The Maldives is a truly spectacular destination. While it’s a holiday location not exactly ideal for the highly budget conscious, a variety of different star resorts does offer most travellers a chance to taste its delights.

Here are a few things to consider when deciding on a Maldives resort:

• Determine what your budget is.
• Decide what you’re likely to be interested in. For instance, the Maldives is a great place for diving. Some resorts are also naturally better for divers than others. Further, some resorts offer a wealth of activities and entertainment while others are very chilled and offer fewer activities – perfect if you just wish to laze by the sand gazing at the crystal blue waters.
• Decide what type of package would be the best for you, as most resorts are quite pricey when it comes to food and drink. So, while a bed & breakfast package (room & breakfast only) may at first appear cheaper, after paying for all food and drink it may in fact be more expensive than an all inclusive package. Full board may be a good choice in many cases as all meals are provided, although the guest still has to pay for drinks (a good choice for those who do not drink too much alcohol). If on the other hand you enjoy a tipple or five then the All Inclusive option may well be the optimum package for you as drinks can be sinfully expensive at most resorts.
• Some resorts may cater to specific nationalities, for example predominantly Italian, German or Japanese clientele. This may be a problem if you like to mingle but are unable to speak the dominant language.
• Most resorts offer a wide range of accommodation types. Decide which of these is best for you. For example, a standard beach villa would be a few metres from the sea while a water villa is located in the waters itself. Water villas can be beautiful and offer the chance to see the marine life swim by while looking from the window, but they are considerably more pricey.
• Travellers with children should try and choose a resort with a kids club if possible.
• If you do wish to spend a day exploring the capital Male as an excursion then you may not want to choose a resort that’s not too far away.
• You may also want to consider what time of the year you’d like to go.  The optimum time with regards to weather is between December and April when there is the most sunshine and least rain.
• Some resorts may not offer a personal TV in the rooms. This is usually intentional to promote the “no news, no shoes” feel of the island!
• Romantics and honeymooners may find that some of the smaller islands are more cosy, intimate & quiet while the larger ones may have more of a party feel to it and be more crowded.
• And, don’t forget the “liveaboard” option - charter a yacht in the Maldives.

Making your travel and accommodation arrangements

There are many booking options available to the traveller to the Maldives. The operators we recommend are:

• Kuoni Travel. True specialists in beach and romantic holidays. They also provide very informative brochures which you can download for free.
• Booking Dot Com. They have a wide range of accommodation available. The website is easy to navigate and a useful feature is the “Recently Booked” column. Another useful feature is that you can see which hotels you have already looked at – a nice aid when you’re faced with a huge selection.
• Hotels Dot Com. They also offer wide range of accommodation. You can select by island (atoll) as well, and the information on each hotel is very detailed.
• TripAdvisor. Well known travel review site.
• Virgin Holidays. Great for specials.
• Responsible Travel. Not as broad a selection as the others, but a very interesting operator.  They focus very much on conservation and supporting local, and offer more than just routine holidays. Worth a look.
• Real Adventures.  Not the easiest website to navigate, but they offer some useful local tours – and some very unusual ones in other parts of the world.

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