Our Stay at W Maldives
Back from the W Maldives, I have to say I loved the resort. I have made a YouTube video of the resort, and also Finohlu, a Design Hotel which will go on my channel in the coming weeks so you will be able to see it for yourself.
For context, I have now spent time at 4 different resorts in the Maldives - Radisson Blu, Le Meridien, Finohlu and now the W but W is by far my favourite but I am not really sure it makes sense but it is what I think.
At Finohlu, the island straddles a large lagoon, it looks more impressive and it is better for water sports and when you see the W it has a very small lagoon, literally enscapsuling the water villas and a thin area around the sides of the beaches. This should make it less beautiful and less special but I would argue the opposite. The smaller lagoon doesn’t calm the water as much but oddly by the time it reaches the water villas the waves seem to be less. It doesn’t make sense.
The other negative is that because the lagoon is smaller that if the wind does pick up as it did at night the villa will shake under the water pressure hitting the legs. To be fair this also happened at Finohlu, and even when I stayed in Bora Bora at both the St Regis and Westin (and they both have the most protected lagoon I have ever seen so I guess it is a just a water villa quirk).
But see the smaller lagoon means there is a ton of sea life and it makes snorkeling very very easy. We had SIX sharks around our water villa one morning. And even though it was too windy to do paddleboarding etc in the lagoon that didn’t stop us snorkelling on the north side of the island by the spa as it was very calm.
The beaches are pretty perfect, no coral when you go into the water, super soft sand, and fish swimming around you even just by the beach (honestly I thought those fish had a suicide pact or something as they seemed to be daring each other to get as close to being washed onto the beach as possible!).
For me as a very bad swimmer I haven’t been one to even try snorkelling at any other resort as I would have had to swim a good 10 mins at Le Meridien or Finohlu and I wouldn’t have felt safe. But at the W you have 10 metres of lovely clear water, and then you hit the coral. And if you swim down the channel at 20 metres (Maybe less) your at the edge of the reef. The sea floor drops off dramatically and there are so many fish! But because it is less than 30 seconds of swimming back to the beach even I enjoyed it. I spent a good 30 mins snorkelling. I don’t know if there any many other islands in the Maldives with such good beaches and with such easy access to a fantastic reef but if your not a strong swimmer this is perfect. And if you are a good swimmer, then you could have a lot of fun with a very low amount of effort.
I have spent quite a bit of time talking about the island and its beaches and reef, so let’s talk about the rooms and facilities.
The new refurbed rooms have a lot more fun and colour to them, we stayed in the entry superior room on the lagoon side which had a stunning view with the expansive blue lagoon and a net over the lagoon which is missing from the premier villas. The outside area also had a covered pagoda. There is no Japanese style bidet in the superior rooms. They are only in the Premier rooms and above. Equally the air con units and showers seem to be a bit random. They had different units and showers heads in both rooms. The main other difference on the premium room is the see-through blue standalone bath. The premium room is on the ocean side so you still get some lagoon but it’s much smaller. You do get a great view of Gattafushi island (which we also visited) on that side. The pagoda however isn’t covered. Both types of rooms have a jacuzzi function in the villa pools but it wasn’t that relaxing if I am honest.
I love how small the island is, the fact that you can walk between the 5 restaurants (FIRE, FISH, SIP, Kitchen and WET) in literally a couple of minutes. You really don’t need a buggy unless you’re right at the end of the jetty and it’s bad weather. Although like with every jetty the wind is greatly exacerbated on there and it doesn’t mean the main island will be windy. As you have no protection from wind on the jetty.
The staff were super friendly, accommodating and helpful and always did the best they could to help. I was told 300 staff are on the island. I have no idea how they fit that many people on it! The food was also great. A couple of pizzas or similar and a soft drink will come to around $150 or maybe less, which if you have a rate with breakfast included (which is every single rate and a status perk for Platinum and above) you can survive the whole day and save some money without breaking the bank. However, if you like to drink and you have 3-course meals there expect two people to be over $250 - maybe even as much as $400 and in that case I would suggest a meal plan. Soft drinks from the mini bar are all included as well.
Let’s talk about the pool and the slide. The pool is 1.2m deep maximum everywhere except by the slide when it is 1.8m/6ft so you can safely slide down it!
There were no mosquitoes at all or biting insects on the W island or Finohlu but I take that to be a seasonal situation so your situation might be different.
The W kindly provided a visit and lunch to Gattafushi and that was an experience. Make no mistake it eye watering expensive starting at $700 for a sunset drink to over $1100 for dinner/lunch.
We had lunch on the island and it was magical. They set up a table and the food. There was a Bluetooth speaker for some music and even a WiFi hotspot for us. There was a soft swinging seat near the table and beanbags too. On the other side of the island was a bathroom with 2 toilets and plenty of towels and also an outdoor shower (I will ignore the slightly disheveled hut that is also on the island 😀.
It is a 5 minute boat ride and you can see the W from the island clearly. The staff set up everything and left me and my partner alone for 4 hours. On a deserted island. We enjoyed the calm lagoon waters on one side of the island which has the small sand bar. The other side of the island actually has a larger lagoon and sea breakers but the tide was too high to use that beach. But the side we were on was super calm. So chose your side of the island based on the tides and wind - just like on the W itself.
Is it worth it? The island experience is the one thing I would say is totally worth it. For the hotel it’s a huge cash cow but it is a memory you will not regret.
Overall the W is somewhere I’d love to return to and maybe next time it will be less windy so I can do some water sports in the lagoon.
Fantastic beaches, easy and amazing snorkelling and a compact island to get around with great service and great food.
If you’re not sure which resort to visit then definitely consider the W and watch our video!