News
A list of best resorts in the Maldives compiled by Sunday Times
The team over at Sunday Times Travel Magazine have visited plenty of resorts in the Maldives and they huddled together to compile a list of their favorites.
Read on to find out what they have got to say about each of these resorts!
1. Amilla Fushi
Hip vibes and Saint-Tropez-ish design have attracted the likes of Kate Moss and Kate Winslet to Amilla Fushi’s shores. Choose from three accommodation types: beach villas, overwater or ‘tree houses’ with raised pools. The surrounding baa Atoll is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and top dive sites, but its Unesco-protected status has made it very busy. Even so, it’s home to a flourishing reef, with a mkini ‘blue hole’ – an underwater cavern to swim into.
2. Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort
Value is hard to come by in the Maldives, but Dhigu does it in spades. A 35-minute speedboat from airport, it’s the cheapest of three conjoined resorts, and you can use the facilities of the other the two, too – often for free – though the beach, spa and main pool are nicer here than at the neighbours if you’re booking as a couple, they’ll try to upsell you next door because it’s ‘adults only’, but Dighu is big enough that it never gets crowded with hordes of children, so decline and spend your saving in the (underused) non-buffet restaurants instead.
3. Dhigali Maldives
This design resort in the undeveloped Raa Atoll is well-placed for flights to local islands — perfect for those seeking some Maldivian culture. Parents will appreciate the huge kids’ club, which has a water park and complimentary ice cream. Corbusier-cool villas work
for couples, too, though, with their sleek white-on-white interiors. Honeymooners will love the drama of the Haali bar, which is shaped like an upturned bird’s nest and turns up the dial on romance with its cocktails. Unusually, only 40 of the 180 villas are overwater, so you need to make your reservation at least six months ahead.
4. Equator Village Maldives
If you think that the Maldives can’t be done on a budget, think again. With B&B rooms for less than £60 a night, and all-inclusive rates less than £100, Equator Village lacks the gloss of newer resorts, but nevertheless it has simple charm: white wicker chairs dot public areas, while pretty English gardens, tennis courts and a pool feature. Set on a buzzy island in the southerly Addu Atoll, it’s a prime place to get a taste of Maldivian culture, with cookery classes or village visits. Nearby dive sites are top-quality.
5. Cheval Blanc Randheli
The fashionista’s resort of choice, Cheval Blanc is a haute-couture paradise. Designed by starchitect Jean-Michel Gathy, restaurants double as art galleries, pools double as catwalks and the wine cellar doubles as a museum. For anyone found wanting in the wardrobe department, an in-villa show of kaftans and accessories from Pucci and Melissa Odabash can be organised, or else there’s the island’s boutique to browse in (the cheapest thing we found was a £300 Panama hat!). Villas, of which there are 45, are cathedral-like temples of chic, where even the air is designer: custom scented by Dior’s master perfumer, François Demachy, no less.
6. Como Maalifushi
If you’ve dreamt of swimming with whale sharks, Como Maalifushi is for you. Staff hand over a pager and bleep you the minute these gentle giants appear in the vicinity — even at night. While on standby, swan around your spacious, white and bleached wood villa (Demi Moore prefers the overwater pool variety); go deep — spiritually — at the spa or mingle at the sociable bar and restaurant (stick to the green juices, rather than booze, if you’re waiting for the call to flipper-up).
7. Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas
This Baa Atoll resort confirms that to enjoy Mother nature you need to get wet – here by Harnifaru Bay, you’ll brag about snorkelling alongside the Indian Ocean’s healthiest populations of whale sharks and manta rays. Watery thrills are the game in-resort, too: try wine-tasting in the underwater SEA restaurant; soak in your glass-bottomed bath and stargaze through the Maldives’s biggest telescope.
8. Finolhu
An Austin Powers perkiness pervades every element of this resort, perfect for fun-loving families: reception is renamed Mission Control, for example, while a pink Kombi van lists daily ‘Mojo Magic’ (activities). Villas are retro-quirky, too, with rattan chairs and Bakelite phones with a ‘Press for Champagne’ button. Finolhu is serious about its food, though: it has some of the Maldives’s best dining, with a North African spot serving tagines, and the Crab Shack, set on a sand spit.
9. Kanuhura Maldives
Upending the ‘marooned in paradise’ concept, Kanuhura’s beach bungalows stand just a few metres apart, lending a friendlier feel than most others. Occupying a large island in the Lhaviyani Atoll, it has over two kilometres of shoreline to comb, plus two nearby islands for desert-island hijinks. Families are welcome and up to two under-12s can stay free. Babies get complimentary passage on seaplane transfers to and from the airport.
