The Ritz Carlton Maldives is an incredibly luxurious resort great for adults and perfectly designed with kids in mind.  Part 2 of this series focuses on the resort’s features and the service provided.

This review will be separated into several installments given the vast array of content.  This installment will provide an overview of the resort itself.  Future installments will look more closely at the dining options and the kids club.

View other posts in this series:

• Qatar Airways A350-900 Q-Suites
• Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge
• Ritz Carlton, Part 1 – Arrival and Villa
• Ritz Carlton, Part 2 – Resort Facilities (this post)
• Ritz Carlton, Part 3 – Restaurants
• Ritz Carlton, Part 4 – Kids Club
• Singapore Airlines 737-8 Business Class
• Bonus: Video Review

The Resort – Beach Area

The Ritz Carlton Maldives is a man-made resort. I believe that’s evident in the way the resort is arranged. The main island, where arrivals and departures are handled, is also where most activities are located. The beach is located here, along with the dive center.

The beach has plenty of cabanas, free for rental, along with free sunscreen. Sunscreen comes in the power of your choice (15 SPF, 30 SPF, or 50 SPF). In a country full of resorts that like to gouge for extras, it was nice to have a resort where sunscreen is an included benefit. And perhaps I’m used to Hawaii, which has extra charges for just about everything, but we were very happy to see the cabanas were all complimentary. While they were popular, we did not have a problem showing up and grabbing a spot.

Occasionally, staff showed up to provide free treats, such as small fruit skewers or coconuts.

Just note there is only one shared beach on the island. If you reserve a beach villa, you can have your own private beach. But if you have an overwater villa, note this is the only beach available to you. You might think this will result in a crowded shared beach, but we never experienced crowds. It felt like the resort was nowhere near full capacity.

There also is a giant chessboard located right on the beach. Alex has been learning how to play chess, so he was excited for a chance to get to play against me. Of course I went easy on him. And while I’m talking about chess, there actually are a couple of large boards set up around the island.

Next to the beach is the beachside restaurant Beach Shack. We frequently had lunch here, with plenty of seating and a pool table that intrigued Alex. I’ll describe more about the dining options in the next post.

The dive center is located just next to the beach and is your one-stop shop for anything to do in the ocean. We saw some people using the crazy-looking inflatable “fun tube”. I think it goes without saying we didn’t get a chance to use it this trip with little ones in tow. However, we did sign up Alex for a snorkeling lesson. It is something we likely could have taught him ourselves, but he always seems to respond better to anyone but his parents teaching him skills. He was happy with the lesson and seemed to bond a bit with the instructor. One thing us parents are happy with is Alex opening up a bit socially this trip.

Even though Char was too young to participate learning how to snorkel, she had a fun time lounging around watching the show.

We also took out some kayaks to paddle around the shore. Kayaks are free to rent, so Jenn took Alex out first. Char felt a little left out, so I took her out to join. However, since this was her first time on a kayak, she felt like she was done pretty quickly. We later swapped parents and kids. It’s a bit unfortunate we can’t travel all around the island, but we didn’t want to get run over by the speedboats in the water. When on the kayak, movement is limited to the light-colored waters.

Just across the way is the kids club and the recreation center. I’ll talk more extensively about the kids club in a later post. The recreation center has all sorts of entertainment inside. A pool table, foosball table, and a PlayStation 5 are inside. There also is a section where you can watch movies. I’m not sure I would watch a movie here and instead watch in the privacy of my own villa but I did see one family watch here. There are plenty of board games available if you have some time to kill.

Also in the recreation center is a beautiful-looking tennis court. I did not get a chance to use the tennis court. I didn’t see anyone else using it during my time here.

Next to the recreation center was the gym and sauna. I did not get a chance to use the facilities here but they did look well-maintained.

Also around main island are a few locations where it’s nice to stop and enjoy the scenery.

Culinary Island

In the center of the resort is what staff refers to as the culinary island. Four restaurants are located here. The one downside of having all the dining in one area is that it can feel a bit crowded sometimes with all the people coming in and out, but I use “crowded” in a relative sense. Many buggies were coming in and out, but it never interfered with our plans.

