The Italians have a long-standing tradition as Maldives pioneers with many Italian operated and targeted resorts especially in the earlier days. The one other website which is comparable to Maldives Complete in its information extensiveness is MondoMaldives which as well as being a comprehensive source of info, is also a travel agency catering to the Italian market. Most of the Italian resorts have been 4-star mid-market affairs, but now Baglioni introduces a bit of Italian flair and style to the luxury end of the market.
The key word here is “spacious”. The linen white beaches are expansive. The house reef is naturally proportionately expansive leaving so much to explore over an extended stay. It even features a prominent dive site, Maaga Caves. And the rooms are spacious in both footprint and airy cathedral ceilings.
Every part of the resort exudes an opulence from the elegant design down to the talcum soft sand pervasive across the island including the paths (ideal for the “no shoes” part of the “no shoes, no news” saying).
Vilu Reef is probably the resort that has most exceeded my expectations of the over 110 we have stayed at. Vilu Reef has been around as long as we have been coming to the Maldives, ie. 1998. It is the first of the prominent Sun Siyam Resorts. I guess I was guilty of thinking of it as an old resort. And I hadn’t heard much about it over the years. Also, Sun Siyam is a bit more mid-market focused (thank goodness not everyone is chasing the billionaire segment and keeping the destination affordable for mere mortals). Its new Siyam World is very much mass market, Olhuveli is a 4+ star (with many luxury aspects), and even Irufushi is a value priced 5-star.
We thought that maybe we were being bowled over by their very hearty welcome (they are big fans of the Maldives Complete site) but looking around we observed other guests being treated with equal attentiveness. In fact, another guest got the most elaborate welcome that we have ever witnessed. Not a celebrity, but a repeater (stay tuned for her fascinating story). “Mama” (her nickname) and her husband, both from Germany, first came to the Maldives in the 90s when they were young. They loved it so much that they came repeatedly. But they stayed at different resorts every time starting at the top of the country and working their way south. Dhaalu is one of the furthest south atolls; they sampled plenty of properties. But when they came to Vilu Reef, they decided that that was it. Vilu Reef was the perfect resort for them. Her visit this year was their 41st (!). And they are quite discerning world travelers as Mama explained to me that they regularly travel all around the world. According to their very experienced tastes, Vilu Reef is a real “diamond”.
I couldn’t disagree. I simply can’t find anything to fault it. We thought it ideal for many of our friends who have always wanted to come to the Maldives without busting their bank account, but still getting a quality experience. Vilu Reef ticks every box for a great Maldives resort – copious soft sand, vibrant reef, delectable food, and effusive service. Even the pathways had talcum soft sand (often these areas are harder). The reef had the most live coral we have seen in years. The outlets were replete with delicious offerings and even gourmet quality dishes (the dhaal was as good as the Michelin starred Atul Kochhar’s “Vassu” in my hometown) and the above-and-beyond consideration of each guest was remarkable even for the Maldives.
But I must say, the cherry on the top of the cake was an extra special occasion that we have never experienced – blue diamonds on the beach. We’ve all seen the Instagram images of the glowing blue plankton at the water’s edge. This intensity of colour is much rarer than social media would have you believe and even those images are enhanced quite dramatically in post (much like the starry heavens shots). At Vilu Reef, the plankton didn’t glow in blue swathes (there needs to be more concentrated plankton in the water for that which happens at a difference season), but instead landed on the beach with each diminutive wave littering an array of dazzling bright blue dots like little gemstones (or stars) along the water’s edge. Like seeing a swarm of aquatic fireflies beaching themselves. Absolutely magical.
Dhawa Ihuru is the “close” resort. It is a close 25-minute transfer from Male (but far away from airport traffic and not having Male in your face). Many people want a short transfer especially if they have an only a short stay or sometimes because they aren’t fond of small planes (like seaplanes). The house reef is just metres away for most of the island. Accessibility is a big plus for house reefs and Ihuru’s is one you want to access. And if you prefer even easier access to underwater sights, Ihuru offers the rare double snorkeling option with a coral cropping rich lagoon in addition to its dramatic drop-off reef. The villas, bar, and restaurant are all situated close to the ocean’s edge so you always hear the gentle lapping of the water. And in the beach villa is a comfy day bed right by the window so you can get some relief from the heat sitting in your AC space, but still feel close to the gorgeous paradise right outside.
Dhawa Ihuru ticks all of the boxes for a Maldives resort: stylish accommodation and décor, delicious cuisine, accessible house reef (with strong coral growth!), and reasonable pricing for a luxury property. All the things to push it close to the top of any short list for consideration.