10. Lily Beach Resort & Spa
While most resorts offer the driftwood look, Lily Beach has a cosmopolitan edge that attracts young couples. Rooms are almost spiritual havens, with four posters and party-sized tubs; public areas shimmer with statement chandeliers; and there’s always someone talking a selfie by the floating hammock platform. Dining options are excellent – with four restaurants and four bars there’s plenty of choice. The white sand beach is a disappointingly narrow strip and it’s difficult to find a private corner, but the vast infinity pool more than compensates.
11. Soneva Fushi
Nailing the ‘barefoot luxury’ vibe, natural woods fill the eco-sensitive thatches villas, where space and privacy promise an air of Robinson Crusoe. (butler service means you’ll have you own Mr & Mrs Friday, too). Sustainability is taken seriously and there’s a vegan restaurant. Some villas have views of a built-up island neighbour, but scores of visiting Michelin-quality chefs, a help-yourself ice-cream parlour and a superb kids’ club make up for it.
12. Velaa Private Island
This is where the European elite go to bronze their pins, and the mood is refreshingly un-smoochy. There’s an array of high-tech toys to play with and a staff/guest ratio of 8:1, zero time waiting for scuba gear. Villas are nature-inspired, with shimmers of mother-of-pearl and live orchids dangling from the rafters, but look away eco-warriors – as with many Maldives resorts, it takes loads of water to keep the island looking lush (much of it soaked by a nine-hole golf course).
13. W Maldives
The Maldives isn’t known for its party scene, but W Maldives is an exception. One of the country’s most upbeat resorts, it boasts pool-party charm, with the chance to dine ankle-deep in water or rock out at DJ nights. It’s perfect for the athleisure generation, who spend days detoxing with coconut water and nights downing cocktails at the beachfront lounge bar Sip. The resort has another island, Gaathafushi, which you can reserve exclusively for a desert-island experience.
14. Six Senses Laamu
Here, you may see washboard-chested Kelly Slater's barrelling towards the beach. The wave they’re riding is Yin Yang, a renowned surf break, and it’s turned this eco-sensitive resort into a Shangri-La for cash-rich surfers from Bondi to Brazil. Happy hours at sunken poolside bar Sip Sip increase the boozy-Bali vibe, and there’s a full list of dusk-to-dawn activities, including sea kayaking and night-diving.
15. Huvafen Fushi
Fushi Label-loving couples snap selfies at its underwater spa, draping themselves on oversized daybeds to watch fish go by. The sex appeal pervades in minimalist rooms, and yet more Insta opportunities await at its mindblowing Lonu Veyo flotation pool, so salty it’s like zero gravity. The magic is cranked up further with dinner in romantic Vinum, a wine cellar adorned with suspended sculptures. It’s dressy, so pack heels,but not wetsuits — nearby dive sites have suffered a lot of coral bleaching.
16. Kudadoo Maldives Private Island
Here’s an all-inclusive with intimacy: just 15 zen-cool overwater villas – all with proper eco-cred – ringed by a healthy reef. At twice the price of other top-end resorts, Kudadoo’s not cheap, but this jet-setter level island resort includes everything in the rate: Ruinart Champagne, award-worthy meals, unlimited watersports, plus personal fitness gurus and mini-bars stuffed with your favourite spirits, as well as spa treatments and excursions If you’re travelling with a group – say for a wedding – you can buy the whole thing from £61,000 a night to make it your very own private island.
17. Kuramathi Island Resort
It has 360 rooms, but fear not, it’s a large island, with plenty of room to escape. Explore the rambling exotic gardens, walk the kilometre-long
sandbank, or take to the waters (some of the country’s best snorkelling awaits right off the beach). Kuramathi is perfect for families, with a winning summer-camp vibe, first-rate kids’ club and dedicated family pool. The most coveted rooms are in the minimalist two-bedroom beach houses (sleeping six from £750), with floor-to-ceiling sea views from comfy beds.
18. LUX* North Malé Atoll
No, it’s not South Beach, but the glam, white-and-windows villas at this resort look like they’ve been lifted straight from Miami Vice. The LUX* the brand is known for quirkiness and this place delivers: think grind-your-own peanut butter at brekkie; on-site coffee and ice-cream shops; a London-style phone booth with free international calls. Most villas are overwater and all have private pools and rooftop sundecks, perfect for privacy-seeking couples (ask for one on the sunset side of the island). Food is top-drawer, service standout, but quality snorkelling (plentiful turtles and healthy reefs) requires an hour’s boat ride.
