Our £10k Maldives honeymoon turned into a disaster - we spent three nights there before jetting off to Dubai instead
Bride Sophie, from London, took to her TikTik @sophiegrace_24 to explain why they decided to leave the archipelago just three days into what they hoped would be a dream post-nuptial trip.
In a clip, which has racked up over a million views, Sophie explained that the Maldives was always on their travel bucket list so they used a 'well-known travel provider in the UK' to book the trip.
The 'disappointing' honeymoon story comes just days after Molly Mae Hague 's sister Zoe revealed she had been left underwhelmed by a trip she'd booked to Bali - and decided to travel to Dubai instead.
While looking for honeymoon destinations, Sophie and her husband were told about a new island that was opening in March, ahead of their July honeymoon, and there was an introductory offer they could snap up as they would be one of the first to explore the island.
They were told the island has seven restaurants and that construction would be complete by the time their honeymoon came around.
However there were a few issues once the couple got to the island that didn't meet their expectation and they decided to cut their time short and fly to Dubai instead.
Sophie explained: 'I had a few comments from people asking why we decided to leave the Maldives early.
'I know there'll be a lot of people who don't understand why we did, but I wanted to explain why we decided to.
'So the Maldives is a really expensive place to visit, but it's somewhere we both really wanted to visit and really wanted to go to for our honeymoon.
'So we went to a well known travel provider in the UK and started getting quotes. Then we were told about a new island that was opening in March, bearing in mind our honeymoon is in July and there was an introductory offer because it was new.
'It had seven restaurants, it was two islands joined with a walkway. All the activities we wanted to do it, it was exactly what we wanted.
'So in March, when the island was due to open up, I received an email from the travel company with all of the menus attached for all of the restaurants, which was really reassuring.
Sophie added that she had checked in April that all the facilities would be open and construction would have finished.
She claims she was told that due to a delay, it would be now opening on July 1, just ahead of their July 8 arrival, but that everything would be ready for their arrival.
She added: 'Before the final payment was due, which I think was April time, I just emailed to say, due to make final payment, can you confirm that there will be no construction work going on on the island and that all of the restaurants and facilities will be open?
'I received a response to that email saying, 'yes, no construction work'. There was A slight delay, but everything will be opening on the 1st of July.'
When they arrived they initially loved the island but things started to go downhill fast when they noticed that they were the only people on the island
The couple initially loved the island upon arrival, but things went downhill fast when they noticed that they were the only people on the island.
Sophie explained: 'So we turn up and island's absolutely beautiful. Staff are there to welcome us.
'Everything you expect as you pull up to your island in the Maldives. And then we found out we were the only people staying on the second island, the first and only people to have ever moved in.
'And at first we were like, this is great. We've got a private island.
'On our first night, we decided to go to the buffet restaurant. And on our walk there, there was just so much construction work going on around us.
'Lots of noise, lots of people. Wasn't great. Told that wouldn't be happening, but okay, never mind.
'Carried on to the buffet. And there was no buffet. And the reasoning was there weren't enough people on the island. So there was a set menu.
'Over the next couple of days, we realised that every restaurant was either not open yet. I think it was four that weren't open. And for the ones that were open, they had reduced menus.
Many rushed to the comments with their own thoughts on the situation, with some saying they were 'perfectly within their rights to leave'
'So they were very different to the ones that I had been sent in March. So don't get me wrong, the island was beautiful, the staff were great, the food that we had was good.
'But when you are expecting a certain thing and you have paid for that. To turn up and not have it. We just felt like it was disappointment after disappointment.'
Sophie also mentioned that the staff were almost 'too attentive' because there were no other guests on the island.
She explained: 'This is a really weird one, but the staff were too attentive, and I think that's because there wasn't enough people on the island, and they were new to their job on the island and just doing too much.
'I just felt like every time we sat down to eat, we were being watched.
'Luke was carrying two glasses of water to our table at breakfast, and they stopped him two meters from the table, took them off him, and said, well, let me carry those for you.
'Now, some people might really like that, but for us, we just wanted to be left alone a bit.
'So, yes, it was nice, and we would have been fine staying there, but it was our honeymoon, and I didn't want that to be our experience of the Maldives.
She concluded: 'We like Dubai. We've been to Dubai plenty of times before, so I decided to just change the whole day up, do something completely different.
'And we took our first flight home, which was supposed to be just a connection in Dubai. We brought that a week forward, and we are going to spend the remaining seven nights in Dubai.'
The couple got refunded for the seven days they didn't stay on the island and the travel provider paid for their flights to Dubai.
Many rushed to the comments with their own thoughts on the situation, with some saying they were 'perfectly within their rights to leave.'
One person said: 'You didn't get what you were promised- totally understand why you left. What a shame for your honeymoon x'
Another added: 'Listen imagine it's YOUR honeymoon! I totally get what's going on here and they are perfectly within their rights to leave, we all know how stunning the Maldives are so they had extra expectations with it being a brand new island!
'It's a once in a lifetime thing ya honeymoon! Congratulations babe on getting married, I wish you a life full of love and happiness.'
Someone else added: 'The construction work would tip me over. Plus paying all that money for restaurants that don't exist is not OK.
'I feel like if you didn't have those two things, the staff being overly attentive wouldn't have bothered you'd, you'd probably have enjoyed it and felt special, but because your back was already up and you were already disappointed, it just added to the list of things, which is understandable. If I had the money I'd have left as well Tbf.'
A fourth added: 'I can totally understand why you left. It's your honeymoon, you spend ages planning and then for it to not be what you paid for and you were lied too would be so upsetting on such a special trip. I hope you get some compensation from the holiday company.'
It comes shortly after Molly Mae Hague's sister, influencer Zoe Rae, sparked a furious debate after announcing she was leaving Bali after just 48 hours at the popular holiday destination.
The fitness influencer, 28, had planned the trip to Indonesia with her husband Danny to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
And despite staying in a huge sea view room at the Radisson Blu, a five-star hotel, they decided to leave early and jet to Dubai instead.
Zoe explained that Bali looks better on social media than in real life, as influencers make it look luxurious, despite it being a developing country.
In a new YouTube video, Zoe told the camera: 'Since landing in Bali, something for us wasn't quite right.
'We came here with high expectations because we had seen on social media that everyone was having such a lovely time. Lovely places to eat and beaches, and lovely gyms and coffee shops.
'But I don't think the reality of Bali is shown much at all, and I do think it is down to a lot of influencers posting the more luxury side of things.'
She added: 'Before joining the army, I spent five months travelling South East Asia. I did Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, I did a lot and spent time in these countries. But there is something very different about Bali.
'We got told Uluwatu where we are now is one of the best places to go, so if this is one of the better places, I'm not sure where the other places are like.
'I wasn't going to sit down and say anything, but people want to know.'
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