Raffles Hotels in Meradhoo

My husband and I spent 12 nights at Raffles, marking our 4th resort and best Maldives trip! To start, we had a seamless experience when we landed in Male. We spent one night in the city, then took the domestic flight to the local airport, which we highly recommend doing over the seaplane. The Raffles team took care of everything as soon as we landed. The 15-minute speed boat to the island was fun and comfortable. As soon as we arrived, our wonderful and attentive Butler, Yasir, was there to greet us, and help us get settled in and acquainted with the island and our massive villa! My husband and I don’t drink, so they provided us with a delicious mocktail Maldivian Sling in the villa, which we very much appreciated. We enjoyed incredible meals at Thari, Yuzu, and the Fire Pit. We had experienced islands with more buffet options and preferred the a la carte dining at Raffles. The Fire Pit nights provided the fun buffet style with a unique theme offered each time. Every meal was beautifully made and delicious! They had chefs from Thailand, Indonesia, and Italy, so the flavors were authentic and unlike anything we can get in the US. We had so much fun getting to know the servers, which was more challenging on bigger islands. I wish we could acknowledge everyone we interacted with. Still, we’d like to especially thank Mizy, Coralai, Manku, Nai, Saji, and Christie, for being so hospitable and a pleasure to get to know! We also got to know Kalpa and Kat at Long Bar, who so kindly made us some tasty off-menu mocktails and were terrific to chat with daily. We truly valued the ability to get to know the staff, making the island feel even more special. We enjoyed the sunken dinner for my husband’s birthday, which was so special. Wiyandee, our chef, grilled the most sensational lobster, and our server, Afra (aka, Ape), was attentive and fun to talk with over the evening. . We highly recommend the cooking class. We got to cook alongside Raffles’ Thai chef, who made us authentic Thai dishes that were, of course, incredibly delicious. While we had periods of rain and choppier waters, we could experience the gorgeous reef with our Butler. We recommend wearing sleeves as there were some iridescent jellyfish. The spa services were excellent, and the gym was kept cool and clean during our stay. Our room attendant, Shinaaz, left birthday messages and drew a bubble bath one night for us. He would also set up evening tea for after dinner which was very thoughtful. Overall, Raffles Maldives is a five-star experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Maldives for the first time or returning for another visit.