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KUDAHITHI - Guest Comments

Kudahithi is not so much a resort as a house with 7 exotic rooms. A quiet, peaceful house on a tiny island surrounded by a coral garden.

"Kuda" means small and this island takes less than 10 minutes to walk around. Apart from the rooms (and a small service area) there is only one other building. Walking off the jetty one step into the parlor of some turn-of-the-century bourgeois country house. Here is the heavy black wooden furniture, the tapestry cushions, the solid display cabinets and the samovar. As it only has three sides it is like a stage set looking out not to an audience but to the Indian Ocean.

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 The 7 rooms are stage sets too, for your own private fantasies. Choose from The Sheikh Room, The Captain Room, The Rehendi Room (Maldivian Queen), The Safari Room, The Maldives Room, The Bali Room and the Maharaj Room. Yes it’s kitsch, but it is lavish, Italian designed kitsch. And never cheap. The spears in The Safari Room are original Masai weapons; the leopard spot floor tiles are by Krizia; other tiles are by Versace and Valentino; the bathroom of The Captain Room has cork tiling from Sardinia. In addition to the expected facilities (though no hairdryer minibar), each room has a video, to play any of the 70 odd videos held by the manager.

There isn’t a beach all the way around the island. One side has a wall at the shoreline, but the 3 rooms on this side are compensated with a wooden sun deck that stretches upto and over the wall and have steps down to the shallows. The other 4 rooms have a fine wide beach in front of them. And surrounding the whole island is a wonderful coral garden. The coral is so dense and close to the surface that you must go off one of the two jetties to reach the reef edge.

Diving is free and if anybody wishes to go the dive boat from Boduhithi will stop by on the way out to pick him or her up. For water sports one must take the five-minute boat ride over to that island. That too is free, but most guests seem to be happy lazing out in the "garden" or sipping coffee in the "house".

The food is entirely Italian, with the accent on fresh fish. Breakfast and lunch are buffet and dinner is served at your table. Everyday there are two types of pasta, one white and one red, but you can stay here for 15 days and never repeat a dish. With so few other guests and such a fine setting, dinning is a distinctly civilized pleasure. A rather English touch is the tea and cake served every day at four o’clock.

This is a very quiet, private island. There is no music and there are no activities except board games. It is a beautiful place to do nothing.