Travel designer Matous Grund feeds back from Six Senses Kanuhura, Jumeirah Olhahali, Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi, One&Only Reethi Rah & JOALI Maldives.
And he also has ideas for a layover in Qatar, after experiencing two new hotels: Habitas Ras Abrouq in the desert plus Fairmont Doha in the city.
These are the latest Maldives resort inspections.
Six Senses Kanuhura
This long standing island resort was recently renovated and is best for clients who want a very leisurely holiday. It’s excellent value too.
The Resort Inspection
Six Senses Kanuhura is a 40-minute seaplane flight north from Malé.
It reminded me of the Soneva resorts in the Maldives. The entire resort is completely barefoot and there are no dress codes anywhere.
Everything is made from natural materials and even the colour palette is similar to Soneva. Both brands also have a strong focus on sustainability. And both were founded by Mr. Sonu, who later sold the Six Senses brand to focus on Soneva.
All the original villas have been renovated and I prefer their part of the island, because it’s very lush and green. It’s beautiful, with orchids everywhere and a very natural feeling.
They’ve added new multi-bedroom villas for families on another part of the island, although it will take time for the greenery to grow and provide complete privacy. There’s also a new restaurant and pool, the first pool in the Maldives that’s not on ground level.
There is a deserted island nearby, which you can easily visit by boat. It has a restaurant and places to sunbathe, a cool option for one or even more days.
My Highlights & Recommendations
My highlight was the sunset pool and bar.
And the spa of course. Every Six Senses Spa I’ve experienced has been amazing and Kanuhura is no exception.
This is not a resort for clients who like to dress up for dinner or have the best Instagram reel.
It’s for clients who want a quiet holiday in nature, without any shoes, and don’t care about much beyond total relaxation.
I’ve compared it to Soneva, but Six Senses Kanuhura has a significantly lower price point, so it’s a really good alternative if you like this style of island resort.
Jumeirah Olhahali
What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect such good service or villas. It’s boutique style of resort that’s great for couples.
The Resort Inspection
This was previously a LUX* resort, renovated and reopened as Jumeirah Olhahali in 2021. It’s 50 minutes by speedboat from Malé, or a ten-minute flight.
It’s a small island, which I personally prefer. Everywhere is lush and green. All the staff addressed me by name and remembered our preferences.
The service and restaurants were pretty much perfect throughout the stay. They have the same Shimmers beach club concept from Dubai and a great Peruvian-Japanese restaurant Kayto.
The design reminded me of Patina Maldives, it’s very contemporary and quite specific for the Maldives, definitely not the typical Maldivian style.
All the villas are super spacious and have a private pool. They are all a similar size and layout, but differ mostly by location.
The entry level categories are over the water and don’t have a sunset view. I stayed in the third category, an ocean villa with pool and sunset view. There are some multi-bedroom villas over the water and on the beach too.
The villas have a rooftop terrace, for sunbathing or dinner. This is quite rare in the Maldives and a massive highlight for me.
My Highlights & Recommendations
Jumeirah Olhahali is an intimate resort, an island best for couples, or perhaps when travelling with friends.
The feeling is grown up and private, quite stylish too. Many other guests were coming from Dubai for the weekend and there were many single female travellers too.
I really wasn’t expecting such intimacy and the boutique style, which is different to the much larger Jumeirah properties in Dubai.
My highlight was the private rooftop terrace on the villa, amazing for sunset drinks and then dinner beneath the stars.
The beaches are really nice too and you don’t see breakers around the island. Overall, everything is of a very good standard, including the spa. It’s a strong option when you consider quality versus price.
Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi
This is a cool and trending island resort, a place to be seen and take dreamy Instagram photos. A very big island where most guests are on the younger side.
The Resort Inspection
Ithaafushi is four kilometres long and the resort has 800 staff. At this size it can’t possibly be as personal as Jumeirah Olhahali or JOALI, however, it does offer a lot more options in terms of dining and drinking.
There are trendy restaurants, like ZUMA and Li Long, plus tasting menus in the treetops at Terra. All the restaurants I tried were of an exceptional standard, both lunch and dinner.
This island is great if you like space and want to cycle around. You can also just call a buggy from your villa to take you anywhere. Just don’t come here if you like everything in easy walking distance.
The villas are fantastic, both over the water and on the beach. I think the beach villas are among the very best in the Maldives for families. And every restaurant has a kids menu.
However, the resort felt a little bit too corporate. For example, Hilton Honours Club is promoted at check in and there’s an upsell to a higher villa category.
Almost everything has a price, even mosquito repellent, sunscreen, or the salt in the bathroom. Why try to sell bath salt for €10 when a guest is already paying €3000 a night? It didn’t give me a good feeling.
My Highlights & Recommendations
Overall this is a very cool island for cool, well-dressed, mostly young people. We met the owner of a world famous watch empire who was staying here (sorry, won’t give names!).
I loved the long white beach. It’s really fantastic.
The one-hour yacht transfer is awesome too. You don’t need to wait for a seaplane, you go straight to the yacht, where they have snacks and drinks, a bedroom for you to sleep and a deck for sunbathing.
It’s far more luxurious than the seaplane. The biggest benefit is the yacht can travel after dark. So if you have a late departure you can chill at your resort until dinner and then leave, rather than leaving before sunset and waiting in the airport lounge.
