Le Meridien Maldives Review

Travel

Jun 29

The Maldives is a country consisting of 1200 islands about 200 of them inhabited. It is located in the Indian Ocean southwest of India. The religion in the Maldives is Muslim and the people speak mostly Dehivi. The country filled with beautiful atolls or clusters of islands with crystal blue water and white sand beaches. It is quite frankly the top destination for a tropical luxury trip filled with warm sunny days, yummy seafood, colorful drinks, swimming with sea creature friends and all the relaxation one can find. Now, you’ve decided you want to venture to the Maldives, right? Now you must make the hardest choice… where to stay. This is very difficult as there are so many resort options. Each resort is of luxury and beauty but each differ a bit depending on budget. We chose the Le Meridien Resort and Spa as it was offering terrific points deal with Marriot Bonvoy (see previous post on the costs of the Maldives for more detail). This review is an in-depth review of the Le Meridien from top to bottom. The pros, the cons and everything in between.

General info:

The Le Meridien is located in the Lhaviyani Atoll about a 35 minute sea plane ride north of Male International Airport.

You’ll most likely be taking Trans Maldivian Airways seaplane transfer service which is what a majority of the resorts use to fly in their customers. It is good to note that sea planes out of safety I am presuming only fly during the day when it is light out so its smart to ensure that you fly into Male by 3ish to ensure you make it to the resort that same day. If not you’ll need to make sure to book a hotel in Male which could be fun to explore the mainland for a day! We did not get to experience this but it would have been nice to experience life that the locals live as well as the luxury that is the resort islands.

Pic 1: Lounge area
Pic 2: Check in for seaplane
Pic 3: Walking to seaplane
Pic 4: Seaplane landed at resort

Seaplane process:

After booking someone via the resort will email you asking for your flight info and inform you that a representative from the resort will greet you at MLE airport to guide you to your seaplane transfer. It is good to note that it is beyond overwhelming existing that baggage area to about 100+ people standing there with signs of resorts. The odds of you finding your correct person off the bat is slim. Walk out of the crowd and ask information for the representative for Le Meridien Spa and Resort. Once you find your rep you will be transferred to a lounge to wait for your sea plane transfer to the resort. It is notable that the sea plane weight limit for luggage is much less than your international airline carrier. For example, Qatar airlines allows for 50 lbs. per bag and the seaplane allows for 55kg total for all luggage between both people. Even if we knew this info it would have been very hard to oblige by this rule. We had to pay a 50$ charge each way for overweight luggage. The resort was not transparent about this during booking.

The lounge for the Le Meridien is very nice. It was equipped with high speed Wi-Fi, cold water, juices, coffee, small sandwiches, fruit, snakes, desserts and comfortable seating. We unfortunately did not get to spend much time in the lounge as it was expecting to rain so they wanted to get us in the air and on the resort prior to this to ensure we were not caught in the rain or having to stay overnight.

The actual seaplane experience is not one I would consider comfortable. As a small woman even, I felt cramped and stuffy in this 15-person seaplane. My partner who is 6’2 felt even more uncomfortable. We did make one other stop on the way to our resort which lengthened the trip by 15 minutes or so. I must note though that the views of the bright blue atolls from above are worth the warm stuffy ride. It was beautiful.

Check into resort process:

Once we finally arrived at Le Meridien we were pleasantly greeted by the staff with signs, a cool towel with lavender and aloe smelling notes and an ice cold refreshing tropical drink which we later learned was an aloe, pineapple juice of sorts (SO GOOD!). Once in the main resort area we were greeted by a singular agent who checked us in and notified us we had been upgraded to a sunset overwater villa as we can booked via points the sunrise overwater villa. We were then fed a lot of information such as food packages, gym, water sports, cafe and restaurant times as well as a calendar with a list of all of the activities to take place on the island during our stay that week. It was a bit overwhelming as there felt like so much to see and do and I had anticipated this trip to be more of a relaxing vibe (and it was). We then were escorted to a golf cart with another couple (which we happened to become really great friends with over the course of the trip). During this ride across the island (which is only about a 5 min drive and 20 min walk) we were shown all of the restaurants, activities, gym, coffee shop, giftshop, water sports area etc. etc. I enjoyed this aspect of the tour as it gave me a geographical idea and layout of the island.

Overwater villa tour:

Once we were dropped off at our villa (which was a beautiful drive to the overwater villas) we took a second to take in the beauty of the villa. The villa was really spectacular. As we entered, we saw it was a open floor plan 1 bedroom layout. It consisted of a large king size bed which faced a open glass area to go outside to the patio which has 2 lounge chairs, a netted area to lay, a hose/shower piece to rinse off, and a latter down to the ocean.

The bedroom area also consisted of complimentary champagne and chocolates. There was a coffee area with lots of glass bottles of water and snacks but to note all of the snacks are not included and they are quite pricey. I would suggest packing some dry snacks for long days in the water for sure! There is also a desk area with a small stool, and mirror which can act as a vanity. The actual toilet area is small but worked just fine! Unlike a lot of international places I have traveled to there were no flushing restrictions.

