Beachfront bliss at Outrigger Konotta Maldives

• andathousandwords
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One of the reasons I love Outrigger hotels, is that all its properties are oceanfront and designed to maximize enjoyment of everything the ocean offers. We recently enjoyed our second stay at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach in Hawaii and were very curious to experience the Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort, because the Maldives remain the ultimate ocean and beach destination.
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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One of the unique challenges all resorts in the Maldives are faced with, is actually getting their guests to the resort. With over 1000 islands and almost 200 resorts spread out over hundreds of miles, getting to the international airport at Male can turn out to be just half of the trip to your Maldivian resort. We were greeted at the terminal by by a friendly Outrigger staff member who immediately took care of our luggage, quickly brought us the the lounge, made sure we were comfortable and then proceeded to take care of our check in for the local flight.
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There is a huge advantage of being able to reach your resort, like the Outrigger Konotta Maldives, through a local flight instead of with a seaplane. While there are many flights throughout the day to Kaadedhdhoo, the airport of the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll on an island near the Outrigger, seaplanes only fly during the day. The downside of that is, since many international flights land in the evening, you are forced to stay an extra night near Male airport and continue to your resort the next day, adding an extra travel day at the expense of your real vacation days.
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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives
Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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Compare that to our experience getting to the Outrigger, from setting foot at Male airport and transferring quickly on a one hour flight to Kaadedhdhoo, where a friendly young man named Shimaau introduced himself as our butler for the duration of our stay, took care of our luggage and drove us on a golf cart down the street to a waiting speedboat. Less than half an hour later, we stepped off the speedboat onto the jetty of the Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort. It took about a minute for Shimaau to drive us on another golf cart to our beach villa. After getting refreshed and unpacked, Shimaau was kind enough to give us a full tour of the island. It is only then that we realized it is actually a very small island that you can walk around in less than 15 minutes! There’s just so much to experience that we could have easily spent a couple of weeks there, without ever getting bored.
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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ROOMTYPES // 
The primary reason why it never felt crowded on that small slice of paradise in the Indian Ocean, is simply that there are only 47 rooms at the Outrigger Konotta Maldives. Well, when I say rooms, I should say villas! We got to experience both the Beach Villa with Private Pool (2 nights), as well as the Overwater Villa with Private Pool (3 nights). We obviously saw other people at the restaurants and the main pool, but it appears as if many people enjoy off island experiences or stay at their own villa. Let me try and explain why that makes perfect sense…
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives

Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives

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BEACH VILLA // 
Our Beach Villa was enormous in size at almost 2300 square feet (over 210 square meters), with not just one, but two decks overlooking the ocean: one next to the private pool in the garden and another one just up the stairs, with its own outdoor showers and lounge area, providing a different perspective on the ocean. We loved that we could hop from our pool through the garden over the white sand beach into the ocean and back into the pool. The large garden provided lots of privacy and we really felt as if we were alone on our own private island. It was truly magical to enjoy an in-villa (or actually, in-garden) breakfast one morning, overlooking the white sand beach and bright blue ocean.
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives

Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives BeachvillaReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives

Review Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives

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I loved the interior a lot, in fact, were I ever to design a hotel room myself, I would definitely put a nice lounge sofa in there like we had in our Beach Villa at the Outrigger Konotta. The wine cooler and large minibar with coffee and tea area were very nice, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I what I enjoyed most were the surprise treats every night after turndown service: a tray with macarons, bonbons or delicious pastries. These thoughtful touches made sure we always ended our days at the Outrigger Konotta on the right note!
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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options breakfastReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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OVERWATER VILLA //
The Overwater Villa with Private Pool is perhaps the true Maldivian experience that most people think of when they plan a trip to the Maldives. The Outrigger Konotta has the largest Overwater Villas we have stayed at, with almost 2500 square feet (225 square meters). The bedroom is practically a ballroom, with a gorgeous round bathtub and a separate rainforest shower. The living room has the same large lounge sofa and dining area as the Beach Villa with the same amenities, but the Overwater Villa really shines when it comes to the outside area. The private pool and hammock on the sundeck were wonderful spots to marvel at the sea life in front of us. From dolphins to baby sharks and hundreds types of fish, the most amazing sea life was living right outside our villa! I shouldn’t forget to mention that the pool also made a great spot for a delicious floating breakfast.
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives Overwatervilla Floating BreakfastReview Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options breakfastReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives Overwatervilla Floating BreakfastReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives Overwatervilla Floating Breakfast
Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives Overwatervilla Floating Breakfast
Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives BeachvillaReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives Beachvilla
Review Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives Overwatervilla Floating Breakfast
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ECO FRIENDLY // 
Sustainability is a very important part of the Outrigger philosophy, so plastic is practically banned. Energy and water use are carefully tracked and shared with resort guests, even the amount of used coconuts is updated daily! The goal is clearly to educate guests in a friendly way, with the hope they will find the gained knowledge useful once they get home and put it to work there as well.

