The Ritz-Carlton Maldives is located in North Male Atoll, a 10 minute seaplane or 45 minute boat ride away from Velana international airport. The advantage of being in the North Male Atoll is that guests are able to easily access the property any time of day or night, making the stress of arrival or departure times not as important as with many properties in the Maldives.
The speedboat is a small pontoon-style boat and is not quite as sexy as the neighboring Waldorf Astoria’s yacht at $650 a person. To be frank, we were slightly disappointed at the method of transportation and not just because of the size of the boat or lack of beverages (no coffee? tea?) and basic amenities like water glasses, but also because the staff onboard spoke no English and new nothing about the Ritz-Carlton. They didn’t really interact with us or provide the level of service we’d expect from this caliber of hotel. We determined that the boat and staff were a shared resource between the resorts at Fari Islands and must be why there was such a stark contrast between the amazing employee we met on the dock and the very quiet gentlemen on the boat.
We were in the “standard” room, an Ocean Pool Villa and after seeing a number of other room types, we feel like this is probably our favorite between the lagoon, beach and ocean pool villas. We were in villa #225 and that stretch of rooms is really a prime location. The Ocean Pool Villas have private walkways from the land to the villa, whereas the Lagoon Pool Villas are all connected by the long walkway. One of the advantages to the Ocean Pool Villas is there are no carts that come driving by. If you’ve been in an overwater villa before, you’ll be familiar with the sound of carts on the wood planks. The Ocean Pool villa configuration is really unique and we found it extremely private and enjoyable. On the sunrise side, as well, there are unobstructed views of nothing but open sea.
Overall, we really like the level of service that Ritz-Carlton is known for. Employees have a level of professionalism that is often lacking at similar caliber hotels and many of them execute it perfectly. Once they know your name, they address you as such for the duration of your stay. Everyone, and I mean everyone, says hello and puts their hand over their heart in a heartwarming gesture every time you pass. The housekeeping service was incredibly well done. Every night, there would be a note with a special treat or thoughtful moment crafted for guests. On our last night, they had drawn a bubble bath as a farewell. This was 100% a 5 star housekeeping experience.