We have booked a stay at the Holiday Inn Kandooma between days 23 to 25/11/18 - the hotel indicated it accepted payment in japanese Yens , with which we would pay our stay. In order to avoid surprises we have asked by e-mail the total value of the stay in USD (the base currency used by the hotel) and Yens. On 05/11 we have received a response from Indi (from reservation desk) telling us "Regarding the calculation, kindly inform you due to fluctuation on exchange rate hence we are not able to calculate in advance. Total amount in Yen can be finalized on the day you settle all your payment following the exchange rate on that day. We are please to inform you that we accept Yen for cash payment".
Well given the current exchange rate was not provided but 'the exchange rate of the day' would be considered we trusted the good faith of the hotel of charging the current rate (even considering a 5 - 8% spread over the yen-dollar commercial rate).
First surprise : 2 days before our check-in date our credit card was charged the equivalent of USD198. we asked the reason as we had already informed payment was to be made in yens (cash). it seems it is a standard practice in this hotel, but we were not informed beforehand
Second surprise : when checking in we were asked to deposit a value ~30% higher than the projected cost of the stay beforehand. I have never seen this practice in any hotel in the US, Europe, Japan or Latin America. The balance would be returned later, but this is a serious issue for someone that was not expecting this. Again, we should have been warned beforehand.
Third and most unpleasant surprise: Today we closed our balance. We were expecting to pay a balance of USD1297 (already net of USD198 that were charged beforehand). The yen-dollar commercial exchange rate today is of 112.95 . I was expecting to be charged between 112.95 and at most 121,98 (8% spread). By exceeding by any account the limit of the reasonable we were presented with the exorbitant exchange rate of 138.88 yens to the dollar (23% of financial spread) - the USD1297 balance turned out to be around USD1595 for us, which begs the question : the fact that upon our previous inquiry the rate was not informed was actually an attempt to sneak an additional 23% charge on unsuspecting customers?
When complaining to the staff about all of this I was met with unsurprising indifference - I have never felt so ripped off in my entire life and do not intend to book never again any other stay with Holiday Inn.

Am amazing stay. Lovely property with plentiful facilities. The staff were simply amazing.

Arrival at Airport:
Seamless transfer to the waiting boat. Safety briefing and drinks provided on-board.

Arrival at resort:
Whisked away to reception in a buggy. Towel and drinks waiting at the IHG Elite check-in table. Everything was explained meticulously.

Room:
No. 73, Over-water Villa. Clean, spacious room complete with everything you'll need for a comfortable stay. Outdoor bath tub, Maldivian sea at your balcony step and hammock to watch the sunrise everyday. 5-7 minutes walk from the OWV to the restaurant/pool area, buggy was always available on-call and will not have to wait for than 10 mins anytime.

Facilities:
Used the pool everyday along with the kids' club. Good mix of crowd and kids, my 7-year old made a few friends from Russia and S.Korea. We went for the Dolphin Cruise and were the only ones so it became a private cruise. Very lucky to spot lots of dolphins as well. Wanted to go for the Male City Tour, but did not meet the min. 6 pax required (maybe something for the tour operator to think about).

Food:
We were on the all-inclusive and ate mostly at Kandooma cafe. Food could be a hit-and-miss, but generally good. The deserts and ice-cream everyday was a hit with the kid. Kids' menu provided, and chef was happy to mix it up a bit after repeating for a few days (i.e. changing the grilled chicken to fried; swopping the greens with fries to make kiddo happy). Nothing was too much trouble for the lovely restaurant staff who works hard. Do not miss the sunset deck and The Kitchen too.

Staff:
Very friendly. Special thanks to Bandula for decorating the room and arranging a cake, knowing that it was our wedding anniversary.

Weather:
Weather was perfect for the 6 days we were here. Only a passing shower lasting a few minutes on one of the days.

Last Day:
Requested for extension of room till 6pm as flight only leaves at 10pm and was lucky the room was still available despite the hotel running at almost full capacity. Only hiccup was no communication between reception who registered the extension and the rest of the staff - got a call at 11am telling me that extension is not available; another call at 1145am asking if my luggage is ready for collection; a knock on the door at 1155am from bellboy wanting to collect my luggage. Little hiccups, but could be bothersome if you were swimming, showering etc.

A wonderful stay overall and we will be back.