Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Isle be back
For world-class personal service and unadulterated luxury, the Maldives just can’t be beaten
Despite being several hundred yards from the shore, I was still only waistdeep – and it was another hundred yards before a reef turned the water from bright turquoise to dark blue.
The sea continued to reveal its secrets as the lagoon shallows of Maadhoo Island merged into the Indian Ocean.
The water was flat, clear, warm and shimmering – just like all the social media posts promised.
And it was only when swimming out in the lagoon that I realised I was finally safe from Moet Man – a smiling waiter who had been tailing me with a champagne bottle since I arrived at OZEN Maadhoo, the premier five-star luxury property in the region for Atmosphere Resorts.
The staff are like an army, I joked at one point. “Yes, we are ready to attack,” a team member laughed. There was another guy who kept sneaking into my room while I was at dinner, running a bubble bath in my outdoor jungle bathroom ready for my return.
But my favourite team were the guys who cleaned and raked the beaches non-stop throughout the day, ensuring the white sand stays that way, with no seaweed or leaves spoiling your Instagram shot.
One of the most noticeable things was the sheer lack of other guests – despite low-season occupancy sitting at 85 per cent, or about 200 people over 90 villas. It often felt like I had the entire tropical island to myself – far from the sunbed-clogged sand of the Mediterranean’s poshest beaches.
At dinner it seems there are more staff than guests – even when you are in buffet mode, the ever-helpful waiters will offer to get items for you.
Is there anything else that could make you feel lazier?
Couples can spend upwards of £1,700 a night for the standard all-inclusive seven-night “indulgence” package to tick the famous Maldives over-water villa off their travel wish list.
If you are aiming higher, there’s also a 4,630sqft, six-bedroom water suite where British celebrity chefs, Indian cricketers and bank bosses are said to spend about £11,000 a night.
But the incredible service across the resort is available to everyone. The resort’s standard indulgence package
includes food, beer, wine and spirits, as well as a diving session or spa treatment.
It also includes access to the gym, unlimited snorkelling excursions and equipment, non-motorised water sports (windsurfing, catamaran, canoe, kayak and stand-up paddle board), one adventure excursion and one sunset fishing excursion.
But you will have to pay extra for activities such as jetskiing, big game fishing, a dolphin cruise or visiting nearby islands – as well as the £200 return speedboat trip for adults from the airport at Malé.
Guests have a choice between an Earth Villa (with or without pool) on the island, with the beach about 15 yards from your front door and only a couple of bean bags and sunbeds in your way.
There are also Wind Villas (with or without pool) – the over-water wooden chalets stretching into the blue ocean.
Pools really are an unnecessary luxury. The lagoon –the shallows surrounding the island before it drops off into the reefs – is perfect for swimming.
There is a ladder straight into the water – and rooms have glass floors, so you can keep an eye on the tropical fish and rays from inside, including at night with spotlights.
The Earth Villas have an outdoor shower and bath, with probably better space and more privacy in their outdoor areas (though the Wind Villas all face the ocean, not each other or inland).
Larger versions are available for families, and guests can drop kids off at a babysitter for £14 for two hours. All rooms have a butler who is in charge of their stay and the minibar and champagne rack were restocked twice a day.
We ate and drank so much at the restaurants there was little need for it, but it’s nice to know you won’t run out of pinot grigio.
There are four main restaurants: The Palms is the main site for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a self-serve global buffet for starters and desserts, with cooking stations dotted about, where chefs prepare a selection of delicious mains. The smaller R.A.W opens for lunch and offers sushi platters and other healthy food and drink options.
The IndoCeylon restaurant is open for dinner, serving high-end South Asian and Chinese cuisine. Each guest staying four nights gets one visit to the M6m underwater restaurant, for a fantastic fivecourse seafood degustation menu with matching wines.
It could be a gimmick but the quality of cooking (the buttered lobster and the crème brûlée martini were highlights) and service delivered a wonderful experience – all while we watched colourful underwater wildlife during feeding time (theirs and ours!).
The resort’s main pool bar served hot snacks in the afternoon and evening, while a new gin bar served top cocktails at night.
One night a week everyone on
the island – decked out in colourful sarongs – comes together for a party and world buffet in the Palms, providing Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Western and Italian main dishes, as well as topquality street food from the region.
Overall, the food was brilliant (always a challenge with buffets) and the choice was exceptional – there were six different types of butter at breakfast.
Staff across the resort often offered dishes beyond the menu. After raving about the barramundi fish starter in the Indian restaurant, staff remembered and suggested a delicious, off-menu barramundi coconut milk curry as a main a few nights later.
Another Maadhoo moment: One morning, walking to breakfast, the rain started spitting. Ten seconds later, a staff member rode up on a bicycle holding five umbrellas. Perfect, even when it’s raining.