06 Dez AYADA MALDIVES

The Maldives are known for the best and finest hotel resorts in the world.

Every resort is an island, many of the famous water villas look like fairytale homes, many of the restaurants offer Michelin star cuisine.

But which is the best resort in the Maldives, the best of the best?

Although these rankings always change, one of the highest ranked resorts over time on the world’s biggest review platforms, Google and Tripadvisor, is the Ayada Maldives.

No big name, no big chain.
However, one of the most beautiful islands you have ever seen.

The Ayada is in the highest price category, but not on the very top in that category. The most expensive hotels in the Maldives are the Randheli, the two SONEVA hotels or the two Four Seasons, the Gili Lankanfushi, the Reeti Rah, and maybe the St. Regis or the Raffles.

Let’s find out why what makes the Ayada different and why guests are so thrilled by the Ayada.

In the Maldives there is two rankings: The most luxurious hotels, and the most beautiful hotels.

General

The Ayada is among the most beautiful and well-kept resorts in the world.

The Cheval Blanc may be the most elegant hotel in the Maldives, the Four Seasons the biggest name, the Gili Lankanfushi may have the most beautiful infinity pool.

But the Ayada is a picture perfect little island that gives you the feeling of walking through a postcard. The resort has the most spectacular overwater villas, all of them with a private pool, a marble bathtub with a sunset view, and maybe the coziest loungers in the Maldives.

Location

Make no mistake, you have to earn your way to paradise: The Ayada is in the very south of the Maldives, about 500 kms away from Male. One or two flights to Kadeharoo, then a 1 hour speedboat ride. The flights are no water plane flights unfortunately, the distance is just too big for those I guess.

The Villas

There are basically 3 big categories:

The Garden Villas, in the middle of the island and therefore with little Maldives feeling, the Beach Villas (or slightly bigger Beach Suites) at the sandy beach, and Sunset Beach Suites directly at the waterfront, with a small infinity pool but without a sand beach. Those categories are on the island.
The Ocean Villas with morning sun, the slightly bigger Sunset Ocean Suites with evening sun are overwater, the typical Maldives experience. And – spoiler alert – the Ocean villas are the most spectacular rooms on this island. They are one of the reasons the Ayada is one of the most beautiful resorts on the planet.

Then of course there are the family suites on the beach, the lagoon and overwater.
They have no special frills or design compared to the normal villas. Same but bigger.

The category for the billionaires is the Royal Ocean suite. Now that’s a change, different design, huge private infinity pool over the water. But first things first.

The Garden Villas

These villas are the cheapest category in the Ayada. Beautiful in the inside, yet located in the middle of the island. The design of the villas is similar for all categories, however all these villas are designed to integrate the sea view into the villa experience. The garden villas don’t have this view.

Also, they are the only villa category without a private pool – a big downside for your Maldives stay.
My advice to you: If you want the Maldives feeling, don’t go for the garden villas. Take the beach villa, at least. You have your own pool, and you have the direct beach access – upon request with a sea view.
Small difference in price, big difference in your holiday experience.

The Beach Villas

Same size than the garden villa, however at the beach. With a private pool. Lighter and prettier, just so much better than the garden villas.
The pool and your little private garden is right at the beach facing the sea.
Some are more open with a direct view over the sea, some are protected by trees and bushes.

It is the old beach-villa-dilemma, you usually want two things: the staggering view over the beach to the turquoise sea, and privacy. But you can’t have it both.

If you can look out on the sea, by-passers can look into your garden when doing a beach walk as well.

Make a wise choice there, as this might completely change the nature of your holiday. Do you want quiet romantic two-some time, that’s with no view of the sea or beach, you will have a holiday in a lovely little tropical garden. But the beach and endless blue water will always be shimmering through the bushes and leafs.

Or you want the optical Maldives experience on your terrace all day? Then you have to sacrifice privacy … or – you simply go for the next category:

Ocean Villas

The overwater villas are the real catch in Ayada Maldives: They are more beautiful than in most other top luxury resorts in the Maldives.
And there is no dilemma, you have it both: The view and the privacy.

