A taste of things to come at the luxurious Dusit Thani Maldives began as soon as we’d disembarked our plane and arrived at Malé Airport. We were greeted by a waiting staff member who escorted us to the resort’s private comfortable airport lounge where we could have a sandwich and coffee as we waited for our sea plane to whisk us to the private island resort.
You can get to Dusit Thani by either sea plane (35 min) or via a local plane (25 min) that flew into Dharavandhoo Airport combined with a speedboat transfer (10 min), which I experienced on my return journey. I much preferred the sea plane. Watching the cluster of islands pass by builds up the anticipation as you wait for your turn to disembark onto a pier containing welcoming staff. You can see some of the beautiful sky high views on my
The Water Villa was our home for three nights and was my personal favourite of the categories available on the island. The Ocean Villas are beautiful and located closer to the communal pool while the Beach Villas do have direct access to secluded sections of the beach, but I loved the privacy of the Water Villa. The villa’s stilted walkway was like having an exclusive drawbridge, which I wish we could have raised and never left. A welcome basket of fruit and champagne along with the complementary Nespresso coffee available in the modern room made settling in that much easier. All of which we enjoyed on our private decking and waterfront pool that overlooked the stretch of the turquoise lagoon.
Every villa is issued complementary bicycles to cycle around with, which made getting around a lot of fun. I had heard prior that cycling was synonymous with the Maldives, yet Dusit Thani Maldives was the only resort who offered this fun activity on this particular trip to the Maldives. And you do need the bike as Mudhdhoo Island isn’t small. A cycle from our villa to the public pool could take about 7 minutes, 10 if you took the wrong turn like we did … several times. Getting momentarily lost in the tropics, though, is never a bad thing.
We didn’t do any of the resort’s activities, just cycled and swam, though I’m not sure we had the time to do any with all of our eating and relaxing we were doing. The food was simply exquisite throughout the island, and how could I not think so when I was spoiled with lobster at literally every single opportunity possible. We tried every restaurant on the island, which I suggest you do, too.
The Market was their main gourmet hub and provided an international varied buffet breakfast or dinner spread. It was surrounded by palm trees and close enough to the shoreline to maintain those island vibes. The dinner theme at The Market changes daily and on one night a local group of musicians arrived to perform traditional Maldivian music and dances, which the guests could join in on.
Beside their beautiful public pool and a stretch of beach was Sea Grill where you could dine for lunch or dinner with soft sand beneath your feet. A mixture of cuisines suitable for any palette were available and my taste-buds kept gravitating towards the Roma Tomato & Buffalo Mozzarella Salad ($22) and the Margherita pizza ($23) for lunch.
A gentle sea breeze sweeping in through the restaurant as we looked out upon the moonlit ocean set the scene for a romantic dinner at their signature Thai restaurant, Benjaong. You can have pre-dinner cocktails at the second-floor bar before sitting down to eat. For dinner, I was given the biggest lobster I’ve ever had I’ve had in my life. It pained me to share it with my husband because it was so fresh and scrumptious. He had their spicy Green Thai Curry, which was as authentic tasting as anything we tasted in Thailand.
The fact that the five-year-old resort is an award-winning destination and a frequent visit for return guests comes of no surprise. Families and honeymooners would be able to find what they need in the tranquillity and space on the island. While we were there the resort was nearly running at full occupancy yet we felt like we had the run of the resort.
Where Dusit Thani Maldives excelled the most was in their level of service. Our host, Mario, was always at the ready to assist us where he could and we seemed to bump into the General Manager throughout our stay, and I don’t believe that was by coincidence.
The blend between service and privacy at this 5-star resort is perfect as was maintaining the tropical essence of an island within a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Dusit Thani Maldives was a lovely introductory to Maldivian hospitality.
Thank you to Dusit Thani Maldives for hosting our stay. I only review what I personally experienced and all thoughts are my own.
