The formula has been successful since Maldivian tourism started and hasn’t been tinkered with at Rannalhi, making a visit feel like something of an 80s time warp.
This means you can expect copious quantities of Italian and German tourists, and heated competition for the limited number of sun loungers. Claim your seat early with the towel provided.
Rannalhi is a small island and the resort feels more crowded than other resorts in this category. This might be a minus for couples looking for their own private escape, but it does give the resort a more active and happening vibe. The resort capitalises on this with a cabaret show (in Italian) and a ‘disco night’ on the beach. The latter cost $15 and involved a circle of chairs, a DJ and a limbo pole, and was ‘all you can drink’ for the evening. At the price, that’s the cheapest inebriation you’ll find in a Maldivian resort- unless you’re on an all-inclusive package, extras such as drinks ($7 for a beer, plus GST and service charge...) add up quickly.
The standard rooms are decent for a resort of this grade, with tile floors and few trimmings but comfortable enough. This is not a resort where you should expect to be spending your time indoors.
The island itself is quite small, but the house reef is close to the beach and excellent, with many varieties of fish and coral more colourful than many other reefs close to the capital. Snorkellers will be very happy here. Activities such as diving, sailing and visiting local islands are also provided, and reasonably priced.
Food is limited to the main buffet restaurant and is at the upper end of what you can expect for a ‘club style’ resort at this level, but not about to win any Michelin stars. One corner is devoted to really superb homemade Sri Lankan staples - don’t pass up the opportunity to savour these. The restaurant is small for the number of guests and can get quite crowded, but these can be avoided by giving it an hour for the crowds to thin at each mealtime.
The lack of complimentary bottles of water in the rooms was disappointing, as it meant these had to be purchased at considerable expense ($5 per bottle) every day to avoid the risk of dehydration in the hot Maldivian sun. A family staying on the resort for a week can expect to spend upwards of $70-100 just on drinking water - a bad habit of many mid-range resorts in the Maldives.
Reviewed by JJ Robinson, Jan 2013