After the bedroom area you’ll come across a large walk-in closet with a full-size body mirror, 2 robes, 2 slippers, 2 life jackets, a lock box, small dresser and two beach bags (the bags are not complimentary they are 30$ a piece).

Now, for the most stunning part in my opinion was the bathroom. This large bathroom starts with two beautiful marble sinks with all of the essentials such as makeup removers, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and toothbrushes (all made of bamboo wood) as well as a shaving kit, loofah all of which is replaced daily if used.

The main king of the bathroom is the tub and shower room which opens to a completely glassed out room with a rainfall shower and large deep tub facing the water. It was a beautiful experience to shower and take a bubble bath in here. I spent more time in this bathroom than I did the buffet which says a lot for us LOL.

The resort offers complimentary coffee and tea in the snack / bar area of the villa as well. Also to note there are blackout curtains in all areas of the villa to allow for uninterrupted sleep.

Overall, the sunset overwater villa was stunning and consisted of everything we could need as well as a large TV, complete 24/7 room service and food menu. We enjoyed the villa and it was a beautiful relaxing experience to stay over the water. If traveling to the Maldives I highly suggest staying in these the entire time as the beach bungalows just do not seem as connected to the water experience.

Pic 1: Bed with small couch area
Pic 2: Tub and shower room overlooking the water
Pic 3: Sink area
Pic 4: shutters looking into the bathroom

Restaurants:

The food in in the Maldives is expensive. This I am assuming comes from the sheer fact that the entire country resides on small islands and that most goods are imported.

Regardless, there is no way to make the food and drink situation here budget friendly. It’s expensive, but yummy!

Breakfast: Everyday we ate breakfast at Turquoise. They served breakfast daily from 7am-11am as well as lunch and dinner. This is the only restaurant to serve breakfast which sounds kind of disappointing but it absolutely was not. The Buffet styled breakfast serves a wide variety of foods to accommodate all pallets including Maldivian, Chinese, Asian, Indian, European, Western, etc. There was everything from fruits, yummy lattes, mimosas, stirfrys, crossings, pancakes, french toast, french crepes, eggs, ham, fresh veggies, yogurts and everything else you could possibly imagine. Seriously everyday was different and everyday was delicious.

Lunch: So, there are meal plans that can be purchased upfront when you arrive that range from half board, full board, and all inclusive. We opted for paying al a cart as I personally don’t think I could have ate enough to make the meal plans worth it. Options for lunch include Turquoise, Vella, Latitude, Rivera and Waves Cafe. We personally loved Vella as a poolside lunch spot for yummy dishes such as the tuna poke bowl, lobster burger with fries, and fish tacos. Each meal during lunch at most restaurants was about 30-45$ a plate. Rivera offered small finger foods such as sliders, truffle fries and veggies and hummus and waves cafe acted as more of a afternoon coffee pick me up and was located right below the gym and served smoothies, juices, and wellness shots as well. There were a few organic food options there but we never did actually try the food. The coffee on the other hand was amazing at this cafe and the breakfast buffet. We became close pals with the barista at the resort also known as the coffee king who whipped up delicious creations from hazelnut lattes, to mango and banana lattes.

Dinner: The dinner experiences varied for us depending on the place but the most memorials nights include the first night where my partner ordered what he thought was a fresh catch of the day fish of the day but ended up being a entire fish with scales and eyes which in most other cultures is the typical dish when “fish of the day” is listed but as the silly Americans we are we were expecting a fish fillet. This is just something to beware of if you are not used to that type of dish! I ended up ordering the shrimp stirfry which was delightful. These entrees were eaten at Turquoise. We also at at Vella one night and ordered the lobster burgers with french fries. These burgers were massive and delicious. The dinner came with complimentary warm bread and butter as well. Le Meridian often has themed nights as well at the restaurants. For example there was a lobster night at Vella, a grill night at Rivera, and another themed night at Turquoise just in the nights were were there. Rivera offered truffle fries, spring rolls and tropical drinks all day and night which made for a fun infinity pool sunset experience. Rivera is the adult only portion of the resort. Our last night we treated ourselves to the Le Meridian’s most renowned dinning experience at Tabemasu. This Japanese restaurant was beautiful and set right on the water by the villas. We watched a beautiful sunset and ordered a few sushi rolls as well as the seafood stirfry. This place is beyond pricey but the seafood is fresh and delicious. The entire ambiance of the dinning experience made it worth it in my opinion.

Overall, the food was 5 stars delicious but again, pricey. There’s truly no way to get around this aspect of the trip. It’s best to embrace the quality of the food and fuel up a lot in the mornings at the buffet.

Activities:

So, you have traveled all the way to the Maldives.. now what? Well if you are like me you’ll want an entire jam packed adventurous trip. But, like most people you’ll probably want some serious R&R. Well, don’t worry the Maldives has got it. If white sand beaches, warm sun, colorful sunsets and bright blue water is what you are looking for the Le Meridian can certainly offer that.

