My wife and I spent our part of honeymoon at the Park Hyatt Maldives, Hadahaa last week and it was an awesome experience!. 5 days of pure luxury and bliss.
photos
Location
Getting in
We arrived at Male from SIN at around 1130am and was welcomed by an airport rep. who escorted us to the domestic terminal for our flight to Kaadedhdhoo (KDM). We were scheduled to depart at 1.30pm but the flight was delayed till 2.45pm. Resort guests have access the Moonimaa lounge which resort guests have access to. (light snacks, drinks, wifi). Flight time was an hour on a Maldivian Dash8-300 aircraft.
Upon Arrival at KDM, A resort staff greeted us and we were whisked into a waiting speedboat which was more like a luxury yacht. The ride took 75 minutes but we dreaded it as the waters were really rough.
The return transfer (domestic flight + speedboat) costs US$450 each before 10% tax. There are no other options to get to the resort and the domestic flight would cost US$400 alone if booked directly via Maldivian.
Seaplanes do not serve the Gaafu Alifu Atoll as there aren't many resorts in the area.
The Resort:
Designed by SCDA Architects, Opened in 2009 as Alila Villas Maldives. Still doesnt feel like a Park Hyatt yet. The resort occupies the entire Hadahaa island, boasts pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear waters and an untouched housed reef.
To maximize daylight, the resort operates island time, which is an hour ahead of Male Time (GMT+5)
The Villas:
50 Villas, 3 Villa Categories - Park villa, Park Pool Villa, Park Water Villa. All villas have a similar architecture other than a 1.2m deep plunge pool for the Pool Villa and built over the Indian Ocean. The villas range from 100 sq m to 120sq m.
This is possibly the smallest Hyatt property in terms of number of guestrooms, and has the largest mean room size.
We booked a passport escape award for 5 nights (145k) points and received an upgrade to the Pool Villa. Not too sure if its a standard diamond upgrade or due to low occupancy (less than 30% occupancy) when we were there. Some of the villas are under refurbishment as well.
In-Room amenities
Nespresso Machine with 6 capsules, replenished daily
a collection of Dilmah VSRT Tea (Dilmah's luxury line of teas)
an outdoor bath area with a rainshower and a large terrazzo bathtub.
Being an eco-friendly resort, shower amenities were stored in clay bottles instead of plastic bottles. The scents were not to my liking though, but these are temporary shower gels as the resort awaits their customized ones.
"His and Her" sinks and amenities
Dining:
There are 2 restaurants The Dining room and Battuta's, Bell's bar and 24 hour in-villa dining.
Breakfast is included for all guests at the dining room, and in-villa for a US$15 tray fee. Breakfast is served a-la-carte and you can choose any 3 dishes from the menu.
As part of the passport escape award, I received 3 dinners and they can be consumed at any of the resort's dining venues or in-villa. There were no spending caps (excludes alcohol).
each meal was valued at US$300 consisting of
an appetizer (average US$25)
a soup / salad (average US$20)
a main course (US$35 - US$55)
a dessert (US$11 - US$22)
1 litre of evian (US$11)
juice (US$8)
We tried out both restaurants and they were pretty good. Battuta's serves local gourmet cuisine and was outstanding (mainly curries, tagines, kebabs)
According to the GM and F&B Manager who was from the GH Muscat, the menus were from the Alila villas era and they are in the process of revamping it.
This is the first property i found making sense to spend the passport escape award at. The 3 meals were well worth the additional 35k points.
The resort arranged a complimentary honeymoon dinner for us and that was a nice touch.
Activities :
Snorkeling(free rental of mask and fins)
Kayaking
Diving (onsite 5* padi dive centre)
in total, we spent under US$150 at the resort, excluding the transfers.
i have photos of the in-room dining menu if anyone needs them.