The Standard, Maldives — Hotel in North Maalhosmadulu

• UPDATE MARCH 2025* Back after 2 years and I can confirm my impressions from my review below, it remains a solid choice. Compared to 2 years ago there is an erosion problem on the East side where the Ocean Beach Villas are located, and the BBQ Shak has closed because the beach in front of it has disappeared. Will be visiting again.

APRIL 2023: Just came back from a wonderful week at the Standard and I’m already missing it. We are familiar with the Standard brand since during the years we visited some of their properties, so we were kinda excited to see what they created here. We were greeted at Male Airport by one Resort’s representative who escorted us to the TMA check-in counter and then we were lucky enough to board our seaplane directly with no wait! Please note that this was just luck since the seaplane is arranged by TMA and The Standard is not responsible for the waiting time. We were greeted by our super friendly host Shamaau who checked us into our Ocean Water Villa and explained us the highlights of the resort. The Ocean Water Villa is perfect if you like snorkeling as the reef is really close to your deck and you can even see a lot of fishes from your own private pool! The design of the whole resort, villas included, was fun and cool, definitely not your average Maldivian resort. I would say maybe not for everyone’s taste, but if you ever visited one of the Standard hotels you know what to expect: a chill relaxed place with a friendly environment. Fun fact: this resort was called Carpe Diem before the new property take-over and I must say that the Standard did a good job with the renovation process. It was more like a “glow up”, not an extreme makeover: new furnitures all around the resort, new F&B outlets, but yeah, sometimes scratching the surface you can still see the Carpe Diem coming out. For example, they added huge disco balls in the bathrooms but I would’ve replaced the vanity units instead. After the first night we were upgraded to an Ocean Beach Villa and it was wonderful: private, with unobstructed views, breezy. This room was slightly larger than the water villa and even being surrounded by the plants there were no bugs at all. Loved that they don’t have plastic bottles and straws around the resort! It really breaks my heart to see so much plastic floating in the sea.. please, take home with you your empty sunscreen bottles. We were on HB and found it great: a surprisingly good selection from the buffet with plenty of choice. We also had some great sushi at Beru, a wonderful dinner with feet in the sand at the BBQ Shak and a couple of dinners in our favorite restaurant, the Maldivian one: Guduguda. Shout out to the super attentive Shakhawat, it was always a pleasure to find him at breakfasts where he always took care of us with our daily combo cappuccino + espresso. I would say that we were quite impressed with the food and beverage all around the resort, and also found the prices quite good for the Maldives. Don’t forget the happy hours, 2x1 cocktails! The Standard is somewhat selling itself as a young, lively resort, something different from everything you could find before in the Maldives. Reality is that it’s not really like that, there’s not a “party scene”. Maybe it’s because the Maldives is mostly a families and couples destination so it’s difficult to recreate the same atmosphere they have in Miami Beach. People here tend to stay in their villas, have quiet dinners, maybe a cocktail at the bar but that’s it. They had a DJ playing lounge music everyday by the pool, they had a fun Easter Party, there are karaoke nights, quiz nights, movie nights, there’s Beru Bar and its HUGE disco ball over the glass floor.. all these fun things but the crowd is still very hesitant to participate. I really wished guests were more active and fun! Overall, we had a fantastic week, the Standard honestly exceeded our expectations. Shamaau, Shakhawat and all the hardworking people all around the property, from the restaurants crews to the housekeepers, you really made...

Mixed experience. Decent value for money, but NOT a luxury experiene in any way. I stayed for 5 nights with my wife and 1 year old baby girl. Here's the good & the bad.

The good: The AI Plus package was attractively priced with spa and excursion included. Most of the staff at Kula, Todis & kids center were friendly. Special mention for Asma from kids club, Nelson & Santosh from Todis, Sanjay, Nanda, Jennifer, Rabbi & Naahy from Kula. They were all super helpful & friendly. Free cycle access is a big plus. Many resorts don't have that.

THE BAD: A few of the staff members were borderline rude at times. Big red flag.

Apart from Kula, Todis, joos cafe, everywhere else that extra warmth, care and focus on the guests satisfaction is missing. I think we were assigned an amateurish host/butler. He spoke sweetly but was a little careless on a couple of occasions. He didn't know I was Vegetarian, even though I had whatsapped and mailed the same to the hotel in advance. He screwed up the menu for a special dinner, & floating breakfast and a few more mistakes. He was apologetic though. But spoilt my mood anyway. I expected a host to understand all my food and activity preferences and plan my whole schedule. This experience was no where close. I had to know all the timings & limitations of various activities myself and plan myself and follow up with various departments in the resort.