Absolute privacy, only the fish in the sea can see you on your terrace.

The Ocean Villas are simply breathtaking. Let’s be clear: If you want the real Ayada experience, this is what you have to chose.

Your terrace is your little heaven, your private paradise, in which you will spend most of your time on this island.

From your terrace, you have a constant view over your infinity pool, the crystal blue sea, the other little sandy islands far away.
The villas are in perfect condition and well kept, the old teak wood floor is beautiful, and thanks to the location over water you are unlikely to find geckos in your room.

Restaurants und Bars

The food in this 6-star hotel is extraordinary and far away from the usual all-inclusive cuisine.
There’s a few restaurants on the island: The Magu (breakfast and dinner restaurant), the Ocean Breaze and they all have exquisite food, nice views and beautiful, yet understatement decoration in common, and the very laid-back Zero Degree pool bar and grill.

MAGU

What a beautiful place: The standard restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Directly at the beach. The Magu ist one of the most beautiful breakfast locations I have seen in my life.

Your choice: You either sit on a wooden deck with a view over the sandy beach and the sea, or – if that doesn’t already sound spectacular to you – you can sit directly at the beach. Why not have your breakfast barefoot, with your feet in the sand?

It looks more like a postcard or a movie set. When having breakfast at the Magu, you need to get used to the beauty of the scene.

For dinner, you have a different theme every night: International, Italian, Maldivian, Turkish, Latino, Asian and a Roast and Steak evening. This is the change you are looking for in a luxury resort, 7 culinary themes for 7 days of the week.

OCEAN BREEZE

The overwater restaurant is a stylish place: All white and light colours, views over the ocean in all directions, first class cuisine with outstanding service.

Open for lunch and dinner, the Ocean Breeze offers finest European (mostly French and Italian) cuisine, combined with an excellent fresh fish and seafood menu.

But not only the seafood is a treat here, surprisingly the steaks are also Texan steakhouse quality.

In the Ocean Breeze, I have had one of the most delicious tuna steaks in my life.

Freshly cooked to taste right in front of your eyes.

ZERO DEGREE BAR

The Zero Degree is the pool bar.

Usually that is a simple bar menu offering club sandwiches pool side snacks. Not the Ayada.

Tuna fish curry, grilled reef fish fillet, prawns in white wine sauce and seaweed lemon butter.

And for a pool restaurant, the take the concept seriously: The tables aren’t by the pool, close to the water like in other pool bars, no they are IN the water.

Shoes off, lift the fancy bathing tunika, have a seat. You will love your feet in the cooling water while sipping on a glass of your favorite wine. Speaking of which: The wine is included in the all inclusive offer. Usually not a good thing, as the wines tend to be simple and on the less expensive side. Again the Ayada is different: How about a glass of French Bila-Haut Côtes du Roussillon or a Domaine des Nouelles Rosé d’Anjou for a South France feeling in rosé.

The selection of Reds would come from renowned wineyards from Chile, Australia, Argentina or South Africa. All by the glass, all included in the AI-package. Pleasantly unusual, don’t you think?

And make sure not to forget the cocktail menu about the fancy wines: The really know how to mix one. Favorite on the menu: The “Marry Me” was my personal favorite, an after-dinner cocktail with Malibu, coconut, Grenadine and Pineapple, the “lemon mint fresh” is the fresh-and-sour opposite.

KAI

The KAI is an Asian / Japanese restaurant, specializing in finest Sashimi and Teppanyaki as well as Thai and Vietnamese curries.

While the food is excellent, the finest Asian cuisine on the island, the restaurant itself needs some improvement in marketing: The urban, rather dark-ish chique and cool design doesn’t seem too attractive to tourists coming from big cities, looking for the cosy atmosphere of a lush Maldivian island. Hence, the restaurant was empty every single evening. Also the prices may have been a bit intense even for Maldives 6-star standards: The beef teppanyaki goes for 55 US-dollars, and that’s without the sides – add another 14 dollars for a side salad or mixed vegetables.

