We have been recommending the Pullman Maldives resort for a few years thanks to an ongoing amazing deal on Luxury Escapes. As an Accor hotels property, we had always felt confident in the quality based on our experience in the Gaafu Alifu atoll of the Maldives. We were so excited to finally have a chance to experience the resort for ourselves and bring you the details you have all been looking for. Read on to find out what we loved about Pullman. 

Location: 5/5

Pullman is located in Gaafu Alifu atoll, the deepest atoll of the Maldives. With its depth brings incredible marine life, plenty of fantastic reef sharks and beautiful islands. Located a 1-hour domestic flight from Malé, Pullman sits on a beautiful natural island with beautiful, lush foliage, sand walkways and stunning beaches. The property is quite large at 18 hectares and even has one of the only natural lakes in the Maldives. 

The natural beauty of Pullman extends from its lush tropical foliage into the beautiful clear waters where guests can snorkel and enjoy some of the best marine life in the Maldives. 

Lobby & Check in experience: 3/5

Lobby and check in in the Maldives begins long before you step foot onto the resort itself. When you fly into Malé at Velana International Airport, you are greeted by a Pullman representative and taken to the domestic terminal. The representative takes you to the shared VIP lounge (also accessible on Priority Pass) to wait until the check in time for the flight to Kooddoo. From there, the representative assists all the arriving guests with checking into their luggage to the flight and then you are taken back to the lounge to wait until boarding.  

There were a few failure points during the initial experience, including the representative only being there for part of the experience. While he did assist everyone with check in and sent us back to the lounge, he never actually came back for us at boarding, resulting in all 10 of us almost missing the flight since we sat there waiting. From what other guests had described on property, that was the general experience for most people so be sure you know what time your flight is boarding so you have ample time to get through security and board your flight.

The flight itself is approximately 55 minutes and you are then greeted by another Pullman representative and taken to a waiting lounge to await the 20-minute boat ride to the resort.  The waiting lounge does have A/C but they did not offer water or cold towels during the 25 minute wait. Approximately 25 minutes later you are transferred to the boat and taken to the resort. From there, you are taken via buggy in groups to a short tour around the property and checked into your room. 

Overall, the experience was quite long and there were some missing elements that make a true five star experience. Every guest we spoke to on property had the same experience, where the wait in Malé was between 5-6 hours before arriving at the resort. Adding half a day to your arrival at the resort is a lot to ask when there are multiple flights that took off before our allocated flight. It seemed to be the general trend regardless of the time of day that you arrive in Malé. We also feel they missed the mark on providing water or snacks along the way, particularly in the arrivals area of Kooddoo airport where we did end up having to wait again.

Rooms: 4.5/5

The rooms at Pullman are fantastic. Even the most basic Beach Villa sits at over 2,000 square feet with beautiful indoor and outdoor living spaces.

We had the opportunity to stay in an Ocean Pool Villa facing a direct sunrise view. At 1,775 square feet, the pool villa features a stunning, private outdoor patio as well as a bedroom and outdoor bathroom. As you enter the villa through a private gate, you access the outdoor covered patio complete with an L-shaped sofa and comfortable sitting chair. The pool extends outwards towards the view and has two comfortable chaise lounges next to it with an umbrella. There is a small dinette outside next to the outdoor shower and access via ladder to the lagoon. 

The interior of the villa features beautiful warm colors with a king bed facing the view. There is a glass bottom floor with a view of the fish next to an inset sofa and coffee table. The bathroom is broken up by the interior closet and vanity station and the exterior space featuring a his and hers vanity, soaking tub and indoor and outdoor shower.  My favorite feature of the interior was the corner window with floor to ceiling windows facing the beautiful lagoon.

The minibar is included in the all-inclusive package and features a bottle of Tini white wine, Tini red wine, beer, soft drinks, water and a few snacks. There is even a “chocolate drawer” with toblerone and Lindt chocolate bars. 

We also had the opportunity to spend a night in one of the two Aqua Villas. The Aqua Villas are the underwater suites that feature an above-water suite with a king bedroom, full separate living room, large primary bath, outdoor patio with pool as well as the underwater bedroom. At 1,219 square feet, the room is impressive on its own but is truly magical below the lagoon.  The underwater bedroom is stunning with a small coral garden that attracts a variety of fish including lion fish, sharks and tropical reef fish throughout the day and night. 

