The Best Luxury Maldives Resorts & Hotels to Book in 2026
There are many months of the year that basically guarantee the picture-perfect Maldivian experience: baking sun, soft breeze, still waters, clear skies and woozy sunsets. Mid-May, on the brink of monsoon season, is not one of them. And so it came to be that we stepped off our speedboat ride, which we’d hitched from Velana International Airport (itself around an hour from Male), into winds that threatened to send our freshly scalped coconuts hurtling off into the Indian ocean. But it was only a matter of minutes before we were on the remote resort’s main island, shielded in the lee of lush trees, ready to experience everything that this new boutique property on the Gaafu Alifu Atoll had to offer.Up until November of last year, this was a Raffles. It has rebranded as The Halcyon, with plenty of plans on the horizon to properly set it apart from its predecessor. The team behind the hotel told me that they’ll be taking inspiration from the adventures of Victorian archaeologist Harry Charles Purvis Bell – and there are already plenty of expeditions on offer that tie in with that era of exploration. But more on that later.The aforementioned main island features 22 beautifully designed villas – many of them beachfront, all of them offering a great amount of privacy, space and modcons. That includes the most premium option on the island: the sprawling three-bedroom manor that is the Grand Estate, which spans 1,250 square metres, boasts a 40-meter infinity pool and is well outside of your price-range, unless you’re currently having this article dictated to you by a butler. Then there’s the second island, reachable by speedboat, which is actually an overwater retreat made up of 16 villas on sticks, complete with private pools, hammock beds and direct access to sea-life. It’s easy to arrange transport between the two: just message your personal butler on the in-house WhatsApp service.Across both islands, you’ll find three food options: Yuzu for sushi, Thari for globe-trotting cuisine, and Firepit for beach barbecues. You’ll be glad to hear there’s a spa, where you can receive a massage while watching the marine life swim about under your table, as well as a bar, tennis courts and plenty more.But back to that weather. Over the first few days of our stay, the choppy seas and sudden downpours meant that a few of the expeditions we had planned – including dolphin chasing at sunset, glass kayaking and snorkelling on the house reed – would have to be cancelled. Each day, we held out hope we’d get the green light. We would have been more than content with a trip spent sunning ourselves on a private beach, watching hermit crabs scuttle across the sand and small sharks swimming at the shore. But then, on the last day, we got the word that snorkelling was on. There, swimming along with gentle push of the current, we experienced the house reef in all its splendour, getting up close with colourful swarms of tropical fish. Mission accomplished.BOOK
