This is our definitive guide to the Maldives hotels that are really worth travelling for. From the most special of secluded overwater villas to sustainable back-to-nature style bedrooms with the best access to the healthiest and most bountiful reefs in the country, we’ve explored the 26 atolls of the Maldives so you can get it right first time.
Raffles Maldives Meradhoo
What could be more lovely than a stay at Raffles? How about a stay at Raffles by the beach? So far south its skimming the equator – the delicious remoteness is well worth the longer transfer time – this tiny island resort takes all the charm of its older Singapore sibling and fuses it with clotted-cream sands, raspberry sunsets and a coconut version of its famous Sling.
Complimentary neck massages are doled out while you wait for breakfast (French boulangerie, Sri Lankan egg hoppers, detox juices) with your feet in the sand. Lunch could be catch of the day – smoked tuna, say, grilled with lemon oil. At the smart overwater spa, Balinese therapists perform signature massages that start with the hum of a Tibetan singing bowl and end with warm coconut oil being poured onto your third eye. And the marine life is so profuse you can spot an aqua-menagerie without even getting your feet wet (20 hawksbill turtles have been recorded as living around the island).
Address: Raffles Maldives Meradhoo, Gaafu Alifu Atoll, Maldives
Giili Lankanfushi Maldives
One of the first and still one of the best, Gili Lankanfushi is green and clean, stylish and sustainable. There are all sorts of sleeping options – beach pool villas, two-storey overwater villas, standalone villas cast out at sea and reached by boat, and the Private Reserve with its own spa, gym, screening room and waterslide whooshing you straight into the ocean.
All are gorgeous, kitted out in a back-to-nature style, with thatched roofs, recycled teak bed frames, bespoke rocking chairs and catamaran nets strung above the water (a coral regeneration programme is helping to nurse the rather pale house reef back to life following the 2016 worldwide bleaching event). There are four places to eat and drink (vegan options abound), as well as experiences such as wine and sake tastings, and themed evenings showcasing food from India, the Middle East, South-east Asia and the Maldives. With its Ayurvedic treatments and organic products, the Meera Spa is sublime.
Address: Gili Lankanfushi, North Malé Atoll, Maldives
Lux* North Male Atoll
For the Maldives with a splash of Miami glamour, pull on your white linens and cut-to-the-navel maxi dresses for a stay at Lux* North Malé Atoll. The villas are fabulous – all double-decker, big enough to cartwheel through, with rooftop decks sporting big, wide Indian Ocean views, and bathrooms fit to fulfil all your honeymoon fantasies. There’s also plenty to do.
Go stand-up paddleboarding at sunrise or take the yacht out for the day. Swing by the art studio, try your hand at photography, gather a team for some beach volleyball. Menus are modern and moreish – chia bowls and kombucha for breakfast, charcoal-grilled lunches by the pool, Japanese-Peruvian for dinner – and the spa will keep you looking and feeling your very best.
Address: Lux* North Malé Atoll, Maldives
Kudadoo
Stylish, sustainable and surrounded by some of the healthiest and most bountiful reefs in the country – a carnival of colourful corals, blizzards of tropical fish, sea turtles as big as ponies – this is one all-inclusive that no one can turn their nose up at. There’s no messing around with spending credits or extra charges; everything is included – everything – from unlimited spa treatments to deep sea fishing, scooter dives and jet skis.
Guests can drink Champagne and fine wines around the clock, dine in the restaurant, on the beach, along the sandbank or in their rooms whenever they wish. It’s intimate, too, with just 15 overwater pool villas designed by New York-based Japanese architect Yuji Yamazaki, in that sparing, understated way that the Japanese do so well; cedar wood, sliding screen doors and muted honey-coloured hues.
Address: Kudadoo, Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
The retro-futuristic design at Vommuli might have been inspired by The Jetsons. It looks like a vast docking station for flying saucers – all the more wonderful for being made entirely of wood. A Space Age vibe pervades the interiors too, with modular ceiling lamps that resemble chemistry diagrams and translucent bathroom surfaces lit from below. Though the house reef is excellent, there are enough distractions on dry land to keep you occupied for weeks.
Of the half-dozen superb restaurants, the most charming is Cargo, a street-food emporium in a ship’s container – as if it had simply washed up on shore and been taken over by castaway hawkers of the Michelin-starred variety. Among other treasures, it contains a 1775 Madeira. Uncork it on the west-facing deck of The Whale Bar at half-past five and settle in for one of those transcendently beautiful Maldives sunsets. The tab for the nectar is 41,000 Yankee dollars. The sunset is on the house.
