Hotels near Gan International Airport, Gan Island

First things, first…the island is large, it’s very long, the resort is huge, spread out along the length by a few kilometres…the main hub (reception, office, shop, spa, gym, dining, swimming pool, main bar, etc) is lopsided towards the “top end” of the island, while most of the accomodation spreads towards the “bottom end” of the island a couple of kilometers away…the walk is nice, shaded, scenic, bikes are supplied, and the resort shuttle buggies which are only ever a couple of minutes away…our room we stayed was of course furthest towards the bottom of the island, 5-10 minutes by buggy… On the plus side, our room was closest to the bottom of the island, a “beach bar” located there, it’s the “nicest beach” on the island, with the best reef system, it’s the only place to get a decent snorkel to see fish, if that’s what you want to do, that’s where you’d go… a 5-6/10 at best for snorkelling, but that’s the Maldives for you (bleached coral common there)… All the rest is good news, it’s cheap, rooms are very large, very comfortable, very clean, full facilities, our room had a nice spa, accomodation right on the beach…due to the size of the resort, they spaced our neighbours, so it was very private…food was full buffet, decent spread, slight change of menu each day, although there was spaghetti/pasta served every lunch/dinner extra to the buffet choices…drinks at dining, beer or wine only…drinks at the bars, limited cocktail choices, however you can have any spirit, and mix of your own choice, e.g. gin and bitter lemon, whiskey and Coke, etc…the swimming pool at the main bar was huge, plenty of room for everyone…shallow at one end, progressively deeper towards the other end…beautiful surroundings, shady trees, sunning lounges, most of which have umbrellas available, friendly staff, especially the serving girls…3 large pool tables, table tennis, table soccer game, library book selection, games in plenty (chess, dominoes, etc), large indoor sit down area, clean toilets, showers available, magnificent sunset views, free dolphin cruise, free massage included, a win, win for us… Would definitely go again and probably will…

We absolutely loved this place! Every second. We stayed in a water villa which really made it special. Waking up to that view then being able to take a few steps and swim or snorkel was the best. We saw at least one turtle each day and on our last day we saw 3 rays, amazing! Although the villas were a ten min walk from the restaurant it was just a quick call to reception and a buggy appeared at the end of the walkway. We loved the food, it was just our cup of tea…rice, noodles, curries, etc. Desserts could have been more varied but we always found something. Drinks were served to your table. I kept reading how great the staff were….its sooo true. All absolutely lovely. Ali was our ‘butler’ and we loved him. Also Soli in the restaurant was the best! All restaurant and bar staff were also fab. The entertainment was mixed but we made the most of it. Singing competition (hubby won), we judged an international talent show but the rest was quite poor, so we just drank and chatted to other guests. We met so many lovely people! We did the dolphin trip and shark feeding/night fishing. Both trips were great, especially the shark feeding, although I personally wish the fishing wasn’t part of the shark trip. Would have preferred to just see the sharks. We never like to holiday in the same place twice but we both said we’d love to come back to South Palm. Loved it!!