Best Resorts In The Maldives: The C&TH Pick

The Ritz-Carlton Maldives

Best for: Wellness

Dive into wellness at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands. It’s well known that spending time near water soothes the nervous system and nurtures a greater sense of wellbeing, and there’s no better place to experience this than on the tranquil shores of the Indian Ocean. Composed of 99 percent ocean, the Maldives is a world of water, and with their innovative ‘Blue Prescription’ stays, The Ritz-Carlton has harnessed nature’s own healing power.

From dawn to dusk, every moment has been designed to optimise your engagement with the deep blue. Mornings begin with guided meditation on your private sun deck and are followed by a floating breakfast – yes, you read that right. The rest of the day unfolds at your own pace; drift through a sound bath, enjoy a barefoot myofascial massage with Sarga Bodywork by the water’s edge, or join a guided snorkelling session to meet the residents of the surrounding reef.

Hovering over the turquoise lagoon, the halo-shaped spa is home to nine treatment rooms and is where you can experience the resort’s B Balanced treatment with Bamford – 90 minutes dedicated to restoring harmony between mind and body through a personalised combination of breathwork, bamboo tapping and gua sha massage. Bamford’s organic amenities, chosen for their eco-friendly credentials, are also found throughout the resort’s villas. As evening approaches, you can take to the water by yacht before returning for the resort’s ‘Defining Moment’ – a traditional Maldivian ritual marked by hypnotic Boduberu drumming.

Masterfully designed by Kerry Hill Architects, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives features a series of 100 interconnected villas that blur the line between land and water. While you’ll likely spend most of your stay floating in a state of stupor – made especially easy by the 24-hour butler service – you can also make use of the resort’s tennis court and fitness centre, complete with a yoga studio. Families are well catered for, too; there are dedicated playgrounds, napping pods and a variety of daily activities to keep kids occupied.

A final note if you’re thinking about booking: throughout the year, the resort welcomes visiting experts as part of its Masters of Crafts, Visiting Heroes and Fari Islands Festival programmes. Past highlights include a chef residency with Tom Sellers, surf retreats with Nic von Rupp, sound healing with Susy Markoe Schieffelin, and environmental and wildlife encounters with National Geographic Explorer and Kenyan shark scientist Gibbs Kuguru. Be sure to check the calendar, as there’s always something on the horizon. By Camilla Hewitt

Four-night ‘Blue Prescription’ from $24,000pp based on two adults sharing.

The Nautilus

Best For: Switching off

At The Nautilus in the Maldives, time forgets convention – and for British travellers raised on the love of the queues and 10am breakfast buffet cut-offs, this is a revelation. Opened in 2019 as the passion project of Maldivian hotelier Dr Maniku, the island was designed as a place free from rules: breakfast at 4am, last-minute plans ditched, massages moved an hour later with no raised eyebrows (or charges). The aim is for guests to fully unwind, with staff trained to shapeshift around them rather than the other way round.

From arrival in Malé, guests relinquish all responsibility – private lounge, seaplane, arrival on a palm-fringed slip of sand which will only clock 700 steps on an Apple watch. Yet for all its tiny footprint, Nautilus offers huge variety: a Padel court, futsal pitch, table tennis, terrific gym and spoiling spa; plus marine adventures in the UNESCO-protected Baa Atoll, home to manta rays (best seen in May and June), turtles and reef sharks.

There are just 26 houses, beachside or overwater, each with a pool and transparent floor panels to spot passing rays. Every guest is looked after by a housemaster – like the exceptional Jaleel – who with quiet charm ensures days run according to your will, from boat trips to beach dinners. Small gestures will make even the most spoilt of travellers smile inwardly: free laundry every day, fresh fruit delivered daily, menus available anywhere, anytime. Nautilus is a special find: not splashy, not showy, but quietly classy and confident. By Lucy Cleland

Seven nights from £14,789 B&B in an Ocean House including seaplane transfers. 

The Regis Vommuli

Best For: White Lotus vibes

Hold up, producers – call off the search. St Regis Vommuli is surely a shoe-in for the next White Lotus location. It’s perfect: a far-flung island, hard to get to, fringed by powder-white sand, lush vegetation, a thriving marine life – and the best Bloody Mary this (or any) side of New York City. To find such sophistication on a tiny spit of land, measuring just 450m in length, takes some beating.

The St Regis DNA is pure Gilded Age glamour. Founded in New York in 1904 by John Jacob Astor IV, the brand defined high society (and social snobbery) before its founder perished on Titanic. Fast forward 120 years and that same spirit is evident, although transposed to laidback island life – without the turned-up noses.

Guests cycle sandy paths to dinner in eveningwear and flip-flops; butlers handle every request. Come sundown, champagne is sipped at the Whale Bar, its sculptural form stretching into the ocean. Dining is decidedly decadent. Crust & Craft hosts feasts on the beach twice weekly, where reef fish, lobster and shrimp are grilled to order. Here is where you’ll find old-world glamour wrapped up in barefoot freedom – and, yes, a brilliant Bloody Mary. By Lucy Cleland

From $1,500 per night.

Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru

Best For: Conservation

Feet-in-the-sand luxury sanctuary, Banyan Tree is known for its peaceful beauty and pioneering conservation work. One of the Maldives’ first international hotel resorts, now 30 years old, it has a deep-rooted sense of responsibility to care for its environment, offering a traditional Maldivian experience entwined with the natural landscape.

Set on separate twin islands (Dhawa Ihuru and Vabbinfaru), guests ferried between by boat, each is so small you can circle them in ten minutes, walking sandy paths planted with hibiscus, frangipani and spider lilies.

Staying on Vabbinfaru Island, 48 bungalows are cleverly arranged to feel totally secluded. Bedrooms, steps from white sand and turquoise sea, look out to a private pergola and rope hammock suspended from a coconut palm. You sleep so close to the sea you fall asleep to the waves.

Mindful luxury is the theme here, present in the architecture of buildings designed using sustainable local materials which complement rather than compete with nature. Roofs are woven from Alang Alang reeds, showers built with bamboo ‘pipes’ and solar-only evening lighting (so effective you’d never notice).

On evenings, from the jetty, guests can watch reef sharks, stingrays and parrotfish fritter in the water. Global pioneers in sustainability, Banyan Tree’s environmental considerations go beyond the aesthetic – they established the first resort-based marine lab in the Maldives in 2004. Guests can partake in a micro-fragmentation project, replanting coral to promote new growth from old fragments, before snorkelling with resort marine biologist Henry who will show that work in action. It feels good to know you can make a small mark in supporting this magical place. By Katie Glass

From $1,115 B&B. 

Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi

Best For: Families

The ultra-luxury Waldorf experience begins as soon as guests are dashed away from Malé airport in the resort’s magnificent yacht, delivered to a spectacular tropically planted island blooming with pink orchids.

They stay in one of 117 mostly overwater opulent villas carved in Maldivian style, hovering on stilts overlooking a topaz lagoon. Guests lounge on vast decks in huge swinging beds, splashing in infinity pools.

The villas are so generous and spectacular, with glass floors, immense ocean-view bathtubs and steps to the sea, it’s hard to leave – except the resort offers so much, especially for families.

On buggies driven by private concierges, or bikes provided to each villa, guests cycle sandy paths past padel courts, tennis courts, boutiques, and the Atelier where resident Maldivian artists instruct guests.

Specialist spa treatments range from 24k gold facials to Shirodhara. Guests can try aerial yoga, hanging in blue-ribbon cocoons on a platform over the sea, before entering the hydroponic therapy pool – the first in the Maldives – massaged by water jets.

Forty percent of guests are ‘returners’. It’s obvious why – options are exhaustive. Dining is especially impressive, with 11 venues including Australian BBQ The Ledge, Japanese Zuma, and Terra, which serves lobster in bamboo nests and houses its 1,500 wines in Jordanian limestone.

There’s also Yasmeen, styled as an Arabian village, where you can feast on Middle Eastern saj bread, fattoush salad and charcoal-grilled meats; or Glow, for healthy truffle-laced white asparagus soup and grilled reef fish. In beach club Nava, a DJ spins tunes while children dabble in the water. Incredibly safe, the island offers children freedom to explore.

The ultimate culinary extravaganza is breakfast: a tasting table like raiding Whole Foods’ shelves for radiant turmeric overnight oats, chia seed Buddha bowls in coconut shells, whole Parma hams and Asian bao buns. Like everything here, each morsel is as exquisite as it is generous, and no detail too much. By Katie Glass

From £1,700 B&B. 

ananea Madivaru

Best For: Affordability

Opened in April 2025, ananea is one of the Maldives’ newest resorts. Twin-islands joined by raised walkways lead to 110 overwater villas overlooking crystal waters. Maldivian-owned, the resort feels closer to the origin of these islands. Notably our room included a guide to local history, culture and language – for those keen to learn how to say ‘shukuriyya’ (thank you).

The island’s isolated location offers a tranquil, more rustic experience than ultra-luxury resorts. Villas, with modern, minimalist styling, feature private pools and uninterrupted views across endless blue water. Reef sharks and eagle ray glide nearby, as if still unaware guests have now appeared.

Offering more affordable luxury that other resorts, guests can stay on an all-inclusive basis including non-motorised sports such as kayaking, daily yoga, and delicious dining options, my favourite of which were Luna – a moonlit restaurant where the set menu features Lobster ravioli and black truffle with cod fish, and a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant, where tiraditos and saltado met sashimi.

The spa is pared-back – an exposed timber building houses the sauna, steam-room and pool and where excellent Balinese massages are on offer.

It can feel like ananea is still finding its feet – small frangipani and hibiscus recently planted will be more impressive in future years. While rough coral close to the island makes for a wilder natural experience, you need to swim carefully. Although not as dashing as some of the more glitzy resorts, guests here come for peace and the pleasure of feeling some sense of how it would have been when the first visitors discovered this paradise. By Katie Glass

Kuoni offers seven nights half board, with return Etihad Airways flights from £2,849pp.