The cuisine itself will be described in more detail in the next post, but this is where you will find the lone breakfast restaurant, the Italian restaurant, the Japanese restaurant, the Chinese restaurant, and the main bar.

Spa and Overwater Villas

Most of the overwater villas are located at the far end of the island, arranged in a giant circle around the spa. The views from here were exquisite. While all resorts have bicycles, I will say that it is a bit intimidating if you have kids not experienced with riding bicycles comfortably. Even though Alex had training wheels on his bike, he was constantly fearful of falling off the side and so did not want to ride his bike.

Jenn and I both did get a chance to visit the spa. While we booked our appointments on separate days, we did hear the spa has a family room that can be staffed with someone who can help watch over your kids. We didn’t take advantage of this–partly because we already had appointments, but also because we did not think it would be relaxing to hear the kids arguing while getting a massage.

I ended up getting the signature gentlemen’s treatment, which was also discounted 20% for the month of June. It involved a foot bath, exfoliation, shower, and full body massage. And thanks to my Marriott Titanium status, I also got a 15 minute scalp massage added on top. I always judge a massage based on how deep the masseuse can get. She did not disappoint; that was the most effective massage I have had in quite a long time.

Jenn reserved the hot and cold jade stone treatment, which she enjoyed. And she similarly was able to choose a 15 minute treatment thanks to my status. Jenn selected a facial treatment. She seemed relaxed after she showed up (which may or may not have lasted long once she saw the kids start arguing). There is a selection of five add-ons when you have Marriott elite status, but I unfortunately was not able to get a picture of the sheet showing the options.

Service

I will admit I went into this stay not expecting the best service. I had read commentary on Flyertalk that other guests were a bit disappointed with the service here, saying it has downgraded considerably from when the hotel first opened a year prior to us arriving. It wouldn’t surprise me to experience inconsistent service from a hotel within the first year, but it almost seemed universal that service was worse than before. While I don’t have any experience with how service was prior to my arrival, I am happy to report that the service we received was immaculate.

First off, the airport staff seemed genuine engaged in their jobs, with everyone stopping by to say hello and to welcome us to the Ritz Carlton. One staff member also proactively mentioned that we should take advantage of the free ice cream for the kids.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by hotel staff as we disembarked from the speedboat. Staff provided cute welcome gifts from the kids club and made their introductions. We were then led to a buggy and given a brief tour. Shaghaf, our assigned Aris Meeha, was not able to join us for the beginning of the tour around the island. However, even the replacement guide knew about us–and specifically got into a conversation with us about how we were supposed to originally visit the St. Regis. I will admit this impressed me; I very much appreciate a warm hand-off and this is not something that would be known about us without understanding the specifics of our trip.

Shaghaf herself was arguably the best part of the island. She had much pride in her job and frequently stopped by to check in on us. It didn’t matter if we were dining at a restaurant or hanging out at the beach, she made an effort to stop by personally and see if there was anything we needed. It might seem a bit awkward to have someone know exactly where you are at all times, but given the size of the resort and the fact we had reservations for all our dinners and activities, it’s perhaps not that surprising.

Our kids were in love with Shaghaf, enthralled when she would arrive with a buggy to pick us up or showing up to say hi. They even wanted to sit up front with her as she drove around the island.

Shaghaf mentioned to us that she ultimately is responsible for eight separate villas. I honestly don’t know how she can provide such a high level of service for eight parties, but she told me she gets great enjoyment from it.

Restaurant staff also loved to stop by and chat. We had so many conversations with everyone working, anxious to talk about where we came from and how the children are enjoying the resort. Char made a habit out of falling asleep during dinner, and it ended up being quite the icebreaker conversation. The staff wanted to make sure she was comfortable and even set up an impromptu sleeping area for her to relax while we dined. Char finally did remain awake for one dinner, but it wasn’t until the night before we left.

I honestly don’t have any improvement to give for the service at the hotel. Everyone attended to our needs and did so promptly, professionally, and with a big smile. This is one area where the hotel has clearly focused on and it shows. Even staff that normally does not interact with hotel guests such as construction workers would offer their welcome to us when we would pass by on the buggy. When leaving the hotel, I was asked for honest feedback on how the service or resort could be improved further, and I struggled to find a response.