7 different resorts in 2019 that is, but we only just started traveling in October 2018.
So here's a list of resorts we've been to in the Maldives starting with the less expensive ones:
- Grand Park Koddhiparu
- Anantara Dhigu (we've also visited the other two Anantara resorts - Veli & Naladhu)
- Constance Moofushi
- Constance Halaveli
- Raffles Meradhoo
- One&Only Reethi Rah
- St. Regis Vommuli

The first 2 resorts are just under $1.000 per night in high season, the Constance resorts will be between $1.000 and $1.500 per night (with Moofushi being all-inclusive) and the bottom 3 resorts are luxury resorts.

There's a big difference between the bottom 3 and the rest of this list, so I won't take the first 4 into consideration.

Compared to the other 2, Raffles is strong in terms of
- service (everyone knows your name, you are never asked for a room number, they all know your preferences in terms of f&b, ...)
- design (absolutely love the colonial&modern style of the whole resort)
- spa treatments (on par with St. Regis, which we absolutely loved)
- value for money (everything is so much cheaper at Raffles)

The things we preferred at the other two resorts are
- food (we thought the food at both St. Regis as well as O&O was better - but triple the price)
- the private beach you have when you take a beach villa at O&O is on a whole other level (but the villa itself is smaller and less nice)
- transfers (until Raffles builds their own lounges)

For the price you pay, I don't think you can beat Raffles. It's totally in a different league than the 4 cheaper resorts on our list, and very comparable to other luxury resorts in the Maldives that will probably cost you $500+/night (if not much more).

If she can't swim, the Maldives probably isn't the best of places to go :-). There are a lot of questions we ask ourselves as how these resorts work.
Perfect electricity, perfect wireless internet everywhere, no visible transmission towers, ...
And how do you even start building a complete overwater village like the one in Raffles?

Correct, blogger indeed, and far from being rich!

We try to explore the world and do so in a way we think is the most fun way to do. So when visiting the Maldives, a luxury resort is part of the experience, because if there's one place on this planet that knows how to do hospitality, it's the Maldives. But just before the Maldives we spent 2 months in Australia, living in a campervan and driving around the coast, taking our daily shower at the beach or at a campsite. In a couple weeks, we're traveling to the USA, where we'll rent a car, drive from Vancouver to L.A., then cross-country through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and all the way up to Washington D.C. We'll be sleeping in Motels mostly (as we think that's part of the experience in the USA, and maybe we'll buy a tent and camp in some national parks as well.

So while we do enjoy luxury, we absolutely don't need it and most of our trips are the contrary of luxury. But if Amangiri asks us to stay a couple nights and take some pics, we wouldn't say no :-).

We're actually very similar, but found the Maldives to be a place where we could easily spend a week or two without getting bored. After two weeks we were happy to finally be back in a city though.

No, I don't think we're that similar. I'm not normally happy to be in any city. I'm happiest when I'm either hiking up a mountain or skiing down one. I had to go to Mauritius for a vacation a couple of years ago (sometimes, I do what my wife tells me!). We stayed in a villa on the beach at the Four Seasons for two weeks, because it was a nice setting and a great facility, but I think I only put on my bathing suit and went to the beach 1 time over the entire two weeks we were there. We had our own pool, and I don't think I ever used it. We rented a convertible for the stay, and from morning to night, were out exploring trails and landscapes every day. Being stuck at a resort on a tiny island would be like a prison to me--a very nice and luxurious prison to be sure, but a prison nonetheless. I have nothing against beachside resorts, but this island looks exceptionally small, and far too confining for my taste.

By the way, what happens when a big storm comes? It looks like the whole place would get washed away.

Awesome, 7 Maldives resorts in a few months! Well done ^ I am jealous!

Did you have any of the special dinners at St.Regis? Dinner at Decanter or the private beach dinner. Sounds like there is nothing similar on offer at Raffles? Price for those dinners at StR will definitely set you back into the 4 digits for a couple but something to remember for the rest of our lives. Maldives is all about unique experiences after all, and St.Regis does not disappoint in that regard.

Raffles does have similar offers, but nothing similar like Decanter, which is something every resort should do honestly. Such a great concept!
From what I can remember, Raffles does offer a caviar brunch on a sandbank for very little money, as well as floating breakfast in your villa pool which is fun (they charge $100 for this I think). I would be shocked if they don't offer a private beach dinner on request. For our dinner in the Firepit restaurant, they dug a couch and a table in the sand on the beach, surrounded it with candles and flowers, and it was nothing short of amazing! Would highly recommend!!

It's a little disingenuous to state things like "our preferences were followed to the last detail" or compare experiences between resorts when you're an Instagram "influencer" (@passportinonehand) who has exchanged IG posts and stories at a resort either for payment or for a stay (or both), as a resort will of course bend over backward for you given you'll be broadcasting them to your audience.

