After starting our trip to the Maldives on a small island, we spent the second half of our trip at the luxury resort Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Looking out the window of the seaplane before we landed, it was easy to spot the three beautiful islands that make up the resort. One island houses staff buildings and utilities, the main island has most restaurants and entertainment activities and the third island has most of the exclusive overwater villas. A picture perfect reef surrounds the all islands and makes them look like a scene from a postcard.

You can call a driver in a golf cart 24 hours a day to get around and there is a cute wooden ferry, that shuttles guests between the two main islands from early morning until late at night. I enjoyed walking across the bridge while keeping an eye out for the manta rays that often swim by there late at night.

We stayed in a beach villa on the main island for a few nights, before moving to an ocean villa for the last nights on the smaller island. There is something to be said about the pleasure of having your own stretch of beach in front of your room, but for me, nothing beats the sound of the ocean below the sundeck of an ocean villa. There is something truly magical about being able to go swimming within a few steps of your bed. Opening the curtains in the morning and seeing nothing but crystal clear blue ocean in front of me as far as I could see, is a sight I will never forget as long as I live. As our whirlpool on the terrace faced West, the sunsets were also memorable.

It suffices to say that the villas are just spectacular. There is every amenity that you can think of, with a glorious bed and the perfect bathroom, bath and shower to complete the entire luxury and pampering experience. Still, the one thing that stuck out was the high quality service we received throughout our stay. The staff, from the team at the spa to the waiters in the restaurants and the entire crew at all the activities, were incredibly polite, knowledgeably and above all, friendly! As a perfume lover I kept noticing how nice they also smelled, which kept amazing me at the tropical temperatures. I am convinced there is some sort of Conrad policy, a special detergent and a sweet body lotion that make the entire team smell like sweet tropical flowers! All this happiness does come at a price, which is why I expected to only see honeymooners at Conrad Rangali. I was wrong. I even met an older couple that had been there more than 10 times and keep coming back!

I am going to dedicate a separate blogpost to the absolutely brilliant food at the Conrad Rangali, for now it suffices to say that there are a dozen outstanding restaurants at the Conrad and we tried as many as was humanly possible. We were very lucky to be there when French Michelin-starred Chef Stéphane Gaborieau was on the island so we could enjoy his mouthwatering 8-course tasting menu. We had French, Chinese, Italian, Japanese dinners and lunches and my favorite: Mendhoo restaurant’s expansive menu of healthy options. Another notable experience was the cocktail moment at the world’s first glassed undersea restaurant Ithaa. Staying with the underground experience theme, wine lovers will rejoice at the 20,000 different wines from 1400 labels at the underground wine cellar.

If you follow me on Instagram and Snapchat, you probably noticed that I took a sunset dolphin cruise and also spent a lot of time snorkeling again… I loved it, but I have to admit that the food and spa options are the things I think of first, everytime I glance over my pictures or talk about the Maldives. If you’re into diving or fishing, there are numerous diving and fishing options that range from a quick trip to a full tour on a private boat.

I am also working on a separate blogpost about the spa experiences at the Conrad Rangali. There are no less than two full spa’s on the island, the Spa Retreat and the Over-Water Spa, each with its own signature and style.

All in all, the exclusive Conrad Rangali is a true premium destination that offers a magnificent experience. You can not help but feel privileged that you can spend time at such a magical place on the planet.

CAMERA // All my own pictures are made with the Canon 750D + Lens: 18-135mm & 50 mm F1.4

For more information about Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, visit the website here

Love,
Merel