Despite my best efforts it will be impossible for this review to adequately describe the superlative nature of this establishment. Starting with the arrival process each and every moment of your experience (“stay” is an insufficient descriptor here) at Hadahaa is provided an incredibly balanced (not intrusive, but always available) level of service. We were met at the first available place beyond customs and immigration at Hadahaa airport by a Park Hyatt representative who immediately assisted with our luggage and escorted us to a VIP lounge on the domestic side of the Male airport. When you book a stay with Hadahaa they arrange for the domestic flight from Male south to Koodhoo airport which is part of the Huvadhu Atoll. The PH representative in Male makes seat reservations and ensures your luggage is checked in prior to escorting you to security about 45 min. prior to departure. When you leave PH Hadahaa this process is completed in reverse, essentially meaning that from the moment you step into the country of the Maldives until the moment you leave you have the assistance (when required) of a very helpful staff member of the hotel. After the approximately 45 min. flight south you are again met by hotel personnel at the Koodhoo airport and transferred a short distance to a pier where a fast and stable speedboat whisks you away (with ginger tea and sweet or salty snacks) to the island resort. As...Despite my best efforts it will be impossible for this review to adequately describe the superlative nature of this establishment. Starting with the arrival process each and every moment of your experience (“stay” is an insufficient descriptor here) at Hadahaa is provided an incredibly balanced (not intrusive, but always available) level of service. We were met at the first available place beyond customs and immigration at Hadahaa airport by a Park Hyatt representative who immediately assisted with our luggage and escorted us to a VIP lounge on the domestic side of the Male airport. When you book a stay with Hadahaa they arrange for the domestic flight from Male south to Koodhoo airport which is part of the Huvadhu Atoll. The PH representative in Male makes seat reservations and ensures your luggage is checked in prior to escorting you to security about 45 min. prior to departure. When you leave PH Hadahaa this process is completed in reverse, essentially meaning that from the moment you step into the country of the Maldives until the moment you leave you have the assistance (when required) of a very helpful staff member of the hotel.
After the approximately 45 min. flight south you are again met by hotel personnel at the Koodhoo airport and transferred a short distance to a pier where a fast and stable speedboat whisks you away (with ginger tea and sweet or salty snacks) to the island resort. As you and the other guests pull up to the island you are welcomed by a management team from the resort and taken immediately to your villa while the hotel staff unload your luggage which follows a short time later. It is impressive that the staff seems to already know who you are when you arrive.
The view of the island as you walk down the arrival dock is outstanding. The primary resort beach to the right is all beautiful, fine, white sand the provides a bright strip between the lush tropical foliage and the light to royal blue gradient of the gently breaking ocean. You can almost always see parrot fish and occasionally even one of the resident reef sharks as you amble along the dock.
Each villa at PH Hadahaa is unique in its setting. I don’t think there is a bad option in the lot. Some have more ocean exposure, while some have more privacy. They are kept in excellent condition given the remote location and natural elements constantly present at any seaside location. We stayed in a deluxe park pool villa which had absolutely breathtaking views of the Laccadive Sea beyond the infinity pool that stretched from the fully glassed front wall of the villa and a covered outdoor seating area just to the right. It was incredible!
The main room of the villa has all the amenities expected in a high end resort (terrific bed, additional lounge furniture, flat screen tv (we never bothered to turn on), iPad with the hotels services, menus, etc., large bathroom suite with his and her sinks both looking out onto an outdoor shower (there is also an indoor shower), tub, and garden area all with perfect privacy.
As we arrived in the early afternoon we walked over to check out the resort pool (though we never actually got in it because of the unparalleled views from our villas private pool!), bar, and dining areas. The resort has a main restaurant area (indoor/outdoor seating) that overlooks the beautiful main infinity pool which in turn looks out over the beautiful main beach on ocean. The bar is a separate covered area to the side of the main pool deck and provides access to a small path that leads to the south side of the main beach which looks towards the overwater villas in that direction. There is well designed, smart, and comfortable seating everywhere. While we visited Hadahaa in low season, even at high season, it is doubtful that you would ever have to “look for a seat”. In our case it seemed like we had the place virtually to ourselves except for at the prime meal times.
One of the many unique things about Hadahaa is that the resort has its own time zone. One hour ahead of Male time, this serves to maximize daylight hours for all of its guests and while not something most people would think about, it really does a huge service for visitors to the resort. We frequently awoke as the sun was painting the sky light pink and orange and breakfast was already available if desired. Dinner which begins at 7:30 always followed the sunset (around 7:15) and the resort tradition of drinks and canapés between 5 and 7 was one that we partook of daily with much delight.
Most high end hotels you visit will have a guest to hotel attendant of about 5:1 or greater. PH Hadahaa has that ratio nearly inverted. Because the Island is isolated and far from any population centers, the hotel makes its own water, electricity, self-provides its cleaning and grounds services, and has to carefully manage its food and beverage logisitics. The head chef Pablo gave us a terrific overview of this incredible process during a private dinner we had at the resorts Drift restaurant which is located along the water villa doc in the Hadahaa lagoon. It is absolutely incredible that the hotel provides an expansive, fresh and delicious menu (there were several items we wanted to try, but never got to even after a week at the resort) with only minimal supply supplements in between the 7-10 large restocking that comes by boat from Male. How they do this at the level and quality that they do really can not be over-appreciated.
Service at this resort comes from individuals who you meet, learn their name and see again and again throughout your stay. Our terrific villa attendant Aus came by twice daily to freshen up the villa, replace coffee pods, make the bed and generally keep things looking great. He left us with a terrific Happy Anniversary display on our 20th which was very cool!
The dining is run by a terrific Chef from Chile - Pablo Iametti. We first met Pablo at one of the signature dining options at the resort called the Drift - a semi-private dining experience overlooking the lagoon. We continued to see Pablo at various meals throughout our stay including an incredible 5 course dinner he created for our Anniversary dinner. You would never know that all of his meals are curated far in advance and require an incredible amount of logistics (the supply barge only comes once every 10 days!) - he makes it seem easy and was able to accommodate without difficulty our every culinary quirk.
Another unique part of PH Maldives is that it is a PADI certified dive center. My wife was able to complete her Advanced Open Water course and we both received our Enhanced Air Certification during our stay. The Dive Masters, including Aleksander and Hassan were terrific, knowledgeable, and super accommodating. Sharks, rays, turtles, and an abundance of tropical fish are daily fixtures when diving at this resort.
Finally, the administrative team led by Pravin Kumar has put together a terrific overall experience and they constantly check on your stay and ask if there is anything they can do to improve it. Our guest service liaison Ali did a remarkable job coordinating special dinner setups with changing weather patterns on a minute by minute basis over a couple of evenings and this was much appreciated.
The overall experience at PH Maldives ranks as one of our best ever and we hope to return when our travels take us back to this part of the world.More