JW Marriott Maldives Kaafu Atoll Island Resort — Hotel in Malé Atoll

When I arrived at the airport, there was no one to pick me up. I called the hotel multiple times and had to wait for more than half an hour. I felt lost and helpless since it was late. The phone operator told me that my reservation was for a day later, which made me anxious as I thought I’d be stranded with nowhere to sleep.  He explained that my arrival details were mixed up, and they thought I was arriving the next day, even though I had made this reservation a month ago and had written emails back and forth. Seemed like they did not care and I was disappointed. I asked a staff member at the Sheraton counter, but he was extremely rude. He told me he’d called my hotel and ignored me, later he asked if I worked for the hotel or was a guest?! But once the hotel staff came, he took me to the pier, and the boat arrived quickly. Fortunately I was the only guest there. The staff on the boat was polite, but the boat was very bumpy, which almost made me throw up.  ||Check-in experience was nice and the staff were polite. But the room that I booked wasn’t available, so they offered free dinner as compensation. My butler Intigam, was nice and put me in a beach villa for one night, and later, an upgrade for the rest of the stay. The only difference was the location, which was either the left or right side of the bridge, which wasn't much; the rooms were exactly the same. The rooms were big and clean, but the style was a bit bland and I found the door too close to the bed. The toiletries were horrible. Soap and shampoo produced few bubbles, and the body lotion was hard to absorb while leaving white casts. The lotion is arguably one of the most important things after being in the sun. ||On the first night, when I ordered dinner, my main course was missing. I called, and they said they’d bring it later. The fish was also different from what the telephone operator told me, who wasn't very patient. Overall, the food is average, too salty, and very expensive. Expect to spend $150-200 for a simple meal and $40 for a plate of fruits. The next morning, the eggs in my eggs Benedict broke, and the staff even asked if I wanted a new one, which he should’ve brought back without asking and brought intact ones. One tuna ceviche was incredibly fishy, which made me a bit grossed out. Two restaurants were apparently “closed,” but on the website, it said they were open every day. One operator was reluctant to let me order food to my room from the main restaurant menu, but the other operators were completely fine with it. One time, he said that lamb shanks from the restaurant menu needed a 24-hour notice, but that wasn’t said anywhere in the menu, so I was disappointed. I had a regular lamb chop instead, but it tasted very gamey.||The over-water villa I changed into the next day had much nicer views but lacked in privacy, as I can see boats and planes from my room, such as local seaplanes and fishing boats, and even passenger planes... When I moved to the new room, there was a strong Arabic perfume smell that stayed for the rest of my stay. I did not ask for a room change out of tiredness from arriving the night before. There were also constant buggy car sounds heard in the room; they were extremely loud and made the room shaky. Ocean waves also kept me up at night, but that's not within the hotel's control. Go for a beach villa for more quietness. ||Each time I used the phone, I found the operators to be indifferent. However, my butler responds quickly on WhatsApp. All the rooms are close to each other, so you might hear others. My interactions with the staff have been mixed, perhaps because the hotel is new. The AC system was different in the two rooms I stayed in. The first one was too cold, and the other one was not cold enough. The room was barely made up during the second housekeeping visit, and the bed sheets were not changed. Everything was morbidly expensive. When I got a bad sunburn, I asked for aloe vera gel, but they only had it for sale, and it cost 50 dollars for a small bottle.||All the roads in the resort had sand on them, making them hard to walk on with shoes, and could get sand in them. It was also uncomfortable to stroll around because there were a lot of golf carts and bikes, which didn’t slow down while I was walking. The island was small and didn’t have a lot to do. Five nights were too much if you’re into things other than soaking and sunbathing. My butler was off for two days during my short stay, which was weird. The rooms weren’t as big as I thought, and there were no Japanese bidets, which is strange for a new luxury hotel. They did allow me a late checkout at 5.30 pm for my late flight, which I was happy with. However, immediately after they offered the 5.30pm checkout, they walked it back because of a last minute reseravation from some other guest booked in my villa and I can stay until 4pm max, while offering nowhere else for me to go before the 6pm boat departure. I asked for an inddor space to be in because of my sunburn, later my butler replied he can move me into another villa to stay until departure. For a points property, I think it might be worth it, I spent around 350k points for 5 nights. I would not return on either...

Luxury. It exceeded our expectations, but with some minor caveats. Highly recommended.

We booked this new hotel before there was much information online about it and it turned out very well. However, there are some things to keep in mind. Most travel is about expectations for me.

It's cliche in these reviews to the point of feeling like fake reviews, but the staff truly are incredibly helpful and pleasant. I hate being doted on and prefer privacy to service for the most part. The butler service worried me but our butler (Yaamin) showed me for the first time how great service is in the background ready whenever you need them, but never intrusive. They use WhatsApp to communicate which is so easy and requires little effort. The rest of the staff were the same - super helpful, but never intrusive.

Cost probably isn't surprising to anyone booking in the Maldives. I also didn't find the prices shocking. But you will be a captive audience for everything you do. That's true of any resort in the Maldives, of course. Meals are around $50 on average for a main. Cocktails are $22. Beers $15. Expect to leave a dinner with $100 a person minimum and you have to account for tip and tax on everything (they add 10% service, 16% tax). Prices vary slightly across the restaurants, but are largely very similar. The resort does not try to nickel-and-dime you. Water is included, they refill the mini bar with free snacks and sodas each day. All-in, I think it was reasonable considering you are on a small island.

