The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands

If you have the means to visit the Ritz Carlton Maldives, DO IT. Trust me. Use your points, save your money, do whatever you need to do. My partner and I went to the resort for our honeymoon, and we both agree that it was the best vacation of our entire lives. NATURE: The Maldives itself is a haven of natural beauty. This is a truly special part of the world. We did lots of snorkeling, and saw literally every character in Finding Nemo. Clownfish, starfish, sharks, turtles, an octopus, a squid, and even a manta ray!! The snorkeling expeditions were led by marine biologists that taught us about the local ecosystems. It was fun and fascinating, but it never felt like a boring lecture. All very informative and unobtrusive. I'm not a big nature person, and still, being in the water itself felt so peaceful and otherworldly. Along with the ocean, the island itself is teeming with tropical foliage, little two-legged chirping birds, and majestic seagulls. Miraculously, I did not get even one bug bite on this trip (when normally I get eaten alive!). The island offers beautiful views of both the sunrise and sunset. FOOD: Delicious, on so many levels. The Ritz Carlton excels at both the upscale, formal dinner fare AND casual beach cuisine. My partner and I could not decide on our favorite dinner restaurant. It was a tie between the Summer Pavilion (Chinese) and Arabesque (Mediterranean). We also enjoyed Iwau, the open-air omakase experience. Along with these lavish dinners, we were delighted by the extensive breakfast buffet (pastries! homemade yogurt! the maldivian lobster omelette!). Tum Tum is delicious, and worth the short boat ride to Patina. I recommend the Saffron Mocktail at the Beach Shack especially! SERVICE: There was an mastermind behind this idyllic vacation -- our Aris Meeha, Ammadey! My partner and I had never stayed at a hotel that provided a butler service, so we had no idea what to expect. It was hard to imagine exactly what a butler would do, but we soon learned just how much of an impact this service truly has. The Aris Meeha handles one million little details -- all of the important logistics, and so much unexpected delight too. Using our itinerary from the trip, Ammadey ensured we always had a buggy ride, so we were never carting our snorkel equipment across the island or riding bikes in our nice dinner attire. The resort staff serviced our room twice per day, which meant that we were always returning to a spotless, fresh villa. So refreshing!! Whenever anything came up, we could easily contact Ammadey and his responses were always prompt and helpful ("Oh, we want to reschedule this," "Oh, we want a quick ride back to our room," etc.) We never had to worry about the logistics of anything, it was all handled easily. But even more than that, we were constantly surprised and delighted by Ammadey's thoughtfulness. One night, we came home to our room to find a beautiful bath drawn, with candles and charcuterie!! And there were many, many more little surprises like that, it all made the trip so unforgettable. The rest of the staff were also outstanding. Yao gave me the best massage of my life at the spa, and Mogu & Eliza coordinated an especially delightful experience for us at the Summer Pavilion. We are so grateful to Ammadey, and the rest of the staff, for this world-class service! They truly embody a welcoming spirit, and managed to make us feel at home even though we had traveled across the world. An 11/10 experience, we are already planning our return trip! :)

