Bandos Maldives: all inclusive at Gallery, with house drinks and a daily minibar

Bandos Maldives all inclusive adds house drinks, afternoon tea and a minibar refilled daily to 3 buffet meals at Gallery. It cost $95.36 a night more than half board for 2 on the resort’s booking engine, read on 7 October 2026 for 11–14 January 2027.

Source checked 7 October 2026: Booking engine, 2 adults, 11–14 January 2027

Updated 13 October 202610 min readHow we write the guide

The renovated Gallery, orange seats beneath the wooden roof and light from the garden

Who this plan suits

Why choose Bandos

Families and divers who eat at the buffet and want drinks and the minibar settled for the whole stay.

The plan

When to look elsewhere

House pours only, one restaurant in the plan, and the speedboat extra.

The 3 plans

One buffet, a reef from the shore and the airport next door

What the plan buys on Bandos: the Gallery buffet, the drinks around it and time on the reef.

Gallery is where Bandos eats: an international buffet in 3 halls, with theme dinners, carvery and pasta stations, used by every meal plan the resort sells. With 220 rooms on the island it is busy at dinner, as guests wrote in November 2025 and January 2026; on the all-inclusive rate the house wine and beer come to the table with the meal.

The house reef is a swim from the shore, 40 to 60 metres out according to Expedia, and guests report small sharks, rays and turtles; Dive Bandos, the Maldives’ longest-established dive centre by its own account, works 40 sites nearby. The plan’s 2 hours a day of windsurfing, canoeing and paddleboarding fill the time between dives, which are charged.

Bandos opened on 10 December 1972, among the first resorts in the Maldives, and sits 7 km from Velana airport, an easy first or last stop on a longer trip. Its house pours and single buffet put it with the plans our comparison of all-inclusive resorts in the Maldives sets against those where every glass is paid for.

Choosing the rate at Bandos

The booking engine, the arrival and the dinners outside the plan.

Compare the 3 plans
Every room is sold on half board, full board and all inclusive; on 7 October 2026 all inclusive cost $95.36 a night more than half board for 2, in every category.
Check the Garden Villas
On the resort’s stop-sale summary dated 4 October, Garden Villas are off sale from 5 October to 30 November 2026.
Send the flight 3 days ahead
The shared speedboat runs to the international flights, with other guests on board; the resort asks for flight details 3 days before arrival.
Sort out the snorkel set
Mask and snorkel are missing from the plan’s list: 2 guests who wrote in 2025 report $20 and $22 a person a day to hire a set, while the Book Direct offer includes the gear.
Reserve Umi Yaki
The teppanyaki is outside the plan, closed on Sundays, with 2 sittings at 6pm and 8pm by reservation.
Ask about the gala dinners
In December 2025 the resort held a gala dinner at Gallery on the 24th and another on the 31st; for December 2026, ask when you book whether they return and what they cost.

Bandos and the airport

Bandos · North Malé Atoll

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The All Inclusive Option, from Gallery to the minibar

The resort’s plan page and FAQ, read on 7 October 2026; the booking engine sells the plan as All-Inclusive - Basic Deal.

In the plan

Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Gallery, the buffet in 3 halls, during meal times: breakfast 7–10.15am, lunch 12.30–2pm (1–2.30pm on Fridays), dinner 7–9pm. Half board and full board use the same buffet; the all-inclusive rate adds lunch and the drinks to half board.
Bottled water, tea, coffee and selected drinks at the Sand Bar, the Pool Bar, Huvan and Sea Breeze: house wine, draught beer, house spirits and selected cocktails; afternoon tea, coffee and snacks at Sea Breeze; a minibar of selected drinks, refilled daily. The dining page calls the selection «premium»; the plan’s own list names house pours.
Windsurfing, canoeing and paddleboarding for up to 2 hours per person a day, subject to availability; table tennis, billiards at the Clubhouse, squash and badminton; the gym, classes, steam room and sauna; tennis by daylight, with equipment.
Outside the plan: food and drinks at Umi Yaki and the Grill Bar, food à la carte at Sea Breeze and Huvan, diving, the spa and the speedboat. Destination2’s version of the plan adds room service, private dinners, the Christmas and New Year supplements, laundry and drinks outside the plan’s hours to the exclusions, and gives 40% off food at Sea Breeze and Huvan and 25% at the Grill Bar and Umi Yaki.

Gallery, the bars in the plan and the restaurants outside it

Hours from the resort’s own pages, read on 7 October 2026.

Gallery	International buffet and theme nights in 3 halls; breakfast and dinner on half board; lunch too on full board and all inclusive.
Sand Bar	Island pub with movie nights, karaoke and a live band, 5.30pm to midnight; the plan’s drinks.
Pool Bar	Swim-up bar among the gardens, drinks only, 8am to 8pm; the plan’s drinks.
Huvan	The sunset bar, light meals and snacks, 11am to 11pm; the plan’s drinks, food à la carte.
Sea Breeze	Café by the water, 6am to midnight; afternoon tea in the plan, the rest à la carte.
Umi Yaki	Japanese teppanyaki, closed on Sundays, sittings at 6pm and 8pm, reservations required; outside the plan.
Grill Bar	Meat and seafood on an overwater deck, 6pm to 10pm, closed on Fridays; outside the plan.

