Picking the Perfect Family Resort in The Maldives

With over 160 resorts clustered around 26 breathtaking atolls, picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives is all down to personal preferences, style, and budget. 

Right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives has some 1,200 islands with miles of pristine white beaches and shallow lagoons. These days Maldives is no longer just a destination for honeymooners. There are numerous resorts that are very family-friendly with kids clubs and activities to keep the little ones entertained.  This way mum and dad can have a well-deserved break at the spa or at the pool. So how do you go about picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives?

Choices, Choices, Choices

With hundreds of choices for accommodations, picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives is not an easy task. You may find yourself going down a rabbit hole looking at all the luxury resorts in the Maldives. All the Maldivian atolls offer its idyllic beauty, but each resort will have its unique style and selling point. It pays to do some research, browse around travel sites, and speak to some specialist Maldives travel agents.

Picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives is all down to personal preferences, style, and budget. Maldives is not a cheap destination, so be sure to be realistic about your budget. Accommodations at an upscale 4 star resort can start at £400+ per night, £600+ for an entry 5 star resort, going up to £1,000+ per night for a luxury 5 star resort, and an eye-watering £2,500+ per night for celebrity hangouts. This excludes the cost of internal transfer to your resort. Speedboat transfers are about £200 per person and seaplane transfers are circa £500 per person. With a budget in mind, it all depends on personal preference such as style and priorities such as house reef and quality of food. 

Do some Preliminary Research

To help me focus, I wrote down my priorities for my perfect family resort in the Maldives. With so many choices, it is worth being as specific as possible. This way your travel agents can make specific recommendations based on your criteria. 

I emailed a few specialist Maldives travel agents including Purely Maldives, Simply Maldives, and Magic of Maldives with my requirements. Specialist travel agents have heaps of knowledge and have personally visited numerous resorts around the Maldives. After doing a lot of research, below is my wish list for picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives. 

Wish List for the Maldives

In no specific order, here is my wish list for The Maldives.

• Star Rating: Luxury 5-star  family-friendly resort where we can relax and enjoy both quality family and some couple time. We are an easy-going family who does not need all the bells and whistles of a private butler. Similarly, we don’t need “wow” factor underwater restaurants. We like luxury, but prefer a low-key, relaxed and chilled vibe with beautiful scenery and good food. 
• Style: Either contemporary or rustic / “Maldivan” is fine, as long as the rooms are clean, tasteful, well-designed, updated, luxurious, and comfortable. I am also interested in new resorts opening in 2021 and have been in operation for at least six months so they can work out any initial teething issues. 
• Island Size: “Natural” island with soft, white sandy beaches and lush vegetation. We’re not interested in artificial islands due to the heavy dredging and disruption to the natural environment. Equally, we’re not interested in big resorts or a honeymoon type resort. I think an island with circa 100 villas is ideal for us. 
• Family Amenities: Kids club and activities for our then four year old daughter is a must. We would love for her to meet and socialise with other kids her age. It would be ideal to have a kids pool, but not required as long as the main pool(s) have some shallow ends where she can enjoy pooltime. 
• House Reef for  Snorkelling: A nice house reef for snorkelling off the beach and nice calm lagoon for swimming would be ideal. I don’t wish to take a boat excursion to go snorkelling. We are both PADI-certified and may go for a few dives.
• Board Basis and Restaurants: With a four year old, we would prefer an All-Inclusive resort so we don’t have to worry about the final bill. However, we would be happy to go Full-Board as we are not big drinkers. We would also like to have 3-4 high quality restaurants to choose from with a variety of cuisine instead of one main restaurant. 
• Beach or Overwater Villa: With a young child, we would prefer a beach villa. However, we would entertain the idea of staying in an overwater villa for 2 or 3 nights for  a different experience if it fits within budget. 
• Type of Transfer: Ideally, a speedboat transfer with a small child, but open to seaplane transfer if it is doable within the budget and fits within our BA flights. We are not interested in staying overnight in Male on either side. I think we could manage a 30-45 min speedboat or seaplane with our four year old. That said, we are not interested in another domestic flight with a speedboat transfer. 

As you can see, I was quite specific about my wish list and the travel agents were able to give some excellent suggestions based on the aforementioned list and budget. 

Preliminary List from the Travel Agents

Based on the above criteria, below are the preliminary list of resort recommendations from the travel agents. It is still a relatively long list. Because I already did some initial research, I was able to quickly revert to the travel agents on what I liked and disliked about each resort.

From this, I did more research and more research, and more research. Picking the perfect family resort in the Maldives takes some diligence as you want to select a resort that ticks all the boxes for the right price. I was fairly militant about monitoring resort prices on various travel websites for any mega-deal, secret deals, or  flash sales. It pays to check prices regularly so you can immediately spot a great deal when you see one. Thanks to the free cancellation policy, I provisionally booked two resorts that were on my shortlist and were within budget. And I only made my final decision two weeks before departure!

So what did I end up picking for my perfect family resort in the Maldives? More to come soon.