If I only stayed at Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi I would be amazed. But I did miss the personal approach and the corporate angle can feel a bit much.
If you want to show off and be seen it’s almost unbeatable. Personally I prefer more intimate, smaller islands.
One&Only Reethi Rah
Unfortunately this resort was a a big disappointment and nowhere near the outstanding standard I know from other One&Only properties around the world.
The Resort Inspection
One&Only Reethi Rah will be celebrating 20 years next year. It really shows. Nothing is dirty, but it really feels like you are in a villa that is 20 years old.
There are some great aspects to the resort. Club One is amazing for sports, the same concept as other One&Only properties.
The spa in the gardens is one of the best I’ve experienced. I also liked the main pool and restaurant.
The island is beautiful and there are lots of activities. In fact, there’s nothing particularly bad, it just all feels very dated. For example, the entry level villa categories don’t have private pools.
There is also a very high percentage of Russian guests, much more than other Maldives resorts.
In my experience, this impacts the overall service. They can be demanding and difficult clients. It meant the service was catered heavily towards them, rather than all the other guests like me.
Reethi Rah has so much potential and after a renovation, it could be one of the best, again.
I recently visited One&Only Le Saint Geran in Mauritius and consider it to be one level higher than Reethi Rah.
You simply can’t compare the quality of Reethi Rah to One&Only properties in Dubai, definitely not to One&Only Aesthesis and One&Only Kea Island.
My Highlights & Recommendations
This is a resort for repeat clients who know what to expect.
I can imagine many of our clients are interested in staying at One&Only Reethi Rah, because they’ve experienced an exceptional One&Only resort somewhere else. Or maybe they stayed here years ago and want to repeat. Unfortunately, time flies.
Unfortunately, this Maldives resort has the same One&Only price tag, but a lower quality.
This is why we do the inspections, so we can really help clients understand how similar properties from the same brand can be very different. And I do love the One&Only brand in general.
JOALI Maldives
My favourite resort in the Maldives. I love the design, the service. And that you can feel it’s owned, managed and operated mostly by women.
The Resort Inspection
You can read my colleague Petr Udavský’s recent inspections of JOALI Maldives and JOALI BEING.
I agree with him. Everything is such an amazing standard, from the villas to the service and the restaurants.
The spa, kids club, pool, everything! It’s difficult for me to find any faults here.
My husband is coeliac and all the restaurants already knew it, before we arrived for our reservations.
I was a little surprised at the age of the other guests. I thought I was the oldest guest! There were lots of guests in their twenties and you can feel this youthful vibe.
My Highlights & Recommendations
JOALI Maldives is for cool, trendy people. You really feel this stylish atmosphere, with the DJ playing at the beach club all day, the laid-back yet amazing service.
It’s a resort that female travellers will love. You really feel the female touch, which is actually quite rare in the hotel industry.
Actually, JOALI Maldives is for everyone. It’s one of the best island resorts in the world.
A Layover in Qatar
On this trip I flew with Qatar rather than Emirates. I decided to stay in Qatar and explore the layover options.
Doha Airport is new and reminds me of Singapore, almost like you are in a garden. There are great shops, like the biggest Fendi store and Caffé.
Business and first class travellers can use the new Al Mourjan Business Lounge, which will soon have a full-service Dior Spa.
Overall, I do think Emirates is a better airline though. It definitely has better food.
Fairmont Doha
Opened in January 2023, this hotel fills one side of the most iconic building in Doha, the Katara Towers.
It’s a really good city hotel and the rooms have a beautiful sea view. There’s nothing extra special about it. It’s a very comfortable place to stay for one night, maximum two nights.
Doha doesn’t have much to do. Definitely visit the National Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art. The old souk and falcon market is pretty cool too.
There are lots of restaurants and boutiques from the biggest fashion brands, although it’s nothing like on the scale you find in Dubai.
I suggest staying for 24 hours to check out the sights, have dinner at Zuma or Hakkasan, then travel onwards.
Habitas Ras Abrouq
This beautiful tented resort only opened in February. It’s on the beach, in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, close to the border with Bahrain.
A transfer from Doha takes around 90 minutes, with an hour of driving through the empty desert. And this journey is definitely worth it.
We stayed in a beachfront tented villa, although it’s not really a tent as it has stone walls and only a canvas roof.
All the villas are exceptionally well equipped, including with their own pools. Some are in the desert, others are on the beach and the sea breeze is really nice.
The restaurants are good quality, with the Habitas signature of local, sustainable cuisine, so lots of vegetables and a focus on wellbeing.
It’s amazing when you think about it – a desert coming directly into the sea. It’s not a sand dune desert like in Dubai, it’s quite different, a World Heritage area where we saw lots of oryx.
Overall, there’s not much here, nor much to do, other than some sea activities and maybe a cultural workshop in calligraphy.
I recommend it as a two- or three-night stay for people who seek complete relaxation. Especially people who are interested in trying a new style of property and place.
Your Next Maldives Holiday
At EliteVoyage we are regularly visiting the Maldives to inspect different island resorts.
We need to know what’s best for who, not only in terms of the resorts, but which villa categories will suit different clients.
That’s why you keep seeing our Maldives trip reports! In these reports we share an overview of each resort we visit.
There’s a lot more we know, that we share personally with our clients, depending on their needs and interests.
