Best Luxury Hotel in the Maldives – The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort

Where did we go for our honeymoon? The Maldives of course! And we chose one of the most luxurious & romantic hotels in the Maldives, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. Thanks to my long time accumulation of SPG points (now known as Marriott Bonvoy Points), we managed to get the room for cheap (still needed to pay extra to upgrade to an overwater villa) and stayed in this amazing resort for 5 nights. However, after taking into account all the other spending on this private island in the Maldives, it was definitely the most expensive luxury trip that we have taken so far. Anyway, no complaints here as we got a great deal overall and it was our honeymoon so it’s YOLO mindset all the way!

Opened in November 2016, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is one of the most luxurious hotels in the world and long being featured in many luxury & honeymoon wish lists. Located on the island of Vommuli in Dhaalu atoll, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is situated a 40-minute seaplane flight away from Velana International Airport. Accessible only via seaplane, which will cost you at least USD745 per adult for the return flight, we were excited to experience the Maldivian seaplane ride over this captivating island republic.

Did you know?  The Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, and only 200 are inhabited.

Arrival at Male

As we chose to stay a night in Male to explore the capital city before heading to The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, a St. Regis Airport Butler still met us at the arrival hall of Velana International Airport to brief us on the next day’s reception at the airport so we wouldn’t be lost. The next morning, the butler assisted us with the check-in for seaplane transfers to the resort, then escorted us to The Great Room, The St.Regis’ own airport lounge 10 minutes away from the International airport with their complimentary airport transfer on a comfortable SUV (with a hot towel, chilled water and free WIFI on the ride).

Many may have heard about the famous St. Regis Bentley ride, which is available here for airport transfers for guests staying in their Signature Suites and Estates such as John Jacob Astor Estate, Caroline Astor Estate and Two Bedroom Beach Suites. Next time in the future perhaps for us?

The Great Room

Located in the seaplane terminal, The St.Regis’ lounge provided us with a relaxed place to wait before boarding our seaplane to the resort. We were offered some light refreshments and drinks during our wait. It has a view over the seaplanes’ landing and take-off, which I watched for the first time up close.

After a slight delay, our seaplane finally took off in the Maldivian fashion, with the pilot & co-pilots in shorts and flip flops. It was a very loud & noisy journey all the way, the hotel had to provide eye plugs for us, even with my in-ear earphones blasting Spotify music at the loudest it couldn’t drown out the noise. With no air-conditioning on board, we also had to rely on the natural breeze to provide some comfort. We were flying in the morning so it wasn’t that hot, I reckon the afternoon flights will be extremely hot & humid. However, the view underneath was more than enough to make up for the slight inconvenience on the seaplane.

Checking-In 

Once we landed at the resort, we were greeted by a team of butlers waiting to pick us up in the golf buggies. A welcome drink was served and we were quickly whisked away by our butler, Mohamed. He drove and showed us around the resort, just to make sure that we would know our way around, before checking us into our Over Water Villa. The check-in process was swift, and most of the itineraries for our stay and dining reservations were already planned in advance when we communicated with the hotel via emails before we arrived.

The Overwater Villa

The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is a villa-only resort which features 77 villas. The water villas are in the shape of manta rays, while the resort’s signature bar and spa are designed on the basis of a whale shark and lobster respectively.

Since we were on our honeymoon, we paid to upgrade our room to an Overwater Villa, just to experience the unique Maldives amazing crystal blue water. Our room was large at 182sqm/1958sqft with a panoramic lagoon view of the idyllic island. Fitted with hardwood flooring, an extremely comfortable King bed, separate shower and a bathtub overlooking the sea, the villa was tremendously homey. I loved the ultra-modern design of the room with high-end furnishing, luxurious and functional at the same time.

Being a St. Regis hotel, their signature butler services also offer unpacking and packing of our items (in a very organised and thoughtful way), just like the other St Regis Hotel we stayed before (my previous review on The St Regis Langkawi here). It’s our honeymoon so we definitely deserved some pampering!

The king bed was firm and comfy, which gave us a good night of sleep. Of course, waking up to the beautiful view of the Maldivian sea on that bed was the best part of the room. I also liked that they have a sitting/living area with a sofa and chair where I could sit and enjoy a book or browse my iPad. The room also featured a state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen BeoVision entertainment system with a large flat-screen TV at 46-inch and tiltable towards the bed or the living area depending on your preference. Being an ultra high-end resort, the room was fitted with all the smart features and controllable with the iPad, from lightings, entertainment systems, curtains, in-room dining all in one simple device and few taps away for room controls.

Meanwhile, the marble bathroom with a bathtub overlooking the private pool & the sea, separate toilet & a walk-in shower, was so spacious that bathroom time and getting ready could be an enjoyable time too. It’s definitely my type of bathroom design that I’d wished to replicate at home.

Upon check-in, we were greeted by a bottle of welcome champagne, a fruit basket, and a tray of baklava and chocolates on a complimentary basis. It was a nice touch as you wouldn’t expect anything less from this prestigious resort.

The plunge pool at the outdoor patio on the over-water villa is a plus although we ended up in the sea most of the time since we could access the sea directly from our room. Complimentary snorkelling masks and fins were available, just inform your butler on your shoe sizes and they will arrange to send them to the room accordingly. The outdoor deck is a great place to lounge and sunbathe, I particularly loved the over-water hammock which I could lie over the water and watched the lovely turquoise seawater and the clear blue sky.

One of the nights during our stay, the resort set up a lovely rose petals bath and sent a heart-shaped cake to the room when we were out for dinner, which was a nice gesture. I reckon they would do that for all honeymooners or couples’ getaway.

Meanwhile, snorkelling around the resort was better than expected as I’d read online earlier that the house reef wasn’t that great. However, as we went out towards the edge of the house reef, abundant sea life was apparent. We managed to catch glimpses of ray, reef sharks and much other colourful fish just by snorkelling straight out from our overwater villa. That’s the perk of staying in an overwater villa where we could just jump into the crystal clear blue water! Check out my 1st underwater video below (pardon some shaky moments) which will give you a glimpse of the wonderful sea creatures, from reef sharks, rays, and so many more colourful fish…

If you are a diver and looking to dive in this stunning part of the world, do check out this ultimate Maldives diving guide.

Getting Around

The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is a small private island where the main road on the island is a sandy loop around the island. The resort provides 2 bicycles for each villa so we literally cycle everywhere most of the time, especially our overwater villa that is being almost at the furthest out to the ocean. We also had the option to use our dedicated butler to chauffeur us around but since we were on honeymoon, we just liked to be left to ourselves most of the time.

Check out our video on getting around in bicycles below.

Next up to be continued in Part 2 on spa, dining, activities, gym & final thoughts…

Official Website    |    TripAdvisor Review

Check out my previous review on The St Regis Langkawi here.

Check out my other hotel reviews here.

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