Where to stay in the Maldives

3 St Regis Vommuli
As your chauffeur-driven Bentley transports you to the seaplane terminal at Male airport, your personal butler will introduce themselves by personalised video message. Bolt holes don’t come much sleeker — or sexier — than this new resort in Dhaalu Atoll, a place still barely touched by tourism. Bringing its city-hotel sensibility to a gorgeous, jungle-clad coral island fringed by luminous turquoise waters, the St Regis stands out with contemporary architecture, a gorgeous spa and 77 fully automated villas, where you can expect iPad-controlled air-con and digitally activated blinds. There are 33 land villas and 44 over-water ones, which run the gamut from totally secluded beach residences with private pools to the palatial over-water John Astor Estate.
Details A week’s room-only costs from £5,380pp, with flights and seaplane transfers (01273 921001, planetdiveholidays.com)

Cheval Blanc Randheli

4 Cheval Blanc Randheli
Yes, this may be where Kate and Wills spent their honeymoon, but Cheval Blanc, run by the Louis Vuitton parent company, LVMH, is the kind of place anyone with £2,000 a night to spare is warmly welcomed. Each of the 45 residences is a grandiose, sleek space with its own infinity pool, butler and a mind-boggling array of goodies to enjoy. Even hardened veterans of the world’s most exorbitant hotels will be bowled over by the sheer scale of the luxury here, with arrivals in the resort’s own branded seaplane, and a $100 burger.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £5,800pp, with flights and seaplane transfers (020 3811 4751, scottdunn.com)

5 One & Only Reethi Rah
This is not the place for low-key luxury: One & Only more than tripled the size of an existing island with reclaimed land and populated it with 130 vast villas, nearly all of which come with private lap pools and perfect sea views for all. Part Balinese fantasy, part glitterati fashion parade, Reethi Rah is the haunt of royalty, Hollywood stars and anybody else who wants to be noticed beside the extraordinary black-slate infinity pool.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £4,033pp, with flights and speedboat transfers (0344 7396460, virginholidays.co.uk)

One & Only Reethi Rah

Best for families

6 Soneva Fushi
It’s hard to imagine a much better destination for families than Soneva Fushi, the Maldives’ original back-to-nature resort. To put it simply, Soneva Fushi has what’s almost certainly the best kids’ club in the country, and parents with younger children will find them tearing to get away to their purpose-built lair deep in the jungle each morning. With not one but two pools, a pirate ship, cinema, dressing-up room, a room just for playing with Lego and daily activities such as cooking classes, music lessons and even introductions to astronomy before bedtime, kids aged from four upwards won’t be bored. Meanwhile, parents can relax on the dazzling beaches of this gorgeous island, in their own private pools, or just choose from half a dozen incredible dining experiences scattered among the jungle canopy.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £3,600, with flights and seaplane transfers (020 3811 4751, scottdunn.com)

Soneva Fushi

7 Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
In terms of sheer scale, Landaa Giraavaru, a former coconut orchard still covered in thick jungle, is highly impressive. This is perhaps the most country club-like resort in the Maldives, with 103 gargantuan villas, all of which are over water or enjoy direct beach access. As well as the fantastic kids’ clubs for children between the ages of 4 and 12, there is a marine biology centre, which includes aquariums full of fish and a nursery where injured turtles are cared for before being released back into the ocean.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £4,500pp, with flights and seaplane transfers (020 3131 7596, scottdunn.com)

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

8 Niyama Private Islands
Fresh from winning a glut of awards for its innovative offerings, Niyama (the name means bon voyage in the local language, Divehi) is actually two islands connected by a causeway and divided into “concepts” of chill and play. Here it’s the ethos of inclusion that will appeal to families — children are welcome almost everywhere, although they’ll find the island dubbed play most to their liking. This is where the excellent kids’ club (catering for children aged 12 months to 12 years) can be found, which offers dolphin-spotting trips, puts on stage shows and even has its own splash park. Villas here are modern takes on an Indian Ocean fantasy, nearly all with private plunge pools (although also available without for travellers with young children) and with vast outdoor bathrooms.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £2,682, with flights and seaplane transfers (0344 4930778, britishairways.com)

Niyama Private Islands

9 Ozen by Atmosphere at Maadhoo
Bringing the still relatively unusual concept of a luxury all-inclusive to the Maldives, this is the top end and most impressive of the three new OZEN-branded resorts that have opened in Maldives in the past couple of years. Families seeking an indulgent break need look no farther, because this is one place where it’s virtually impossible to run up a minibar tab or find other extras charged to your room. The excellent kids’ club, which is free for children of all ages, boasts a kids-only beach. Families will particularly enjoy the free watersports and excursions that are available to nearby islands in South Male Atoll. Villas have high ceilings, beach frontage and brightly coloured decor, which includes many examples of local arts and crafts.
Details A week’s all-inclusive costs from £3,229pp, with flights and speedboat transfers (01293 832533, hayesandjarvis.co.uk)

