We had the most dreamy honeymoon at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives in September 2021, and what can I say? It was literally A DREAM, COME TRUE! This luxury 5 star hotel exceeded our expectations and compares to nowhere we have been before.
We spent seven days in the secluded paradise located in South Malé Atoll. I am going to give you guys a round up of things we got into and experienced. Our entire trip was one word: LUXURIOUS!
Where do I begin?!
Travel To Maldives
Let’s start with travel. We traveled hours upon hours from KIN-MIA-NY-DOHA-MALE. It was worth the long flight. However, our flight experience was extremely luxurious as we opted for Business Class. I definitely advise business class especially if it’s your honeymoon and first time traveling that far. It will make the flight way less daunting. Qatar Airways wowed us with our flat lay seats, unlimited delicious food options, and let’s not forget the drinks! We were short of nothing! Watch our travel experience here.
Once we arrived in the beautiful Maldives, we were greeted outside the airport by the hotel concierge holding a Waldorf Astoria Maldives sign. Our transportation took 40 minutes from the airport to the resort. Normally, you get to your resort from the airport via seaplane since they are all on separate islands. However, we did it in luxurious style! We took their private Yacht transfer. This was included in our honeymoon package. I’m not kidding, it was a luxurious yacht perfect to kick start out honeymoon. We were greeted on the yacht by the crew and offered beverages and refreshments and at that point, our trip of a lifetime began.
Check out a tour of this luxurious yacht transfer here.
Arrival
Upon arrival to the resort, we were greeted by a number of team members standing on the dock, happily waving from a distance away. As we stepped off, the team knew our names and escorted us to the lobby where we received welcome drinks and cold towels. The check in process was seamless and super fast. This only showed us what the service was going to be like for the remainder of our stay.
The first two days we were definitely jet lagged. We arrived to the resort and stayed in that night to just rest and take in our overwater villa. Though tired, our jaws dropped when we entered our beautiful room, with the bed beautifully decorated with honeymoon greetings. P.S. the bed is SOOOO soft, you will want to take it back home with you.
We opted for the Overwater Villa and it was definitely the best room we’ve ever stayed in. This actually heavily swayed our decision in selecting Waldorf Astoria Maldives, because we are HUGE on a beautiful, comfortable, luxe room – and that’s exactly what we got! The pictures on their website matches it perfectly, probably even better if I’m being honest. That’s just how nice it is.
Check out the room tour here if you want to see for yourself! A more detailed view of the property in general can be viewed in part 1 of our honeymoon vlog here.
Activities on Property
We tried to do as much as we could while at The Waldorf Astoria Maldives, while also resting and not overdoing it. There’s a vast list of activities you can get into while on property, which means you’ll never be bored.
We enjoyed snorkeling for a bit around our villa, until we got a bit scared of the nurse sharks, though they say they are not dangerous – it was still terrifying! haha.
Hubby and I also took a jetski out in the deep blue Indian Ocean and it was so much fun. It’s a guided jet ski tour as one of the staff follows you out there, but he took us around the property so we could see the villas, without going too close to invade in anyone’s privacy of course. We also ventured off to a private island where we actually parked the jet ski’s and went on the sand. Pretty cool!
Restaurants on Property
There are a total of eleven restaurants on property. Yes, ELEVEN! We managed to visit six out of the eleven. It felt like we were in a different country at each restaurant as that’s just the experience you get from the decor of the building itself, to the ambience, to the delicious cuisine.
In order (kinda) of MUST GO, which is a bit hard because they are all different, special and delicious, here are the restaurants we visited:
The Ledge
This is a Dave Pynt Michelin starred restaurant. Need I say more? I mean, everything we tried on the menu was exceptional. Everything has a smokey flavor because of a specific wood burning oven they use and let me tell you, chef’s kiss!! It’s nothing like we’ve tasted before. You have to get the burger – it is JUICY! I stopped eating meat for a little while, heard about the burger and said I have to try it. We ended up having this burger two or three times while on property. It’s that good!
Li Long
Peking duck! Best Peking duck ever. It was prepared right at our table by the chef and we tried our hardest to go back to this restaurant for more Peking duck but time didn’t allow us. This only means we have to visit Waldorf Astoria again soon!
Yasmeen
If you’re into Middle-Eastern food, this is the place. As you enter the restaurant, you are surrounded by Arabian architecture. It was stunning! I felt as if I was in the Middle East while at the restaurant.
Terra
Our first fine dining experience which also happened to be in a treetop bamboo nest. This was an extremely romantic setting, which we experienced at night. The views are way better in the early evening if you can get a reservation for then. Definitely a one of a kind experience.
Amber
A must go to for the best sunset views on property. The set up is so serene, like a floating over water experience overlooking the Indian Ocean. We didn’t get much time here as we went pre dinner reservations at another restaurant, but we are SO glad we stopped by.
Nava
Beach side / pool side eats and good vibes are found here! There’s a resident DJ at Nava and delicious bites that can be enjoyed. I had tuna & avocado tacos and hubby had cajun chicken pizza.
Tasting Table
This is where we had our daily breakfast buffet. The most exotic fruits and widest selection of food I’ve ever seen in a buffet is at this restaurant. We rarely had the same thing twice, except the fruits, we had that daily. Oh, and the pancakes! So good!
Check out part 2 of our honeymoon vlog highlighting these delicious restaurants + more!
Experiences on Property
My favorite thing to do is have some amazing experiences while on property and The Waldorf Astoria Maldives did not disappoint here either. From private dining experiences to overwater spa treatments, we definitely dabbled in some of these while on property.
Private Dining Experience
We experienced the Sunken Sand Getaway. It’s a five course menu with a house champagne by the beach. Picture the ocean waves, soft music, twinkling stars, dining table and seats perfectly carved out in the sand with innovative dishes. The most romantic dining experience, ever! We enjoyed each other’s company as it felt like we were the only one’s out there that night, the ambience and the delicious food. I captured some beautiful memories of this experience, which you can take a peak into here.
Aquatherapy Session
We enjoyed an aqua therapy session at the Aqua Wellness Centre. It’s a large pool, separated in zones. Each zone is uniquely made up of air jets, massage lounge chairs, shower jets in various intensity levels targeting different areas of the body. It has many benefits such as easing muscle tension, increasing blood circulation, and improving sleep quality to name a few. It’s something you just have to experience, but until then, you can check it out in action here.
We were extremely relaxed after our session and laid by the lounge chairs in the area for a while after. The team brought some refreshments after the session as well, which was the perfect ending.
Overwater Spa Treatment
We disconnected and had a relaxing experience at the overwater spa villa. Our treatment choice was the signature body treatment which started with foot soaks and continued with a full body massage. We chose to add an LED face mask to finish our session and it was amazing. While we got our massages, we also enjoyed views of fish swimming by in our overwater spa villa. Like, how cool can it get?!
These words merely touch the surface of the type of experiences we had. It was just one of a kind.
I kid you not, from the moment we arrived straight to departure, was a 5 star experience for our dream honeymoon at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives. I recommend it 100/10! Our personal concierge and the entire staff at Waldorf Astoria Maldives took such great care of us, ensuring all of our needs were met and that we were short of nothing.
There’s still so much we wish we could have experienced, but that shows you that you just can’t run out of things to do while on property. It was everything we dreamed of and quickly became our #1 favorite place and we literally cannot wait to go back! It’s one of those places you see the photos and its 10x better. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives has set the bar HIGH for us and our future visits to resorts. We’re waiting to see what could possibly top that amazing dream honeymoon of a trip! I’ll let you guys know if any resort comes close, but I really, highly doubt it!!
