The design, decor and layout of the hotel is great. It is big and spacious so you feel like you have you have privacy whilst keeping an atmosphere. The hotel is extremely clean everywhere you go and the rooms are a good size and little touches such as fresh flowers and chocolate on your pillows at night we’re happily received.
However, the service lets it down in comparison to other 5 star hotels we have stayed in. Some of the staff were ok and friendly, however others, especially on reception were cold. I don’t know if they have been told to be professional and therefore have become a bit rigid and robotic but they did not feel welcoming. They were also not very informative. We asked at reception about visiting the towns and other points on the island but we’re just given a not very good map and no info, only later did we find out by chance (and friendly locals) that there was a bus you could get from Mali to Veli, bike rental available and good walking routes.
Also the waiting staff were not very assertive, especially at breakfast. Maybe there was not enough of them but there were always lots of messy tables that needed clearing and it took a long time to get a hot drink from them (or just a tea cup to drink from. You make a pot of tea yourself but have no milk or tea cups available). This could have easily been resolved by just putting teacups on the tables when laying them out to save waiters time.
The hotel is lovely but not quite an all round 5 star experience.