The Nautilus Maldives — Hotel in South Maalhosmadulu

We stayed at Nautilus in Jan 2025, I don't feel we can endorse this review, as our experience was absolutely different. |We arrived in mid Jan, peak season at the highest price, we ensured to fill the pre arrival form from the resort with our tastes, willingness to do experiences and a combination of easy things to do (a blow dryer for curly hair for my wife) and something more complex (I asked a particular type of soda, not easy to find), we also expressed interest in diving and provided our PADI certificate; we were very hyper for the food as well.|We arrived and the CIP was waiting for us under the plane, great stuff really, we got into the CIP lounge and we were told we'd soon depart with the resort flight, well, we waited over 3 hours, where the resort manager only passed by once to apologize for the delay, another flight was badly late and instead of taking us and come back to fetch the late passengers they told us there were some problems and let us wait for all that time. We were sorrounded by passengers of other prestigious properties (Cheval/Velaa/FS) and all got away before us, it was quite upsetting. In the end we got to the resort, no apology has been given us. ||Our butler barely spoke English, he didn't bother reading our form and basically told everything we asked for wasn't available (including a blow dryer for curly hair... SERIOUSLY?!).||The "room" (it's more a palace tbh) is huge, and smells amazing, but it's empty, it's big for the sake of being big, 2 people won't need that space, it doesn't feel luxurious, it's just huge. But the outside private pool was amazing and we enjoyed it at all, a special mention goes to the house keeper that made us funny towel animals everyday, it was super super funny.||The villas are close to the seawall, and you can feel it, the water is not that calm, but the view is nice nonetheless, it's a matter of personal preference I would say.|Anyway, we expressed the willingness to talk with the resort manager, as we were a bit upset, an English gentleman. We got assigned to another butler, a kind lady that was shared with other 2 villas (so, the story of unique butler is BS) but we didn't feel anyhow ignored. She organized everything for us in a very nice way and ensure my wife was constantly fed with mango, she even organized to have a dyson dryer in the room (it was possible, after all).||The sunset aperitive (I think they claim they change the location by the day) is a sad bland of boring alcohol (not inspired drinks -at all-) and some basic canape, served cold when they are meant to be warm (lazy), I'm not going to say it's bad, because that would be a lie, but surely isn't a highlight. ||The restaurants were simply... bad. We had the teppanyaki dinner at Ocaso, it was ok at best, the worst part is several elements were brought to us already cooked and the "chef" only incorporated them, something I have never seen before (and we have been 4 times already to maldives), truly embarrassing and lazy, I remember me and my wife laughing at seeing cooked ingredients arriving at the chef.||Zeytoun was supposed to have this Mediterranean touch and the chef was proud of his Italian kitchen knowledge, well, it sucked. Blend, boring, poorly seasoned. We're Italians that lived around the world for 15 years and this was the worst Italian fine dine of our life; I will avoid talking about the dessert because it was just a shame.||The bar restaurant (Thyme, I believe) wasn't bad, we had most of our meals there, but the service was inconsistent, you jump from being harassed by the staff to be ignored, I usually have everything I get served and provide feedbacks only if requested, but for the first time in my life I had to send back a burger, I asked a medium rare and I basically got served (with over 30 mins of waiting) a raw patty, it was simply disgusting, they apologized and gave me another one, this time properly done.||Breakfast was ok, nothing sensational, but not bad either. Special mention to the pastries, they were real nice. I just want to point out I disagree with the statement it's a small buffet, it's not.||The water center has been the highlight of the holiday, activities were fun and greatly executed (we did 2 dives, seabob and e-foil, turtle snorkeling).||The SPA was ok, nothing special, but also it was free (the manager kindly offered us a treatment as we were visibly upset with the first butler).||The cherry on top: I have asked if we could have a transfer for one evening to the sister property, Milaidho, we stayed there in august 2021 and fell in love with their maldivean restaurant, plus we loved the property in general, this is exaxctly what "unscripted luxury" should be about. Well, it was expensive as transfer but we got there (personally, I would have granted the service for free, being sister properties), but then the 2 resorts were not organized for this kind of event and didn't know how to charge us for the dinner, so we had to spend about 45 mins at Milaidho arrival structure waiting for somebody from the staff to come there and print us a receipt to pay on the spot, as they couldn't take any payment either at the restaurant directly nor to send it to the property where we were staying.||All in all we paid 20,8k USD for 5 nights including taxes and their flight. We left with a sour aftertaste and definitely didn't feel this luxury we got promised. |In comparison, we spent same amount of nights at JW marriot, Milaidho and Naladhu private island. All of those were better and we spent way less.|We're up to Cheval now and we hope it's...

