Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa

Raghavender
01-01-1970 02:33

Exceptional. . .

Aiym
01-01-1970 02:33

Exceptional. . .

284adriani
01-01-1970 02:00

Absolutely stonking location!. An absolutely amazing location with an almost perfect holiday in every way. Pros: Amazing beaches of course Wonderful house reef and easy to get to Excellent food in all restaurants Perfect service Great spa/massages Spacious resort Lovely private island experience Gentle waters lapping shore and shallow beach very far out on North side main beach. Water temperate like walking into a bath, it's so warm you can stay in the sea all day and not get cold. Negatives: Mosquitos Private island other than the main section they drop you off at has quite a bit of litter washed up. Some sections of beach have a lot of dead coral which can be sharp. South side of the island also gentle lapping waters but gets more waves in unsettled weather and water gets deep relatively quickly compared to North side main beach. A wonderful 2 weeks spent at the resort and a few callouts to some of the wonderful staff we met during our stay. Ximena, Asaf, Chef Mutu, Sanal, Ari, Abby, Jezzika, Mavluda, Sanghit, Neng, Dewi, Nasheeth, Yashu and Gerryd but many others made our stay unforgettable and simply the single best relaxation holiday we've ever been on. We booked full board but were upgraded to All inclusive which I think was an offer they were running on BA holidays when we booked. We stayed in a 2 bedroom beach pool villa (2 adults and our eldest 15 year old in the 2nd bedroom) and were on the south side of the island. The big pro of this is that most of the time on the south side, we were the only people on the beach, despite the resort being at about 90% occupancy. It's understandable why as the best beach is on the north side in front of the main pool and Velaa restaurant. This is the beach which is very shallow out quite far, the water is calm most of the time, the seaweed is cleaned from the beach repeatedly throughout the day and I suspect a lot of the dead coral is removed from this section as it's almost pure sand but to be honest the south side is also wonderful although the waters can get a bit choppier when the weather is unsettled (maybe 4 or 5 days out of the 2 weeks in the afternoon). The south side and north side away from the main beach also get deeper a quicker (although they then get shallow again out to the reefs) and there is a lot more dead coral to pick your way through barefoot. We did several added extras: Picnic on bodufinolhu (their private island) which was an amazing Robinson Crusoe type experience except they leave you with a mobile phone that has signal in the event of an emergency. The boat takes less than 10 mins to get there from Thilamaafushi (it's the next island over). Pure sand shores, nice big cool box with drinks and food, they setup sun loungers, umbrella's, table and chairs and picnic blanket for you. Good experience although would be nicer to have longer than the 3 hours you get the island for. Also as noted above, quite a lot of washed up litter when we walked around the island to the section other than where you get dropped off and the picnic setup which was sad to see. Spa, multiple massages and nail treatments. All very good. When they're not busy they occasionally walk around the breakfast restaurant offering a discount for bookings that day. Teppenyaki dinner: A typically excellent multi-course extravaganza with michelin star grade food. All you can eat sushi/sashimi dinner. Does what it says on the tin! (Albeit with a more limited fish selection than you get in many sushi restaurants but the staples are there) Beach BBQ dinner. Great good, unlimited lobster, etc. Sea life: Baby black tip sharks swim up to the shoreline, large fish even in shallow waters. Don't really need to dive, but available from the resort of course, can see pretty much everything snorkelling. We saw eagle rays, stingrays, feather tail rays, triggerfish, giant clams, tons of living coral, guitarfish, turtles, pufferfish, lots of crabs/hermit crabs ofc, trevally, fusilier's, surgeonfish, grouper, sergeant major, damsels and tons more I can't remember all just snorkelling from the beach and to the house reef. Collected lots of shells to take photos of but left them of course since illegal to take. Weather was I suspect as good as it could've been. We had probably 3 days which had a bit of rain (although generally finished within an hour). One absolutely amazing storm at night with full on tropical thunder/lightning. We lost power in one half of the villa during this storm and they came out and reset the breaker and gave us a fruit basket the next day with a written apology which was ridiculous given it wasn't their fault! Overall a wonderful experience and we'll definitely return. Staff are wonderful and extremely friendly, worked out after speaking with some staff that even at almost full occupancy the staff to guest ratio is about 1.4 staff per guest. Many people we spoke to were multiple time visitors with many people even coming from the US and taking 25 - 30 hours and 3 flights to get there. When I asked them if they'd not rather get to the south pacific like bora bora etc they all replied that they'd been there and this resort was better (with most of them having been to multiple resorts in the Maldives).. .

