The Maldives, one island to a hotel
The Maldives is a chain of twenty-six atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-west of India and Sri Lanka. Every hotel here is an island of its own: you land at Velana International, on the island beside Malé, and the resort's boat or a seaplane takes you the rest of the way. The two atolls around the capital are the ones reached by water – North Malé, with the Fari Islands at its tip, and South Malé across the channel; Baa, Raa, Noonu and Lhaviyani to the north, Ari to the west, and Dhaalu and Gaafu Alifu to the south are a seaplane or a domestic flight away. We looked at every serious island in the country and kept only those whose service holds up to the setting. Fifteen hold five-star standing; the nine beside them are four-star addresses, listed at exactly the tier they hold. Twenty-four made the cut.
Luxury hotels in Maldives
24 hotels
The neighborhoods
North & South Malé Atolls
The two atolls around the capital, the only ones in the collection reached by boat rather than by air. They lie around Velana International Airport too, and hold seven of the twenty-four hotels. North Malé has the Fari Islands at its northern tip and the house reefs and surf breaks of its eastern rim; South Malé, across the Vaadhoo channel, has its wide lagoons.
Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru · Baa, Raa, Noonu & Lhaviyani Atolls — Godot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0Baa, Raa, Noonu & Lhaviyani Atolls
The atolls to the north of Malé, reached by seaplane or domestic flight, with twelve of the twenty-four hotels. They lie an atoll or two apart from one another. Baa, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2011, has Hanifaru Bay and its mantas; Raa and Noonu lie beyond it, where the private islands are; Lhaviyani, to the east, has its channels and dive sites.
Ari Atoll
The long atoll west of Malé, with whale sharks along the South Ari reef the year round. It is made up of North and South Ari and is reached by seaplane or by domestic flight to Maamigili, at its southern end. The north has its dive sites, the wide inner lagoon lies between the two, and three of the twenty-four hotels are here.
Dhaalu & the Southern Atolls
The atolls south of the Ari and Malé groups, further from the airport and quieter for it. Dhaalu is forty-five minutes by seaplane. Far to the south, across the One and a Half Degree Channel, Gaafu Alifu lies on the rim of Huvadhu, one of the largest natural atolls in the world, reached by domestic flight to Kooddoo. Two of the twenty-four hotels are here.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in the Maldives?
Fifteen. The five-star hotels we list in the Maldives are Cheval Blanc Randheli; One&Only Reethi Rah; Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi; The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands; Velaa Private Island; Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa; Soneva Jani; The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort; JOALI Maldives; JOALI BEING; Patina Maldives, Fari Islands; LUX* South Ari Atoll; Kudadoo Maldives Private Island; Hurawalhi Island Resort; and Soneva Fushi. Alongside them we keep nine four-star addresses, each listed at exactly the tier it holds: Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru; Milaidhoo Island Maldives; Amilla Maldives; Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas; Conrad Maldives Rangali Island; Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa; Constance Halaveli Maldives; Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives; and Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.
Which part of the Maldives should I stay in?
Seven of the twenty-four are in the two atolls around Malé, and they are the ones reached by boat rather than by air – One&Only Reethi Rah, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa and Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru in North Malé Atoll; The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands and Patina Maldives, Fari Islands side by side in the Fari Islands at its northern tip; Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi and Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives in South Malé Atoll. Twelve are in the northern atolls, by seaplane – Soneva Fushi, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru, Milaidhoo Island Maldives, Amilla Maldives and Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas in Baa; JOALI Maldives and JOALI BEING in Raa; Cheval Blanc Randheli, Velaa Private Island and Soneva Jani in Noonu; Kudadoo Maldives Private Island and Hurawalhi Island Resort in Lhaviyani. Three are in Ari Atoll – Constance Halaveli Maldives in the north, LUX* South Ari Atoll and Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in the south. Two are in the south – The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort in Dhaalu and Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa in Gaafu Alifu. Choose the Malé atolls for a short transfer and the surf; Baa for the mantas of Hanifaru Bay in season; Noonu, Raa and Lhaviyani for the private islands and the quiet; Ari for the whale sharks; the far south for the emptiest reefs and the longest journey.
When is the best season for the Maldives?
November to April is the dry season, under the north-east monsoon – calm seas, the clearest water and the longest days of sun – and Christmas, New Year and the Chinese New Year weeks are the peak of it, when the islands ask for minimum stays and fill months ahead. May to October is the south-west monsoon: warmer, wetter in passing showers, the sea less glassy on the exposed sides of the atolls, and the islands quieter. It is also the season the plankton comes into Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll and brings the mantas with it, roughly May to November; the whale sharks along the South Ari reef are there the year round. The water is warm in every month.
How do you get to the hotels – by seaplane or by boat?
Every hotel here is its own island, and every stay begins at Velana International Airport, on Hulhulé beside Malé. The seven islands of the Malé atolls are reached by boat from there – fifteen minutes to Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives, twenty-five to Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa and Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, thirty to Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, forty-five to fifty to the Fari Islands, and by the resort's yacht to One&Only Reethi Rah. The rest are by seaplane – about twenty-five minutes to Constance Halaveli Maldives, thirty to Soneva Fushi and Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, thirty-five to Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru and Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas, forty to Kudadoo Maldives Private Island and Hurawalhi Island Resort, forty-five to Velaa Private Island and The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort – or by domestic flight to an atoll airport and a boat from there: Maamigili for LUX* South Ari Atoll, Kooddoo and thirty minutes by speedboat for Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. Seaplanes fly by daylight, so an evening arrival at Malé usually means a night near the airport before the flight on. The transfer is arranged by the hotel with your booking and is not part of the room; allow for it on the way in and the way out. The concierge keeps the timing straight.
How do I choose between an overwater villa and a beach villa?
Most islands here offer both, and the choice is about the water rather than the room. An overwater villa stands on stilts above the lagoon, with steps straight into the sea and the reef a swim away; it is the more private of the two, and the one for a couple. A beach villa opens onto sand under the palms, with the lagoon a few steps down the beach; it is the one for a family, for children who dig, and for anyone who wants shade and ground underfoot. Where an island gives a particular reason to choose – Soneva Jani's retractable roofs and slides, the fifteen residences of Kudadoo Maldives Private Island all over the water, the residence at Velaa Private Island reached only by boat, The Muraka at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island with its bedroom below the surface – we say so on the hotel's page.
Which islands suit a family, and which are for adults only?
Hurawalhi Island Resort is adults only, and Milaidhoo Island Maldives takes children from eight; the rest of the collection welcomes families, and several are built for them – Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa with its surf school, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru with the Manta Trust's research base on the island, Patina Maldives, Fari Islands with a children's club, LUX* South Ari Atoll on a four-kilometer island with room to roam, and the islands of the Malé atolls, where the boat from the airport is short. Ask the concierge what each of the smaller private islands does for children before you book.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
