This was our second stay here and our 4th Maldives trip. (Prior trips were Park Hyatt in 2018, W in 2019, and Vakkaru in September 2020.) We stayed 9 nights this time, and it was the perfect length to relax with our almost-two-year-old, who just loved the beach, the pool, the glass-bottom kayaks, and the staff. Although our kid was shy about saying people's names to their faces, he still talks to us (a week later) about Akram (our host), Azzam (our housekeeper), Sangita (our wonderful bartender who delighted our kid with mango juice daily), and William (frequently our waiter, who would remember everything we liked and have it waiting for us). Everyone went above and beyond to make our stay perfect. (Special shoutout to Azzam who must have spent an hour to 90 minutes each day making our villa truly feel like home; it was the best housekeeping service I've ever had, and I stay in hotels enough to maintain both Hyatt Globalist and Marriott Ambassador status.) Shubhankar and Krishna at the bar were also excellent. The property is not known for being kid-friendly but they delivered plenty of beach toys and a crib, and (thanks to Fernando in F&B) they went out of their way to provide additional food for our kid at reasonable prices (in some cases zero and in other cases for the price of side items, etc.). Food generally was quite good once you figured out what you liked -- normally I'm not too into Indian food, but the chicken tikka pizza was out of this world, and the other Indian-ish dishes we tried were quite good, so on our last night we had the "Indian feast for two" and it was easily the best thing we ate there. The Japanese restaurant (Koi) was a close second (we ate there three times) -- the seared wagyu sushi with uni butter was a winner. The house reef is truly 360 degrees: I snorkeled around the island one day, taking nearly two hours to absorb all the beauty. There were sharks, corals, jellyfish, great diversity of tropical fish, and -- on the very last day -- a spotted eagle ray right in front of our villa. Amazing. Mari at the spa was fantastic and provided one of the best deep tissue massages I've ever had. And finally I must give a shout out to Ali, the airport representative who ushered us from the international terminal to the domestic terminal... unfortunately, as we were flying home, I lost my phone at the airport. It was turned over to lost and found, and Ali went out of his way to pick it up on my behalf promptly and coordinate with the hotel to have it returned to me by FedEx. Truly above-and-beyond service that kept a potential problem from becoming a disaster. Can't wait to return -- maybe with more family in tow to try out the new 3-bedroom residence one day.
번역