W Maldives

Gavin Van Der Burgh

**W Maldives: Utopia From the Moment We Touched Down** My wife and I visited W Maldives while celebrating our 20th anniversary and travelling between several Marriott properties. As a longtime Marriott loyalist and Ambassador Elite member—and having stayed at 12 W hotels globally—I can confidently say the service here was the best we have experienced. From our arrival in Malé, everything was seamless. The seaplane journey was comfortable, although travellers should note that luggage over the 25 kg allowance per person is charged separately. When we reached the resort, staff from multiple departments welcomed us personally. Throughout our stay, everyone greeted us by name, recognised my Ambassador status and made us feel like royalty. Our overwater villa, room 226, was enormous, beautifully equipped and impeccably maintained. Although it is a longer walk from the main facilities, buggies were always readily available. Dining was excellent throughout. We enjoyed tapas and sundowners at SIP, superb fresh seafood and excellent wine recommendations at FISH, the Maldivian Independence Day beach barbecue at FIRE, and both breakfast and dinner at KITCHEN. The Ambassador breakfast benefit was particularly impressive. The activities were equally memorable: manta-ray snorkelling, excellent house-reef snorkelling, diving, wreck diving, deep-sea fishing and a magical Champagne-and-canapés sunset on the private island of Gaathafushi. The Jet Ski Blue Water Experience was fantastic—a 45-minute ride to a remote sandbar and complete tranquillity once we arrived. Even riding back through a rainstorm was an adventure, with the skilled team keeping safety the priority. A special thank-you to Sohi at the Dive Centre for expertly organising our diving and watersports, and to our wonderful hostess, Faye. The resort’s WhatsApp service made arranging everything effortless. Weather caused a slight delay to our departure, but the staff and management kept us comfortable and fully informed. W Maldives delivered one of the finest resort experiences we have ever had. With two more Marriott resorts still to come on our anniversary journey, they now have a very difficult act to follow.

Krisztian Horvat

We have spent our 10th anniversary in this hotel. First days was about snorkeling, where We saw some exceptional beauty of nature under water. Sharks, huge turtles, reefs and colourful fishes. The food is very nice, the staff is the most attentive and friendly, they really do their best for you to feel like a King. Our last day was the anniversary day, where We went to the neigbouring island with no one else around, just us and a few guys from the hotel. They made a very special setup for us with photos of our life together, they even put in our loved music and made us some very nice barbecue. When We got back to our room, our bed has been decorated with anniversary wishes by the staff. Champagnes and more snacks, they even made a cake for us. It is really unbelievable how nice they are. Thank you for everything!

Jasmine Yeoh

Where do I even start? W Maldives was beyond perfect and exceeded expectations in so many ways. We were truly spoilt by W Maldives and cannot imagine a perfect vacation anywhere else besides this place. It has set a such a high bar that will be tough for other properties to beat and everything we experienced there left us wanting more. We first visited in 2022 and recently returned for the second time. The interior of the rooms have undergone upgrading and we feel that it’s nicer than before. One of the things we enjoyed during our first visit was the breakfast. We felt that the breakfast spread was lesser as compared to our last visit (our favourite butter is no longer served) but the quality is still excellent. We’ve never had a dosa that tasted so good. The buffet dinner at Fire was fantastic. Freshly grilled seafood, great variety of other dishes besides seafood, incredible desserts and attentive staff who was always ready to help and get you what you need. Don’t even get me started on the food at Fish. The food was out of this world and mind blowing. We had originally planned on dining there for 2 nights but ended up returning day after day, for 4 days in total, because the food was so delicious. The service staff and chef were so willing to prepare the catch of the day in different ways for us and we enjoyed every single one of them. During our time at the resort, we were served by Ara, Lin, Areem, Kamlesh, Siska, John and a few other staff that we did not manage to get their names of. We have nothing but praises for these staff. They were incredibly sincere and kind and constantly ensured that our needs were met. They remembered our names and addressed us each time they saw us. Their service and level of attention to detail were impeccable and we were really touched by their gestures. We could really feel their warmth and genuineness. Nothing felt forced and you could really feel that it came from their heart. While chatting with Siska during breakfast, we asked her if there were other smoothie flavours available. She asked if there were any particular flavours we were looking for and we told her we would love to have banana smoothie. The next day, banana smoothie was available during breakfast and we were so pleased! We also mentioned to Siska that when we visited in 2022, there were more selections and flavours of french toast and pancakes. To our surprise, she served us a coconut french toast (which was one of the selections back then) during our last breakfast! We were so touched that she remembered our conversation and even went above and beyond to ask the kitchen to prepare the dish for us. Ara was really attentive and knew that we really enjoyed the grouper at Fish. She was knowledgeable and shared with us the different and cooking methods and types of fishes. When she met us during breakfast, she was very kind to mention that she’ll reserve a grouper for us for our dinner that night. Her level of attention to detail is commendable - when she brought us to our table, she realised that the wind was blowing in a particular direction and sat me at a different seat instead so the wind will not blow my hair into my face which would make it difficult for me to eat. It was such a small but nice gesture. Areem and John aka Aquaman were really friendly and passionate and shared so much about the marine life in Maldives with us. We really enjoyed the chats with them about the different marine animals they have seen around the resort and Areem even personally came to us to let us know that there were some nurse sharks nearby during our dinner. During our last breakfast, Kamlesh personally gifted us some small turtle keychains which was so cute and a great way for us to fondly remember our stay at W Maldives. His small and thoughtful gesture really touched us. The combination of everything - amazing food, impeccable service, fabulous views, luxurious rooms - made our stay beyond perfect and truly unforgettable. W Maldives is truly the epitome of paradise on earth and we will definitely be back again.

