Honeymoon, Maldives. What's the best resort for upmost privacy & luxury?
 

Hi everybody,

I'm new to this website but have been scanning the last couple of days and can see what a great avenue this is to find ideas and to gather help from all who may know. My wife and I are planning to honeymoon at a resort and spa in the maldives around the beginning of March 2012 for 2 weeks.
As it stands all we know is that we want the highest of privacy (most important), luxury and service quality we can find but as you can all imagine this gets difficult trawling through endless promotional websites. Ideally, a water villa (on stilts) or similar but we would be happy with almost anything.
From what I have seen so far I believe our best bets are Soneva Gili/Fushi, W Retreat & Spa, Island Hideaway. Neither of us have ever holidayed in this area and would greatly value any assistance anyone can give us to help us find our dream location.

Thanks in advance!

A water villa on stilt and only accessible by boat = Soneva Gili's Crusoe Residences or the Private Reserve. I do believe that there are some newer resorts that offer similar accomodation but the Soneva Gili has it for sure. We only stayed in the Villa Suites but our friends who were travelling with us stayed in the Private Reserve. My only complaint was that the sea water levels around the units were a bit shallow at low tide. Apart from that it was like a little piece of heaven on earth.

With two weeks you might get a bit bored but being your honeymoon it might be OK.

http://www.sixsenses.com/soneva-gili...Residences.php

www.mymaldives.com/travel/cocoa-island.html

Cocoa Island my fav

Baros is great also for about half the cost.

Lots of good options recent reviews on tripadvisor.com

zicasso.com luxurylink.com can put together

cost effective packages sometimes saving a lot.

Congrats!

From personal experience........

http://www.lilybeachmaldives.com/relaunchmain.html

All of the ones mentioned above are considered some of the very best. Others include Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, Anantara Kihavah (though still finishing some parts).

I hear you on the 'difficult trawling through endless promotional websites' which is why I created www.maldivescomplete.com. It is completely non-commercial (no ads, no sponsorship, no selling at all). Also, none the clutter of palm trees, sunsets and tropical fish (we alll know that those are everywhere in the Maldives). Just easy to access and filter info on the resorts.

The key questions to ask yourself are the following...

1. Budget - You imply that money is no object. In that case you could consider seriously 'private' islands like Dhoni Island (but that can be many thougsands of dollars per night)

2. Size - Some people prefer the tiny islands with little more than sand and a few palmm trees. Others prefer a larger island which will have more to explore and more on offer (more facilities, more restaurants).

3. House Reef - Is snorkeling big on your agenda? If so, then the 'house reefs' vary considerably. Maldives snorkeling afficionados would filter on one of the top house reefs (if snorkeling is not a top priority), then just about any island snorkel coupled with the always available excursion to top snorkeling spots should suffice nicely).

4. Passions - Are their any sports, activities or other special interests you have? Each resort offers some specialty or other. If you have a particular love of golf, kite surfing, cigars, painting, etc. then that could help your choice.

Bruce
www.maldivescomplete.com

You have been provided with some good advice above which may help tailor your choices. My thoughts would be as follows:

1. Over the water bungalows tend to be set up in pairs (to share building costs), so these may not be as private as you want. You can often see the deck areas of adjacent bungalows and hear your neighbors when they are out on their decks. The water bungalows at the W in particular are rather poorly designed for privacy, IMO, and I would not stay there if privacy is your desire. Beach bungalows tend to be spread out further apart and may offer you more privacy. This of course depends on the resort, so look at websites and maps, which show the location of bungalows. With 2 weeks, you could do a combination of over-water and beach bungalow which may be a nice way to experience both. (You can also easily move resorts as you have a large chunk of time.)

2. For over water bungalows, if you want real privacy then, then a suite, with one or more bedrooms, is going to be a far better choice. Suites are usually off by themselves and not built in pairs (again confirm this). The Reserve mentioned above may be similar, assuming the units are stand-alone and not built in pairs.

3. You could also consider chartering a boat for a several day trip, which would give you complete privacy and the ability to see a larger area. You would have a cook and crew and can set your own itin, quite ideal and relaxing. With 2 weeks, this would be an easy option for you for 3-4 nights or so. The Four Seasons has a very nice one, other resorts may have boats as well, or you can charter privately from Male.

4. When making a booking, you should list a preference for reef or lagoon side if you can. The lagoon side is where the boats and seaplanes generally dock, and there may be noise issues, although I have not really found this to be a problem. (Seaplanes don’t run at night, but boats often will.) I usually prefer the reef side, as I like to be able to go from my room right into the reef for snorkeling. This is esp. the case if you are in an over-water bungalow, you will see much more fish life from your room on the reef side. It’s also pleasant to listen to the surf hitting the reef walls. However, I also prefer the sunrise side, as seeing sunrise from your room is really lovely. (You can always find a place on the island from which to watch the sunset, many resorts have their bars oriented toward it.) Best of all, the sunrise is also moonrise side, and seeing a full moon rising up over the water in the Maldives is just magnificent, so having this from your room is quite special. (Assuming your trip coincides with a full moon.) The best combination of course would be a reef side which is also sunrise side. So look at maps of the resort and see what works.

5. Of the two Sonevas, I prefer the Fushsi. I think the Gili is too close to Male, you get boat traffic, the views aren’t as good, and it just does not feel remote enough. I actually prefer the both Four Seasons over the Sonevas, but that is because I prefer the room decor better mostly, it wasn’t a service issue or anything (service is really almost too much at the Soneva properties IMO). My only issue with the Soneva hotels is that they are more rustic in décor than sleek modern, and I also have a bit of a personal issue with the whole you-must-take-off-your-shoes mentality. I don’t like to be told what to do, esp with regard to how I should choose to relax on my holidays.

Convincing my DH to spend $900 a night for a hotel stay would be pretty near impossible (or rather, plain old impossible), but if I could, WOW, these places look spectacular!!!