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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives Eco friendlyReview Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives Eco friendly

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FOOD // BREAKFAST
I loved the breakfast at the Outrigger Konotta. The cold items were displayed beautifully in a carefully selected buffet and all hot items were available to order a la carte. My favorite choice was the Eggs Benedict, which I ordered every day during our stay. An offering I also really enjoyed, although not every day, was the ‘create your own Bloody Mary’-station. Made from the freshest ingredients, I got a real kick trying to create the best Bloody Mary I could!
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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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POOL BAR //
I was amazed at the variety of dinner choices on a small island in the middle of the ocean. The Deck was undergoing a complete renovation during our stay so we couldn’t experience it, but as the name suggests the restaurant overlooks the ocean like a deck. It has since reopened and from all accounts offers an amazing view of the ocean, especially in the morning. The Pool Bar is the place during the day, for salads, sandwiches, wraps and burgers to be enjoyed around the pool, like in the lovely cabanas.
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Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives
Review Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta MaldivesReview Outrigger Konotta Maldives
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DINNER // BLUE SALT RESTAURANT 

Blue Salt restaurant is the primary restaurant with both indoor (for the ac lovers) and outdoor seating. It has many vegan options, so I went for the sweet potato and chickpea curry and it was delicious. After a few weeks of eating primarily seafood, the boyfriend opted for the lamb kebab and it was equally amazing. Another brilliant dish was the lamb pasta, I highly recommend it!
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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options breakfastReview Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options breakfast

Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives food options
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Another excellent restaurant is the Japanese Nala Rah, which has a teppanyaki setting and an intimate sushi bar. We really enjoyed the private dining setting on the beach, with a romantic candlelight set up for an exquisite dinner that was capped off by Executive Chef Chris Long’s signature dessert with no less than 10 types of chocolate, ranging from a chocolate mousse and chocolate crème brûlée to a white chocolate cheesecake and a chocolate fondant. It’s a lot of chocolate and it’s all good!
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RESORT EXPERIENCES //
There are countless activities to be enjoyed in and around the water, ranging from jet skiing, free windsurfing and obviously snorkeling and diving. A dolphin cruise is a must see activity in the Maldives and the full moon cruise and sunset fishing are on my to do list for our next visit, but we actually thoroughly enjoyed a boat ride. Not a regular boat ride, but a small boat with a below deck space where we could see marine life as if we were cruising in our own submarine.

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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives Submarine

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It was very cool to see the reef that we had snorkelled around earlier that day, but now from a completely different angle. The guide was very helpful, pointing out all the different fishes and coral life as we were cruising around the island.
An evening experience I really loved were the movie nights, watching classic movies under the stars on comfortable bean bags. I have to admit I skipped the gym, once again, and only dropped by the kids club to imagine how much fun it must be for kids to play there while their parents enjoy the island. I plan to definitely spend more time at the Navasana Spa next time, because the facilities, steam room and pool are wonderful!
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Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives Spa
Review Konotta Maldives Luxury hotel Maldives Spa
Review Outrigger Konotta Maldives Spa
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I already mentioned Shimaau at the beginning of this article and he deserves a lot of praise for taking such wonderful care of us. However, the entire staff at the Outrigger Konotta was very friendly and outgoing. I loved hearing staff members tell us about life on the various Maldivian atolls they were from, because as similar as the islands may appear in pictures, each atoll is different and I can’t wait to visit all of them! Similarly, all resorts are different and the Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort really stands out in customer service. Once again, Outrigger has stolen my heart.
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*Pressstay at Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort– Maldives
All photos are taken with the Canon EOS M5

OUTFITS //

Pink dress // by Tiare Hawaii
Red dress // by Tiare Hawaii
Black Maxi dress // Miss June
Black dress with golden details // Miss June
White swimsuit // by Maliluha swimwear
Necklace // by Aletheia & Phos
Sunnies // by Sienna Alexander Eyewear 
Hat // by Allphats 

 

36 thoughts on “Beachfront bliss at Outrigger Konotta Maldives”

  19. What I would give to visit the Maldives! It’s a place that’s on my bucket list, your photos are so gorgeous they have me looking forward to the day I get to explore this beautiful place.

    My Lovelier Days

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  20. All of your photos are so amazing, I wish I was in Maldives right now! 😀 I guess we will have to wait for this whole quarantine madness to be over so that we could enjoy traveling again. Adding this to my must visit list xx

    Naya
    http://www.nayatilly.com

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