Overall Ratings & Reviews The Barefoot Eco Hotel

The Best Experience,The Staff were Really Nice and Helpful

Fantastic laid-back charm to this resort, as the name suggests. I couldn’t be happier with our stay at Barefoot. Everything was clean and comfortable, and the food and service was excellent. Anything more would have felt OTT and unnecessary. Congratulations on doing your best to keep things natural and eco-friendly. The Maldives are troubled by washed-up plastic and the more you do, the better I like it. 😊

The Barefoot Eco Hotel is an amazing place in the Maldives! It's not your traditional Maldivian resort, since it is situated in an island with a village (normally resorts are located in private islands). This adds greatly to the whole experience! If you are the type of person that likes to learn about the local culture of the places where you travel, this is a perfect combination. The hotel does a lot of work to support the local community, such as hiring locals, providing free training for people to work in the tourist industry, tours into the local village, cooking shows hosted by locals and others. The hotel also tries to minimize its footprint in the environment. For instance, the hotel doesn't sell any drinks in plastic bottles. The location is stunning! You clearly get this sense of being off the grid, in a tropical place. We saw turtles, harmless sharks, different kind of rays (manta, eagle, sting), tropical fishes and dolphins. The hotel offers different daily programs to get up close to these, as well as to visit nearby historical places. The food provided is delicious! It's a mix of Italian with influences of local cuisine. On Friday's, is Maldivian night and you can have a full Maldivian dinner experience. Finally the staff makes the whole experience 5 stars! Everyone, from the reception, to the restaurant to the diving center was friendly and helpful! We spent there almost two weeks and had the time of our lives. We will definitely return, if we have the chance.

Great not having Television or 1st world technology. Eco friendly and great health retreat.

very good experience peaceful and calm environment

If you are looking for a place to scuba dive / snorkel in a quite and peaceful resort in the Maldives, this is probably the best place to go. It is a bit further out than the other resorts, but it's worth the trek if you are looking for a quite place. The hotel is not very big and therefore not many guests overcrowding the areas. The food from the buffet is varied and delicious, the dinner menu changes everyday. The beach is beautiful and it's easy to find places to snorkel right there. The hotel offers some free amenities (2-hour kayak rental, morning yoga, bike rental) which are quite nice. The bar boat in the evenings is worth a visit even if you don't plan on drinking and the village is lovely and quaint. On the down side, it is far out. You have to take a 45 minute internal flight to get here (no hydro-lane or speed boat). There are only 4-5 flights a day to the island so if you don't land in Male at the ideal flight to get on the next plane you may need to wait 4/5 hours to get to the island, but expect to wait a while anyway. This is a place to disconnect, so no TV in the rooms or anywhere, which may be a plus for some people, and not much for evening entertainment. In the evenings you can go to the boat bar where they serve alcohol. It's 5 minutes from the hotel by speed boat, with beautiful views, but even there it's sort of quiet.

All good things come to an end... We've just come back home from an 11 nights' stay at the Barefoot Hotel on Hanimaadhoo. Our head full of precious memories. We could not have chosen a better place for our first stay in the Maldives and for my husband 50th birthday. The Barefoot hotel is an eco friendly hotel, where it feels good living. It is layed back, very well managed, friendly, clean and tidy. Staff were discreet but always ready to help. The hotel is well integrated on the island, right on the seaside, but nicely hidden by coconut trees and other tropical plants. Our seafront room was spacious and comfortable with a very good shower. There is not much to do on the island, but we never got bored. We spent our time swimming in the beautiful lagoon and relaxing at the beach. The snorkeling is amazing and filled up a good part of our days... We were lucky to see some dolphins, some turtles, rays and so many beautiful colourful fish. We couldn't get enough of it! The food at the hotel restaurant was always very good, with plenty of variety everyday. There is a good team of chefs, who are always present during the meals, presenting their food, always cheerful and pleasant. We loved the Maldivian dinner last Friday and the traditional music afterwards played by the Maldivian staff. It was great to have an opportunity to danse ...barefoot! Thank you for the nice memories! We walked or cycled to the village several times. It is a typical muslim village.

This is an excellent place to stay in the Maldives if you want to experience marine and beach flora and fauna as there are daily expeditions, kayaks, snorkelling excursions and a diving centre all operating from the hotel. As the island is inhabited, there is the added interest of the local village and people and the hotel has free bicycles to use as well as organising cultural and nature tours. The two resident marine biologists are knowledgeable, enthusiastic, energetic and friendly and lead the daily excursions so you can find out more about the things you are seeing. There is something on each evening for anyone interested - Maldivian cooking demonstration, film, documentary or an interesting talk by one of the marine biologists. There is no alcohol on the island but there is a bar boat off shore in the evenings if you want it - we found that the non-alcoholic fruit cocktails available at the hotel bar were delicious and were all we needed. Our son enjoyed the diving and was well looked after by the dive team.

Amazing experience overall! Couple of points for first time travellers... to get to hanimadhoo island, the only option is via 1.5hr domestic flight which costs about $340pp. Not much on the island other than the resort, but for a 5day stay, never felt the need to venture out much.

