The trademark of this blog has been identifying distinctive features at Maldives resorts. Things I have never seen in my 20+ years of visiting over 120 properties there. In my online research and other world travels, I sometimes I also come across distinctive things I also haven’t seen in the Maldives. This particular item at The Standard, I have not seen in the Maldives, not come across elsewhere in the world, and in fact, didn’t even know such a thing existed. In fact, if you told me that it did exist, I still would have trouble conceiving it. But not as much trouble as I had playing it! In fact, as the video above demonstrates, it seems near impossible to play. And I’ve played a fair amount of table tennis in my time having a table in our basement growing up and in our adult home. Playing it for a little while, I think the objective of the game is not really competitive and getting the ball past your “opponent”, but rather collaborative in terms of striving to see how long a rally can continue before the crazy, three-dimensional randomness prevails.
Tour 2024 Review
This research tour was the most difficult yet. It even got me questioning whether it is worth the expense and effort of keeping Maldives Complete going. Fortunately, the amazing experiences, discoveries (including 35 new Best of the Maldives pieces) and support from Oaga remind me I why I keep slogging through the extensive work and costs to provide this resource.
The destination is increasingly dominated by ultra-luxe international brands who want a marquee property here that they can sprinkle on their marketing material. They don’t know the destination, erect mostly cookie-cutter, corporatey constructions making my job of finding distinctives to highlight all the more difficult. But places like Oaga demonstrate how much room for individuality and creativity remains even after 200 resorts. And places like AIG at Fuvahmulah made me aware of how many new types of Maldives experiences are being developed.
A few overall observations from the week…
- Wooden Keys – Wooden proximity keys seem to be the new thing in room access as every place I stayed used them.
- Global Diversity – For years, many resorts were often characterized as dominated by a specific nationality of guests. German brands like Robinson Club being frequented by Germans, international brand hotels that started entering being favoured by the early Chinese trade. Middle Eastern and Indian guests were relatively rare (why come to the Maldives when you have similar tropical properties in your home country). But this trip I was struck by the international diversity of the guest profile of every resort we stayed at.
- Supply Issues – For some reason, everywhere we went, the properties faced some supply issues especially with soft drinks, but also a range of other F&B ingredients and items that weren’t available.
- Less “big 5” fish – The delights of snorkeling include “fish soup” teeming schools of fish, dramatic reef drop-offs that make you feel like you are flying, colourful gardens of coral. But the biggest excitement is seeing special aquatic creatures, especially the “Big 5” of snorkel safaris – shark, turtle, ray, moray, lionfish. When we first started coming to the Maldives, we would typically see two if not three of these on any given outing. Now, the majority of our outings we don’t even see one. The decline of spottings has been palpable for a few years now, but this year are especially pronounced as we didn’t see any on any of our house reef snorkels (and aside from the amazing tiger shark diving in Fuvahmulah, the diving wasn’t much more fruitful.
Stay tuned for a rich array of ‘Best Of the Maldives’ and other pieces coming from this trip.
Tour 2024 – AIG Grand (Fuvahmulah)
AIG Grand was a real discovery. The hotel is relatively new so they haven’t gotten word out much (and are still sorting out the basics like their website). So when we booked we were a little apprehensive that the reality might not match the striking photos on the booking site. But actually the place exceeded our expectations.
I gave the property 5 TripAdvisor stars for the total experience which includes the incredible value for money. We spent $100/nt for a ocean view room which was literally an order of magnitude cheaper than the $1000/night resort we had visited earlier in the week (and frankly not overly different in experience). It is, in reality, a 4+ star property, ie. properly 4-star based on facilities, amenities and quality, but with MANY 5-star luxury touches which included…
- Rooftop infinity pool (see photo above)
- With panoramic view of the beach/ocean
- Rooftop restaurant with extensive menu
- Sunset facing rooftop area with extensive array of mocktails for a delightful sundowner experience.
- Drench shower
- Bed was super comfortable with fine thread count linen, properly firm mattress with soft mattress cover
One of the most appreciated service touches was that we had to get up very early for our tiger shark diving (which most people visiting Fuvahmulah will be doing) which was too early for us for eating our breakfast, so the hotel kindly packed a take-away breakfast for us that we thoroughly appreciated during our early morning dive interval. Great to see the distinctive luxury, for which the Maldives is becoming increasingly renowned for, coming to a great local island like this (and at a fraction of the price).
Tour 2024 – Oaga
That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Oaga is one of my top favourite resorts ever. I was thinking that after 26 of visiting and researching the Maldives resorts, if I were to design my own resort, Oaga comes closest to my vision of my ideal resort. Artistry, creativity, personality, distinction, attention to detail, fresh, current, good-big-accessible housereef, lagoon too. Truly Maldivian (not this ersatz Williamsburg-esque contrivance of authenticity where a bit of thatch makes anything “Maldivian”). Oaga knows what it is and is not afraid to lean into its vibrant persona. It is 5-star luxury for people who want something remarkable, not just polished conventional.
The entire masterpiece is quintessentially “Maldivian|”…owned by Maldivians (not an international chain, designed by Maldivians, run by Maldivians, and ,most of all, created by Maldivians (with an army of local artists).
I came away with 22 “Best of the Maldives” pieces to post in the coming weeks which puts it in the top quintile of properties (most of whom are considerably pricier).
Tour 2024 – Heritance Aarah
Heritance Aarah is another entry into the solid $1000/night 5-star range – stylish property, attentive service, full range of amenities and features, gourmet food. All offered as a premium all-inclusive package so you can relax and enjoy as much of the food and drink as you like.
Tour 2024 – The Standard
The Standard ticks all the boxes including value for money. So often the more affordably priced properties are priced to accommodate some shortcoming in the resort (eg. proximity to Male affecting views, distance from Male affecting transferring, lack of house reef). The Standard meets all the standards of Maldives 5-star luxury, but at a sub-$1000 room rate (for most rooms during most months). Gourmet food in the outlets including overwater bar and overwater restaurant. A breathtaking experience that won’t take your life savings away.
Tour #21
We are off on our 21st visit to the Maldives after which we will have stayed at 120 resorts:
- Heritance Aarah
- Oaga
- The Standard
- AIG Grand
We are experiencing the full gamut of transfer transport – international, domestic and seaplane flights (and speedboat to boot).
We will also explore a new ”atoll”, which also happens to consist of a single island– Fuvahmulah. It’s getting harder to find resorts we haven’t been to so we decided take a few days at an island/atoll long on our bucket list.
Tune in for new discoveries and a range of “Best of the Maldives”.