But, if you are looking for some adventure as well they also have that!

Water- Without a doubt the most popular things to do on the island involve water. The Dive Center is right next to the seaplane landing area and offers guided snorkeling tours, a plethora of dive classes from beginner to advanced. You can also get free snorkeling gear for your entire trip as well. The dive center has trained and qualified professionals to help you make the most out of the experience!

Le Meridien boasts about its House Reef which is the reef about an10 min swim off the shore. This reef is home to some really extraordinary sea creatures including colorful fish. If you are lucky you may also see starfish, eel, sea turtles, reef sharks and manta and stingrays. We personally saw lots of fish, starfish, and sting and manta rays. There is a distinct difference between the two rays and be sure to ask the staff or research it yourself so you become familiar with the two. I personally was very very close off our villa swimming one morning and multiple mornings thinking it was a Manta ray.. it was not LOL. To be fair the giant stingrays are also very mild mannered and often just burry themselves under the sand to hide!

Next to Vella and the main pool area is a little shack that offers water sports related things including kayaks (clear and plastic), paddle boards, sail boats and paddle boats. Be sure to go when the water is calm if you want the clear kayaks as we were denied them due to “rough” waters. Also a note that each guest only gets 2 (I believe it was two) free hours of activity a day. I found this rule really absurd as there was always plenty of equipment for everyone to enjoy. It simply did not make sense to put a cap on the time spent here to me.

There are two pools at the resort including the main pool at Vella which has lots of shaded beds and chairs and poolside service. This is the kid friendly pool so just to note it can get a bit crowded and loud!

The second pool is at the adults only bar area at the Rivera Bar and Grill that also offers poolside service.

Both of these pools have fluffy towels, showers and bathrooms nearby.

Spa- The Le Meridien has one spa, the Explore Spa that has numerous services. These services and prices can be found in a pamphlet in your villa when you arrive. Personally, I did not try anything as I found the prices pretty steep for me. But they are a luxury resort and I am sure the services and treatments were of very high quality and standard.

Gym- There is a 24 hour gym which has multiple treadmills, free weights, yoga matt’s, bikes, and more. There are cold waters and fresh towels. The gym overlooks the beach and water which makes for a very pleasant workout in my opinion. The staff and trainers are all very helpful and kind. We worked out there almost every morning before breakfast and loved it!

Below the gym is the Waves Cafe which as I mentioned before whips up the best post workout smoothies, wellness juices and shots and coffee.

Next to the Waves Cafe resides the gift shop which sells basic necessities such as sunscreen, swimwear and aloe as well as your typical tourist gifts including jewelry, clothing, and art. There is also a lifestyle hub that acts as a studio and offers art classes and displays art.

A bit of a walk back towards the main resorts areas lies a Marine Conservation Area which has a lot of really interesting information on the sea life that resides in the Maldives and ways to play a part in protecting it! Although there was no staff there when we went there were hours in which it was staffed.

We never ventured into the childrens area but there is a specific area for kids to play, classes for them to take and a jungle gym. There were families there daily.

Transportation:

The Le Meridien operates mostly on golf cart type vehicle’s. These are used for staff to get equipment around as well as a taxi service for guests to get from one end of the island to the other. We personally used the service when we had a lot of things to carry, or were exhausted after a day of being in the water. All you had to do was dial for reception on the villa phone and ask for a ride or ask a staff member working at the restaurants, gym etc. to get one for you. Other than that we walked. The walk from tip to tip of the island was 20-30 min. We did rent bikes for 1 day but found the fact that it was 10$ per bike per day and the sheer uncomfortable ness of the bikes a reason to return them the following day. I personally thought the bike service should has been free as a means for guests to get around but I do understand the traffic would be a bit much as there is one sand road that goes through the entire resort island. The traffic situation was comical as there are always golf carts zooming around but all in all I did not mind it as they were respectful and always waiting for walkers to go first! And after one two many drinks and a full belly it was nice to have a quick ride back to the Villa (and bed!).

Weekly calendar: Le Meridien offers you a weekly schedule of events taking place the week you stay. These range from sunset and sunrise yoga, painting classes, boat tours, scuba tours and more. I found this really helpful in planning our days! If we wanted to do an activity we planned around.

Overall review: The Le Meridien Resort and Spa is a dream vacation. The views are absolutely unreal. The luxury of staying a isolated island in the middle of the Indian Ocean is unmatched. It’s a tropical heaven, truly. The service is 4.8/5. We had a few hiccups such as not finding the representative right away at the airport, being a bit rushed with the seaplane process and sometimes I think due to the sheer fact that we were significantly younger than a lot of the other guests we were overlooked once or twice while eating dinner etc. But with that being said the service was near perfect otherwise. We received complimentary dessert and wine which was beyond delicious. Our bed had a welcome message, we were brought room service right away when we called and we were greeted every time we passed a staff member. We had a wonderful time at Le Meridien and hope to return one day. This resort is fairly new but is seriously worth the visit. The villas, the beaches, the food, the service everything makes for a perfect island get away.