Constantinos
01-01-1970 02:33

Exceptional. . .

Brian
01-01-1970 02:33

A dream holiday. The location, the snorkeling, food and service were all exceptional.. The island was an amazing location. The house reef was great for snorkeling, we went every day. The beaches were brilliant white sand, and the water was clear blue. We had an overwater sunset villa, and enjoyed the sunset every day from our balcony. The villa was large, and the bed comfortable. There was air conditioning and also a ceiling fan in case you want to leave the doors open but still be cool. The food was excellent, both the buffet-style breakfast and dinner, and the restaurant lunches and dinners. We were on the full-meal plan, which ended up being too much food, since they offered starter, main and desert for lunch and dinner (when you were not at the buffet dinner), with large portions, but still excellent quality. We never had a problem getting reservations for the dinner slots we wanted. exceeded expectations. There were many optional activities. We participated in some sport activities (which were free), but did not participate in the many extra-cost activities, which were quite expensive. The only extra-activity we participated in was an extra BBQ dinner. The food was very good, including grilled lobster and other seafood, but in retrospect not necessary since the normal meals were so good. Overall it was a great holiday. The location, service and food were all above expectations.. Really nothing negative to say. The only downside was there was so much food, it was easy to overeat! In retrospect for us a half-board plan would have been enough, with only breakfast and dinner. But that is not a negative of the resort!.

Marta
01-01-1970 02:33

Perfect place for romantic gateway. + the water willa with direct access to the sea was amazing, we could see from the balcony sharks, mantas and different fishes all swimming just right next to the villa + the food in all restaurants was excellent + no strict dress code for the dinner, because of the sand paths we were able to wear flip flops fir entire stay, which was amazing. - the buggies were very loud and it was especially disturbing late at night or early in the morning. I understand that they have to go there, but there could be a "bus stop" at the beginning of the wooden path to the water villa jetty or reduced operation hours.

Mayur
01-01-1970 02:33

Beautiful resort with exceptional staff. We arrived and we were met by the Le meridian team at the seaplane terminal who were extremely helpful in getting us to the seaplane lounge which was well equipped and comfortable. The seaplane transfer was smooth. We arrived to a welcome and a welcome drink and the check-in was easy. The staff were extremely helpful and kind throughout going above and beyond to create a wonderful and peaceful stay. The activities are expensive, however, the house reef is exceptional. Snorkeling equipment is free. There are three restaurants on site which offer variety of options. Vegetarian options are limited though the chefs were very amenable to suggestions. The rooms were elegantly designed and comfortable. The bath was exquisite. If like us you are not heavy eaters, our suggestion would be to go Bed and breakfast because the breakfast is exceptional and filling and dinner can be had for cheaper than the halfboard price. We were at the resort for our honeymoon and they provided us with wonderful hospitality to make it a memorable experience. One of the majors of drivers of us booking this resort was it had good environmental standards of which we saw. Water is desalinated on site. There is no plastic within the rooms, there was a greenhouse on site and it seems that the resort actively respects the environment around it.. Our seaplane departure transfers at 6:00 a.m. we were told that we would get a continental breakfast and unfortunately we only received some croissants and a coffee which did not meet our expectation of a $40 breakfast. There is some litter in the sea and on the beach which is no fault of the resort, but it's something they need to consider in the future. It would be fantastic if the resort could move towards being a completely plastic-free environment..

Natasha
01-01-1970 02:33

Absolute heaven. It was better than we could have expected. The staff and hospitality could not be faulted. We felt welcomed the minute we arrived with numerous staff waiting to greet us. Food was absolutely delicious and of such a high quality. The room was perfect! Clean, comfortable, all the amenities you could need. The resort was easy to get around and the buggy service was such a great perk.. .

Rajiv
01-01-1970 02:33

We had a very relaxing week with a Top Class Service and excellent Food. We will come back for sure. Very Friendly Staff, They took really good care of the Guests. The rooms were very Clean and spacious. The Food with their 4 Restaurants was Fantastic. The Sushi was amazing and the Breakfast Buffet had everything you would ask for.. Nothing.

Voyager38223288664
01-01-1970 02:00

I am very grateful to Ali for his help on this honeymoon. Without him, I don't think I would have had such a wonderful h. I am very grateful to Ali for his help on this honeymoon. Without him, I don't think I would have had such a wonderful honeymoon. I will recommend this place to all my relatives and friends. Thank you to all the staff of the resort.. .