Amazing hotel, located on the stunning beach, new and in fine condition. Rooms are very comfortable and clean. Food is always fresh and with enough variety. I warmly recommend this to anyone who wants a complete peace, rest, sun and sand, read, forget stress. Complete staff is just incredibly warm, kind and friendly. Sensational experience.

I had an amazing time at this hotel. If you are looking for a place to relax and enjoy a quiet holiday at a stunning beach, the Barefoot is the ideal destination. I had booked breakfast and dinner only which was just perfect. The food is very good and there are plenty of options if you are vegetarian. I wouldn't hesitate to go back. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay!!

Great place, fantastic staff, magnificent view, had a awesome time there. Wouldn't mind heading back there again on my next trip!

Berfect stuff resaption and cheef they help you in every thing realy i was queen and the price the berfect ever than other island but this island non alcholic place the geniuce owner put bar boot in the see open 6 pm its 10 min from the hotel the transiction free hopfully they success to submit the papers in the future to allow drinks in the hotel Need white win during reading books with music and sound of the shore

I stayed in a seaside room which was huge and just metres from the beach. Decor / design is functional rather than opulent but you have everything you need. Bottled water is provided twice daily and I had no problems with Wi-Fi, even during an epic thunderstorm. Breakfast & Dinner buffets were excellent, very extensive choice and something different every day. Staff always very friendly and happy to explain the dishes etc. The beach is gorgeous and well maintained - never feels crowded and you don't need reef shoes. If a competent swimmer you can swim or kayak to the edge of the reef and snorkel there. Organised trips are reasonably priced, recommend the Coral Garden snorkel trip which was amazing. There's also a daily complimentary snorkel trip led by the resident Marine Biologist who is a fountain of knowledge and very approachable with any queries. Though not a diver myself, feedback from other guests was only positive - with praise for the professionalism of the expert staff who were also happy to give guidance with snorkeling in the lagoon. In the evenings, the lounge area next to the restaurant hosts conservation lectures and movies, opportunity to be sociable if you want - or just chill out on the bean bag seats. Also in the evenings, there is the Black Pearl floating bar which is great fun with the best cocktails ! It's the best way to catch the sunset and star gaze, an absolute must-do.

Great staff, specially Raja very good coffee barista, Salvatore barman and Kitchen as well. Water sports also great guys. Ella is poor marine biologist who explain noting about sea and coral life only giving rules when you snorkel. Nice and beautiful location.

Amazing beach, and has intimate beach setups by separating the sun chairs by bushes that make lounging intimate. Beanbag chairs on each porch for relaxing while looking at the beach and water. Porch could use better lights as too dim to read. The food is quite bad, however, and despite having a buffet, they give you an assigned seat for your stay. I was actually kicked out of a seat close to the beach because it wasn't "my" table despite the restaurant being near empty at that time. No shampoo or lotion is provided in the rooms.

Went there for our honeymoon but this was not the Maldivian experience I was looking for. The hotel is on a beach, has snorkeling, diving and some other activities. However, the hotel is far from being a 4-star hotel with the limited space, limited services and grumpy wait staff. It felt more like a retiring home than a beach resort. The king beds are literally two single mattresses attached to each other which were uncomfortable at all. The open buffet for breakfast and dinner is very limited with ONE kind of cheese and pastries attacked by swamps of flies. All meals came from the same kitchen with low quality food and limited choices way overpriced for $30 per person per meal. You would also be seated in a specific table EVERY SINGLE MORNING AND NIGHT and not allowed to change it as if you were in the military (note: I came for the beach so don't put me in the back corner of the restaurant during all my stay!) When asking for a fresh hot cup of coffee instead of the two sips of cold coffee left, the waiter would simply answer "don't you wanna finish yours first?" Barely heard music, no proper lighting and no ambiance. Menu food options are limited (i.e. you can get French fries only between 1 to 2:30 PM!) The only positive side is that the room is clean and the beach is beautiful. Overall, you're better off paying a little extra for a high quality experience in a 5-star hotel.

me and my wife staid in this hotel for 1 week and it was not the perfect hotel but it was just fine 5 star hotel .. everything was available in the hotel from Room service to Sea Sport .. But my friends have been in better hotel that this in other Island Like Kurumba resort ..

Perfect place just to rest and to enjoy the beach and the sealife. Dolphins and turtles were really there, all the tours were worth of price. Complimentary rental of bicycles or kayakies and daily snorkeling tours. Good selection of food, different menu every day. Our 6 year old was so busy with swimming, snorkeling etc. that he even did not have the time to look for his toys from his suitcase. We booked it without an understanding that no wine or beer would be available on the island. Reasonable selection was still available on the sunset boat. As the island is far away from Male it takes few extra hours to get to the Barefoot and back to Male. Hotel reception still does choose the most reasonable flights for you. We can only regret that we had planned only 7 nights to be there.

We stayed at this lovely resort for 9 nights in a Seaside Room. It was our first trip to Maldives and our stay well exceeded our expectations. This resort is great for relaxing, snorkeling/diving and chilling out on the beach or by the pool. I would highly recommend this place!