vedant

Hi,

We're a young couple in our mid 20's planning our minimoon in the Maldives for 4 nights in the month on January and we were confused between a few properties. Our budget for accommodation is under $3k a night.

We're looking for something more modern/contemporary/chic, but at the same time laid back and not uptight/formal (preferably not a very old property and not one with strict rules/being fussy/dress codes etc). We would like an overwater villa with a pool. Our 4 main criteria would be service, food, a good house reef and a good spa. Also, preferable no kids.

Here are our options (in no particular order):

1. Cheval Blanc Rhandeli

2. W Resort & Spa

3. Anantara Kihavah

4. Four Season Landaa Giraavaru

5. Maalifushi by COMO

6. Huvafen Fushi

Open to other suggestions too!

Thanks in advance for all the help!

RichardInSF

We have a whole bunch of recent threads on the Maldives. So I am going to combine them all. This will lead to some posts appearing in an unusual order above.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels

P.S. Welcome to Flyertalk, Vedant!

Cheetah_SA

That sounds more like the coarser sand is "artificial" (ground up coral) and has been shipped in.

Great trip report - thanks!

MikeFromTokyo

FS LG. FS KH could also be an option if you want to stay close to MLE given the short length of stay.

If you can increase your budget, a Grand Water Villa at OO RR would be ideal, no house reef though.

Why only four nights?

vedant

I feel that Huvafen / Maalifushi/ W, might be better in terms of service and also that they have fewer rooms. Plus, FS LG seems to have a lot of kids around.

I thought 4 nights would be good enough. Also, I did have OO RR on my list, but decided to eliminate it as my uncle & aunt have stayed there, as well as at the W, Soneva Fushi & Taj Exotica.

They preferred the W experience better than the OO & Soneva (also they had gone to the later 2 with their kids). They felt that it was more of a relaxed and fun environment as compared to the stiffness of the OO.

MacMyDay

I can only comment and Huvafen Fushi and wrote about it before here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24985243-post38.html

I would definitely go back, but when we go back to the Maldives next time we'll likely go to Cheval Blanc and Velaa.

CanvasTravelCo

Take a look at Niyama or Gili Lankanfushi as well. I've also sent honeymoon couples to COMO properties (splitting the time - they are both very different experiences), as well as Six Senses Laamu and O&O. FS slightly skewed more towards family-friendly. Cheval is top. Hope that helps.

lerasp

we stayed at W and can confirm their house reef is fantastic! service was good but there were some (small) failures and not truly top-notch. but this was in 2012 so don't know if same management still there. overall, we had a great time but our top criteria was diving/snorkeling/house reef. the other close contender was Cocoa Island (Como) but the pools on OW villas at the W is what swayed us (and we loved the pools and OW villas)

chinmoylad

Stayed here in 2013 and found service to be good - I'm not a big snorkeler/diver but the house reef looks fantastic. While it is toned down for a W, it still does have a W-vibe/scene to it which can be off putting. The latest I've heard is that they've gone and done lots of refurbishments and made it even more W-like.

MikeFromTokyo

How positively nauseating...

I can't imagine staying at a W in the Maldives given the better options. Someone would have to put a gun to my head before I agreed to pay for a stay there instead of at FS KH/LG or Gili/Fushi.

DSI

If you're only staying for four days the last thing I'd recommend is spending 10% of your budget and 20% of your time waiting for seaplanes. Thus, I'd heartily recommend Cocoa.

Bear in mind, the drinks are expensive at all these places (budget $25 + a cocktail with fees/taxes), so don't spend your entire budget on the accommodations and feel stressed about having that 10th cocktail. LM225 and FDW would attest that I live by this philosophy.

We're an old couple in our 30's and thought COMO was great, particularly the food, service and spa. I would not recommend Maalifushi but Cocoa because of your trip length and that Cocoa is unlikely to have many kids. We loved Maalifushi, though.

I would budget $500 PP per day in food and drink at any of these places and maybe 50% more at Cheval Blanc, where we almost went but decided against.

Were we to go back I'd go to Soneva or the FS properties for a week or O&O for 4 days since I think those are kid friendly places.

And at Cocoa you might even end up under budget after food. A little extra money might buy you an extra day!

Nearly everywhere in the Maldives seem great. If I could only afford the Holiday Inn there it would still be an awesome trip, and at the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky if I can afford the Holiday Inn down the street.

Cheetah_SA

Great, useful, sane posting.

chinmoylad

I find that true for almost any W, but the Maldives one was one of the better ones.

MikeFromTokyo

I would expect it to be one of the better Ws...
My point was that hell will freeze over before I would ever voluntarily stay there instead of at the many better resorts in the Maldives. The W looks ghastly.

A quasi luxury Starwood resort that tries too hard to be hip, while at the same time offering me nothing that I actually want, holds zero appeal for me.

chinmoylad

Agree for many parts. It does have a hell of a house reef though.