10 Kanuhura
Reopened last year after a full and innovative refit, Kanuhura now boasts bright, luxurious and impressively private villas, and an excellent selection of eating options. Curated libraries, indoor-outdoor bathrooms and private plunge pools now define the accommodation here, although Kanuhura in Lhaviyani Atoll has been a long-standing traveller favourite for the simple fact that it’s hard to imagine a more perfect beach than the shimmering white expanse along the lagoon. As if that weren’t enough, the island has its own private “picnic island”, a quick boat ride away, where you can live out all your Robinson Crusoe fantasies (while never being far from a cold beer and fresh tuna). A particular favourite with families, Kanuhura has the Boduberu Lounge just for kids to hang out in, and offers activities such as outdoor cinema screenings, pottery classes and wildlife safaris.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £2,432pp, with flights and seaplane transfers (0800 5404262, kuoni.co.uk)

Kanuhura

Best value for money

11 Summer Island
In the northern reaches of North Male Atoll, Summer Island is a long-standing budget resort that underwent a full renovation in 2015, and emerged sparkling with new rooms, water villas and stylish public areas. Costing a fraction of nearby jetsetter hangouts, Summer Island nevertheless does not feel budget and boasts gorgeous white sand beaches, fantastic snorkelling in the lagoon (including the recent addition of the world’s first 3D printed reef to supplement the coral growths and provide more habitat for marine life). It’s a popular choice with divers, who enjoy a huge choice of nearby reefs, and anyone looking for an unfussy beach holiday.
Details A week’s half-board costs from £1,334pp, with flights and transfers (0843 7834230, tropicalwarehouse.co.uk)

Summer Island

12 Equator Village
In the Maldives’ southernmost atoll of Addu, this quirky place takes its name from its location. It’s an hour’s flight from Male, which adds some extra time to an already long journey for most travellers, but its low prices and warm vibe immediately compensate for that. Housed in what was until 1976 the barracks of the British RAF base here, Equator Village couldn’t be more of a contrast to the luxurious, bank account draining resorts to be found in much of the rest of the country — here, it’s about simple, great value, unpretentious fun aimed at the lower end of the market. It’s a top choice for an affordable break, and popular with divers and families, especially since a 2017 refit.
Details A week’s all-inclusive accommodation costs from £1,349pp, with flights and domestic airline transfers (020 8989 0970, escapeworldwide.co.uk)

Equator Village

13 The Barefoot Eco Hotel
This boutique-yet-affordable guesthouse, at the very northern tip of the country, is perhaps the best example of a resort on an inhabited island, combining the advantages of life on a private island (immaculate empty beaches, glamorous and beautifully designed rooms) with those of a guesthouse (low prices and plenty of local flavour). Indeed, if it weren’t for the lack of alcohol, you would hardly know you were on a local island, and visually this is evident nowhere, with the entire resort surrounded by thick jungle and fronted by a magnificent white coral sand beach lapped by cyan waters.
Details A week’s full board costs from £730pp (00 960 652 9000, thebarefoot.com). Flights from Male to Hanimaadhoo on Maldivian take 45 minutes and cost £295 return

14 Angsana Velavaru
If having a stylish place to stay is important but you don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage, then Angsana is the (somewhat) affordable option for you. You won’t be pestered by personal butlers or troubled by pillow menus here, but you’ll still enjoy fantastic villas with direct beach or water access, outdoor bathrooms and creature comforts such as espresso makers and private pools in most. Particular plaudits here go to the fabulous beaches all round the island, and to the In-Ocean Residences, built over water out in the lagoon and only accessible from the main island by boat, which are a favourite with couples seeking secluded romance.
Details A week’s B&B costs from £1,842pp, including flights and seaplane transfers (expedia.co.uk)

Angsana Velavaru

15 Shamar Guesthouse & Dive
This small guesthouse on the “local” island (ie, inhabited by Maldivians) of Maamigili is a top choice for an affordable diving holiday. It’s a super simple but extremely friendly place, with its sand-floored public areas and village vibe, and couldn’t be further from life in a resort. Here you’re right in the middle of a Maldivian island, where you’ll hear the call to prayer five times a day and inevitably interact with the curious locals. This, of course, means that no alcohol is available here or elsewhere on the island, but the dive boat goes out twice a day and there are normally high chances of spotting whale sharks, which swim in these waters year round.
Details B&B doubles cost from £45 a night (sha-mar.com). Flights from Male to Maamigili on flyme take 30 minutes and cost £195 return