Our 20th trip to the Maldives. Wow. And still the magical anticipation dominates our thoughts.
5 more to add to our list:
Dhawa Ihuru
Bagiloni
Vilu Reef
Iruveli
Ailafushi
A stark difference to the 12 visited in Tour 2015. Back then, Maldives Complete was just launched and I wanted to experience and research as many properties as possible. Before the days of influencer blaguer hordes, remote corporate bean-counter, tsumanis of guest content, Maldives Complete was a novelty. Information about resorts in one place online, no barrage of ads and offers to mask the shilling.
These days it is difficult for me to string together a long run of resorts because I’ve visited every atoll with more than one resort and hopping on sea planes in and out of Male is super expensive financially and logistically. Finally, many resorts offer me industry rates, but those often come with a provision of a two-night minimum. My companion, assistant and wife, Lori, is delighted to have more extended stays reduce the frenzy of running around to get all my work done and provide some down time to actually enjoy and experience the Maldives again.
This trip focuses on the Dhaalu atoll. We visited there in 2018, but this return allows us to mop up most of the rest of the properties.
I will be providing regular visit overviews as well as tracking my resort-at-a-glance on TripAdvisor Maldives Forum per tradition.
Here are a few of our observations of our favourite destination:
Rise of Families – I noted in 2020 how families seemed to be more and more prevalent. This trip confirmed it. In particular, the latest visitor stats which show the number of families visiting skyrocketing from 11% to 36% in one year! As a result, many properties that had “adult only” policies are dropping them or scaling them back as they just can’t afford to cut out this segment. You also see it in the room configurations. The vast majority of rooms are listed as 3 adult capacity (by the third adult they generally mean a child over 12 years old) with a convertible settee built into the room. Many others have a stock of portable beds to roll in and expand capacity to 3 adults and 1 child.
Growth of stony corals – In recent years, seeing any new growth on reefs was an anomaly, but now every reef we snorkeled had a significant amount of especially big block corals like Diploria, Porites, Alcyonidae, Pocilloporidae, and Acroporidae (which research is showing fare better than other corals in the warmer water). The coral gardens seemed more like a spring garden than a winter one…sparse, but promising.
$1000/nt luxury AI – Lots of very fine resorts are targeting the $1000/nt segment with a luxury (ie. dine-around, fine food, lots included such a two excursions and one spa treatment) AI offering (Cora Cora, Emerald, OBLU, OZEN, Amilla). Just right for the affluent market who are not billionaires.
Atmosphere Group Investment – The Indian resort group Atmosphere is making a big play for the Maldives. They have half a dozen properties already with plans to open many more. Probably the most of a non-Maldivian hotel group (aside from Marriott group).
Accessibility Nod – Most of you have seen the brilliant initiative that Jason and Victoria have done at Amilla for inclusion and accessibility. But I was impressed at how many accessibility features I was seeing across the resorts (especially ramps). My wife and I both work with disabled individuals so we have a bit on accessibility sensitivity.
The Yanks Are Coming– The Indian Ocean on the other side of the world to North America so travel is exceptionally long. And flanked by the Caribbean on the east and the South Pacific on the west, the are plenty of tropical paradise options in the Americans’ backyard making them relatively rare in the Maldives. But the addition of more Marriott properties (eg. The Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Sheraton, W Retreat, Meridian, Renaissance, Marriott) is luring lots of Americans who have Starwood points to burn and have been enchanted by the destination through social media exposure.
Russians are the new Chinese – A while back it seemed like the Maldives had been overrun by Chinese as they dominated the numbers. The Chinese are still a strong market, but they seem comparable in size to may other visitor geographies now. In fact, one of the gratifying changes in the Maldives we have observed over two decades is how it has morphed from a uniformly European sunshine bolt-hole into an internationally and ethnically eclectic mix. That said, the clearly dominant set of guests are the Russians. There were lots of them everywhere we went. I thought that maybe the economic situation in Russia would have reduced them, but actually the travel sanctions and Maldives being one of the few countries welcoming them has meant that they are all going there.
Digital Default – The default way of doing everything is digitally now. Download the resort app to check-in. Connect with the resort/butler via WhatsApp. Read the restaurant menus via QR codes on the table.