We traveled to Male for our 10th wedding anniversary. We've traveled to many beautiful resorts and destinations in the almost 22 years we have been togehter and hands down, this was the best vacation experience. If you are looking for rest and relaxation, calmness, rejuvenation, a place and experience to reconnect with your partner, this is the place! I am going to begin wth the best part of the entire experience: THE STAFF & SERVICE! From the airport, we were greetetd warmly, our bags taken. The gentleman let us know, are boat was arriving shortly, walked us over to the VIP lounge and sat us. He also, let us know where the restroom was located and informed us, our boat ride would be about 40-50 minutes if we wanted to take the time to use the facilities beforehand, although there will be a restroom on board. Once the boat arrived, it as spacious and clean, one other couple was on board with us. We were again, warmly greeted, the staff introducevd themselves to us. Also gifted us with this beautiful box witht he Ritz Carlton Logo. In the box, was a note, 2 bottles of chilled water, cookies, macroons and chocolate. The staff also let us know the boat ride would be a bit choppy at times, but surprisingly, it was relatively calm throughtout the ride. As we arrived, we saw a line of staff at the dock, dressed in cream linen. As we disembarked the boat, we were greeted with a loud horn like sound, blown from a seashell by one of the staff. Our "Aris Meeha" Malika warmly greeted us and introduced herself. She let us know, the horn was the traditional Maldivian greeting to welcome us here. She wasted no time making us feel comfortable, chatting with us, letting us know not just about the resort but the Island, the Country, and the Culture. She infomred us she will be escorting us to our bungalow on a golf cart. She took us on a quick tour of the property on the golf cart, explaining where things and places are located, the daily sundown ritual that they have, which signified the end of the day, informed us about each restaurant the bar. She also informed us about the water, the times of high-tide, low-tide. Let us know that we may see baby sharks and sting rays, but not to worry, they will not bother us so long as they are not bothered. Informed us if we would like to snorkle, to use our room phone and call or text her on our WhatsApp group, and they will send complimentary Scuba gear for us. She was very knowledgeable, warm, and professional. The resort was picturesque. Our room was equally as beautiful. In our room, we were greeted with a card, with a personalized hand written note from the manager, an array of fruits, a bottle of chilled champagne, macroons, and choclates. Malika gave us a tour of our beautiful room. And now, our experience: our experience was extraodinary! Every single employee that worked on the resort acknowledged us, and seemingly every guests there. Whether it was a gardener tending to the flowers as we walked by, he would stop, place his right hand on his left chest, and say hello (greeting unique to the resort). Did not matter if they were busy or in a rush (although, it as almost like time was moving in slow motion at this resort honestly). Everyone seemed calmed and relaxed. To every restaurant we went, we were greeted by our names, did not wait, not even a minute, we were seated right away. The little touches they did, such as the little messges in our coffees or hot choclate, the chef coming out to greet us at each restaurant, offering us additional food or appetizer as complimetnary for us to try, was simply the icing on the cake. On the day we actually celebrated our anniversary, our Aris Meeha, Malika and Shadha, really left no stone unturned. We walked in our room, unbeknownst to us, they completely decorated our room; drew a bubble bath and added a designe and "love Mr & Mrs and our surname" out of lazer cut leaves. Had a cake that said Happy anniversary with red roses, exactly the same design as our wedding cake (one layer of the cake). Had a handwritten card, with a design of a bride and groom in traditional Nigerian attire, similar to what most of our guests wore to our church wedding ceromony. Gave us a personalized wood carving that said "Happy 10th Anniversary Mr. Michael & Mr. Samantha," wine...came in to the fire place lit, soft music on....the amount of detail (they clearly researchd and found pictures online of our wedding), and time they put into adding all of these personal touches, really made this trip so special and memorable. Even the dinner at the restaurant, the entire staff, knew it was our anniversary, brought us extra wine (which by the way, was the most delicious wine I EVER Tasted), also gave us a card wishing us happy anniversary, cake and desert, not to mentione extra food. T They also had a VIP event on the beach for some of their guests, complete with hor d'oeuvres, champagne, cocktails and DJ. It was mix and mingle, enjoy the sunset on the beach; very nice! There are various packages you can purchase, we did not opt for food to be covered. That was pricey as compared to other vacations, but we expected it to be the case. However, it was well worth it! here was not a meal that we had that we did not enjoy. But hands down, the Indian Restaurant on the other Island was our favorite by far! The private pool was fantastic, the Ocean was great. Shockingly, could not hear the sounds of loud crashing waves at night (which was great. Malika told us, that there was wave barrier that was installed around the permimeter, to lessen the intensity of the waves closer to the property). The entire property, was pristine, beautifully maintained. The staff was so welcoming. I gave Malika a huge hug when leaving. Malika and additional staff members stayed on the dock waiving us good bye as we left for well over 15 minutes (at least), until we could no longer see them on horizon from the boat. The only downside, is that as a result of this experience, our standard has risen to astronomical heights, and it is going to be very challenging for another property or experience to exceed this one! We will most certainly be returning and hope that Malika is still there. While the property, food, and room were spectacular, our experience would not have been as amazing without Malika's attention to detail, special touch, warmth, and responsiveness. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for providing my husband and I the most memorable 10th Wedding Anniversary celebration!

I normally never write reviews and I should have done this earlier but our stay at the Ritz Carlton in the Maldives was absolutely outstanding. The resort is beautiful, everywhere is clean the rooms are beautiful, food was amazing and the staff are fantastic they cannot do enough for you. Although I hate boat transfers this hotel transfers are not your average boats plus the transfer is not that long. On the way back to Male airport we witnessed loads of Dolphins all swimming parallel with our boat. The captain slowed the boat down so that we could see the Dolphins close up it was a fitting end to trip. Having experienced some beautiful hotels in the Maldives this is by far the best I have ever had the pleasure staying in, would I go there again absolutely again this is something I never do.