The seaplane transfers company they have tied up with is very bad. They wrongfully charged me 50$ for baggage. I had no information from standard about the luggage limit. My international flight from India didn't have a problem but TMA, the seaplane company did. Absolutely DISGUSTING way to rip people off. They also broke my favorite bag. I had to stress on the problem a couple of times with my host, he took this one seriously and escalated it. Then his boss adjusted the bag's cost in my bill, which I appreciate but it should have happened smoothly. I felt a pinch of arrogance in his boss (Naseef's) behaviour. He did his job though.

Buggy service, housekeeping, etc can be very very late at times. They are probably understaffed. An iron I asked for at Monday 5 pm, was given to me at Tuesday 11 am after multiple follow ups & frowns.

The bathroom is big and nice. I liked it. But the mirror had big marks of, I guess rust, and was placed in a wooden box that had the ply coming off. Looked bad and old. Again something I can't accept from an international brand that is being sold as a luxury destination by travel agent platforms. Event the shampoo, body wash given in the bathroom was underwhelming. Not nice at all.

Dont expect 5 star service. Only a few of the staff members will go out of of their way to serve you. I was a bit taken aback when they told me that "aundry bags will be chargeable when I called for some before leaving. I typically take laundry bags from everywhere to separate my dirty clothes, and no one's had a problem ever. The boats they have for sunset cruise look cheap and old. I guess they are very very stingy. That cost cutting attempt reflects in mostly everything they do...

It's a place with nice vibes, chilled out staff, amazing AI Plus package and nice views. Overall it's not bad at all, it was a decent experience and I am gonna miss the place. I did have a good time, but the service was a bother & the lack of top notch hospitality was a disappointment.

If you want to be pampered with a lot of care and attention, this may not be a place for you. Food is nice, place is nice, service is sometimes okay, sometimes bad. Some staff are nice. Some staff are just...

Having stayed at many properties across the globe, I truly experienced Hospitality in its essence at The Standard !

We had booked an all inclusive stay at Overwater Villa and Beach Villa. The property is spotless and extremely well maintained. We had their GM, Jasper himself as part of the staff to receive us at the Sea plane landing, transferring luggage on to the Jetty - he is such a humble soul and you will most likely mistake him for a GM. Right from our check in that was handled by Eva and Shif, to room transfer and property tour by Hajar - we were greeted with a smile and warm pleasantries.

The buffet spread was great, especially for breakfast and dinner. The lunch had fewer items but covered all essentials and parts of the course. Kula - the all day dining restaurant, served all meals with 2 restaurants - BBQ Shark and Gudguda serving dinner only on alternate days. Not only was the quality of buffet great, the chefs go the extra mile to customise dishes as per your liking. My wife is a vegetarian, and the chefs provided her with Veg food options beyond the buffet - the personal touch by Chef Rajesh and the Head Chef (forgot his name) in the kitchen was pure awesomeness! Bot to forgot the prompt and ever smiling staff in Gihan, Mini, Risma and many more who served us. The maldivian flavours at Gudguda are second to none - and I judge food everywhere - 1st criteria for rating my stay.

One of the best sunsets to be experienced at Beru Bar, only to be better enjoyed with a drink at the hands of Shanu or Suranga - they know their mixes so well. We asked for mocktails not on the menu and co created a couple of them with them, so much fun. The Standard is always buzzing with water activities, be it the non motor sports or motorized ones with well maintained gear. Faik, Zinah and Iman ensured we thoroughly enjoyed our 1st scuba dive!! The Standard also houses an all day Joos bar, Todis Bar and a Spa. Now that I look back, we should have extended our stay by a couple of days to experience their Spa services as well.

The property is so picturesque that you will never run out of ideas/spots to click pictures/videos and reels. Soft white sand and turqouise blue water - the feeling of floating on the coral is divine ! The rooms are well appointed, spacious and were provided with all essentials. Our mini bar was re stocked and rooms made up when we requested. Ours was a dreamy stay filled with luxury and experienced true serenity in all sense. While I type this, there is not enough I can write about The Standard except that they have raised our standard of expectations from every other future Hotels/Resorts/Stays !!

There is not a single point I can recollect that needed improvement within the Property or with the staff - humble, warm, personal , friendly and ever smiling - putting in extra effort, accommodating odd food requests in the kitchen. Oh and did I rave about the beautiful view from the private pool over the ocean, or from over the Infinity view common pool deck ? You have to be there to experience this, and no words can do justice to their staff’s hospitality ! - this was during the month of Ramadan - where their staff fasts during the day and yet serve the guests round the clock with the same zeal and energy.

If there is only point they can work is to better coordinate with TMA (seaplane operators) during checkout, which is not entirely in the Hotels control though. A BIG Thank You to the staff at The Standard for making our stay so comfortable, luxurious and warm with your personal approach in...