Windier and Windier – I’ve commented in the past how July has gone from “breezy” to “windy” and this July was even more so with some days near gale force. Frankly, the “maldives sinking” is a colourful, PR-grabbing red-herring (ocean levels are rising quite slowly and terraforming and other measures can mitigate effectively). The real issue is weather intensity and extremity. Climate change may make the Maldives inhospitable before it makes them submerged. For the tourisms industry, the winds disrupt snorkeling accessibility and visibility, feet-in-sand al fresco dining, transfer reliability and speed, etc.
Goodbye Tchotchke – The airport tchotski store in the departure lounge to have one last chance to grab cheap trinkets, a fixture throughout our two decades passing through there, has been replaced with a swish boutique.
To paraphrase Meghan Trainor, it’s all about the “blues” (no “trouble”). One aspect that makes the Maldives such a global bucket list destination is its unparalleled tapestry of aquatic azure hues. This famous blend of cerulean, cobalt and cyan is punctuated by a touches of tropical palm green and brilliant white sand tinged by highlights of golden sunshine. OZEN Maadhoo exemplifies the distinctive Maldives palette with an expansive variegated lapis lagoon, lush verdant vegetation, broad cotton white beaches and, of course, plenty of glowing sun. I’ve seen big lagoons before in the Maldives, and I have seen big beaches, but I don’t recall seeing such an extensive combo of both at one island.
The aesthetic theme is imbued in its elegant pool with its own pattern of blue tiles. And if you want you can even explore under the blues with visit to its underwater restaurant “Minus 6 Meters”
OZEN Maadhoo splashes the ultimate maritime expanse of colour.
Longing for the simple Maldives – no TV, no pool, no butlers. Fihalhohi took us back to a classic, original version of the Maldives.
Fihalhohi was the lowest priced resorts on our tour and has long been one of the more basic of resorts in the destination. I remember first researching it decades ago and it had a bare bones website with a few sketchy photos. So we weren’t expecting too much. Nonetheless, it supposedly had a lovely house reef and is one of the classic properties so we were keen to check it out.
We were so pleasantly surprised. The villas had had a refurb a few years back and so, while still simple, they were fresh and smart looking. The general common area infrastructure is still a bit dated and worn, but that gives it a bit of charm.
Satisfaction is all relative to expectations…and, I must say, Fihalhohi (or “Fiha” as it is colloquially referred to) considerably exceeded ours. We also made some nice friends (see below)
Cora Cora is like a collection of all of our favourite things in the Maldives – small island, fine house reef, cultural heritage, whimsical vibe, colourful aesthetic, progressive management, accessible luxury. One might think that after staying at over 110 Maldives resorts, and having written over 1600 “Best of the Maldives” pieces we would have seen it all by now. So it is delightful to continue our adventure of discovery and find over 20 features to Cora Cora that we hadn’t seen before (or at least not with their twist). Also, it shows that you don’t have to be a super luxury property to be distinctive. I’m not surprised when I come across some esoteric luxury in one of the ultra-premium resorts, but it’s especially satisfying when a resort finds a way to add an inventive touch with creativity as opposed to big budgets. Stay tuned for some colourful delights.
Emerald makes a big impression for a small island. The juxtaposition of spacious and grand facilities on the intimate island provides an cozy luxury for those who want the diminutive island (you can walk completely around in a matter of minutes) while enjoying comfortable spaciousness in their dining, sleeping and playing areas.
Emerald is also probably the most “resort-y” of Maldives resorts we have been to. It exudes the luxury and indulgence of the resorts depicted in films (“Couples Retreat”) and television (“White Lotus”). I think it is because their common area facilities have this extravagant grandeur about them.
And yet, the property maintains its distinctive Maldivian charm – stylish touches of thatch, expansive white sand beaches, accessible house reef, and (our favourite) a sand floor in the bar (which so many of the newer and more upmarket resorts have eschewed).
Emerald is playing in the $1000/nt premium AI segment which is hugely popular at the moment as it is a real sweet spot for the affluent professional visitor willing to shell out for a distinctive holiday while keeping the outlay somewhat under control. A number of excellent 5-stars resorts are also positioning themselves in this space and choosing between them comes down to rather subjective considerations. I would recommend Emerald for those who want a big experience on a small island.
Eriyadu is another vintage Maldives classic – tiny island, fine house reef, decades long pedigree – tarted up with a few reburbs inside the villas and around the property. In particular, the villa rooms themselves were quite smart. The new bathrooms were almost 5-star in quality (but I must say that situating them in a carved-out part of the previous front room and leaving the initial front door in place, was a curious aspect). The house reef is especially accessible straight off the main jetty and drifting down to the dive school jetty for coming in. We saw several sweet reef sharks and a striking eagle ray as well as even more encouraging coral growth.
