Rebecca W.
The guesthouse had some useful points: the rooms were large and inexpensive, the kitchen was well equipped, and the linens and towels were clean. The washing machine worked, there were no cockroaches in our rooms during our 12 nights, and Asif was kind and spoke good English. The roof terrace had a view when you stood up. But the beds were the hardest I’ve ever slept on. One bedroom had windows that wouldn’t open, so we had to sleep with the AC; the other could be aired out but became very hot during the day. Fishing boats nearby also left their engines running for 6-7 hours, so we got diesel fumes. We came for 12 nights hoping for a beach holiday, based largely on what the guesthouse owner had told me beforehand. That expectation is why I’m rating the stay poorly. Mulah doesn’t work for a beach break or for tourists staying longer than two days. The locals were friendly, but seemed uninterested in tourists and unfamiliar with tourism. The island was littered above and below the water outside the village. The so-called Bikini beach was covered with plastic, broken glass bottles, and sharp metal, and the water stayed shallow for a long way out. It also wasn’t officially a bikini beach: when families came, we weren’t allowed to wear bikinis there. There’s no reef around the island. Snorkeling meant seeing old cans and other rubbish, though there were surprisingly lots of fish. That might be fine for someone who’s never snorkeled before. The nearby reef had dead coral and plenty of fish, but nothing special. If you want fish to eat, you have to catch it yourself. We did get very well grilled fish once at the restaurant owned by the host’s brother. The guesthouse had three floors, with a bedroom and a huge glass front on each of the first two floors, and a kitchen and terrace on the third. The rooms had TVs we didn’t use, fridges, and one had a kettle. We bought two sun loungers before arriving because there weren’t any on the island. The promised sun umbrellas never appeared, though the beach was hardly usable anyway. The host had also promised a swimmable bikini beach and windows that opened in the bedrooms. He said he’d meet us at the jetty in Male, but didn’t show. We found the speedboat ourselves, so it wasn’t a big problem, but it would have been easier to know the boat’s name instead of having to look for someone. We were unlucky with the weather, and the sea stayed very rough for all 12 days, so we couldn’t take boat trips. We also didn’t use the offer to spend a day on nearby resort island Medhufushi for $40 per trip.
