My friend spent £10,000 on a trip to the ‘sunset villa’ in the Maldives, despite knowing it was rainy season… and all we got was howling winds, four hours of sunshine and weather as bad as London

A holidaymaker has revealed how her boyfriend spent £10,000 on a ‘sunset villa’ in the Maldives despite knowing it was the rainy season – only to endure howling winds, four hours of sunshine and weather as bad as London.

Diana Gorenco, from London, says her partner paid £9,220 to stay together in an ‘Over Water Pool Villa’ at her ‘dream holiday destination’ from November 25 to December 2.

But instead of the blue sky, clear water and white sand she expected from the Maldives, the stay-at-home friend was met with clouds, heavy rain and strong winds.

Diana had hoped to get photos “like the goddesses she had seen on social media,” despite knowing that the rainy season typically runs from May to November.

The 24-year-old claims the biggest problem was that it was cloudy, which meant they couldn’t see the sunsets they had hoped for and paid for – at a whopping £1,300 a night.

Diana said the gloomy weather was so bad that instead of flying home on December 2, she demanded they extend their holiday and stopped off in Dubai on the way home in a desperate bid to catch some rays .

Diana said: ‘There were just the two of us. We wanted a romantic vacation. The aim was to get away from London and get some sun. For seven nights it was £9,220 for the best villa they had. We expected blue skies, clear water and sunshine.

‘Before we went, we checked whether it was a good time to go. We saw online that it was the end of the rainy season. We expected a little rain here and there, but it was much worse than we expected. We knew it was going to be bad, but it wasn’t that bad.”

When they arrived, the rain showers weren’t the couple’s worst problems.

Despite waking up at 5am every morning in a desperate attempt to catch a glimpse of the sunrise – and staying in an aptly named ‘sunset villa’ – Diana didn’t see a single sunset or sunrise the entire trip.

Diana said: ‘It rained four times but it didn’t really bother us. The problem was that it was cloudy most of the time – it literally looked like London. Looking back, I calculated how much direct sunlight we got during the entire trip and that was a maximum of five or seven hours over the seven days.

‘The Maldives were my dream holiday destination. I’ve never actually traveled outside of Europe, except to go to Dubai.

‘It was fresh and new and I had very high expectations. I bought so many outfits and so many swimsuits. I was only able to get one or two pictures of my outfits and that was it.

‘On social media you see beautiful photos taken at sunset where women look like goddesses and I really wanted to have a photo like that, but it didn’t happen.’

The 24-year-old explained that temperatures were still 28 to 30 degrees Celsius throughout the trip, but the wind made activities such as diving uncomfortable.

Diana said: ‘The last three days have been super windy, to the point where I didn’t really go into the water other than to dive.

“I only did half (the diving) because when we moved to the second location the waves were so big and I was so cold that I just went back to the boat and waited for everyone to come.”

The couple were unable to enjoy their time outside on the villa’s sundeck, which is described online as the perfect location to ‘soak up the sun and enjoy beautiful sunsets in total privacy’.

Diana said: ‘Our villa was also the furthest from the coast. The wind was bad and the water in the pool was moving so you couldn’t even really enjoy your time outside, which was frustrating.”

According to Diana, who worked in marketing before becoming a stay-at-home friend, even locals found the weather conditions ‘unusual’ for the time of year.

Diana said: ‘I was disappointed. The locals even said the weather was unusual for the time of year and suggested we come back in April or May. We thought we had planned our trip at the end of the rainy season.’

After sharing a video of her experience on TikTok, Diana received comments from other people who had recently traveled to the Maldives at the same time but were lucky enough to experience blue skies.

Diana said: ‘The funny thing is someone commented on my video and said they went in early November and the weather was perfect. We went three weeks later and we had the worst weather.

“I feel like even in the rainy season you can have good days and bad days.”

Diana admits that although she was ‘disappointed’ by the weather conditions in the Maldives, the trip served a romantic purpose and emphasized to her that her partner is her ‘soulmate’.

Diana said: ‘I’m very disappointed (that we paid so much and couldn’t see the sunrises and sunsets), but it also showed me that love is more important and I enjoyed my time with my partner.

‘I feel like we are very connected. I feel like the fact that we were in such a bad situation and he paid all that money and we still managed to have a good time just shows me that he is my soulmate.”

It was in the final days of their holiday that the couple – who will have been together for two years at the end of January – decided to extend their holiday.

Diana said: ‘The weather was so bad we decided to actually stop in Dubai to get some sun and then return to London. I said to my partner, “We have to extend our trip. I’m not going home, we’ve barely had any sun.”

Instead of flying back to London on December 2, the couple stopped in Dubai for four days until December 6.

Diana said: ‘We were so lucky to do that. Dubai was perfect and we saw the most beautiful sunsets and then went home.’

Despite not meeting their expectations the first time, Diana says the couple plans to visit the Maldives again sometime in 2025.

Diana said: ‘I think if we go again this year we might postpone the booking until the last minute to see if the weather is good, and then we’ll book and go.

‘I would advise everyone to go a little later, from February onwards. Even then, weather is not guaranteed.

“I think it’s so funny that people went three weeks before us and there was no rain or wind – it was just sunny – and we went later and we got the worst of it.”

Since sharing a video of the stormy weather conditions on TikTok, the clip has gone viral, with 400,000 views, likes and comments.

The resort where the couple stayed has been contacted for comment.