Lvis Blancura in Dharavandhoo

Very helpful staff, good aircon and wifi, very clean, and right on the beach!

I have visited the Maldives 7 times, during my first 2 visits, I stayed at Club Med Kani, located near Male. For my 3rd visit, I came to Dharavandhoo because I wanted to swim and snorkel with mantas in the open sea. I stayed at LVIS Blancura and I received a very warm welcome and great service from the staff here. The location of this small family-owned & operated hotel is right on the beach. For your information, not many hotels on this island are located on the beach, currently, only 4 hotels are located on the beach. The vibes of this place and the warm, friendly & helpful service left a lasting impression on me and ever since, I have always stayed here each and every time I returned to the Maldives. During my latest vacation, I stayed here for 7 nights. The room rates are very affordable, I paid USD60 per night for my room, which includes a complimentary buffet breakfast. The rooms are very clean and have all the basic amenities you would need. The buffet lunch costs USD10 per person, the buffet dinner costs USD15 per person. The food for breakfast is simple and adequate, you can have eggs cooked-to-order, in any style you wish. The food for lunch is simple and tasty, dinner is always the best meal of the day. Each Friday evening, they have a 'Maldivian Night' themed buffet dinner, whereby the chef prepares traditional Maldivian fare. This 'Maldivian Night' dinner has always been the highlight of my holidays here! In my opinion, the head chef at this hotel (Ayoob) is arguably the BEST chef on this island! The daily snorkeling and picnic excursions are also very affordable, compared to the excursion rates that all the other 5-star resorts charge their guests. A full-day boat excursion which includes a guided snorkeling session and a sandbank picnic lunch costs only USD45 per person. The food for this picnic lunch is similar to the buffet food served in the hotel for lunch, which is pretty good and plentiful. These boating excursions are a great way to connect with the other guests of the hotel and share stories of our snorkeling adventures here as well as in other parts of the world. I think these picnic excursions are excellent value-for-money because after the lunch, the boat crew will take you to look for mantas and dolphins in the open sea, during the manta season. During my most recent trip, we encountered a large congregation of mantas in Huraafaru, and we jumped into the sea and snorkeled with them! The Snorkeling excursions in Hanifaru Bay is usually the highlight for 99% of overseas visitors who come to Dharavandhoo and the Baa Atoll! Hanifaru Bay is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, where large numbers of mantas congregate to feed on the dense concentration of plankton from June to September each year. This period is known as the 'Manta Season' and it attracts lots of overseas visitors to the Baa Atoll. The number of visitors entering Hanifaru Bay is strictly regulated, a typical snorkeling session here costs USD60 per person and it las

LVIS Blancura is a family-owned hotel that offers a simple accomodation but with extreme friendliness and a wonderful little beach. Nothing is too much trouble for the brothers running this hotel, any requests is met with helpfulness and a speedy response. The room prices are extremely affordable, but good value includes also the big plates of additional food for lunch which run at US$5-7 for each plate, and the excursions which are a fraction of the rooce of luxury resorts and a much shorter ride to the main spots. The beach is pretty, sitting on a small protected bay with herons and tiny baitfish schools all around the shore. On arrival the owners will pick up up from the airport and on departure drop you off at your departing speedboat or flight. The rooms are simple, but comfortable and quiet, and everything works. Being an island the hotel depends on central power and there are very occasionally short power outages, but this is no fault of the hotel or the hotel owners. If you have a limited budget, or seek a short stay in Dharavandhoo to try diving or while transiting elsewhere, with everything in reach within 5 mins, excellent excursions and a very hospitable set of hosts, LVIS Blancura is recommended.

We were delighted with Lvis Blancura, the room that we had was excellent, clean and well appointed with all the facilities you could expect for this price range. As far as location is concerned is simply could not be better. It is right on bikini beach directly in front of one of the swimming bays and entrance to the reef for snorkelling - also a perfect short walk from the town (about five minutes) a stroll through the palm trees or past some of the local buildings like the school or mosque. Food was excellent, always a good spread of both local and international foods available, plus lunchtime snacks if you are not on full board. Plenty of places in front of the guest house where you can sit and laze around in the hanging chairs or on one of the three black hammocks. All in all the facilities are excellent and the staff that own and run the hotel are amazing - you come as guests and leave as friends. Jo & Christian (England)

Everything is really perfect. The staff is very friendly. The main thing is that the food is delicious. The room is very clean and better than the pictures. I can say it is the best on the island. There is a beach right outside. It is a sea view room.

