I was little late making the reservation for the hotel in Male. I had three hours transfer in Singapore that I decided to use to book the hotel. Expedia and few of the other more well-known booking engines returned a very limited number of choices. The choices presented were mainly Hulhule Island hotel and the former Holiday Inn, which was recently branded as Trader’s. The price of both are rather high

Then, I remembered, that I had used the Booking.com to make my reservation for an overnight stay in Male on my previous trip. The reservation system came back with quite a few different options from low to high and everything in between. Decided to book the Mookai hotel that is very conveniently located to the waterfront where the boats from the airport dock. The hotel itself is within two/three minute walk from the pier.

When checking in, the front desk had no idea that I had made a reservation. Not sure, how often and how the reservations made at Booking.com are processed, obviously not in real time. After I pulled up my phone and showed the reservation, everything was good to go. Surprisingly, they just charged the reservation up front, so there was nothing to settle when I left the following morning.

First, I was assigned a room in one of the highest floors. It had two or three beds and felt quite cramped. Also, there was absolutely no wireless internet signal. Went back to the front desk to get a new room. This time they gave me a room 707 on the 7th floor that fit to my needs much better. The wireless internet worked well too. The room only had one bed that was enough for a night’s sleep. They had fairly modern flat panel TV’s, and carried the usual local and international channels i.e. CNN. The AC unit was good too.

All the floors have a rather large “lobby” where multiple rooms are connected. The lobby has a TV and a sitting area with a table. This might have been a residential building previously that explains this bit weird setup.

Not sure what is the “official” rating of this hotel. Based on my couple of thousand hotel nights, I would give it somewhere between two and two and a half stars. It is ok for a night, but wouldn’t really stay there longer. Also, there are plenty of local cafes and restaurants that are within a short walking distance. The price I paid, $130 for a night, was fair considering that the Traders and Hulhule are both charging $300 to $400 per night.

Well situated close to a number of good restaurants and the airport ferry drop off point. Rooms are basic and clean. For Male the price is good value though you don't get much for your money compared to most other cities in south asia. Do ask to stay above the 4th floor if you want any kind of view - the first time I stayed I had a picturesque view of a brick wall two feet away (3rd floor).

My wife and I travelled to the Maldives during the first week of September. Our connecting flight from Colombo came in at 00.30 in the morning and we had to leave our Island destination at 10:00 am so we needed a comfortable little place to spend the night. The best thing about the Mookai is the location. It is virtually a two minute walk from the airport arrival jetty at Male and we certainly appreciated that as we were tired when we arrived. We initially got a room on the top floor with a great view but it contained 3 single beds. We requested a room with a double bed and were granted that but it was a comparatively smaller room on the second floor with a view of the street. The room phone was not working which was a hassle but the air conditioning worked fine and the room was otherwise quite clean. Bathroom was again very small but with running hot water (no amenities like toothpaste etc). All in all a good choice if you are looking for an overnight stay and want a place close to the boats.

The hotel is right in the center (though Male is not a big island) and close to very good restaurants and the dock.
The rooms are quite clean and convenient , though if you are not on the top floor, there is absolutely no view.
The staff is quite helpful.

A good value for the main island of the Maldives!