19. Joali Maldives
Not many 15-month-olds boast such sophistication, but this toddler is smart way beyond its years. Conceptual art dotted round the island, curated book collections in the bedrooms, Art Deco interiors and inventive architectural lines everywhere — Joali is an island for aesthetes. Its natural beauty is just as impressive — the lush greenery and curving sandbank are the envy of its high-end rivals — and it attracts some accordingly beautiful guests, so you’ll want to pack your poshest kaftan and suck your tummy in. Until, of course, you retreat to the privacy of your vast, but elegant, villa and private pool…
20. Baros
This long-established all-villa resort on a tiny private island in the North Malé Atoll is a hop from the international airport. The diving centre has PADI instructors and marine biologists, and it sorts free snapshots of your underwater explorations. The food is hit-and-miss, but the sea views from the fine-dining Lighthouse Restaurant make for an unforgettable experience.
21. The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
Contrary to appearances, thatch isn’t compulsory in the Indian Ocean and if you want an island paradise with a more urban aesthetic, Vommuli for you. Slick interiors draw a stylish crowd and the food and drinks are as sophisticated as any city’s. The spa is similarly sexy – it’s called Irisum, which gives you an idea of the Bond-villain-lair look – but the big surprise is how offspring –friendly St Regis is: fun all-family activities and a ton of clan-sized rooms.
22. Ozen By Atmosphere
Many all-inclusives add sneaky charges for snorkelling equipment, premium drinks or the chance to dine anywhere other than the buffet. Ozen by Atmosphere is a notable exception. The deal includes one meal at its fancy underwater restaurant, M6m, at no extra cost, and all the Moët you can drink. Dark wood villas, split between beach and overwater, are big and work well for families or couples — vast outdoor bathrooms are a highlight.
23. Raffles Maldives Meradhoo
A by-the-sea take on the glamorous Singapore heritage hotel, but with added palm trees and moreish Maldives Slings (a remix, with gin, cinnamon, clove and coconut). The marine life in this part of the island nation is supersized — whale sharks are as wide as mini-buses — and a bounty of uncharted reefs makes it a prime choice for divers. Visit in May, for eagle-ray viewing and plummeting rates: half-board rooms now cost the same as B&B in December or January.
24. Four Seasons Landaa Giravaru
This family-friendly resort occupies a spacious island in the manta-ray teeming Baa Atoll, and is home to some of the most covetable villas in the Maldives. They are all big, exceptionally private (cloaked in greenery) and come with pools, whether beachside or overwater. The quality of the food is not quite as strong, but it’s hard to knock the personable staff, the marine-life centre (with rescued turtles) and the generous beach. The Ayurvedic spa is a worthy splurge: get a free, half-hour Ayurvedic consultation first to make the most of it.
25. Velassaru Maldives
This is honeymoon central, with in-house wedding photographers constantly snapping couples at the infinity pool or laid-back beach bars. It’s not all gooey – free sunshine cruises and a weekly outdoor cinema keep the feel nicely communal. Villas have an urban sleekness, while the proximity to Malé is both a plus (you’re in resort 30 minutes after touchdown) and a minus (sea views are marred by cargo ships).
26. Medhufushi Island Resort
Just 40-minutes from Male via seaplane lies pin-drop quiet Medhufushi. The four-star resort is cocooned by coconut trees and sits in the middle of a bath-warm turquoise lagoon that shows off a hundred shades of blue depending on the position of the sun. There’s lots included in the price-tag here, with free scuba equipment for your stay, daily trips to a reef and options to up the romance factor with picnics on secluded splits of sand.
27. Milaidhoo Island Resort
In the Maldives’ ongoing ‘arms race’ to see which castaway resort can be the most castaway, Milaidhoo is way out there. Isolated a seaplane ride away, in the Baa Atoll, with no other islands in your eye line, it keeps the peace by banning under-9s (and drones!). Villas have such huge decks and delectable pools, you’ll never need to leave them, and for those who want to go the full Crusoe, there’s the option not just to dine on a private sandbank, but to sleep there, too (albeit for £2,000-odd). Otherwise, simply eat on board the docked dhoni boats of Ba’theli restaurant — and imagine casting off…
28. Niyama Private Island Maldives
It’s not the beaches — it’s the bonkers extravagances the kids will talk about when you get back home. There’s a simulator room and underwater Seabob scooter to zip you across the lagoon-like Captain Nemo, a treetop restaurant and a sub-aqua alternative decked out with starfish-shaped spotlights. There’s one resort, but two sprawling, bridge-connected islands to pick from: Chill for honeymooners and the family-oriented Play. Villas are slightly disappointing in contrast to the activities on tap: go for a beach house, rather than a pricier overwater suite.\
[Article by: Sunday Times Travel Magazine]