Pullman Maldives All-Inclusive Resort

Well. Wow is all I can say. We'd read a few reviews beforehand on trip advisor that gave the resort a lower score for a number of reasons - the odd ripped or slightly faded sunlounger cushion. Room service was extra $$ and you had to pay for Bike rental about $10 per day, which made me a bit nervous. But frankly, if you go to The Pullman and you're finding problems, that says more about you than it does about the resort. Location So, for us the location of the island being right at the South was a positive. It meant that we were far away from the hustle and bustle of Male and, more importantly the snorkling, diving and Sealife was unbelievable and undisturbed. However, it is a bit more logistically painful to get there as you have to take a connecting flight on a little plane, but not a sea plane. Feels a bit like the start of Jurassic Park. But as long as you are fine with that, the seclusion of the South Atols was worth it. Accommodation We stayed in a Water Villa for the first 6 nights and a Beach Villa for the last 6 nights. We preferred the Water Villa largely because it felt slightly cooler being sat outside and, if you are prone to getting bitten by bugs, you're furthest away from the bugs you get on the beach villa. It was also just awesome to look through the glass flooring and see the fishes at night. The rooms are insane - 3 showers, airconditioning, vaulted roofs, bifold doors etc. You could stay in your villa area for 3 weeks and not get bored. There is also a top tier level of snack restocking. Premium spirits and oodles of beer and coke zero. Ask for Ginger Ale if it's not in your fridge and they'll restock with specific drinks the following day. The chocolate cupboard is also a big win - Toblerone and Lindt chocolate constantly restocked. I ate my body weight in Toblerone over 2 weeks. Food I was expecting the scenery and accommodation to be good. I was prepared for the service to be excellent but I was taken back by how incredible the food was. The restaurants were so good. Sol Rising for a healthy breakfast of smoked salmon and fruit. Then the evening offer at the Hub. The snacks at the Saffron Lounge with cocktails and chilled bottled lager whilst the sun sets as turtles and sharks swim underneath your feet. Absolute Heaven. My favourite restaurant was the Lebonese offering in the evening at Sol Rising. One thing worth noting, very few of the waiting staff drink alcohol, so they don't necessarily know the difference between pouring a glass of wine and pouring a lemoncello. This means that you can end up with a 250ml glass of Lemoncello as a digestiv. Service A special mention to Nawaz at the main restaurant. The most attentive and helpful person on the planet. But the whole team were brilliant - nothing was ever too much trouble. The staff seem to genuinely enjoy the guests and vice versa. I've put some thoughts on why further down the review as it added to the authenticity and warmth we felt on the overall trip. Trips off the Island One of the best days of my life was going on a morning boat trip to snorkel and find turtles with the Islands Marine Biologist Amandine (insta handle: @thewonderbio). Do it. Not only did we find turtles, but we were greeted in the water by a huge crowd of dolphins - bottlenose and the more rare spinner dolphins came swimming by. It was like we had interrupted them on their rush hour morning commute. Just incredible. Facilities Gym was awesome. Games room had golf simulator, darts, foosball, karaoke booth etc. The Spa was really good and you got some treatments included in the package depending on how long you stayed. I had 2 massages. The bars and pools were lovely too; the whole thing was just utterly effortless. Beer availability You have a choice on lager: Carlsberg on draught (strange choice, but oddly tastes better abroad) Heineken (standard international beer - who doesn't love a heine) Asahi (this was a game changer for me - an elite level lager) Overall I mean, 12/10. That good. Soo good. It was my first trip to the Maldives and I was worried about two things in relation to picking a resort. The first was that if we went for a more accessible resort at a lower price point it'd be full of the wrong type of people for us - we don't want to be surrounded by party goers and loud music etc. We don't want to be surrounded by D list instagram influencers plastering their "look at me" pics all over the internet. I might as well have gone to Malaga or Marbella for a lot less money. The flip side of this was, that if we ended up at a high end resort we would be surrounded by people at the other end of the spectrum; people who look down at waiting and bar staff as servants. Thankfully, at the Pullman we avoided both of these scenarios. Chatting to the staff they seemed genuinely happy. There was a real feeling of relaxation and authenticity that surrounded the whole place. For me that made a real difference to other places we've been around the world. I felt like the resort staff were really well treated and looked after and, in turn, that filtered through to the guests and the way we were looked after.

