We enjoyed a 5-night stay in an overwater villa with pool at The Residence Falhumaafushi over Christmas 2024. We booked the standard all inclusive package which was well worth it. It included a daily buffet breakfast, 2 courses at lunch and 3 for dinner which was a huge amount of food and drink! Villa 302 was large and clean and nicely decorated and in a good location to access the nearby reef for snorkelling. I would pick Villa 300 or 304 next time for privacy reasons, as villa 303 could see directly into our pool. These rooms are located on the western side of the island which is great to see sunsets from. The villa is separated into bathroom with outdoor shower, normal shower, seperate toilet, freestanding bath, bedroom, and living area. Bedroom is air conditioned and opens up onto the deck so you have a view of the ocean. The food was incredible - particularly LiBai (Chinese) and Long Island (Italian). We understand the resort has recently won an award for their food and we can see why. The food was also good at the Falhumaa, but the service was lacking on the night we visited most likely due to it being peak season. We arrived early and were told to wait outside in the heat, which didn’t happen at Long Island. We also ate at Cafe Del Sol for lunch and the Beach Bar. Food was good but service was always better on the busier side of the island. Cafe Del Sol had umbrellas and Beach Bar staff refused to put umbrellas out. Staff at all restaurants were accomodating and understanding with food allergies, which were noted on check in but seemed to need to be reminded when dining. Special mention to Jaavid at the breakfast buffet on the Falhumafushi island who went the extra mile with avocado and lemon at breakfast. Most restaurants are located at the other resort, which meant a bicycle ride or buggy ride away. But it was worth staying at Falhumafushi was a lot more quiet and less crowded. We understood the resort on this island to be childfree, but there did seem to be some families with kids so the rules must have changed? It’s good to allow up to 15 mins for the buggy to arrive in peak times. All restaurants were super clean. We had a slight hiccup on Christmas night, as we’d booked Long Island (which was confirmed) and there was special event scheduled there and we weren’t notified so we had to go to the buffet that evening. Also at one stage we were told by a staff member our choice of alcohol wasn’t included in our package when it was. I queried this with the staff member and advised him I could show him our package documents which listed this as included. We really shouldn’t have had to do this. In terms of activities, we booked the JetSki safari, which took us for snorkelling and to a sandbank. We were supposed to do this Christmas Day, but the staff recommended we reschedule due to weather. We were glad we did. It was well worth doing as the reef we were taken to was beyond the channel you could reach by swimming. We saw so many fish, sharks and turtles and have dived in many other locations, this was by far the best. The sandbank was so picturesque we couldn’t believe it was real. Unfortunately, we never got to use the free water sports equipment, as it was always in use and the time you could use it was very restrictive. The resort needs more equipment for peak periods, four stand up paddle boards per resort isn’t enough for the amount of guests at the resort. We also used the spa, the 60 min peace massage was incredible. The bridge that connects the resorts is a great spot to see sting rays and turtles which the tide is high at about 1pm each day. The staff also checked us in at Koodoo Airport when we departed which was great service. Just be aware to mention to the staff if you don’t want to sit backwards. We weren’t aware and were issued 1D and F which face backward and would not have chosen these as I suffer from motion sickness. Staff also met us at Male Airport and offered to help us check in, which was a nice touch, but we were more than comfortable doing this ourselves. All in all, we had a great time and would recommend The Residence Falhumaafushi.