Our experience at the Nautilus started since we made the booking.  All our preferences and requests were noted and our stay was tailored accordingly. The arrival at Male airport was unique because we were greeted by a hotel representative at the tarmac and driven in a luxury car to the VIP lounge where we waited briefly. We didn’t have to worry about our luggage as it was taken care of by the hotel staff. We were escorted directly to the sea plane which flew us non-stop to The Nautilus in about 35 minutes. A luxury speed boat then transferred us to the resort in less than 2 minutes. On the arrival pavilion, we were greeted by the resort manager and some staff including our wonderful house master Thaany. We were offered a refreshing welcome drink and then Thaany took us in quick tour of the island and showed us the different facilities of the resort including the restaurants, the spa and the watersports club. The island is small but with lush vegetation and you get the surreal feeling the moment you step your foot on it. The island has only 15 villas in addition to 11 overwater villas linked to it through a jetty. We then resumed our quick tour and reach our water villa (sunrise ocean house). It was breathtaking and amazingly designed, decorated and furnished. The villa had a dedicated lounge plus the very spacious bedroom and amazing bathroom. The villa was very bright and the ocean view captures your sense in any direction you look. This is because of the expansive floor to ceiling sliding windows which could be folded allowing for the whole villa to be open to the breathtaking view of the ocean. The deck is where we spend most of our day time in the villa and is really nicely designed and furnished including a traditional Maldivian swing, and a dedicated outdoor fridge. The swimming pool is massive and inviting. The house reef around the room was nice with many fish and corals. The only negative thing is the rocks around the water villa to protect from the waves. The food in the resort is of high quality and anything we desired was tailormade for us. The menus in the restaurants are only a suggestion which leads to any creations of requests you wish to have. We enjoyed all the restaurants in the resort which included Zeytoon (middle eastern), Ocaso (Japanese Peruvian), Thyme (all day dining), and Naiboli (main swimming pool). We also enjoyed the complementary lite bites and refreshments during sunset by the main pool. The spa is overwater and was really nice with many options and great experienced staff. The watersports options are numerous with many free activities plus some motorized adventures. During our visit it was under staffed and that created shortages in some durations where the service was not available. We also went on a sunset fishing excursion in a very luxurious yacht and was very nice and our catch was prepared for us at dinner. The whole staff are very helpful and what I liked most is that they give you space to enjoy your moments but will be near you the moment you need them.  The will try to accommodate any request. We also valued the very late checkout allowance from the management. The final morning of our last day we were transferred to a very large one-bedroom beach residence and we enjoyed it to the last minute before our seaplane which took us directly to male airport. The management were very careful in choosing the takeoff time of the seaplane so that we don’t spend much time waiting for our international flight at Male airport. I consider The Nautilus the best experience for me so far in the Maldives compared to five previous trips in five different five-star resorts. In summary, An amazing resort which I strongly recommend and would love to come...

The Nautilus Maldives is a dream come true. It’s a place where time truly stands still and the possibilities are limitless—nestled in the middle of the Indian Ocean surrounded by shades of turquoise and hues of brilliant blues and marine life that resides steps off of the brilliant white sand beaches. You have found yourself in a world of its own: The Nautilus. We went for our honeymoon and it was our first time in the Maldives and certainly won’t be our last. From the moment we arrived in the terminal in Malé, we were escorted by a Mercedes-Benz off the tarmac to a pristine CIP (commercially important person) lounge while our belongings went through customs. After a short wait, we left the lounge and then drove in the Mercedes-Benz to a place where the sea planes were docked to hop aboard a purple branded Nautilus sea plane, we were welcomed with warm smiles and waves by an incredible and diverse team of global citizens. Each interaction we had with the staff was equal parts professional and warm. The Housemaster (personal “butler”) concept is truly unique and an incredible offering to have a single point of contact who can assist with coordinating and managing your time at The Nautilus. Risan, our Housemaster is a true Ace. He knew every nook and cranny on the island and took care of us as though we were old friends. His professionalism, warmth and efficiency is truly unparalleled and he made our experience seamless, and a beautiful once in a lifetime experience. We had the good fortune to develop reports with many of the servers, exchanging stories and laughing throughout our entire stay. Get to know them, you won’t regret it—from Sri Lanka, to Bali, to Germany and Kazakhstan—you’ll meet people with stories that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. It’s a true reminder that people are what make life beautiful and that we really are a part of a greater collective. The Nautilus operates on the concept that time doesn’t exist and you can truly be who you are and show up as you are is an absolute treasure. Upon arrival, ditch the watch and put your phone on “Do Not Disturb,” and give yourself the present of true presence, take in the dolphins near the horizon and explore with the black reef tip sharks. The only aspect of time that exists is in the morning when a complimentary 8am yoga group session is offered. Spend your morning with yoga or a snorkel session around the beautiful Baa Atol (a UNESCO protected site) and see the breath of the marine life from manga rays, to baby black reef tip sharks) and then follow it with a beautiful breakfast. At Thyme, you will find “daily healthy shooters” (think ginger with carrot juice in a beautifully poured shot glass) with a wide variety of fruits, pastries, eggs and sushi; truly everything you’d want (or didn’t even know that you wanted). Take advantage of all the island has to offer, from jet skiing, to a private sand bank dinner (truly a once in a lifetime experience) and end your day at Naiboli with live music, complimentary sunset cocktails and canopies. There isn’t a request too silly (literally asked for pumpkin pie prior to our arrival as an homage to Thanksgiving—and it was wonderful). The Nautilus has three incredible restaurants and the ability to eat when you’re hungry from any of the menus present on the island (or if you have a craving—you can make a request). The Nautilus is a gift to all travelers looking to unplug, recharge and reconnect. We can’t...