Breakfast

For me, the breakfast is one of the most important parts of a stay in a nice resort. The Ayada is among the hotels with the best breakfast in the Maldives. It offers more than a breakfast, it is a culinary morning party.

Far away from a 5-stars standard, the resort offers a variety of cuisines, tastes and culinary cultures, that many 6-star hotels could not compete with.

And it has a few more thrills you may never have experienced at your breakfast: Have you ever had breakfast sitting directly at the white beach with your feet in the sand?

Have you ever watched dolphins playing in the water while dipping your masterly baked French croissant into your breakfast Cappuccino?

Croissants that taste like in Paris, fresh fruits, an egg station like a gourmet egg-restaurant, Oeuf benedict with an immaculate sauce bernaise, fresh juices of all kinds – made to your taste. Croissants, donuts and breads fresh and warm out of the oven, and really decent Italian coffee that’s so hard to get in this part of the world.

And then there’s the little things you may not even notice because you are already overwhelmed by so much scenery and effort and selection. The cold butter portions are wrapped in small banana leaves. The fresh fruits are freshly cut and refilled every few minutes so they always look super fresh.

Speaking of fresh fruits: Sometimes you find them in your room, as a greeting from the hotel.

Hammocks everywhere

On this beautiful island, someone put in a lot of effort to make it even more beautiful.

On almost every tree, there is a little flower coconut shell, serving as a flower pot for colourful orchids.

And everywhere, literally everywhere on the island, there is hammocks and swings. For relaxation and for Insta pictures if you feel the need to tell out the secret of this little island paradise to all your friends.

Spa

As if the whole island wasn’t quiet and peaceful enough, the spa area is a place of complete silence.

Besides the usual treatments they are a bit more creative than in other places, offering skin SOS, tension release, anti cellulite treatments. And the location is pretty: The own little relaxation area is so inviting.

Sports and Activities

Take a romantic morning run around the island. Play tennis on a perfectly-kept court in the middle of the little island. Join other guests for a Volleyball game, or enjoy a gym with glass walls in the middle of the oh-so-green island.

Of course, there is also table tennis, darts, table soccer and pool billiard.

The bicycles

An own chapter for bikes? Yes, they are part of your daily routine. Your way to get around the island, always with you. Every room has two of those neat white bikes, and every restaurant, bar or place of interest has a little bike-park in front of it.

The main pool

If you have a heavenly pool in your heavenly terrace, why would you bother to go to the main pool?

Well, to socialize, to grab a bite or a drink, or simply to swim some lengths.

The pool is beautiful, with sunbeds in the water, surrounded by those lovely cabanas that give you a feeling of privacy and a “home” by the poolside.

The secret garden

Most of the herbs used in the exquisite restaurants on the island are not imported: They are grown in a little herb garden, the so called “Secret garden”.

You will find sage, basil, rosmary, citrus, mint, thyme and many more, and a white turkey watching the gardens.

Getting around – general information

If you look at number 17 on this little map, those are the ocean villas facing the east side, meaning you have morning sun, but no sunsets on your terrace. You want the sunset spectacles? Take the Sunset Ocean villas, number 601 to 616. They are slightly bigger than the Ocean Villas 501 to 520, but not cozier.

As you can see, there is only 10 garden villas (101 to 110), and again I could not recommend those. Go for the beach villas at least, if you want to have the Maldives dream holiday, and chose the 301 to 314.

They are nicer located and have a bit of a view (some more, some less), whereas most of the 200’s have no sea view at all because they are surrounded by lush vegetation blocking the view outside. The numbers 310 and 311 are almost completely open to the sea, meaning full view, but a little less privacy in your garden.

312, 313 and 314 are a compromise, somewhat private (because slightly view-protected), but still allowing a heart-warming glimpse over the sea. The others are, more or less, closed-up by lush trees and bushes.

The jettys leading to your beach villas can be quite long to walk, I recommend always using your little bikes. And on both sides, sunrise and sunset (number 13 or 17 on the map), the ones in the middle are the best choice. The first ones don’t give you the feeling of being out on the sea, and the last ones are a bit far.