Review — Arena Beach Maldives – a tranquil, island retreat

Review — Reachable from Malé in about 90 minutes by ferry and 30 minutes by speedboat, Arena Beach is located in the island of Maafushi, where the thriving guest house business originated in the Maldives. With over 40 hotels now operating in Maafushi Island, Arena Beach is conveniently situated right across the beachfront giving guests a spectacular view of the northern seashore and blue lagoons of the island.
Arena Beach Maldives
 
The hotel is part of a family-owned hotel chain placed in 3 locations in the Island of Maafushi. While Arena Lodge and Arena Sky offers guests standard rooms for budget travelling and backpacking needs, Arena Beach offers deluxe and superior room standards.
Upon arrival, by a free shuttle provided by the hotel, guests are welcomed with a complimentary refreshing drink and cold towel to freshen up while getting habituated to the warm weather as an attentive friendly staff briefs guests on the hotel amenities.
Arena Beach Maldives
The deluxe rooms offer a cozy environment with modern décor and a balcony providing view of the surrounding luscious palm trees and tropical nature. Deluxe Rooms are also presented with a sea view overlooking the blue ocean and palm trees engulfing guests in a peace of tranquil for a budget traveler to experience a resort-like stay.
The Super Deluxe rooms located on the rooftop offers guests an open balcony to enjoy infinite ocean view. These rooms provide easy access to the hotel’s terrace where guests can relax in the Jacuzzi or lie on the sunbeds while enjoying a refreshing beverage.
Arena Beach Maldives
The hotel also boasts a Grand Deluxe Room, a penthouse with glass wall fittings and a private terrace with sun lounges giving an aerial view of the lush tropics and the deep blue ocean that lies ahead.
All rooms are equipped with 24-hour complimentary tea/coffee and water, in-room safe, mini bar and wireless broadband internet. The hotel also provides laundry service.
The hotel’s restaurant on the ground floor provides complimentary buffet breakfast, a la carte lunch and buffet dinners which include a variety of local and western flavors provided at a flat rate of USD 10.
Arena Beach Maldives
Arena Beach also provides a wide variety of daily excursions and day trips. The hotel gives priority to arranging their day-to-day excursions based on prior bookings. However guests may choose to arrange their tours upon arrival. These excursions include scuba diving, snorkeling, night fishing, sand bank picnics, dolphin cruise, manta watching, whale shark watching, picnic island trips and day trips to resorts. Guests can even combine these trips and choose from half-day to full-day excursions as the hotel gladly accommodates to specific needs.
Arena Beach Maldives
In addition to the excursions, the Water Sports Centre also provides numerous sporting activities daily such as Kayaking, Wind Surfing, Jet Skiing, and Parasailing. While customarily beach/bikini wear is prohibited in inhabited islands, Maafushi offers private beach known commonly as the bikini beach. Conveniently located before the hotel, obstructed from the view of the local islanders, guests can sport minimal beach attire and enjoy the beach and watersports on this beach.
Arena Beach Maldives
The hotel provides speedboat transfer at a rate of USD 175 for the entire boat which accommodates up to 8 passengers. Guests need not wait for scheduled transfers as the hotel arranges airport transfers at the traveler’s convenience with the requirement of a 48-hour advance booking.
All in all, Arena Beach would definitely be among the top hotels for the budget traveler, either flying solo or in a group, the adventure seeking explorer or for the free-spirited traveler desiring to explore the tropics and revel the ample Maldivian experience.