It's a basic guest house, you get 1 towel, and 1 toilet roll. The rooms are small, but look like the photos just without the flowers, and small hand towels. My room had a window, but you can't see much from it due to the angle. There is a common room with a kettle, tea, coffee, and filtered water for free. On the island there are small shops selling reasonably priced food, but there are limited options for vegetarians or special diets, so bring that with you.

The internet is ok, but not good enough to watch YouTube, upload photos, or stream, it cut off sometimes. Showers are warmish, and drains smell a bit. Anything more you want is charged for, and at tourist prices, it's cheaper to get it locally. Trips are quite expensive for what they are, you have to pay extra to get from the airport, and if you travel alone you have to pay for two people. Bring lots of mosquito repellent as there are no nets over the beds. They say it's mosquito free, but there were a few in the guest house.

It was an amazing experience. The communication was brilliant, we got everything arranged and even much more. We got a detail tour arround the island free of charge, a transfer from the harbour and back. The staff supplied us with all the necessary information in time and was helpful for the entire time. The location was perfect, we could experience the real life of the local community,

Cheaper than staying at one of the expensive resort islands. Location is okay, it's on the local island Naifaru, close to the 5.8 undersea restaurant at Hurawalhi, Hanifaru Bay, and other things to do. There's a turtle rescue center near the hotel with a nice snorkeling spot (you can rent the equipment from a nearby dive center), and a beach. Everything on the island is within walking distance. The staff is very friendly and will help arrange anything you want to do, and the owner will even pick you up and drop you off at the harbor at Naifaru, but there were some errors made which I talk about below. The A/C works fine.

The reason this place doesn't have higher reviews is because there was a mix-up with the ferry that ended up costing me an extra $300. The directions I was sent by One the Island, along with a video they sent me, told me to go to the ferry terminal that's right outside the airport, to be picked up by the ferry that would take me to Naifaru. But the ferry boat ended up not docking there. It stayed for about 10 minutes floating offshore as I waited for it to come closer, and then sailed away suddenly. So I had to book an expensive domestic flight ticket to Naifaru for the next day, since there were no seats available on the ferry the next day. I lost the $60 for the ferry ticket, paid an extra $150 for the flight, had to book another night at a hotel in Malé, and didn't get the money back from the first night I paid for at One the Island. So in total, an extra $300. The ferry company claimed I never showed up. This was confusing to me since I was at the ferry terminal outside the airport 30 minutes ahead of the departure time, waiting in the spot I was told to go to. I didn't find out until my return ferry trip from Naifaru to Malé, that the boat actually docks and unloads/loads passengers at a different ferry terminal that's on the main island of Malé. This information was not provided to me by One the Island. So the wrong instructions they provided was the reason I missed the ferry in the first place. Other things I didn't like: The restaurant at the top floor is open air, and there are a lot of flies, as well as some bird poop on the chairs. It's not really a restaurant, just a small kitchen, and you have to order 2 hours ahead of time so they can get the ingredients. The shower water is not hot, barely lukewarm. The WiFi often cuts out.

Pati (Patrycja) was the most welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and kind person who excelled at being the „face“ of One The Island, from messaging pre-stay, while I was in Naifaru and even afterwards. Girl-crush! But also all other people were super nice and welcoming at the Guesthouse. The place and my room were super cozy and spacious. Bed was comfy and I recognised a lot of Swedish furniture ;) . The fridge was perfect for me. Breakfast was freshly made and tasty. I stayed on the island in order to visit the local Atoll Marine Center to have cats spayed. At One The Island they could even get in touch with the speedboat and organise the journey. By the way, a visit of the Marine Centre is much recommended, very interesting and kind people all around. They explain patiently what their work is there, and in consequence how much we all have to take care of our eating habits, and how it is produced, if fish is part of our diet. Mohammed, the owner of the guest house took me on a tour around the island, which gave a good insight into life on Naifaru, which is a bit further away from Male, so some things are a bit different here. It was just a perfect stay for me. Writing this review now a bit later, I really miss it. Thank you to One The Island and Pati!! BTW, the cats are doing great!

IF I need to say one thing, which is nothing the Guest House can influence really, is that there is not yet a bikini beach, so for swimming you should wear a tshirt and shorts for both men and women. The beach is REALLY beautiful and clean for a local island beach!

The staff is amazing, very kind hearted. You feel that its ran with good intentions.

Pleasant staying Patricia helped me so much..I feel like staying with my own family.. Quite and clean stuff Home made cooking was extraordinary It's really mind blowing stay The beach and wave..wow..no words to describe Will come here again and again