In 2017, my wife and I celebrated our honeymoon in the Maldives and it is a trip that we still fondly remember. Not only did it offer us infinite beauty in every direction, the hospitality of the Maldivian people left us humbled.
As our son was turning 1, we wanted to do something special for the grandparents, aunt and uncle - so we decided to splurge and booked 4 villas at the Conrad Maldives.
My wife and I spent a lot of time planning the trip over a period of 6 months and coordinated with the hotel in advance - not knowing if we were going to be able to go until a month prior - thanks to COVID spikes every few months.
After making dining, diving and spa reservations for each of the days we were there - the time came to finally pack our bags and head to the airport.
Upon landing at Male airport - we were greeted by the Conrad representatives and were escorted to the sea plane lounge. We were the first ones there and were offered cereal, coffee and some other pastries from the limited breakfast menu. We also spent some time finishing up all the resort paperwork for all the rooms to ensure that there was no billing confusion upon arriving at the resort.
Approximately 2 hours later, it was time to board the sea plane and fly to the resort. The sea plane flight from Male to pretty much any resort has to be the happiest flight on the planet - the excitement is palpable.
After 30 minutes, we landed at the resort and were immediately introduced to our island host - Shiraz. He introduced himself and mentioned that he would be in charge of all 4 villas. While we did reach before check in time, a beach villa was already prepared for us - before our complimentary upgraded villas were ready.
The beach villas are the base villas at the Conrad Maldives. However, our jaw still dropped when we walked in for the first time. There’s just something special about the Maldives.
After settling in, we ordered some lunch and a few minutes later, got word that our Grand Water Villa is ready and that they would deliver our meals to the new room. We packed our bags and took the buggy over to our new room. While the beach villa definitely led to dropped jaws, I’m fairly certain our jaws reached the floor when we saw our new home for the next week - it was absolutely incredible and huge! A living room, a separate bedroom, a large changing area / bathroom and a beautiful outdoor deck with an unparalleled view.
As the rest of the family slowly arrived, every was excited for the week ahead. During our stay, Shiraz, our host made sure that everyone was taken care of - that everyone got to their dining reservations and other appointments on time and that we were kept in the loop about special activities.
The first night, we were invited to the General Manager’s reception - which featured a cotton candy sunset with cocktails and canapés. Every night after that, we were at the free happy hour for elite members. While it was only for an hour, the drinks and cocktails were free-flowing into the 50% off happy hour. We made sure to attend each and every single one.
Every morning, we truly enjoyed our elaborate breakfast with fresh foods, juices and a large variety of food options.
Every sunset, we would spend some time in the hot tub and watch the sun set into the horizon - while dipping into liquor and beer bottles from the mini bar.
And every evening, we enjoyed delicious meals at each of the restaurants that the island had to offer.
On our second to last day, we had booked a boat to celebrate our son’s first birthday. Not only did the crew go above and beyond in terms of their effort - but in terms of their hospitality.
And on the very final evening, we moved to the Grand Beach Villa and were once again impressed as to how special every room at the property feels.
All in all, we flew back home incredibly thankful for the opportunity and cannot wait to return in the very near future. This truly was the trip of a lifetime - we enjoyed every sunrise, we had fun on every dive, we ate some incredible meals and enjoyed the company of everyone close to us after a long time.
A huge and humble thanks to Shiraz and the entire Conrad Maldives team for truly making this one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever taken.