The resort does sell this suite on their website, but guests can also upgrade to the suite for an evening for around $1300 per night. This is a great option if you are looking to do something special beyond a traditional romantic dinner setup. We had an incredible time experiencing all the sea life and we tried as hard as we could to stay up all night to see what came by our glass wall.

The rooms are incredibly unique and modern across the board. Pullman has done an excellent job in the design and comfort of the rooms, whether you are in a basic beach villa or one of the higher tiered suites. There were a few minor areas we would love to see fixed over time, mainly around lighting in the rooms not being the most intuitive. For instance, the glass bottom floor light does not have a switch, but is controlled remotely and not turned off until after 2am. We did put a towel down over the glass bottom floor, but it would be nice for the hotel to either enable guests to turn the light on or off, or have housekeeping put down a small rug or covering during turndown.

Service: 3.5/5

Pullman is an all-inclusive property and it truly is incredibly flexible in its offering to guests. From complimentary and unlimited access to a la carte restaurants to added bonuses like 2 hours of complimentary Shisha at Saffron Affair, there are a lot of very positive service-related experiences at Pullman. 

There is twice daily housekeeping service for all rooms in the morning and in the evening. The housekeeping was not very detailed or particularly attentive, missing key details of the room. There appears to be very specific checklists for things to pay attention to, but if anything was wrong outside of that checklist, they did not take action on those items. For example, one of our curtains was broken the first day, and instead of fixing the curtain, they simply attempted to close it, which resulted in half the curtain being stuck and hanging low from the ceiling.  We saw this type of mindset across much of the property, indicating a service training issue that we hope management addresses with time.

Similarly bar service was a big sticking point. The pool par generally had weak and very bland drinks, whereas the drinks at Phat Chameleon were fantastic. When we inquired about the pool bar drinks, we were informed that the staff were told to make them weaker to discourage people from getting “too drunk”. It seemed like a strange directive that perhaps was either misunderstood or miscommunicated. 

The dining staff were lovely and the highlight of our stay. They were always friendly, attentive and helpful. They provided recommendations of what we might like and it felt like they genuinely were excited to be there.

Dining: 4/5

Pullman features 1 all-day dining buffet restaurant and 2 a la carte dining options. The food was generally delicious and fresh across the board and there was a heavy emphasis on healthy, light and refreshing meals. Here is the breakdown for all the restaurants:

Melange

Melange is the all-day dining venue open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On our first night, we had dinner at Melange because they informed us that all the restaurants were full (questionable). The dinner buffet was not particularly good and we were a bit concerned that first evening. However, the breakfast buffet is fantastic. Quite the opposite of the dinner buffet, breakfast was fresh, tasty and featured a lot of variety. 

Sol Rising

Sol Rising is split between Sol Rising and Souq Oven. Sol Rising is open for breakfast and features a great a la carte option for diners. The menu is almost entirely vegetarian and features healthy, fresh juices, delicious egg dishes and different vegetarian and gluten free options. The service is quite slow so count on a 1+ hour breakfast.

Souq Oven

Souq Oven is open for lunch and dinner and features a variety of Italian dishes. We loved coming here for lunch thanks to the delicious salads, pizzas and pastas. The menu is different for dinner, which features specialties like lamb shank, fresh fish and more. We loved the setting over water and the excellent service for lunch and dinner.

Phat Chameleon

Phat Chameleon is a vegetarian, vegan restaurant set amongst the chef’s garden. It features a truly delicious menu and was a very high end dining experience. We are not vegetarian or vegan, but had a delicious and filling meal. The cocktails at Phat Chameleon were outstanding as well as the fresh food. This restaurant is a must-do when you stay on property. While you won’t find any meat on the menu, you will find delicious creamy pastas and dishes.

Pool bar at The Hub

The pool bar serves all day snacks and bites and does offer pool chair service. The food is primarily sandwiches, salads (delicious caesar) and fried treats. We had lunch at our pool chairs several days and really enjoyed our meal. We did stick with beer and wine since the cocktails were watered down and bland. 

Saffron Affair

Saffron Affair is the overwater bar that is open in the afternoons into late night. They serve some snacks, but focus primarily on cocktails and drinks as well as hosting complimentary shisha daily from 3-5pm. In the evening, they typically have a DJ inside Saffron Affair which is great for the late-night guests and does not disrupt any of the rooms. We loved spending the evenings at Saffron Affairs and sitting in the overwater hammocks for sunset.