Khalid M.

My stay at W Maldives was honestly a very memorable one overall, and for a first Maldives experience, it definitely delivered. One thing I really think guests should know beforehand though is the seaplane transfer situation. My flight from Abu Dhabi was at 8:50 AM and after almost 4 hours of travel, I arrived in Male around 1:30 PM expecting to reach the resort within the 25 minutes mentioned for the seaplane ride. What surprised me was having to wait almost 3 additional hours at Male airport because seaplane schedules are arranged around multiple international arrivals and different resorts. So realistically, my first day at the resort was almost gone by the time I arrived around 6 PM, especially considering the premium amount paid per night. As for the resort itself, the villas are nice and comfortable, though not “mind blowing” luxury in terms of interiors. I’d personally rate the rooms around 7.5/10. Where this resort truly stands out is the service. The staff are honestly the biggest asset of this place. Everyone was incredibly kind, attentive, warm, and genuinely helpful throughout the stay. Requests were handled within minutes, and the hospitality never felt forced. Special thanks to Aiham and Ameen from the hotel team, and Adam from The Kitchen restaurant, who really made the experience feel personal and welcoming. I also loved that the island isn’t excessively large or overcrowded. It feels lively without being chaotic, and that balance made the experience much more enjoyable. As a Muslim traveler, privacy for my wife was very important to me, and the team genuinely accommodated this by assigning us one of the most private villas possible, which we really appreciated. One of the highlights of the trip was booking the private sunset island experience. Being dropped off on a completely private island with nobody else around was something truly unforgettable. While the actual setup there could definitely be improved, the views and atmosphere completely made up for it. The beaches are exactly as shown in pictures. Crystal clear water, amazing colors, beautiful sand, no disappointment there at all. The spa however was unfortunately one of the weaker parts of the resort. The area and treatment rooms felt outdated, and the therapists honestly did not match the level expected from a resort like this. Food overall was good, but I do think there’s room for improvement in the restaurant aesthetics and dining experience. Also worth noting that not everything is covered under HB/FB packages, which can become expensive quickly. Overall, I’d give W Maldives a solid 8/10. Would I come back? Maybe. But mainly because I’d also love to explore other islands and resorts in the Maldives after this experience.

Raymond B

I loved W Maldives so much that I legitimately tried to extend my stay by three nights, but the next resort on my itinerary told me absolutely not. Leaving this island was an official tragedy. To put things into perspective, I initially booked W Maldives simply as a casual stop to explore the house reef before celebrating my recent PhD submission and birthday. In reality, my actual celebration happened right here. Despite booking under a special discounted rate with zero expectations, the team welcomed me with unmatched generosity: handwritten cards from across the team, branded shirts, drinks, and thoughtful amenities stacked on top of the classic champagne and chocolates. This was my first time visiting the Maldives and my first time in an overwater villa, and the hardware simply blew my mind into another dimension. The W brand can sometimes lean heavily into loud party energy, but W Maldives pulled off the impossible balance. It is effortlessly trendy, sleek, and cool, while simultaneously wrapped in absolute peace, quiet, and tranquil island vibes. The front desk handed me the keys to literal perfection: an upgrade to the absolute best one-bedroom villa on the entire island, perched right at the farthest edge of the jetty with the kind of untouched privacy where nobody can perceive your existence. Then there are the humans. Over the course of a few days, I conducted an exhaustive, borderline obsessive scientific study trying to locate just one employee who could not give a damn about me. I failed completely. If you want stiff, pristine, white-glove formality, they can execute it on command. But if you are like me and just want casual, real-life banter, they will sit and chat with you like old friends about actual life, well beyond standard hotel scripts. Every single person who crossed my path said hello with genuine warmth. A massive shoutout to the dream team below (and my sincere apologies if I’ve misspelled anyone’s name!): Mika, my W Insider, who operates on a level of efficiency that should probably be studied by NASA. She replied within literal minutes to anything I threw her way, anticipated needs before my brain even processed them, and took ridiculous care of me from minute one. Huge gratitude to Jem, the sommelier from the Philippines, for sharing brilliant wine knowledge and even better conversations. Massive thanks to Mani at SIP, a fellow diehard W brand nerd with great stories from his W Goa days to his trip to W Barcelona who makes top-tier drinks, and Krisna from Bali at FIRE for lighting up dinner service with infectious hospitality. Thank you to Amin and Fred at the Welcome Desk for running logistics so smooth they were practically invisible, Henry for looking after me across dining spots, and the Loss and Prevention team who patched me right up with zero fuss when I managed to accidentally injure myself. Everyone across Kitchen, WET Deck, and FIRE deserves medals, because they made me feel like a long-lost friend. Under the water, the house reef is pure National Geographic. Step off your stairs and you are casually bumping shoulders with sea turtles, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, stingrays, lobsters, and a chaotic swarm of pelagic fish. Now, because I refuse to leave a review without being an insufferable perfectionist, here are my petty grievances: the chairs at Kitchen are weirdly high and slightly too small for maximum comfort, and the island could probably use one or two more public restrooms near common areas so you do not have to sprint. That is it. That is the entire complaint department. You will not find warmer people, better reef life, or a more incredible team anywhere else. I am plotting my return already.