Best for activities

16 Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa
Nestled in the deep south of the country, the Shangri-La is another resort that requires an extra hour or two of travel to reach, but the scale of what awaits you when you get there makes the transfer absolutely justifiable. Shangri-La is one of the biggest luxury resort islands in the country, and packs in everything from a nine-hole golf course to tennis courts, a full gym and spa, yoga and Pilates and activities such as traditional Maldivian night fishing. The (by local standards) huge island even boasts three fresh water lakes with rich birdlife and is home to the highest point in the country, a 5m-high grassy knoll! The water villas here are simply enormous, with high ceilings and a fabulously slick feel offering guests every comfort, including private pools or steps into the lagoon, gorgeous Asian-inspired design and truly luxurious bathrooms.
Details A week’s half-board costs from £3,697pp, with flights and domestic air and speedboat transfers (0800 4220759, kuoni.co.uk)

Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa

SHANGRI-LA MEDIA LIBRARY

17 Hurawalhi
This child-free luxury oasis has created quite a stir since opening at the end of 2016 and has quickly become known for its innovative approach to holidaymaking. While it’s mainly about relaxation and pampering (visit the Duniye Spa for an exhaustive array of treatments and experiences), Hurawalhi heaves with other activities, including a full range of watersports and a diving school, a marine biology centre, tennis courts, a gym and numerous excursions around the atoll. Don’t miss the chance to dine underwater in a glass-walled restaurant with reef fish swimming all around you as you feast on gourmet offerings. Rooms are swish timber-and-stone affairs with private pools and tropical-but-subtle decor.
Details A week’s half-board costs from £2,269pp, with flights and seaplane transfers (020 7644 1770, holidayplace.co.uk)

Hurawalhi Maldives

18 Boutique Beach Diving Hotel
Diving quickly adds up and unexpected surcharges are common in the Maldives, which is exactly why this all-inclusive guesthouse on the local island of Dhigurah is such a fantastic deal. Run by the British diving fanatic Romney Drury, who decided to trade London for the Maldives several years ago, this high-quality guesthouse is in the middle of a Maldivian village, which despite being a conservative Muslim place has in recent years opened an enclosed “bikini beach”, where foreigners can frolic scantily clad without upsetting local sensibilities. Rates here include up to three daily dives and it’s an excellent location, with a slew of pristine reefs to explore and high chances of swimming with various species of shark and dolphin.
Details Rooms cost from £312 a night, all-inclusive, with diving (boutiquebeach.club). Speedboat transfers from Male to Dhigurah take two hours and cost £60 each way

Boutique Beach Diving Hotel

19 Finolhu
Opening with a blow-out party that Cara Delevingne attending with some 160 friends, Finolhu is no wallflower and markets itself as a party island for a young and up-for-it crowd who value their bar time as much as their beach time. Centred on the two-floor main lounge, huge pool and club-like village area, the resort has dozens of activity choices — not least the opportunity to take an hourly boat to the end of the island’s glorious long sandbank, perhaps the most gorgeous stretch of sand in the entire country, where a fabulously convivial seafood “shack” and an endless supply of margaritas await. Rooms, while undeniably gimmicky (check out the buttons for ordering champagne), include original touches such as vintage LP collections to play on old record players, electric guitars and private pools.
Details Five nights, all-inclusive, costs from £2,559pp with flights and seaplane transfers (0344 739 6893, virginholidays.co.uk)

Finolhu

20 Reveries Diving Village
Reveries was one of the first guesthouses to open on an inhabited island. While the strictures of life in a Maldivian community are forever present (that means no alcohol or pork during your stay and bathing only at the screened off “bikini beach’), Reveries is in Laamu Atoll, a place almost entirely untouched by tourism and full of pristine dive sites, many of which are still being fully explored. Surfing, sportfishing, wakeboarding and kayaking are also available here, as well as local island tours that allow you to get to know Maldivian culture and other islands in the atoll. Rooms are simple but comfortable with muted tropical decor and balconies overlooking the sea.
Details A week’s full board costs from £945pp (00 960 680 8866, reveriesmaldives.com). Domestic flights from Male to Kadhoo airport on Maldivian take 50 minutes and cost £297 return

Tom Masters is the author of Lonely Planet Maldives (£14.99)