Pure Destinations | Holiday Builder, Trips, Resorts

Sarah’s Honeymoon to the Maldives and Dubai!

Our homeworkers are a fabulous asset to us at Honeymoon Dreams! They offer unbeatable experience of destinations we sell and they certainly know their stuff when it comes to luxury travel. All of our sales staff go that extra step further than simply selling you a honeymoon. They use their first-hand knowledge of world to advise you and point you in the direction of what they know will be the honeymoon of your dreams!

Our lovely homeworker Jacqui recently helped Sarah O’Neill and her husband create the adventure of a lifetime for their honeymoon. Read all about Sarah’s experience with Jacqui and on the honeymoon itself, which they decided on the serene Maldives and glamorous Dubai.

Sarah’s thoughts…

Well, all I can say is wow! Wow wow wow wow wow! Every time someone asks us about our honeymoon, this would be the first thing we respond with, and it is all thanks to Jacqui!

When we started to look to book our honeymoon, we knew that we wanted to do a multi-destination and had several countries in mind, however it was only once we had spoken to and been advised by Jacqui that it was decided upon the Maldives and Dubai (Maldives being my preference and Dubai my husbands).

“Literally paradise…”

The next problem was deciding upon which island in the Maldives and which area and hotel in Dubai. We actually let Jacqui make this decision for us as we knew that her knowledge and experience would be much better than trolling through all the hotel review sites, and boy were we right! Literally paradise!

The booking process was made very easy by Jacqui, she sent us out a few itineraries with different options to pick from, which was probably the hardest part, and then Jacqui did the rest! She ensured everything was in our price range whilst getting the best we could possibly afford. She also got us quite a few free upgrades whilst she was at it! I was currently planning my wedding abroad in Cyprus at the time, and we had a lot of problems arise with this, so Jaqui just left us with one less thing to do and also with a light at the end of the tunnel!

So where to begin….

We arrived at the airport to check in and had the best surprise… We got upgraded with emirates from economy to business for our flight to Dubai! What a treat that was! And little did we know the excitement was only just beginning! Once in Dubai we had an hour transfer time and then off we were off to the Maldives!

“The island was out of this world, just beautiful!”

We stayed at the Kuramathi Island resort and what a fantastic island it was! Jacqui had told us before we went that there was some work being done on the island and gave us the option to either move island or stay and get €300 credit to spend on whatever we would like! We stayed, and this was the best decision we could have made! The island is out of this world, just beautiful! We stayed in a stunning water villa with a Jacuzzi, and we just loved to chill there during the day! The facilities in the room were outstanding and all up to date, it sounds silly to say but even the TV channels were great; constantly playing new films so when my husband had a little siesta in the afternoon, I would either lay in the sun reading my book or on the two days we had where the weather was a little unpredictable, I watched a few films! They also have an amazing sound system too! All LG!

When booking Jacqui managed to get us a few extra bits including back, neck and soldier massage, a voucher to spend in the boutique and a beautiful candle lit dinner on the beach! The spa was just amazing and the facilities were just beautiful, so my husband and I also had an additional couple’s full body massage experience complimentary of our $300! We also enjoyed a few shishas with this too!

The facilities were great; lots of water sports and excursions, we particularly enjoyed the snorkelling, with myself being a keen diver it was great to jump off our water villa and go and see the lovely corals and fishes 10 meters from where we were sleeping! A definite must! The centre provides you with all the gear so no need to take any with you or buy some!

“… the staff were great, lovely and friendly and can never do too much!”

The food was amazing and although we were on the basic all inclusive option, we were more than happy with the selections available and the staff are great, lovely and friendly and can never do too much!

 

Before we went my husband was worried that he may get bored however not once as there was always something to do!

Top tip – definitely have a mojito, they were delicious!

If we were to revisit the Maldives we would not think twice to book Kuramathi again!

So on to our next destination, Dubai! 4 nights to look forward too! Once arrived in Dubai we had a very lovely, posh car waiting for us outside the airport, and then off we went to our hotel, Sofitel the Palm. All I can say is WOW! We were certainly not disappointed – quite the opposite! The hotel is situated next to the Atlantis and had the most amazing views over the Palm! This hotel again was chosen by Jacqui and she also managed to get us a free upgrade from bed and breakfast to half board!

“We met the Kuoni rep (Daisy) straight away and she was fantastic!”

Upon checking in, the exceptional reception staff upgraded our room from a sea view to a view over the Palm! The rooms and layouts were out of this world and the view was priceless! We met the Kuoni rep (Daisy) straight away and she was fantastic! She highlighted all the areas we wanted to go and the best way of getting to places, as well as how much it should cost us! She also sorted out tickets for the different excursions we went on!

Sarah’s must do’s:

– Burj Khalifa

– The mall (I’m not a big shopper myself but definitely something to see, especially the big aquarium)

– The fountains outside the mall, one of my highlights

– The old town; we got some right bargains here, I never realised but it appears my husband was a natural barter!

– Would definitely recommend the local taxis rather than the hotel ones.

– We ate only at the hotel mainly as the food was immense, would certainly recommend the steak house, we ate here twice, however would not necessarily recommend the Italian, we found this to be quite bland!

Again the service at this hotel was next to none and nothing was too much! Will also definitely be coming back to this hotel.

The only negative I could possibly say about our time in Dubai was that it was a little hot! Which just shows you how great it was as being August you would not have expected anything different!

Upon leaving the hotel, it was arranged that all of our luggage and once it had arrived (sorted by Jacqui again) we had a lovely brand new Mercedes to take us back.

Upon checking in our flight had been over booked, and so just to finish the honeymoon on a high, we was again upgraded to business class! All of our luck came at once! It meant we didn’t mind so much about leaving!

I couldn’t recommend Jacqui and Kuoni enough and I have passed on Jacqui’s details to several of my friends who are starting to plan a wedding!

All the upgrades and extras that we got I have Jacqui to thank for, and I look forward to working with her again to book anniversary holidays and big birthdays too!

Get in touch with our other luxury travel advisors on 08700 0856 846 or use our online enquiry form here.