I had a fantastic experience at One & Only Reethi Rah. One of the best resorts I have been to, and this is compared to the most luxurious and exclusive resorts in Europe and Asia. Upon arrival, you are greeted by the airport and transportation team. Me and my partner were lucky to have the yacht for exclusive use and there were 5 crew members taking care of the two of us. Upon arrival on the island, we were greeted by our host, Yiting, alongside many members of the team. As we arrived quite late in the evening, we hopped on a buggy and did a private check-in in our water villa and had a quick shower. Then we were picked up to enjoy a 3 course meal at Reethi Earth. Although it is included in the half-board package, the quality is good and service is impeccable. The next days were exciting, adventurous, relaxing, and calming at the same time. The spa is great. The house reef tour is well organised and gives you something to see on this island not known for underwater features (they added one tour for us because the waitlist was considerable). The tennis and padel courts are seldom occupied, so you can basically use it whenever you want. The dolphin encounter was delightful, with the crew members talking through the folklores of the dolphins and helping take a lot of photos and videos. Yiting went above and beyond and arranged for me to join two of the staffs’ football matches, which was great fun. Yiting was very responsive, personal, thoughtful, and always anticipated my needs. My partner had something small go into her foot and Yiting quickly escorted us to the clinic in 10 minutes, where surface numbing and extraction with a needle was performed and we were able to get on with our day. Overall, the vast majority of the staff here is warm, welcoming, friendly, helpful, and know when to approach you vs. give you private space and exclusivity. It is very easy to take stunning pictures because it is so beautiful everywhere, and we were blessed with blue skies and very little rain, even in what is usually considered “off-season”. Tipping is appreciated, but never hinted at or certainly never requested, which you would expect from a resort of this calibre. I almost feel like I had exclusive use of the island, with a staff:guest ratio feeling like 3:1 or 4:1. Maybe this is because half of the island (I estimate 60% of the villas) are closed for refurbishment. It’s very hard to think about ways to improve, perhaps 1)higher dining credits (currently 80USD per head) when dining at restaurants not Earth. With the 18% tax plus 10% service charge it can add up quick 2)extend the breakfast hours. Currently it ends at 10:30, would be nice to have an option to sleep in and come a little later 3)a little more guidance around where the best diving spots are, and a brochure of the sea creatures you are likely to encounter. I am a geek in these sort of things and want to know what I am looking at, and can sometimes feel a little lost when diving by myself. However,