Address: The St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives
Milaidhoo Island Maldives
A wonderful reminder of the joys of getting back to basics. Milaidhoo gives classic Maldivian island style a refreshing contemporary twist. Understated, refined and properly spoiling. The island is small enough to get around without a buggy, so you can put a little of the barefoot work back into the enjoyment of barefoot luxury.
Milaidhoo’s location in Baa Atoll – a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with the world’s highest concentration of manta rays – is a huge plus. Nearby Hanifaru Bay is to ray fanciers what La Scala is to opera buffs. The signature restaurant, Ba’theli, serving Maldivian and trade-route-inspired dishes in three cleverly interlinked dhonis, is a show-stopper. No less intriguing is the Deep Sleep Mood Menu.
Address: Milaidhoo Island Maldives, 1 Milaidhoo Island
Hurawalhi Island Resort
It has the biggest underwater restaurant in the Maldives – and there are wonders on both sides of the glass. Hurawalhi is surrounded by no fewer than 50 outstanding dive sites, including one of the most reliable manta-ray hotspots in the archipelago, where you can marvel at the spectacle of these creatures lining up to be fussed over by lesser marine life.
The 90 villas are compact and uncomplicated, differentiated only by their position and the presence or absence of a private pool. The two main restaurants and bar are airy spaces with soaring ceilings. But at Hurawalhi, it’s what’s below the surface that really counts. There’s an inspiring young dive team – all of whom appear to speak half a dozen languages and hold higher degrees in easy-going charm – to help you into your mask and fins.
Address: Hurawalhi Island Resort, Huruvalhi, Maldives
Ayada
At 15 hectares, Ayada, on the southern rim of the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and just 30km north of the Equator, is big enough to get lost on, and the more walking or cycling about you do, the more surprises keep popping up. Take a stroll after dinner (there are six restaurants) and… hello, what’s this? A wine-and-cheese station for a glass of rouge and a sliver of brie while sitting on a bench fashioned from a fishing boat.
Or as you head off to Zuzuu (the kids’ club), you might stumble across The White Room, a part-colonial, part-tropical folly (pillars and a thatched roof) of such kitschness, you half expect the ghost of Elvis to emerge in a white tuxedo. Or you could stop in at the Ottoman Lounge (a nod to Ayada’s Turkish ownership) and settle in for a coffee with a squidge of Turkish delight and a shisha pipe. The Middle Eastern mood shimmies through the villas: a filigree lampshade here, a joss-stick there, a flounce of Turkish fabric over the bed. And there’s a full-on Turkish bath in the spa.
Address: Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Maguhdhuvaa Island, Maldives
Soneva Jani
The pioneering Soneva team, the first to introduce over-water villas to the Maldives as well as a strong environmental code and a determination to disconnect from the noisy outside world, brings us its third property. What sets Soneva Jani apart is that it is actually made up of five little islets in the Noonu Atoll.
Snaking off the biggest is a 1.8 km jetty with 24 over-water villas, each one bigger than some hotels (the largest can fit a family of 10). And later this year there will be an equal number of beach villas hidden in the forests of screw pine, banyan trees and sea trumpet. A second island is home to the cute-as-pie tented restaurant hub, serving everything from grilled seafood to freshly baked pizzas. But the other three will remain undeveloped, so there will always be somewhere to play castaway.
Address: Soneva Jani, Medhufaru Island, Noonu Atoll, Maldives
Drift Thelu Veliga Retreat
On one side of this island retreat – a circular hectare bisected by a sandy path lined with banana trees and bougainvillaea – is an open-air thatched bar, restaurant and water sports; on the other are the villas and a tiny but brilliant spa. The 10 beach and 20 over-water villas are simple and rustic, with apple-green, wood-panelled exteriors, coconut-leaf-thatched roofs and wicker sun loungers on the terraces (but no televisions, as the point here is to unplug).
An early riser can practise hatha yoga with Rasmika Sahan before a snorkelling trip nearby (although the house reef is a treat too, with angelfish and baby blacktip sharks). Serious foodies might find the nightly buffet a tad repetitive, but it is, nevertheless, delightfully laid-back, carefree and barefoot. There are also beach barbecues and Sri Lankan feasts under the eye of chef Chaminda Udabage, who cooks up his homeland favourites of fish curries and dhal. This is a small, unhurried, good-value island aimed at those who spend their days drifting between sunbeds and the ocean.
Address: Drift Thelu Veliga Retreat, Thelu Veliga Island, South Ari Atoll, Maldives
