JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa
Children under twelve stay and eat free.
Shaviyani AtollSeaplane
Sixty villas, each with a private pool and butler service, on Vagaru Island in the far north. Children under twelve stay free and eat from the kids' menu, and in the green season the same villa comes to about a third less.
Grand Park Kodhipparu
A spa treatment for every adult, in the price.
North Malé AtollSpeedboat
Each adult gets a 50-minute spa treatment, with a sunset cruise and a shisha evening at Breeze. A lifestyle host checks you in at your villa. The Beach Club holds the kids' club, gym and games room, and Firedoor is the steakhouse to book ahead.
Kuda Villingili Resort Maldives
A 150-metre pool and a surf break at the door.
North Malé AtollSpeedboat
Every villa has its own pool, and the central pool runs 150 metres. Chicken's Break brings the surfers from May to October. Mar-Umi cooks Japanese and Peruvian, and children up to eleven eat free from the kids' menu.
Amilla Maldives
Villas of 220 square metres and up.
Baa AtollSeaplane
Every villa has its own pool, and the smallest runs to 220 square metres. East cooks Indian, Chinese and Thai every night, the kids' club takes ages 4 to 12, and a doctor lives on the island.
Baros Maldives
A private island since 1973, small on purpose.
North Malé AtollSpeedboat
Three restaurants and two bars on a small, round coral island. Dinner at the Lighthouse is the one to book. Children must be eight or over, and there is no kids' club, which keeps it quiet.
Canareef Resort Maldives
A WWII wreck you can swim inside.
Addu AtollDomestic flight + speedboat
Addu has more than twenty-five dive sites, a year-round manta station and the British Loyalty, a wartime tanker. Every villa sits on the sand along 4.5 km of coastline, and a dolphin-watching trip comes with the stay.
ananea Madivaru Maldives
Nine restaurants across two islands.
North Ari AtollSeaplane
Two islands joined by an overwater walkway, 109 villas each with its own pool, and a nightclub. Asian Food Street runs four kitchens, Maldivian, Thai, Korean and Indian, so a proper Indian dinner is never a grudging one. Kandu Spa is on the island too.
Jawakara Islands Maldives
Two islands, one 650-metre bridge.
Lhaviyani AtollSeaplane
Mabin is the busy island, with a golf course, padel, tennis, pickleball, futsal, Sulha Spa and a kids' club that runs all the way to seventeen. Dheru is the quiet one, and its water villas are for guests aged twelve and over.
Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas
Dinner under the sea, on the island's own reef wall.
Baa AtollSeaplane
SEA, the underwater restaurant, is one of five on a quiet island built around food, alongside FIRE, SPICE, Manzaru and Plates. Every villa has its own pool, there is a cooking class, and the kids' club takes ages 4 to 12.
Milaidhoo Maldives
Fifty villas, and nobody under eight.
Baa AtollSeaplane
A small, quiet island. The water villas are 245 m² with a 42 m² pool, among the largest one-bedroom villas in the Maldives. A 24-hour island host, yoga most mornings, and Ba'theli, which serves family-style to share.
Gili Lankanfushi Maldives
Forty-five villas, and every one over the water.
North Malé AtollSpeedboat
There is no beach villa at any price. The Sunset Crusoe Residence stands alone off the island, reached by boat. Every adult gets a treatment at Meera Spa, and on Sunday nights a tandoor fires up at the Overwater Bar for Indian night.
The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort
A pool with every one of 69 villas.
Baa AtollSeaplane
Sixty-nine villas inside the Baa Atoll UNESCO biosphere, each with its own pool. Two children up to fifteen stay and eat free, unusually generous for the Maldives, in a twin-bedded Family Beach Villa built for them. The Christmas Eve dinner is optional here, which is rare.
OBLU Xperience Ailafushi
A restaurant built under the lagoon.
North Malé AtollSpeedboat
A big, lively island of 268 rooms and villas, with a live band or DJ at the pool bar every night and a kids' club with its own pool. A bridge joins it to OBLU SELECT Lobigili, its adults-only sister.
Emerald Faarufushi Resort & Spa
Eighty villas, four places to dine each night.
Raa AtollSeaplane
Dinner is your pick of AQUA, The Carnivorous, Le Asiatique or The Mediterraneo, with the vegetarian buffet and Indian menu at AQUA. The Dolphin Kids Club takes ages 3 to 12, and a dolphin trip or sunset fishing comes with the stay.