Kagehitokiri

maldives rates continue to 'skyrocket' so not bad for pool

(though i guess if that is pre-fees, amanera is similar)
(wonder re hotel villas with 20m long pools worldwide)
(amanzoe 1BR villa may be 22m? and lower rate)

ChunLinKung

I've stayed at six resorts in the Maldives, including Velaa Private Island, Cheval Blanc Randheli, Soneva Jani, Kandolhu and both Four Seasons Resorts. All of them are nice resorts! Both Cheval Blanc and Velaa are the most beautiful and luxury place, the best beautifully designed villas, Soneva Jani is an eco-friendly resort with natural environment, Velaa have the best personalized butler service for us in the Maldives. Kandolhu and Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru are also amazing resorts that we always want to come back. You can see my travel videos on YouTube below (Non-Commercial Advertising) to help you decide which one is better for your needs.
Velaa Private Island Maldives 2018
Soneva Jani Maldives 2018
Kandolhu Maldives 2018
Cheval Blanc Randheli Maldives

FTstudent

I'm planning a trip for August. Lucky to come across this thread.
Last weekend I barricaded myself in my office and plowed through the details on as many resorts as I could stand to look at. Same as the earlier poster, I’m arriving in the evening, so I gave preference to a speedboat transfer. I ended up picking O&O too, and booked a water villa with pool a few days ago. I will make sure I look at the other recommendations from everyone else.Here’s my shortlist. (not all of them are speedboat)

1. One and Only Reethi Rah
2. Huvafen Fushi
3. Baros
4. AYADA Maldives
5. Milaidhoo Island
6. Hurawalhi Island Resort

I might have gone with Huvafen, but I was disappointed with the size of the villa pools. BTW - I saw another reviewer very critical on the F&B prices at Huvafen. I am very curious about Baros. It looks like a good all-around option, maybe not as fancy.

BESVISOR

I really hope you guys have a great time at O&O but don't have high expectations...just can't stress how average the resort felt (for luxury Maldives standards) yet, every staff shares their opinion of how O&O is #1 in Maldives and I just couldn't see it.

Had clients stay at Milaidhoo and enjoyed it rather well, though.

I do think FS is a solid bet/value and when funding allows, Cheval Blanc and Velaa are probably tough to beat on luxury.

chinmoylad

Have a look at COMO Maalifush which does 4/3, 7/5 with half-board (on paid nights) and 50% off on seaplane transfers (bringing them down to almost speedboat rates).

Also, haven't tested these but Fairmont has a VERY, VERY good opening offer on (USD 600 and USD 700/night++ pretty much including as much as you could hope for) and the also recently opened Vakkaru.

Nizar

Stayed at Milaidhoo for 4 nights about a year ago and loved it !

Deliberated over which resort to go for but in the end I was very happy with my choice.

Ticked all the boxes in terms of the type of holiday my wife and I were after. What we particularly liked:

*Small resort only 50 villas.
*No children under 9.
*Had a quiet, relaxed, peaceful vibe to it.
*We stayed in the water villas which are 245sqm and with a very decent sized pool.
*Service was attentive warm and personalised.
*Three dining options all serving high quality food especially at their Maldivian flagship restaurant (go for the degustation).

Haven't stayed anywhere else in the Maldives so not sure how this stacks up comparatively against other resorts but I would have no hesitation recommending. Would love to go back at some point.

passionforhotels

While all five star, Baros, Ayada and Hurawalhi aren't really in the luxury category. Ayada is an hour's domestic flight followed by another hour's speedboat ride away.

vuittonsofstyle

I think Cheval Blanc Randheli is tough to beat, but not Velaa, which I would not return to ever.

kmd0506

We have visited Baros 3 times in the last 3 years and it is probably our favorite hotel in the world. We did 2 stays in an overwater bungalow with pool and 1 in their premium pool villa (to be honest we preferred the premium pool villa, mostly because we liked that there was a covered outdoor area that we were able to enjoy in the rain).
Other bonuses for us:
-It is a boat transfer from the airport- during our most recent visit there was a pretty bad storm that came through that delayed/cancelled sea plane flights for I think 2 days of our visits, so people couldn't get to their resorts and were stuck at the airport/Male.
-No kids under the age of 8 guarantees a more peaceful time
-Marine biologist on staff at their dive center and a house reef (albeit with unfortunately common bleaching), but we have seen turtles and sharks on every visit. Marine biologist led the night snorkeling "experience" which I loved, but my husband did not.

I actually think the staff is more attentive than some true "luxury" properties we have stayed at. I like the food, we generally ate a late breakfast, had a lighter lunch then did a bigger dinner, and there was a nice enough variety of food that we didn't get bored with the options. We did a nicer meal each trip, and I think the food is very good given the location. I have done 1 spa visit over our trips, I liked the massage/spa but much happier to be in the water snorkeling or diving while there. Happy to answer any other Baros specific questions you have.

szebits

atojbk

has anyone stayed at Amilla Fushi or Milaidhoo?

Nizar

I've stayed at Milaidhoo. See my post #36 on this thread for more details.

atojbk

Thanks for the info! What month were you there? Were you able to see any Mantas or Whale Sharks?

Nizar

May. Mantas yes but not whale sharks.

SilverSpoon

I haven't been to Cheval Blanc but I agree, I would also never return to Velaa.