Room service & special in-room dining

The resort does offer chargeable room service as well as chargeable experiences like floating breakfast. We did have the chance to partake in the floating breakfast and it was lovely! The food was delicious and you can select from a variety of menus that suit your needs. If you are in a sunrise facing room, the best time for breakfast is around 8am.

All of the bars and restaurants have the same beverage menus. We would love to see them incorporate signature drinks at each dining venue to spice up the options a bit. Also, it is required to have reservations at any a la carte dining restaurant for dinner. I would recommend going to the restaurant directly to make reservations as the front desk often said the outlets were full, when in reality they sat very much empty. It seemed much easier for guests to make reservations at the restaurants themselves. If you do arrive on night 1 and are told the dining outlets are full and you must go to the buffet, I would recommend checking around at the restaurants first just in case there is an open slot. This will no doubt be tougher in high season, but worth checking in case guests abandon their reservations in favor of room service.  That being said, the dining options were excellent and we did love the variety in health-focused options across the board. 

Facilities: 4.5/5

Pullman has everything guests could want and expect from a tropical vacation in the Maldives. Clean, plentiful and modern perfectly describes the variety of facilities available. Here’s what you can expect:

Fitness center

The fitness center sits across from the main activities hub in the center of the island. It isn’t large, but does have a good assortment of cardio machines and weight-focused machines. We saw many guests enjoy the fitness center and it never felt particularly crowded.

Golf simulator, karaoke & game room

Across from the fitness center is the activities hub that features a foosball table and some games as well as the karaoke room and golf simulator room. These are complimentary to enjoy and on a rainy morning we took some swings at the golf simulator, which was a blast. This is a great place to hang out on a rainy day. This area is also where you can rent bicycles which are chargeable.

Spa

The spa is overwater and features beautiful overwater treatment rooms and a wide variety of treatments. Guests who stay more than 4 nights are entitled to a 45 minute spa treatment. We did get to experience this massage and it was lovely. While we feel it would be more of a value add if they included a full 1-hour massage, it was a nice treat and entry point to the spa. You can also add time at an additional charge, which we would recommend doing.

Dive Center 

The dive center has a number of options for guests who both want to learn to dive or are already certified. We did get to experience a night dive thanks to the voucher for guests spending 4+ nights and it was amazing. The prices are reasonable and the more dives you do, the cheaper it becomes. Note that they do also offer a complimentary intro session in the pool at 5pm.

Watersports 

Guests have access to complimentary non-motorized watersports like paddle boarding and kayaking and the center is located next to the main pool at The Hub. The watersports center also offers chargeable motorized watersports like jetskis and we used one of our vouchers for jetskiing and it was so much fun! The jetskis are super fast. Be sure to book your experiences early to make sure there is space. 

Culture week 

The property does offer a variety of different cultural event weeks for guests to experience more of the Maldivian culture. We happened to be there during Art Week and had an amazing experience learning about Maldivian textiles and woodwork.

Overall, the resort has a lot of facilities for guests to access and you can be as bored or busy as you’d like to be. There are also a variety of complimentary fitness classes like yoga and aqua aerobics. It’s an overall very friendly, social resort with a lot of daily events and entertainment. The evening entertainment was great and plentiful. We feel this is a good resort for guests looking for a lively and entertaining holiday. 

Guests staying 4+ nights are entitled to certain additional benefits like the complimentary jetskiing or 1-tank dive as well as a spa treatment. You can use the coupons for a wide variety of experiences, making it a very flexible option for guests. 

Style: 5/5

Pullman truly nailed the style when they built the resort. The clean, modern buildings, lush tropical foliage and beautiful rooms are exceptional and we cannot fault them for the design choices they have made. There are so many comfortable spaces to hang out and relax, both as a couple and as a group. The privacy of the rooms, the comfort of the dining outlets and stylish bars make for a chic, instagrammable vacation in the Maldives.

Overall: 4.2/5

Overall, we absolutely loved our experience at Pullman. We have been recommending this resort for years and will absolutely continue to do so, particularly with the value of the offer on luxury escapes that has been consistently bringing them new business. While there are certainly areas that, if fixed, would bring them to a five star experience, the price is frankly unbeatable for the quality of the resort.