This was our first time in the Maldives, and we only stayed at Bandos. We've been to most of the Carribean and USV Islands, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka, so we are aware of island prices and economics. But this place felt like they were nickle and diming us every chance they got. Fresh juice? $18-20. Cappuccino with breakfast? Extra. Kids snorkeling mask at the gift shop? $85. Pool table that nobody is using? $6/30 mins.
But the worst of it was the fact that they would not give us a late checkout for 3 hours even though we were willing to pay for it. We had a 25 hour flight ahead of us, and with two small kids - a late checkout would've been very helpful. We checked on their website - and there were plently of rooms available. We went to the front desk the day before, but they told us to come back after 8pm because they were still taking reservations. After 8pm, they said the reservation manager had left for the day. The next morning, they simply refused to help us even though we offered to pay $300 for the 3 hours - it was almost as if helping us would hurt them. Mind you, plently of rooms still available on their website for $700 that night. They said their website was wrong, and that they were having system issues, but actually, no room was available. Considering we paid $1000/night for 5 days, it just felt like they could've helped, but actively didn't.
Anyways, we were told there are plently of nice places in the Maldives, so we will go back. But probably not to Bandos.