The Park Hyatt Maldives is without a doubt one of the most pristine islands we have seen in the Maldives when it comes to a stunning, uninterrupted reef and natural surroundings. We were so excited to finally experience one of the top Hyatt properties around the world so read on to find out what to expect during your stay.

Location: 5/5

Park Hyatt Hadahaa is located in the deepest atoll of the Maldives, Gaafu Alifu in the south of the country. Due to its remote location and distance from Malé, Gaafu Alifu offers a number of properties that truly feel like you are on a castaway island. There is less boat and plane traffic than in some of the more populated atolls like Baa and Raa. Park Hyatt sits on a pristine and small natural island with a 360 degree reef that completely envelopes the island. When the property was built, the owners and developers managed to maintain the pristine reef by not digging out a channel for boats. This care for the reef and the age of the property have allowed marine life to flourish and grow over the years. From every corner of the property, you see dozens of sharks, large schools of fish and beautiful coral reefs blossoming. 

Due to the southern location of the resort, guests must take a domestic flight to Kooddoo Airport and are collected by the hotel in a speedboat. The entire journey takes approximately 1.5-2 hours after departing Malé. This tiny island is a true gem in the Maldives and the location is spectacular for divers, snorkeling enthusiasts and beach lovers.

Lobby & Check in experience: 4.5/5

Lobby and check in begins the moment you land at Velana International and are picked up by the staff of Park Hyatt. After clearing customs, you will enter into the main airport and there will be an agent with a sign for Park Hyatt. From there, you are taken to the domestic terminal lounge to relax in the shared lounge, Moonima. If you’ve read our blog posts before you will know that we have spent a lot of time in this lounge. While it’s nothing to write home about, they have the basic amenities of coffee, water, snacks, some food items and soft drinks. There is wifi and air conditioning as well. 

Once the flight is ready to board, you will be picked up from the lounge and taken to the departures area. After a 55 minutes flight south to Kooddoo, you will arrive at the domestic airport and collected for the final part of the journey: a boat ride. The resort is about 30 minutes from the airport by boat and while we arrived on a particularly rough day, we were still greeted with cold towels, water and juice. 

Once on property, you are welcomed with a delicious, beautiful welcome drink and taken to your villa by your butler for an in-room check in. While there is a guest service lobby, we never needed to go there thanks to the butler taking care of check in, check out and everything in between via whatsapp. Overall, the experience is excellent, efficient and smooth all around. We hope once the new domestic terminal in Malé is complete, that the resort will open a private lounge in the Malé airport to allow for a more exclusive experience. 

Rooms: 4.5/5

The resort features 51 villas and a 3-bedroom overwater residence. This boutique property is beautifully appointed and feels very intimate and small. The resort is split into beach villas and overwater villas. The beach villas are very private and enveloped by beautiful, lush foliage throughout. We were checked into a Deluxe Beach Pool Villa, one of the premier villas on property. The villa features over 2800 square feet of living space, including a stunning interior and even more impressive exterior pool deck. 

All the beach villas are beautiful mid-century modern structures with slanted roofs and floor to ceiling glass windows. Walking into the villa, you are greeted with dark wood features, tropical views and a modern, clean space. The large king bed is centered in the room and faces the exterior view. There is a sitting area with a bench and comfortable lounge chairs, as well as a desk built into the side wall. The minibar features an espresso machine, tea, soft drinks and snacks. Guests on a meal plan do have access to complimentary minibar items (non-alcoholic).

The bathroom features a large floor to ceiling glass window and door that makes the bathroom feel as though you are outside, even though you are perfectly situated in the air conditioning. There is a his and hers vanity, his and hers closet as well as an indoor shower and toilet room. Outside there is a bathtub and waterfall shower. We loved the bathroom setup and really enjoyed the outdoor shower. 

The exterior patio is expansive with a large pool with sunken sunbed deck as well as two large floating bean bags. The patio also features a large L-shaped sofa under a pergola and fan as well as a small dinette. We loved spending our evenings on the L-shaped sofa thanks to the airflow from the fan and the beautiful view. The outdoor area is spectacular. While our room, Villa 02, is not the most private due to its location near the jetty, it is one of the few rooms with an uninterrupted view of the lagoon and was worth the lack of privacy for this reason. 

Guests booking with Hyatt points will be limited to booking a beach villa and Globalists have the opportunity to upgrade to a Beach Pool Villa. If you are looking to book the Deluxe villa we were in, there may be an opportunity to upgrade with cash only.

We did also have the opportunity to tour an Overwater Pool Villa during our stay. The Overwater Pool Villa is a similar aesthetic to the Beach Villas and they are stunning. Broad, sweeping views of the ocean greets you immediately upon entering the room. The bathroom is a slightly different configuration and features an interior shower and bathtub, his and hers vanity and access to the balcony. The balcony features a small plunge pool, covered chaise lounges and a seating area for admiring the view. The overwater villas are not super private due to their angle on the jetty, but what they lack in privacy is made up for in stunning views and beautiful architecture. 

Overall, the rooms are stunning in their design and architecture and feature amenities one would expect from a luxury hotel. We absolutely loved the comfort of the beds, the serenity and zen energy the rooms exude and beautiful foliage surrounding them. 

Service: 4/5

Park Hyatt has an incredible amount to offer in the service department. Every villa does have a butler who manages your scheduled events and activities, room requirements and anything else you need during your stay. We had a lovely experience with our butler who was always around in case we needed anything and she was only 1 minute away at any given time to pick us up or respond to any questions we have. The butler also handles your in-room check in and checkout. 

