Only Rooms Over Water, Not On Land

There are no rooms on the island, just the 50 waterbungalows in the lagoon. The standard rooms (40) are elegant rooms with Asian touches such as the low bed, wood panelled walls and sliding wooden screen between the room and bathroom. It is possible to open screens to see all the way back to the jacuzzi and also to watch a second television from the jacuzzi. Oddly the main television is bolted to a wall almost at head height, too far away from the sofa and unable to turn towards the bed. And the seat cushions of the sofa slip from under you. These are surprising details in such a classy resort so I expect they will be rectified. There are no steps down to the water from the bungalows but there are steps down at a point along the jetty.

The four honeymoon suites are similar rooms but are on their own jetty away from it all. The premium rooms are at the end of the main waterbungalow jetty. These are the 6 ‘Japanese’ rooms. They were conceived  and delivered by Japanese and they are serviced by Japanese staff only. They look absolutely authentic and are quite delightful. It is the Europeans who really go for the rooms, as the Japanese have just come from Japan to the Maldives and perhaps do not go for the old style, classical Japan interior.

Fine Cuisine of East and West

There is a fine Japanese restaurant in addition to the main dining room. This latter is one of the few remaining resort restaurants that has a menu and table service for all three meals. Dinner would usually be a choice of 2 starters, 2 soups, 3 mains (superb beef) and 2 deserts. The food is excellent and nicely presented. It is all smart enough to make you feel a bit special but not too formal. In high season bed and breakfast is a common choice, so the other meals can be eaten anywhere at anytime (the Japanese restaurant, in room, on the beach or on a desert island). In the low season all the meal plans are available, up to all-inclusive light and all-inclusive premium.

Day and night it is quiet here. There are no evening entertainments. Having said that, there is no time for the bar to close. As long as someone is there enjoying themselves, it stays open. Similarly there is no time for the swimming pool to close, and it is frequently still in use at 10 at night. It must be said that this swimming pool is one of the finest I’ve seen. It is not large but it is at the tip of the island, surrounded by soft, white sand. And all the beds and umbrellas are white, enhancing the blue of the pool and the whole thing creates one of the great settings.

Japanese Garden and Tea Ceremony

Between the pool and the main buildings is a Japanese-style garden which is as surprising as it is successful. A stroll through here is calming and constantly enjoyable.

Another classic Japanese facility is the house for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. This is, again, authentically Japanese and intriguing, although surprisingly expensive. It could be said at this point that all the excursions are also rather expensive.

The spa is reasonably priced but although it is a well-established Coconut Spa, it doesn’t have a special feel to it and up on the third floor it looks a bit unloved.

Diving and Snorkeling Always Important

Diving and snorkeling have long been important ingredients to Vadoo. There are many well-known top dive sites readily accessible from this northern tip of South Male Atoll and the dive base staff have been with the island for many years, so they are just the people to guide guests safely to the right dive sites for them.

The snorkeling area, starting just by the dive base, is not extensive and the corals have been slow to grow back but this is a channel into the atoll so there are usually plenty of large fish to see, such as bluefin jacks, eagle rays and huge puffer fish. Between the beach and the drop-off is a coral garden that has an impressive resident school of big-eye jacks that circle around flashing their silver flanks.

All in all, if Adaaran Vadoo doesn’t quite have the panache of the top international resorts, it is a most enjoyable change to the normal style of place however smart or economical. Here there is a quiet, smiling atmosphere among the guests and the Japanese accents to the facilities are delightful and authentic.

Review updated 31 October 2011