Sooooo Mrs BTR and I took the plunge, smacked our bank balance for 6 and enjoyed theeeee most relaxing and beautiful holiday in the Maldives, Vellasaru Resort…….with no expense held back on as we are only going once right!
Arrival – We were met at Male airport by hotel reps, treated very well, and quickly taken to the boat for the 20-25 minute transfer to the island. Greeted by a welcome party on the island jetty and taken to reception by Katyha to finalise our stay, welcome us to the island and escort us to our water villa. Were met with refreshment drinks and a cold towel in reception - a very nice touch…..but expected at such a resort I suppose. Credit to Katyha for her amazing knowledge, welcoming demeanour and explanation of services once we got to our water villa and checking our bookings and activities. - Only very minor suggestion, to have our names on show at airport welcoming would have really added that personal touch?!
Water Villa - We were allocated water 307, sunset facing after requesting this approximately 10 months before, and being informed this was dependant on availability. Villas 307-309 I imagine have some of THE best views on the island - minimal obstructions and sunset facing. The villa was beautiful, great furnishings, well equipped and had direct access to the lagoon as well as a private pool. The cleaning staff were amazing and kept our villa clean every day, both morning and evening - the 3/4 guys were excellent. The villa and pool are obviously picture perfect, but a very minor improvement required in the near future is the private pool. Its starting to show its age slightly with a few small tiles missing, and also stones present all the way around the pool would look nicer and more attractive than the pool / water covering. This DOES NOT tarnish the experience at all, as it was beautiful and we loved spending time in our private pool morning, day and sunset.
Infinity / Main Pool, and Beach - A very beautiful and peaceful pool we chose to experience a couple of days, including our last. From some angles its seems as though the pool reaches the sea water, and if not the sand looks beautiful in between the pool and sea. The pool was a very nice cool temperature. We had drinks and food around the pool which were lovely and the staff were excellent - as were all around the resort. The beaches are beautiful to walk around at any time of the day - walk to breakfast, walk watching the sunset etc. We found the experience of being on this beautiful island was so unique, feeling detached from the world, being able to walk around the island in about 25 minutes and spend your whole holiday without shoes, even to dinner.
Restaurants / Food - We had an early tapas dinner at Chill Bar watching the sunset one evening (which was very nice - excellent halloumi) and also experienced Tepenyaki, Sands, Private Dining in the Sand and also Turquoise. Every meal was EXCELLENT except for the first night at Turquoise which was slightly disappointing - a couple of food requests were missed by the chef and the fish was over cooked and dry. However, every other meal was excellent including - Lamb Chops @ Sands, Curry @ Sands, The Prawns @ Tepenyaki, Satay Mix @ Beach Private Dining were all AMAZING! We would highly recommend the Satay Dinner private dining on the beach which involves your seat being dug out of the sand and sitting on the beach. Breakfast was of an excellent quality, and range of options being alternated each day. The view from the outside seats during breakfast was something special and worth it if your there early enough and able to deal with the heat while you eat.
Staff - ALL of the staff on the island are amazing, helpful, friendly and willing to give their all to make your experience the best possible - they could not be faulted in their conduct and experience with us.
A Small Issue - I had ordered a bottle of bubbly for the Tuesday as planning to propose Mrs BTR, in our pool, during sunset. I had requested that the resort place the bubbly in our room during the afternoon, with a card stating "it was a gift from Velassaru to celebrate our 6 year anniversary". However, there was no card, and I had to lie and then pretend to call reception "confirming it was a gift from them". Also, surprisingly the resort did not then mention anything, provide anything, do anything at dinner that night or the day after to recognise our engagement...........Until, (credit where credit is due) on our last night at Tepenyaki we were given a glass of sparkling and a cake celebrating our anniversary. A lovely touch from the resort, but just wish someone / concierge had done something on the night of our engagement, or day after.
Verdict - If you are looking for an island that is not 1/2 hours away from Male after your initial flight, and reasonably priced for the luxury experience you crave Velassaru is the place! We opted for an over water villa with pool, as thought we would only go once - you wont regret opting for one. Although you can see Male / Industrial buildings in the distance from some points of the island there are PLENTY of places to walk and view amazing water and nothing in the horizon. The beaches, spa, snorkelling, lagoon, water villa were all incredible and made our experience truly amazing!!
Only going to the Maldives once…….you must be joking – its like heaven on earth!