JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa

The experience at JW Marriott was great and we were impressed with both the service and the facilities. Our housekeeper Shamil's meticulous care made our trip happier. Will choose here again next time!

Nice hotel and service are good

The Maldives is a nation of over 1,000 islands and atolls spread out across 90,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean. Visiting any of its resorts requires flying into Malé, the Maldavian capital island and then taking separate transportation, usually via seaplane or speedboat, to the resort itself. For most of the Maldives resorts, once you’ve made a reservation, the resort takes care of all the pre-arrival logistics so that you don’t have to worry about anything. The JW Marriott Maldives was no exception, confirming our seaplane bookings on our behalf and having staff members at the International Airport to take care of arriving and departing guests. Upon arrival into Male, our JW Marriott hosts took our passports and completed check-in with Trans Maldivian Airways on our behalf. After check-in was complete and we had our boarding passes in hand, we boarded the JW Marriott private transport and driven across the airport towards the dedicated lounge facilities for guests who are awaiting their seaplane journey. Along the way, the driver let us know there was complimentary wifi onboard, the first of countless acts of going the extra mile service that we experienced on this trip. We were invited to make ourselves comfortable for the 30-minute wait before it would be time to board the seaplane. The JW Marriott Maldives, which completely encompasses Vagaru island in the remote Shaviyani Atoll, is a spectacular 50 minute seaplane ride and has to be one of the highlights of your holiday. It has to be said, that hotels here are very few and far between, so there’s pretty much uninterrupted views without another island in sight. This island won’t disappoint, with its amazing pure white sandy beaches and electric blue waters, plus, seclusion and serenity are the signature offering here! Vagaru island was a former resort adopted by JW Marriott with the designers having to work around many of the existing buildings. The result is a quirky take on a contemporary style with natural elements. All 60 villas have been designed from the outside to mimic the lines of a traditional Maldivian Dhoni boat. Each has a decent sized outdoor deck as well as a private pool. We booked the duplex villa option which gets a separate second en-suite room. This worked particularly well as we were travelling with two kids and gave us all our own space. Villas are categorised by their sunrise or sunset views and you can choose between overwater or beach, although do note, the overwater villas are set along quite a lengthy jetty. These villas also have bathrooms that overlook the walkway, so you will need to drop the blinds for privacy. For those staying in overwater villas which do not have the direct beach access, there are a plenty of designated sun lounger spots. The JW caters very well for both families and couples alike. There’s a large T-shaped family pool and then a separate pool called Pool 18, designed for adults-only. Pool 18 reaches out over the sea with am

Very poorly managed resort. Totally dilapidated and not maintained. The wood panels are falling off the villas, the decking has not been maintained and you can easily hurt yourself as it is full of splinters and shards. The metal ladders that goes into the sea is so thin it hurts yourself going in and out of the water and it is bent and dangerous. I am guessing the resort manager probably does not know how to swim so he thinks people should not be swimming here too. 0 attention to detail. No idea of maintenance. The sea has rocks and is shallow even at high tide and there is strong currents. This part we can forgive as it is just the nature I guess. But there are much better resorts out there. Nothing to do at the island. They give you no bikes. So you are trapped in your room and the restaurants. The Indian food and Maldivian food taste good. The rest of the food - Western is tasteless and not prepared properly. We ordered all of their dishes almost to get a taste, everything overall was good. But ceviche was not a ceviche, it was some kind of a supermarket coleslaw mixed with some kind of fish. For a resort claiming to be a luxury resort not acceptable. I would still rate the food better than the other resorts, the Indian options kind of save this one. The service at the restaurant is terrible. They don’t clean the tables on time so when you arrive it first of all looks unwelcoming with really cheap furniture, dark colors and looks messy and disorganized. It feels like a third world cafeteria, not a luxury resort. Shameful for Marriott. The cheap owner of the resort saved money on tables, they look like the same kind of tables I saw at a casual tea garden in Pakistan not what you would expect from a so-called luxury resort. When you see this kind of experience it makes you think how much you are being had as you are being charged 30-40 dollars for a basic salad. Not a good experience. The glasses, the tables were dirty and they could not properly even serve. And people don’t know how to serve anything they keep asking you if the food is good etc… it gets really tiring. I am posting the picture of how they showcase salmon at breakfast. I guess it costs so much to import it, they want you to see it but not eat it. And it is not served on ice. In this kind of tropical hot weather not how you serve salmon. The breakfast also only goes on until 10 am. So you need to wake up early as if you are going to work to rush to breakfast … not luxurious. The other resorts go until 11. If you want the breakfast to be delivered to your room they charge 27 dollars. In other resorts it is free. So you have to wake up and go to the dirty cafeteria. Sorry, but it looks quite terrible. Like a cafeteria nothing more. Nothing luxurious about it. Island time… they add +1 hour to the schedule so they can put you to bed early to cut the day short. If you are not the kind that wakes up early terrible resort to be at as you are being imposed a day tha

Our overall experience was exceptional. Our extremely knowledgeable Butler Naajah assisted with every request, he offered a genuine smile and was always good conversation. We visited every single food outlet on the property as our visit was around 10 days. The Italian restaurant- fiamma was really good for lunch Helpful waiters Zaheer, Nazlaan Was attentive, and helpful not to mention the foods options was great. We did Isla for dinner Waiter Nabeel and Vino definitely stood out with their knowledge and genuine enthusiastic personality. Towards the end of my trip I sadly fell and broke my finger. Although it was extremely unfortunate the staff was incredibly helpful throughout this process of sending me to the hospital for X-rays. The onsite clinic was well kitted made me feel at ease. A big thanks for Ali captain Zuney captain Swathi nurse Vishnu you are one of a kind. Your kind gentle soul will forever be remembered. Thank you for your classes and amazing service. Probably one of the most beautiful vacations we’ve been on. The highlight being the staff on the resort.