The same supplement in every room

8 categories and 220 rooms in the 2026 brochure: 80 Standard Beachfront Rooms of 37.85 m², 12 Garden Villas of 37.41 m², 48 Deluxe Beachfront Rooms of 54 m², 8 Superior Villas and 16 Beach Villas of 40 m², 49 two-storey Premium Beach Villas of 109.7 m² with an outdoor jetted tub, one Beach Pool Villa of 89.38 m² with a plunge pool and 6 Sunset Water Villas with Pool of 83 m².

A Standard Beachfront Room, its bed and woven ceiling, the door to the veranda

The entrance of a 2-storey Premium Beach Villa, the balcony upstairs

On the All-Inclusive rate for 11–14 January 2027, a night for 2 with taxes and fees, the booking engine asked $592.85 for a Standard Beachfront Room, $717.50 for a Deluxe, $739.25 for a Garden Villa, $787.77 for a Superior Villa, $820.40 for a Beach Villa, $1,009.46 for a Premium Beach Villa, $1,626.83 for the Beach Pool Villa and $1,887.00 for a Sunset Water Villa with Pool.

See every room

Half board, full board, all inclusive: one room, 3 prices

The buffet is the same on all 3 plans; the supplement buys lunch, then the drinks.

On Google’s card on 5 October 2026 the resort’s own site showed $497 a night for 11–14 January 2027, the half-board price on its engine; the all-inclusive rate for the same nights is $592.85 (Google Hotels).

The name «Premium All Inclusive» still circulates among agents: Wiotto listed it with a 5-night minimum beside 2 of the villas for a November 2026 stay, and a 2020 entitlement sheet hosted by Purely Maldives adds 3-course dinners at Huvan and Sea Breeze, an excursion and a massage every 5 nights. On 7 October 2026 the resort’s page and engine offered only the All Inclusive Option described here.

Plan, Standard Beachfront Room	11–14 January 2027	7–10 June 2027
All inclusive over half board	+$95.36	+$95.36
Half board	$497.49	$340.22
Full board	$538.48	$381.21
All inclusive	$592.85	$435.58

A night for 2 adults, taxes and fees included, read on the resort’s booking engine on 7 October 2026 (January, June); for 16–19 November 2026 it had no room available on the 18th.

What guests say
Google 4.6 out of 5 from 2,296 reviews, Tripadvisor 4.5 from 5,532, Booking.com 9.0 from 1,238, read on 5 October 2026; guests praise the staff, the reef and the food. À la carte dinners, diving, the spa and the speedboat are paid on top of the plan. Every review we read is in the guide to Bandos Maldives.

Before you book the plan

What does Bandos Maldives all inclusive include?

3 buffet meals at Gallery; water, tea, coffee and selected drinks at the Sand Bar, the Pool Bar, Huvan and Sea Breeze, with house wine, draught beer, house spirits and selected cocktails; afternoon tea and snacks at Sea Breeze; a minibar refilled daily; 2 hours a day of non-motorised water sports, the Clubhouse games, the gym, the sauna and the steam room (All Inclusive Option).

How much more does all inclusive cost than half board?

$95.36 a night for 2, and $54.37 more than full board, in every category and on every date read on 7 October 2026. A Standard Beachfront Room on the plan cost $592.85 a night for 11–14 January 2027 and $435.58 for 7–10 June 2027, taxes and fees included.

Can you eat at Umi Yaki or the Grill Bar on the plan?

Their food and drinks are outside it. Destination2’s version of the plan gives 25% off food at both and 40% at Sea Breeze and Huvan; a guest in April 2026 also paid for drinks in the à la carte restaurants (Google reviews).

Is the speedboat included?

No. Neither the shared boat nor the private one is in the rate: the private one costs $282 per adult each way for up to 6 people, children free (Booking.com); the brochure gives 10–15 minutes for the 7 km.

Is there still a Premium All Inclusive?

Not on the resort’s page or booking engine on 7 October 2026, which sell the All Inclusive Option only. The name survives with agents: Wiotto listed it with a 5-night minimum for 2 of the villas, and a 2020 sheet describes dinners à la carte, excursions and massages that today’s plan does not list.

What about children?

The Kokko Club takes children aged 3–11. Booking.com lists free meals under 2, the adult rate from 12, an extra bed at $94 a night and a green tax of $12 per child a night from age 2.

The plan before you book

Read the official plan

Written and checked by Lumina, independently of Bandos Maldives. Lumina sells no rooms or tickets: every link leads to its source.

Sources