What 785 DialAFlight clients thought of Indian Ocean

Personalised service and support throughout the whole process which involved postponement due to covid. Stuart especially went the extra mile to ensure we got the best deal and had the best holiday!

Thanks for setting up a great trip. Hoping you can find us another exciting deal for next year!

I received a very prompt and quick reply of any query. I do recommend other people

Lee and the team very helpful and proactive. I knew I’d be in good hands if I got into a pickle overseas.

In the face of adversity Ryan smooths out all the creases and we don’t go elsewhere now down to that relationship. Thank you.

Thanks to Libby, Raphael and Julian for going above and beyond, sending us everything we needed and even changing last minute flights.

Aidan was brilliant

Fantastic service! Always go above and beyond to ensure you get your perfect holiday for a great price! You are my go to travel agents. Thank you!

Gary was great as always, he helped us through the refund process on a holiday we booked just before Lockdown. He was then super proactive in helping us find an alternative trip, double-checking cancellation policies and giving us peace of mind.

Great communication with Teddy - every time!

Delighted with service from main contacts especially Helen and Michael

Fantastic experience and will be using you for our next trip!

Yet another great holiday to the Maldives organised by Rory. Great company to arrange your holiday, great personal service as not many companies do nowadays? Hopefully organising another trip for Xmas 2021 to Mauritius.

I am thankful more than ever to Gary for his amazing attentive service. He expertly navigated me through the covid restrictions and last minute change of hotel due to unforeseen circumstances. I am also very happy at the service he has provided to every one of my referrals who have come back to me so thankful for the introduction. Keep up the great work Gary. Look forward to the next booking

Fantastic communication from start to finish. Personalised service. With the added stress of the second lockdown in November, Miles and his team did a great job reorganising the flights and hotel.

Josh was extremely efficient and helpful especially because we were stranded out of the UK because of the Covid-19. Josh arranged new flights and was contactable 7 days a week.

During a difficult time abroad with the development of the Coronavirus, your assistance and reassurance was greatly appreciated.

Amy and Shane provided excellent customer service. Contacted me in Mauritius and ensured I was able to get back home before airport shut down. They were brilliant. Thank you both.

As always, excellent service

Excellent help, quick with flights - and they have been amazing considering what the country is going through

Thanks Troy for getting us home. We will always come to you for our travel needs

My whole experience of using DialAFlight has gone way above expectations. Brody has been fantastic, but also praise to everyone else who we spoke to during our trip to Mauritius. Our flights had to be changed and it couldn’t have gone any smoother. Whilst others in the hotel struggled we got a flight, got the seats we wanted, didn’t have to pay any extra - it was all completely seamless. Your customer care is some of the best I have ever experienced. We’ve booked with other operators and booked direct but won’t be going back. I’ve recommended your services to every person who has mentioned flights.

Great to speak to a human and not a robot.

Fabulous trip, everything went like clockwork as usual from Neil and his team

Thanks to Finn for arranging everything as promised

Jim comes up with the best suggestions every time.

Would have been nice to know Jan to Mar is the cyclone/rainy season

Eric was outstanding

Gino was great and looked after us well,

A big thank you to Michelle

Saluting the sun in paradise

Tristan Davies visits one of the most blissful spots on Earth. But then signs up for yoga at the crack of dawn and believed he had ruined his Maldives dream - but had he?

I know people who do yoga, of course, but I view them with deep suspicion. I have a sister who's a yoga instructor and of the opinion I would be a healthier, happier person if I saluted the sun every morning.

However, when presented with the prospect of a week in the Maldives, with a little light yoga thrown in, I readily agreed.

Not because it would make me a better person, but because I've been to the Maldives before. Turquoise sea, multi-coloured cocktails - that's what I call balm for the troubled mind.

A little downward dog seemed a small price to pay for all this.

