Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi

Our recent 12-night stay in May 2024 marked our sixth visit to the spectacular Waldorf Astoria Maldives. My wife and I first experienced the resort in November 2019, and since then, we have returned twice in 2021, once in 2022, and once in 2023. Having had the privilege of visiting some of the world's most beautiful resorts, we can confidently state that the Waldorf Astoria Maldives remains at the pinnacle of our list. The resort consistently exceeds our expectations. Since our inaugural visit in 2019, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives has undergone remarkable evolution. Initially, the foliage was low and in its early stages of growth. Over the years, the vegetation has flourished, becoming dense and stunning. The coral reefs have also thrived, now vibrant and teeming with marine life, including reef sharks, turtles, and rays. Additionally, the resort has upgraded and expanded its gym, introduced a designated painting area, and has several other projects in development to enhance the overall experience further. The resort's facilities are unparalleled. The villas are among the largest in the Maldives and are meticulously maintained. The resort boasts eleven diverse dining options, ranging from fine dining to casual eateries. The quality and preparation of the food are exceptional, making it challenging to choose which restaurant to revisit. During our stay, we dined at Zuma, The Ledge, Yasmeen, Tasting Table, Amber, and Glow, each offering a unique and exquisite culinary experience. One of our favorite routines was visiting Amber for light bites and wine, while watching the magnificent sunsets before dinner. The primary reason we continue to return to the Waldorf Astoria Maldives is the exceptional staff. The team demonstrates a deep-seated pride in their work and a cohesive effort that enhances the guest experience. Their kindness and genuine nature, coupled with an almost intuitive ability to anticipate and fulfill our needs, set them apart. For example, my wife and I would sit at the same table for breakfast every morning. One morning, the general manager, TJ and the resort manager, Alan were sitting at “our” table. We were settling into another table but when they spotted us, they immediately offered the table to us. Our personal concierge, Hazuki, took excellent care of us, managing our dinner reservations and spa appointments. This was our second time working with Hasuki, and her service was impeccable. When Hazuki went on leave during the last two days of our trip, Boos, our new concierge, maintained the same high standards of service. We would like to extend our gratitude to numerous individuals for another extraordinary stay, including Trevor, Muuthu, Roger, Sympli, Sonam, Aboo, Alan, and TJ. We also appreciate the seamless and comfortable transport provided by the yacht and airport staff, as well as the efforts of the groundkeepers, bartenders, and waitstaff. Congratulations to Alan and TJ for assembling a truly remarkable team. We eag

Over water villa room was spacious with nice private pool, but the sewage system underneath the toilet was so poor that we had poo smell in the bathroom since day 1 to day 4, and resort didn't offer any room change. Handheld shower head quality was quite poor and water doesn't come out evenly. Before you use outdoor shower, suggest to turn on the water and run it for at least 1 full minute, because I nearly had brown colour water pouring over me, which was absolutely disgusting. The water sports centre staffs were very friendly and helpful, we've had a great time jet skiing and wake surfing. These water sports activities is probably the best things to do in this resort. If you have a late flight on the day you checkout, don't expect this resort will give you a late checkout even if the resort is not full. Our flight was 11:40pm and the personal butler said she will let us know if can late checkout a night before, when she told us the bad news due to full capacity and nothing can be offered, we found there are same room (and more room types) still available, when we showed the availabilities to hotel staffs, the wording changed to due to "high" capacity, late checkout is not allowed. We have stayed in a number of different resorts in Maldives, this was the only resort that shows unwilling attitude to cater the guest who have spent additional USD10k on dining and activities. We will never come back to Waldorf Astoria again. We went to Four Seasons to stay half day in the end.