Park Hyatt also offers twice daily housekeeping and while they did a thorough job, we felt they could improve in the timing of their services. At a property with only 50 villas and hovering around 30% occupancy, we were surprised that they did not aim to clean the room while guests were out, versus coming to the room every time we happened to be there. They did leave nightly treats like small cakes and cookies with notes about how they connected to Maldivian culture and that was always a real treat in the room.

Restaurant service was efficient, friendly and professional. There are a number of newer employees who are extremely motivated and excited about the opportunity to work for a great brand like Hyatt. It appears management is spending a lot of energy training the younger employees in high end service and it was clear that it was working well.

Overall, the service was good but lacks some refinement when it comes to a 5 star white-glove service experience. While guests are greeted with cold towels on arrival at the hotel, some of those small touches are missing from the rest of the experience, particularly around dining. With housekeeping’s poor timing and the lack of refinement in certain areas around the resort, we hope that the training we saw occurring brings that service to the next level.

Dining: 4.5/5

There are 2 main restaurants on property with a few additional options available including a specialty Asian restaurant and some private dining experiences. We had the chance to dine at their two main venues:

The Dining Room

The Dining Room is the main outlet on property and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served a la carte and buffet and guests on any meal plan can order from the a la carte menu as well as indulge in the buffet. We loved the fresh juices that were also included, delicious coffee beverages and delicate breakfast dishes. 

Lunch is served a la carte and features a wide variety of options, including American-style sandwiches and salads as well as pastas, fish meat and more. We enjoyed the fish and chips as well as the club sandwich, which were sizable portions. Dinner is also served a la carte and features primarily Asian cuisine as well as fresh fish and meat. The fish was fantastic and most of the menu was available on the meal plans.

There is a large wine list and cocktail list that is the same across the property. The cocktails were not as strong as one would expect for the price point so we typically ordered wine for meals. Mocktails are included in the meal plans and they are fantastic. 

The Island Grill

The Island Grill is a beautiful dining outlet with sand floors and comfortable seating throughout. The Grill features delicious seafood and meat dishes with delicate flavors. There are some items not available with meal plans, but most of the menu is available and we greatly enjoyed the steak in particular. 

Seafood Market Night

The resort offers guests a special “seafood market” once per week and it’s an incredible experience. Tables are set at the edge of the water overlooking the overwater villas and guests can select from an array of seafoods and meats that are cooked to order. The lobster, octopus and fresh fish was delicious and cooked to perfection. Sitting under the stars was a magical experience and we highly recommend this as a dining option for any traveler.

The Bar

The bar is located next to the pool and main restaurant and serves light food throughout the day. We enjoyed lunch at The Bar one day and loved the vibe, sitting on a comfortable swing overlooking the lagoon. We saw many guests enjoying a post dinner drink at the bar as well.

The resort does offer some private dining experiences as well as a small Asian restaurant, Koi at The Drift. While we did not get to try these experiences this time, we hope to test them out on our next visit. Overall, the dining experiences were excellent and we enjoyed the fresh flavors and numerous options.

Facilities: 4.5/5

Park Hyatt is a peaceful, relaxing property that focuses on marine exploration and relaxation. We had the opportunity to experience some of the highlights on property and we absolutely loved it. 

The spa is a beautiful facility in the center of the island that features a large pool and jacuzzi that is open to any guest, even without a spa treatment. This is a great pool to relax at before or after your spa treatment. The spa features 5 spa suites that all have private relaxation areas within the suite. We had a wonderful signature massage treatment and can highly recommend the quality of the treatments. We would recommend booking the private bath experience to take advantage of the full features of the spa suite.

The fitness center is located next to the spa and features two separate workout rooms, including one cardio focused room and one weights focused room. The machines are high quality, clean and modern. The fitness center is open 24 hours and is a great retreat from the sun. 

The main pool and beach area is a beautiful, luxurious space with wonderful views of the lagoon. There are always towels waiting for guests at the pool and there is beach and pool service available. It was very quiet at the pool throughout the day and is a nice place to relax if you’re looking to hang out in the sun away from your villa. 

The marine activities center is a focal point of the property and offers scuba diving, snorkeling and excursions. We had the chance to experience a guided house reef snorkeling session with the marine biologist and it was a great experience. The house reef at Park Hyatt is spectacular and runs the entire circumference of the island. The house reef has incredible marine life and you don’t even have to go very far to experience it. The marine biologist showed us different types of corals and fish during the snorkel and told us where to go on our own later to experience the best of the reef.

Overall, the facilities that Park Hyatt offers are excellent.  They do not offer many complimentary activities beyond a yoga class or a meditation class and we feel for a small island, they could benefit from offering some additional activities like cooking classes or fitness classes for guests. If you’re looking for relaxation, sea life exploration and luxury, this would be a great property for you. 

Style: 5/5

Park Hyatt is an incredibly beautiful resort with stunning architecture, dark wood accents and facilities that perfectly blend into the environment. Every seating area is lush, comfortable and luxurious throughout the property. There is a feeling of zen across the island and it felt like a true retreat from the world. Management has mastered the vibe of the island with relaxing music and beautiful decor. The island feels like James Bond’s luxury vacation retreat and we loved it.

Overall: 4.6/5

Park Hyatt is a fantastic resort that offers guests a very calm, relaxing vacation. If you are into scuba diving and marine life and looking for a retreat from the world that allows you to fully relax, this is a great option for you. At 30,000 Hyatt points per night, this is also one of the best points redemptions you will find in the portfolio. We can’t wait to return to this true gem in the Maldives.