Hotel Baros: an idyllic boutique retreat with peaceful overwater villas

THE PATH TO SERENITY
Baros is among 100 tiny-island resorts rising out of this glistening stretch of Indian Ocean.

It's a 20-minute speedboat ride from Male, the islands' capital - and it looked gorgeous the moment it hove into view, with dusty-white beaches. Once we've disembarked, there's a cocktail waiting for us (and a rolled damp flannel, obviously) in an open-air bar beneath a canopy of palm trees.

Camouflaged behind beautiful bougainvillea lie the 45 beach villas, each with a sea view and its own stretch of beach.

The island is tiny - 380 yards long and 331 yards wide - with sandy foot-printed paths winding from one end to the other.

The resort's over-water villas offer a refined style of luxury

WHAT TO EXPECT
We've booked one of the 30 'overwater' thatched villas on stilts at the far tip. As we tread the boards of our deck, our attention is drawn to shadows in the shallows - and we catch sight of a trio of 3ft-long reef sharks swimming lazily beneath our feet.

Baros has its own coral reef, and a private ocean teeming with stunning sea-life easily accessible a few feet from your sunbed.

The villa was big and luxurious. And beyond the infinity plunge pool lies your own private Indian Ocean. Unbelievably, 600 yards away, there was a couple standing in the middle of it. Or so it seemed.

We discovered we could lower ourselves from the ladder at the end of our deck and walk, the water no more than thigh-high, to a small sandbank where we could enjoy the view of the island from out-at-sea level.

As we enjoyed this idyllic experience, an unwelcome thought crept in. I had signed up for yoga every morning. At 7am.

A beautiful setting for a romantic meal for two at The Lighthouse

DINING OUT
But before that there's dinner - posh nosh at the Lighthouse restaurant or the simpler but equally delicious menu at Lime. (There's a third restaurant, Cayenne, for pizzas and light lunches.)

And also a massage. The Baros masseuses pummel like Olympians and I waft down to dinner in a blissful daze.
The food's fantastic and I float back to our room. How much more relaxed can a man get? I was about to find out.

AN EARLY START
At 6.30am we are padding down to meet Kumar, our yogi for the week. I dislike him on sight. He is small and lithe, glowing with good health, and looks like the kind of man who can flip himself forward and balance on the palm of his hand.

I do a downward dog, in a mongrel fashion. I salute the sun and I balance on one foot, cross over my elbows and bend and stretch and breathe.

And, to my astonishment, I love every moment of it.

Kumar is the kindest, most patient teacher I've ever met. He made each hour melt into mere minutes.

At dawn each day, I was rolling out of bed with something approaching enthusiasm. By day three I was volunteering for evening meditation.

Did yoga teach me to relax? I should say so. I've never slept better, though the snorkelling off Baros's coral reef - teeming with every colour of tropical fish, and, on one occasion, a giant sea turtle - would calm anyone.

Spoil yourself and surprise your partner onboard the motorised yacht Serenity

THE FINAL CONCLUSION
Did it make me a nicer person? Well, I did plant some coral as part of the Baros conservation programme.

My time on this tiny tropical island involved eating, drinking, swimming, snorkelling and sleeping - and, obviously, meditating and yogitating.

There are no water sports here (hurrah!), and no underwater nightclubs.
What they do, they do brilliantly, simply, without fuss. Blissed-out bliss at its most blissful.

Om, as we yoga converts like to say. Shanti, shanti, shanti.

Why our customers love us

Amazingly, it is simple old-fashioned service that sets us apart from other travel firms. And yes, we really do answer the phone within 5 seconds!

Check out the reviews on Trustpilot and the word ‘service’ appears again and again. And you’ll find many reviews from customers saying they wasted hours trying to plan a holiday themselves before calling us - often on the advice of a friend - only to find we could offer numerous options not available online, which also saved them money.

Our team of 300 travel managers has been arranging tailor-made holidays for over 40 years and we believe no one does it better. Judge for yourself.

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