Canopus Retreat Thulusdhoo

WARNING – DO NOT BOOK WITH CANOPUS! We had been looking forward to our stay at Canopus Hotel for six months, when we finally got there after travelling halfway round the world. We saved money for a long time to come to Thulusdhoo, and we had an ongoing dialog with the manager of the hotel all the way through – everything seemed fine, but we did NOT receive any information about what we`d soon come to experience. We arrived in February 2024 for a 15 day stay, and we were asked to pay the full bill before check in – we found that a bit strange but agreed since we were tired after a 24 hour trip to get there. Everything seemed fine when we were doing the payments but trouble started soon after – no wonder why they wanted all our money up front. We crawled our way over about 100 cats (and their inevitable smells and legacies) to get to our room in order to get a sought after shower and a much-needed rest. It was very disappointing to find a room in a condition far worse than what we expected from the information we were given, and what we think is fair to expect from what we paid – but again – we can manage to enjoy our rest and recuperation time in the Maldives in a not so good ( to say the least) room but as the holiday went on it became unbearable. As soon as we laid down on the bed for a stretch before lunch, they started to do some building work next door that sounded more like demolition – it was crazy and this went on throughout our stay. It was basically impossible to be in our room between 0700am and 630pm. We measured the noise to nearly 130db. We came to understand that the building they were building next door (a ten story concrete block) was done by the owners of Canopus. After shaking off the first shock we went to the beachfront restaurant, just to get the next sad disappointment. We didn’t even get the menus in our hands before eyebrows were raised – bulldozers and big diggers rolled back and forth on the beach moving big rocks and building a seawall. It was not possible to go for a swim out front and it was a noise so bad that we just left our table. The fact that the managers of the hotel, that we had been in running dialog with for six (6) months, did not ever mention ANY of this. What a disgrace! If you for some reason end up going here, bear in mind that: 1. This is a construction site. 2. The management under-communicates and twists the truth. 3. The other guests I was talking to shared my concerns. I was very kind in my complaints towards the staff, but I was not met with the kindness and understanding one would expect from a hotel. I could go on and on but it would be superfluous. The treatment we got and the facilities we “lived” in for 15 days was a degrading experience, and you should avoid this place at any kost. The place has dangerous noise, possible falling objects and bulldozers driving in-between tables and sunbeds. The fact that we did not get ANY information about the place being a construction site before we arrived underlines how little respect we were treated with.

CATS RETREAT. If you have cats’ allergies do NOT come to this place. They have 20+ cats here. They are on top of the dining tables, rugs, sofas, chairs, reception counter, halls, and even want to enter the room. The whole place smells like cat’s litter. We started itching,coughing, and getting bugs bites. Cockroaches all over the place. It was raining and water from the street entered our room. We got charged for 2 nights even though we only stayed for one night and did the check out on time.

We had an amazing lunch in Canopus. Very good food and also different choices than other places on the island. The owners are italian and you could really notice in quality of food and excellent service. Carbonara with tund was super delicious! Also you need to try the brownie with icecream. We will definitley come back here. They also have very lovley kittens and cats!

Very professional and very friendly hosts Very helpful staff Best location , hardly 20m to bikini beach and very close to surfing spots. One of the best pizza in the Indian Ocean, it’s so authentic ! Barbara & Giovanni were always there to help, very nice people! I recommend this hotel to any type of tourists.

Best value hotel on hulusdhoo island!! We stayed by here for 5 nights. The owner is really helpful and also arranged us R/T transfer. The restaurant is the best in town. We tried many restaurants and the food here is the best, my favorite dishes were Salmon Poke and grilled reef fish. Unfortunately!! There are too many cats around so can’t avoid the poop smell in the air. It was the only thing that put a damper on the atmosphere. (No one’s fault) Overall everything was great and we enjoyed our stay here. We will definitely be back