From June 27 to July 12… our first stay here and we are already thinking of booking again for February 2025 as we had such a perfect stay. The hotel very kindly arranged our internal flights from Male to Dharavandoo which we paid for about a week before our arrival. This is very useful because booking directly with Manta Air or one of the other operators costs significantly more. Once we arrived, a hotel staff member was at the local airport to greet us and take us on a short (five-minute) ride to the hotel by golf cart with our luggage. There are around 12 rooms which are all lovely - the beach rooms are a little simpler (but still perfectly acceptable), the luxury rooms are ideal and very well furnished. We had a beach room and our daughters the Deluxe room. Both had excellent air conditioning for very humid nights. The staff could not be faulted, as it is a small hotel, everyone was recognizable and extremely helpful in every sense of the word. The food was excellent, fish, pasta, chicken and much more. As there are only a limited number of people, the food is served directly or as a small buffet and was always hot as it was not left standing for hours as is often found. Prices were very reasonable if you ordered additional meals which were not part of your package and tea and coffee were free and soft drinks very reasonable. The dining and reception areas are perfectly clean and tidy. The bikini beach is about 20 meters from the rooms where there are sun loungers and towels or yoga mats are free from the hotel. In the garden you will find seating and tables for outside dining if you wish. Just ask and a table will be set for you and food will be brought to your table (no charge for eating out). There were rarely more than 10 people using the beach and deck chairs when we were there, so we had a lot of the beach to ourselves most of the time. The lagoon near the beach is shallow and suitable for children taking their first steps in snorkeling. Those with a little more experience can head to the reef just beyond the lagoon and see a much greater variety of fish and maybe even a passing turtle if you're lucky. If you don't have any equipment, just talk to the hotel. The LVIS Blancura is about a 4-5-minute walk along the beach to the harbor and the town itself, where you'll find a variety of shops from gift shops to a well-stocked supermarket and a pharmacy if you need one. you need. All of these products are very reasonably priced (around $1 for a chocolate bar if that helps). There is also a hospital on the island – but I hope it will not be necessary. There are about five or six cafés and restaurants (plus the guest houses and hotels where you can also eat). Overall we were delighted with our stay at the LVIS Blancura and have no hesitation in recommending them for singles, families or couples. As mentioned we will be booking again for 2025.

The service was top-notch, and the staff was incredibly attentive. The ambiance was truly magical, as the hotel is located right in front of the beach, with the soothing sounds of the sea. The rooms were not big but decently sized, with enough space for a queen bed, desk, and closet. They also had a safe, and the bathrooms were cleaned daily. Opting for full board was a great decision, given the limited dining options in the area. The buffet meals were plentiful, and we even enjoyed table service on the beach. The only downside to the rooms was that the roof could get quite noisy during rare rain showers.

Small boutique hotel right by the bikini beach. Location is marvelous as you are 20m away from a beautiful beach and blue sea. Of course you do not find the endless open buffet tables you find in 5-6 star resorts but you aren't leaving the dining area feeling hungry. They arrange tours out to the reefs and diving spots at reasonable prices. The staff is very helpful sincere.

Having been travelling to the Maldives for the past 28 years this was our first "guesthouse" experience. We stayed in a village room a minutes walk from the main hotel. 10 days of blissful peace. Transfer from Male airport arranged by the hotel with transfer taxi on arrival at Dharavandhoo. Room very comfortable, spotlessly clean, enormous bed and bathroom with choice of indoor or outdoor shower, toiletries provided. Outside seating area with water, tea and coffee making area available 24hours. A very useful drying area also provided making it very simple to wash and dry swimwear etc. Free WiFi available, we had good speed when using the Internet. Beach towels and yoga mats also provided. Excursions available from the hotel, good snorkeling from the hotel beach and also boat trips to other sites are an option. Unfortunately the Manta rays had left Hanifaru before we arrived but still a beautiful area to see turtles, sharks, many small fish varieties and hard corals. We were fortunate to see dolphins frequently over our stay. The bikini beach and local beach are kept very clean, sunbeds are provided by the hotel. Staff are truly lovely, nothing is too much trouble. The kitchen team went above and beyond to cater for our 3 years old Granddaughter's tastes every day. Food excellent, better than any of the resorts we have previously stayed at. The Maldivian night buffet meal was beyond excellent, no drummers/dancers but true Maldivian food, just perfect! Owners also take an active role in excursions , dealing with guests needs, arranging transfers etc and are very approachable. Wishing I could remember everyone's names, but to all at LVIS you now have a very special place in our hearts, we will see you all again, it took 28 years to find you we won't lose you now!!!!!