I did a scuba dive. $150 / dive. I'm not sure if I was unlucky but it wasn't terribly impressive. There wasn't much to see past what I could see on the reef in front of our unit. I suspect it gets better further from Mali (see location note).

My wife and son did the fishing. It's pretty basic (no pole even, they fish with just a line and your hands in the Maldives) but they really enjoyed it. Like every experience, the water was beautiful and the staff were very kind. As a bonus, you are out on the water at sunset.

The kayak's, stand up boards are free. But you can only go a very short way out from the beach. It's a bit useless unless you just want to experience standing up on the board. Still, included is nice.

They also did the cooking class. This was a big highlight partly because you are outside on the beach cooking but mostly because the cooks are so good and pleasant.

Location is all about expectations. First, the location on Google Maps is wrong. See the image for where it really is. This is probably the part that was hardest for me initially. The 15 minute boat ride is incredibly easy. But it also means you are 15 minutes from the city and airport. The planes are rare and not bothersome but they do fly over the island. It's more that from our side of the island you can see the city. It takes away the feeling that you are remote. If you only have a few days, this might actually be the perfect location as it's so close to the airport. $150 transfer each way, each person. They will contact you after you book to arrange the travel (hotel: this was a stress before booking as I could not figure out how to get to these islands).

Tipping is always a stress for me, but they are genuine in not pushing it at all. The restaurants and services all added 10%, so I mostly felt like we had covered tips. However, we tipped our butler and cleaner (they clean twice a day) directly. We then left a tip for the rest of the staff on the main bill but there wasn't even a line for it so I don't think it was expected.

We were in two rooms: 311 & 302. 311 faced the city, which took away that feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. But the water was perfect there for snorkeling. We had a few rocks full of fish right off our deck. Amazing. 302 faced out to the open ocean and had dark evenings, much better for stars. The water was like a pool, but less interesting by far it turns out to swim in without the fish. All-in, they are actually very similar just trade-offs. The rooms themselves are incredible. Large, very...

When I arrived at the airport, no one could pick me up. I called the hotel multiple times and had to wait more than half an hour. I felt lost and helpless since it was late. The phone operator told me that my reservation was for a day later, which made me anxious as I thought I’d be stranded with nowhere to sleep.  He explained that my arrival details were mixed up, and they thought I was arriving the next day, even though I had made this reservation a month ago and had written emails back and forth. Seemed like they did not care and I was disappointed. But once the hotel staff came, he took me to the pier, and the boat arrived quickly. Fortunately, I was the only guest there. The staff on the boat was polite, but the boat was very bumpy, which almost made me throw up.

Check-in experience was nice and the staff were polite. But the room that I booked wasn’t available, so they offered free dinner as compensation. My butler Intigam, was nice and put me in a beach villa for one night, and later, an upgrade for the rest of the stay. The only difference was the location, which was either the left or right side of the bridge, which wasn't much; the rooms were the same. The rooms were big and clean, but the style was a bit bland and I found the door too close to the bed.

On the first night, when I ordered dinner, my main course was missing. I called, and they said they’d bring it later. The fish was also different from what the telephone operator told me, who wasn't very patient. Overall, the food is average, too salty, and very expensive. Expect to spend $150-200 for a simple meal and $40 for a plate of fruits. The next morning, the eggs in my eggs Benedict broke, and the staff even asked if I wanted a new one, which he should’ve brought back without asking and brought intact ones. One tuna ceviche was incredibly fishy, which made me a bit grossed out.

The over-water villa I changed into the next day had much nicer views but lacked in privacy, as I can see boats and planes from my room, such as local seaplanes and fishing boats, and even passenger planes... When I moved to the new room, there was a strong Arabic perfume smell that stayed for the rest of my stay. I did not ask for a room change out of tiredness from arriving the night before. There were also constant buggy car sounds heard in the room; they were extremely loud and made the room shaky. Ocean waves also kept me up at night, but that's not within the hotel's control. Go for a beach villa for more quietness.

Each time I used the phone, I found the operators to be indifferent. However, my butler responds quickly on WhatsApp. All the rooms are close to each other, so you might hear others. My interactions with the staff have been mixed, perhaps because the hotel is new. The AC system was different in the two rooms I stayed in. The first one was too cold, and the other one was not cold enough. The room was barely made up during the second housekeeping visit, and the bed sheets were not changed. Everything was morbidly expensive. When I got a bad sunburn, I asked for aloe vera gel, but they only had it for sale, and it cost 50 dollars for a small bottle.

All the roads in the resort had sand on them, making them hard to walk on with shoes, and could get sand in them. It was also uncomfortable to stroll around because there were a lot of golf carts and bikes, which didn’t slow down while I was walking. They did allow me a late checkout at 5.30 pm for my late flight, which I was happy with. However, immediately after they offered the 5.30 pm checkout, they walked it back because of a last-minute reservation from some other guest booked in my villa and I can stay until 4 pm max. I asked for an indoor space to be in because of my sunburn, and later my butler replied that he could move me into another villa to stay until departure. For a points property, I think it might be worth it, I spent around 350k points for 5 nights. I would not return on either...