Before I tell you about the exact resort we stayed at during our honeymoon to the Maldives I thought I’d explain a little about how we chose our resort. As someone who likes to plan and research trips I loved this part of booking the trip but I can imagine this would be the part people have the most questions about because let’s be honest there are so many options, it is an absolute minefield!
Knowing where to look to find your perfect resort can be tricky and it might be that you decide to just book with a travel agent. However, if you’re set on booking it yourself then I’d suggest checking out the recommendations in the Lonely Planet Maldives guide, checking out travel blogs that have reviewed a resort in the Maldives and most importantly ask around for word of mouth recommendations.
Once you know where to look there are somethings you’re going to need to have already worked out before you’ll be able to sort resorts into the good and no good pile. I’m going to work through some of these questions to help you work out how to chose a resort in the Maldives.
What is your budget? How long are you going for?
These questions are probably going to be your biggest deciding point. The Maldives is all about luxury and they have a lot of crazy expensive resorts, I’m talking like $1000 a night plus. That budget was not a option for us especially as we wanted to spend at least a week away in paradise. Knowing this was more important to us that a specific facility I decided to rule resorts in or out based on price to begin with. Another thing that will affect your budget is the transfer to the airport, some resorts use speedboat and some sea plane. Both options are an additional cost to your accommodation booking and neither come at a cheap price. When looking a per a night resort prices it’s also worth bearing in mind these prices do no include tax or GST.
All inclusive or not?
Another huge part of your budget is going to be deciding whether or not you are going all inclusive. Having returned from the Maldives on an all inclusive package I cannot imagine doing it any other way especially as our resort only had 1 main restaurant but then maybe I missed something as I wasn’t looking for it. Whilst I was searching for a resort I chose to only short list those that offered an all inclusive package deal. When it came down to the last few options I was also sure to compare all inclusive entitlements, I wanted to make sure we were getting our moneys worth.
The next thing to decide is what you want from the resort
What do you plan to do while you’re there? What facilities are you interested in?
This was probably the least important part for us as we were especially going for a relax and to do nothing. However, we did want to get some snorkelling in so choosing a resort with lots of reef was something to think about for us. Something else to consider in this section is the size of the resort, we knew we’d be happier with a smaller island so kept this in mind when sorting our short list.
What you should do with your short list?
Research each resort
By this I mean read over every aspect of each resort, find out what facilities they have, what the food is like, what the room is like etc.
Check reviews for each resort
Some resorts will list their own reviews but I find these can be a little biased so be sure to check Trip Advisor too. Sometimes just Googling the name of the resort and ‘review’ will also bring up some honest opinions of others stays.
Watch YouTube Videos
In the modern age we live in so much is done via video consumption so you’ll easily be able to find a few videos about your chosen resorts. Some might just be home holiday videos but these will allow you to see what the resort really looks like and their reaction to the accommodation and food.
Ask others
Again this is another modern age thing and something you could just as easily do while looking for your initial short list. Use social media to ask others what resort they would suggest and get their opinions. Of course take suggestions from companies themselves with caution as you’ll get better advice from someone who has actually been there.
I hope you find this post helpful in selecting a resort to stay in, like me you’ll probably feel like you’re spending a lot of money on just one aspect of your holiday so you’ll be keen to get it just right. If you have any other tips to add then leave them in the comments below.
Have you stayed in the Maldives? How did you choose your resort?
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