This is a frustration I've had at various resorts in the past couple of years; it's terribly annoying to be paying $1-2k/night for a room only to be staying next to an influencer who is either staying for free, being paid to post, or both and is being given a much better experience than me due to their supposed "influence" (I'll watch stories tagged at a location I'm at when I'm there, and find out through that what experiences whichever "influencer" that is on site that week is being given). This literally happens - one recent stay we had a ~200k account with 1% engagement (aka a fraud) being in the villa next to the one for which I was paying $1.9k/night, and lord did her stories of every experience the resort was providing annoy the crap out of me.

Well let me offer a different opinion here. If @Passportinonehand had not been forthcoming and transparent in disclosing the relationship with the resort, it would be an entirely different story. However passportinonehand was very clear so us readers are free to take away from the review what we think is relevant for our own situation. Nobody had reviewed this property before, so I am grateful to be able to read on FT about anything from anybody who has stayed there, especially if the poster is being honest which was the case here. If they are getting perks that we are not, so what? Good for them. They did the work for the resort, and we didn't.

Is such an experience typical of what is to be expected from a first time guest who might not even have Accor status? Possibly not. But I would still rather know a guest's opinion rather than not have the opinion at all.

Anyone stayed post covid? Thinking of booking a Sunset Water Villa and hoping for a little info...

Hows the privacy in the unit...(ie, Honeymoon Private, 25 year Anniversary private or 50 year Anniversary private : ) ?
Hows the reef / snorkeling?
Hows the food quality?
Hows the service?

Thanks!

anyone stay here recently? Looks quite cool. would love to hear thoughts

Here now and willing to answer some questions. But I'll only be checking every now and then so give me a day or two to respond : )

Would love to hear your thoughts at the end. was thinking of adding a couple days to check it out

Finally home after 10 days at Raffles Meradhoo. We had a great time in a sunset overwater villa for our 25th. I'll share my thoughts below but if you have a question I don't address just ask... I travel for work so much I rarely pay for hotel stays (points) and this one wasn't cheap. We used virtuoso and got a stay 5 pay 4 promo which helped somewhat but for this trip even after were home I'm glad I didn't go the points route...I'm glad I ponied up for this place. It was special.

First, this resort is a bit out of the way with an hour long flight and then a boat ride. TBH I was looking for something out of the way so it didn't bother us...but it does add to the travel time. Our arrival came to an airport about 40 minutes from the resort and although that was the further of the two airports they use it was actually a beautiful day and the water was smooth and the speedboat just sailed along. We had arrived the night before and stayed in Male so we were grateful we didn't have to wait until the afternoon to arrive. We left through the closer airport and it was kind of cool to see both. Some might argue that's a pain but I'm always curious about the world so we went to two different islands we wouldn't have if we used a seaplane. That being said, I was told they will start having a seaplane option later in 2023.

The resort is beautiful and although it shows some wear and tear they were doing some refurb while we were there (nothing that disturbed us). So up keep appears to be ongoing which for a resort with an island completely over water is probably always the case. We were in Villa 32...based on my estimations villas 34-36 are the best for privacy on the sunset side and 25 -27 on the sunrise side. They were completely reroofing units 34 -36 while we were there or I would have requested a move. 32 was fine though...the only downside was that it is next to the 2 bedroom villa and there is a little more exposure but the area between the pool and the covered lanai was still absolutely private so it was never an issue for us.

As has been said before the villas are huge and the bed is even bigger. I think it is the size of two queen beds side by side...but it is just one mattress so, I don't know who made the thing or how they got it to the Maldives : ) Our villa had no real issues and the A/C was cold. Even on the hottest day it never had trouble keeping up. The only trouble was my wife kept turning it hotter as she was cold.

The staff were great and within a day they knew what we liked and didn't like so it made mealtime and everything else easy. They have a new executive chef at Thari and he is very engaged. The food we had there was great and they have a revolving door of options as they have new things arriving and new options. At 10 days we were probably ready for something different but really we had no complaints. The sushi at Yuzu was very good and I had it maybe four times for dinner.

The house reef was great and there wasn't once I got in the water to snorkel or dive and didn't see reef sharks. Also saw turtles and rays multiple times. Around the villa island the coral is rebuilding so although it isn't as good as the house reef I bet within 10 years it will be in better shape. Frankly we still enjoyed going off of our villa and saw a ton of fish when doing so.

For most 10 days might be too much but we didn't want to waste a day moving and were really looking for isolation. We got it : )

Thanks davidsc111 and others for your valuable insights,

We are planning a split stay - Park Hyatt and Raffles - in December. Snorkelling is something of an obsession of ours and we are keen to explore the reefs on Meradhoo. Could someone enlighten me on how one gets ferried between the island and the villa "outpost"? And are entry points into the water provided for visiting snorkelers?

There is a speed boat that goes between the Villa Island and the real island. We never waited more than 5 minutes and 95% of the time it was there waiting. In fact I think they have someone watching for guests. The over water villa island has multiple entry points to the lagoon...at low tide it would be tough to get in but at high tide there are 3 or 4.

Thanks for the detailed response! :tu: