Where to Stay in the Maldives Right Now
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Certain things are a given on a trip to the Maldives, where the luxury hotels are nearly as abundant as the islands themselves. The water will be that ludicrously electric shade of pale blue, the sand will be as white and as fine as powdered sugar, and the villas—at least most of them—will be overwater. The challenge, then, is homing in on your preferred flavor of lavish tropical getaway.
Are you a barefoot and windblown type, or does your island idyll require an on-site salon and dressing for dinner? Round-the-clock activities, or nothing more demanding than taking your book from beachfront to poolside? A fever dream of a kids club and plenty of family programming, or a honeymoon haven with nary a child in sight? In this embarrassment of hospitality riches, there’s no such thing as the best hotel—only the perfect spot for you to while away a few blissed-out days and mull over your return trip.
COMO Cocoa Island
South Malé Atoll
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If ever a place was tailor-made for honeymooning, COMO Cocoa Island is it. With just 33 overwater villas and a slip of sand and jungle, it’s as close as you’ll come to a deserted-island feel without sacrificing turndown service. The heartbeat of the island is the wellness-centric COMO Shambhala spa, whose offerings include globally inspired treatments; multiday, chef-prepared cleanses; couple’s massage workshops and joint mobility sessions in one of the Maldives’ only dedicated hydrotherapy facilities. Outside, the lagoon is ringed with coral, and snorkeling on the house reef never gets tiresome. When it's time to retire your fins for the day, wander to Ufaa for dishes such as masala-spiced lobster and pappardelle with lamb ragu, or book one of the several private dining options for a toes-in-the-sand dinner à deux.
Six Senses Kanuhura
Lhaviyani Atoll
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Somewhere in between a sunset sail flanked by dolphins and stargazing on the private Masleggihura Island with only your travel companion and a bottle of champagne for company, it’ll strike you that this 85-villa resort is one of those once-in-a-lifetime type of places. Wellness is woven throughout, with the occasional biohacking bent. (Sign up for a sleep program to have your nights tracked and optimized, log a recovery session on an infrared electromagnetic therapy mat or keep things analog with a chakra-balancing sound therapy session.) And the environment is front of mind: Single-use plastics are long verboten, wastewater is recycled and much of the resort’s produce is grown on-site in the organic garden and hydroponic farm. A sustainability-focused property tour in less-capable hands might feel like homework; at Kanuhura, it’s a highlight.
Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru
Baa Atoll
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There are some beach resorts you visit merely to amble from one gorgeous corner to the next, cosseted to within an inch of your life. Others you visit for hard-charging adventure and so many activities that you could put in an 80-hour week of reef-building and wakesurfing, parasailing and turtle releases. Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru offers both. The 103 villas are breezy and contemporary, and adjoining outdoor living areas—with details like porch swings, overwater hammocks and lap pools—often dwarf the accommodations themselves. The surrounding biosphere reserve is always top of mind here: When you’re not experiencing it through a mask and snorkel, you can carry a dedicated phone that will summon you ASAP for manta ray and whale shark sightings, or visit the marine biologist–led Marine Discovery Centre that offers a window into the ecosystem and related research efforts.
Vakkaru Maldives
Baa Atoll
The name Vakkaru translates to “coconut timber,” and the moniker is apt—this private island within the Baa Atoll was once a coconut plantation, and is still home to some 2,300 palms. That lush backdrop sets the tone for a getaway that feels wild, but totally easygoing. If you can extricate yourself from your prescribed Ayurvedic spa regimen or your bungalow hammock above the waves (a challenge, to be sure), Baa Atoll is a marine treasure. Don fins and splash around the resort’s blue hole to spot turtles, rays and hundreds of tropical fish, or book scuba and snorkel expeditions to nearby sites where whale sharks and manta rays congregate in droves. Back on land, choose from six house restaurants, offering everything from Italian classics and wood-fired seafood to teppanyaki.
Patina Maldives
North Malé Atoll
If you’ve ever stood in a contemporary art museum, gazing at a triumph of human creativity and thinking “if only this room had an ocean view,” Patina Maldives is your spot. Set on one of the four man-made Fari Islands, this 110-key stay is home to one of James Turrell’s Skyspace works, plus other pieces by an international cohort of artists and an annual artist-in-residence program. The design leans toward Brazilian modernism, with low-slung furnishings and natural materials that lend warmth to a muted palette of grays and taupes. It all sounds very sophisticated, but Patina caters as much to families as couples, with a kids club and offerings such as swim lessons, family portraits and puppet shows. There are also 12 dining venues, including a tasting-menu spot serving contemporary Maldivian cuisine, and a jam-packed lineup of activities ranging from Maldivian boduberu drum workshops to water polo matches.
Huvafen Fushi
North Malé Atoll
When Huvafen Fushi debuted in 2004, it was a pioneer in the Maldives, with private pools in each villa, butler service and a first-of-its-kind underwater spa. More than two decades later, it hasn’t lost its edge. The 46 bungalows are airy and bright, with cream-colored furnishings and geometric raffia wall hangings. But the star, of course, is the sea: Watch the waves from seemingly every window (and some floors) in your villa, or book a beach bungalow and gaze out at white sand fringed by palms and a swipe of cerulean just beyond. You can also opt for big-game fishing, windsurfing or snorkeling with a marine biologist. But if ever there were a place made for lolling about, this is it. Bob in the saltwater pool, curl up in the library with a book, spot tropical fish while getting a massage or enjoy a private tandoor tasting menu dinner.
Joali Being
Raa Atoll
At this joyful retreat on Bodufushi Island, the 68 private villas each come with a pool, a minimum footprint of 2,476 square feet and a personal jadugar—a butler whose title translates to “skilled magician”—on call to attend one’s every whim. Joali Being embraces multigen visitors, with its family-friendly B’Kidult hub, activities such as scavenger hunts and terrarium building, and a dedicated spa menu for littles. But, this being the Maldives, there’s also a standard lineup of scuba diving, windsurfing, flyboarding and any other activity that can be done in or on the water. Still, wellness is the highlight: In addition to the spa and fitness center, there are dedicated spaces for sound baths, hydrotherapy, herbology and meditation, plus an outdoor sound-therapy trail and on-site specialists in Ayurveda, acupuncture, naturopathy and herbalism.
Alila Kothaifaru Maldives
Raa Atoll
The ocean is the main event at Alila Kothaifaru, with eagle rays, reef sharks and a kaleidoscopic array of fish to spot just a few strokes offshore. The resort’s 81 villas, 36 of which are overwater, seem to have been designed with that spectacle in mind, with clean lines and shades of gray and beige that make the turquoise sea outside all the more luminous by contrast. In between snorkel expeditions and spa rituals, guests can get acquainted with Maldivian life through cooking demonstrations, palm-leaf crafts, history talks and field trips to a nearby island led by the resort’s cultural ambassador.
Soneva Jani
Noonu Atoll
Soneva founders Sonu and Eva Shivdasani all but invented eco-luxury as it exists in the Maldives, and Soneva Jani remains a worthy standard-bearer of the brand. A sense of playfulness exists in every corner: overwater villas with waterslides into the lagoon and retractable roofs for stargazing (don’t worry—they auto-close in case of rain), ice cream sundaes and chocolates available no matter the hour of day or night, waterfront movies on a massive screen above the waves and, of course, a kids club, the region’s largest, with pirate ships, a waterslide and a zip line that’ll tempt you to cancel your afternoon shirodhara treatment and hang with the little ones.
Cheval Blanc Randheli
Noonu Atoll
If anyone has a mastery of all things upscale, it’s the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate, and the LVMH-operated Cheval Blanc Randheli, set across six private islands in Noonu Atoll, is no exception. Each of the 46 villas is a world unto itself, with a minimum of nearly 2,400 square feet and a private 40-foot pool. The look is chic and sophisticated, all taupes and soft grays, with teak accents and thatched roofs that lend a sense of place without veering toward caricature. Drop your bags (your butler will happily handle the unpacking) and let the indulgence begin. Cruise aboard a traditional dhoni to the spa isle for a Guerlain treatment, book a somm-led tasting of legendary Bordeaux grands crus or take a macaron-making class from a pastry chef—Cheval Blanc revels in its Frenchness, and after one bite of a kouign-amann from the breakfast buffet, so will you.
Kudadoo Maldives Private Island
Lhaviyani Atoll
A private island and overwater bungalows are standard-issue in this part of the world, but that’s where Kudadoo stops feeling typical. The entirely solar-powered, 15-villa resort is governed by an “anything, anytime, anywhere” approach to hospitality, and is all-inclusive in the truest sense of the word. Wake up on a Monday morning feeling the urgent pull to parasail? Of course. Struck mid-snorkel by a desperate craving for a charcuterie board? Sounds like a visit to the cheese room is in order. Determined to scrub and steam your way through every treatment on the Sulha Spa menu, and experience the Himalayan salt–lined Lonu Cave for good measure? Perfectly reasonable. Just about the only thing you’ll have to pay extra for is a yacht charter or a special bottle from the owner’s private wine cellar—and can you blame them?
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
Dhaalu Atoll
As your seaplane descends toward The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, the very architecture of the property feels like a wink—the manta-esque villas, lobster-shaped spa and gaping maw of the Whale Bar all gesturing to the world beneath the waves. On the 22-acre island itself, thoughtful design is merely the set dressing to a dizzying array of possibilities: waterskiing and parasailing, yoga classes and digital underwater photography workshops, lava-shell massages and family-friendly fishing expeditions. There are also seven dining and drinking venues, with options such as Latin-inspired tapas, beachfront pizzas and Japanese kaiseki. And should all that action leave you zapped, you can always retire to your villa—there are 77 scattered across the island and water—let your butler draw you a bubble bath, put a bottle of champagne on ice and luxuriate in one of those lazy, nowhere-to-be days that feel just right on a tropical island.
Booking With Chase Travel
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Lead photo courtesy of Soneva Jani.
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