We had a great time n my kids love the place

We have returned to Pullmans Maldives a second time on the 5th of August 2022, having gone in September last year. Having had a wonderful experience last year, we felt we wanted to come back again, not for the resort but for the people. The hospitality is something we have never experienced anywhere on our extensive travels. Returning a second time, we have been welcomed like we are returning home. Being vegetarian, we were concerned whether we would get satisfactory food at the resort. On our first day last year, we met executive chef, Chef Dharma, who listened carefully to our dietary requirements and reassured us that we would be well catered for. We also met Basha, the food & beverage manager (who has unfortunately left the resort during our stay) who told us to let them know if we had any special requests and they would ensure they would make it for us! There are many talented chefs at the resort. There are three restaurants. Melange is the buffet restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Phat Chameleon is the unique vegetarian/ vegan restaurant open for dinner. And Souk Oven, which served Italian food at lunch time and Middle Eastern at dinner time. Chef Dharma would ensure he met us everyday and he checked if there was anything specific we wanted to eat. No request was too much for the team ! Chef Rahul, with his bubbly personality in Souk Oven, made us many delicious meals and created the most amazing ravioli. His passion for cooking great food is so apparent in his attitude. In Melange, Chef Subrata made some amazing dishes for us and prepared delicious dosa at breakfast time! He always went out of his way to make our bellies full. Chef Sahoo, always served us with a smile and he had a “never say no” attitude to all our requests. Chef Welmar ensured we didn’t miss out on any special dishes and made us exceptional vegetarian sushi. He took time from his busy schedule to give us a tour of the organic vegetable garden at the resort and we saw many unique tropical plants and vegetables that are used in the foods prepared at the restaurants. Chef Junaddy, in Phat Chameleon, is exceptionally creative and talented and made many out of menu dishes for us. The team is lead by the most gracious person, Chef Nyoman, despite all her talents. She made us the most amazing Balinese meal one evening ! On our trip in 2021, we met the amazing Oreste, the resort manager. Both him and Basha (F&B manager) made sure they spoke to us daily to see how our trip was going and if there was anything else they could do. Genuine care and interest to provide an unforgettable experience. The restaurants have good leadership. The ever busy Melange is managed by Shah. His kind and gentle nature and genuine interest in us always touched our hearts. Despite some busy periods in the restaurant, he always came to our table to chat. Souk Oven, is managed by Ahmed. He always greeted us with a smile and made us feel at home. No request was too much for him. There are 4 bars at the resort with some amazing bartenders and baristas including Bayu, Sophie, Harsha, Harish and Daniel. Always serving with a smile and joke and willing to create some unique drinks. The hostesses of the restaurants are always polite, friendly and welcoming. In Melange, both Nisha and Mar always ensured we had all we needed. They took time to always talk to us. Genuine care in their attitude was always very apparent. In Souk Oven, Xeniya and Uswa always took great care of us. Even during some busy periods at lunch time in the restaurant, they worked with a smile and professional attitude. The waiting staff in all the restaurants work very hard. Always diligent on what guests need and providing it. Special shout out to Eema, Jasmin (in in room dining), Mahadewi, Sharmila, Shifag and Janaa for all their hard work. We decided on this trip to try the floating breakfast experience. The food & beverage coordinator, Kiana, patiently discussed with us the experience and curated a menu that we wanted. They will go out of their way to create a special experience. Definitely a once in a lifetime thing to do! The Guest Experiences Manager, Ken is very hands on in the resort. He approached us often to see how our stay was going and whether there was anything else we needed. His friendliness and genuine attitude was very much appreciated. We also spent time in the spa. The spa manager, Jessica is extremely kind and professional. It is apparent that she takes great pride in her job and she ensures a seamless spa experience for all guests. Kadek, one of the massage therapists is very talented. He came to give treatment on his day off, on our special request. Truly caring and a gentleman. The entire experience we have had at the resort has been unforgettable. As a returning guest we were welcomed back like we were returning home and the level of care and service we got was out of this world. If you are considering booking Pullmans, don’t hesitate. You will not regret it and will definitely have a relaxing and exceptional holiday.

This is the best ever holiday we had. Overall our stay with you was awesome. We found the beach very nice, water was thrilling. All the restaurants served good food especially Melange was really good. Nice and tasty dishes. We found variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. All the chef and others were very friendly and helpful. We had some special dishes made fresh specifically for our test. I can recommend this restaurant to any one. Tharma and his team looked after us very well. We never had this kind of treatment on our other holidays. We also found Shafiou from the guest customer relations was was very friendly and helpful. He went extra miles to make our stay comfortable as my daughter had swollen legs from the flight. We found him fit for the job and very impressed with his service. Buggy service was really good and all of them were very friendly. Accommodation was very good.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the whole Pullman experience. All the staff we came in contact with, from the hardworking staff who cleaned our rooms each day, to the friendly, tireless staff who fetched us around in the buggy, and the hospitable staff at each and every restaurant, they all deserve a huge round of applause. In addition, our ocean pool villa was gorgeous, and we were especially lucky to see many different marine life such as rays, nurse sharks, dolphins and turtles whilst snorkeling. Thank you for a great trip to Maldives.