SO/ Maldives 5 stars

Above and beyond our expectations. The most beautiful resort and location we have ever stayed in. Everything was top quality. The staff made everyone feel special. The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. Our butler Sue was bright, bubbly and super efficient. Nothing was too difficult for her. The rooms were very large and absolutely beautiful. There were so many activities & so many gym classes ( Abdul the fitness instructor was amazing, good fun & motivating) We were provided with bikes to get around the island.

I loved staying at SO Maldives. The Overwater villas were beautiful and so was the view! The restaurants were fantastic and the excursions were fun. We also enjoyed our time at the Spa and the wonderful staff. Will definitely be back!

We have just returned from a 4-day break at SO/Maldives and we had a fabulous break! The resort is gorgeous; small enough to get around by bike (provided of course) but big enough to be able to explore whilst having three different restaurant options, perfect for our short break. It's only a 20 minute speed boat ride from the airport, which suited us perfectly as we didn't want to spend a lot of time travelling. The crystal clear water and white sandy beaches are as you would expect in the Maldives, and there was lovely calm bay on the inside of the resort, and some little coves and beaches on the other side, with slightly choppier water facing Male. The beach villa we stayed in was gorgeous; contemporary and stylish, it had plenty of space and we also got a "capsule" for a second room for our son. Private pool and few steps walk to the beach was perfect. Super comfortable, beautifully appointed and great amenities. The restaurant choices were good; the Italian at Lazuli beach club was nice, albeit there was a bit of a mix of cuisines, and not enough pasta choices for my liking, although the pizzas were good; Citronelle was the spot for breakfast, which was really excellent, and Asian and Western food for lunch/dinner, and was probably our favourite restaurant; Hadaba is in a lovely spot on the resorts coastal edge, and is a very good Lebanese/Middle Eastern restaurant, although somewhat pricey for the mezze. The service was really excellent, from the moment we arrived (with waving staff greeting the boat as we arrived at the jetty, White Lotus style!) to our departure; arrival and check-in was seemless, we were made to feel very welcome as soon as we arrived and the whole experience felt special. We were taken care of by Sue, who was our host during our stay and couldn't have been more helpful; we had daily updates on activities, she booked our restaurants and watersport activities, was super helpful with everything, and was just so warm and upbeat. She really made our stay special! Even departure exceeded our expectations, with their staff taking care of us during check-out, from embarking to disembarking from the boat, into the airport, through security and even to check-in! We were waived off at the gate by Mohamed Armeen, who had looked after us all the way through. Amazing service. In short, I couldn't recommend SO/Maldives more highly - we had an excpetional time and made some incredible memories. Thank you SO/ Maldives team on looking after us so comprehensively (and for the special arrangement on arrival for my wife's birthday!) and for making our trip so special. Keep up the good work!

Beautiful island. Loved our villa—#313. Our cleaner—Shivaz was the best I have had. Pleasant, thorough and couldn’t do enough for us. Vishan was also excellent. Very responsive and extremely efficient. Take good care of these two and all of your lovely staff. They make all the difference in the world to make what could be ordinary service and change it to extraordinary❣️

We came here as our last leg from our hustle and bustle Christmas market tour in Europe. A way to unwind after living in our suitcases for a week. SO/ was on our agenda since they opened roughly two years ago. We wanted to see what SO/ can offer, and plus, it’s the Maldives. Pros: the island is well kept by what I call the “hidden heroes.” Without these people, the island itself would not look this immaculate. Kudos to the hidden faces of this island. Our room, 316, was well kept and stocked. Our bed was magically made after breakfast and magically turned down after dinner. The cooks and the “behind the scene” people in the kitchen, also part of the unsung heroes, had clean dishes and utensils with phenomenal cuisines that lived up to our expectations. The frontline staffs, Sue, Massi, Luna, and Kadek are quite friendly. Sue greeted us upon arrival and is always happy to help us from arrival to departure. Sue set up all of our schedules such as our dinner reservations to our massage appointments with no hitch or hiccups. Even a buggy ride from our villa to the restaurants was quite speedy. Massi, hopefully I’m spelling his name correctly, was somewhat reserved during our first encounter. But he seemed to loosen up and is quite a swell gentleman. He is helpful and attentive might I add. He remembered that I like my food with spice, Thai chili or Maldivian chili. During dinner he would always remember to bring some Thai chili on the side with my plate. Of course I jokingly told him I flew across the world to have some Maldivian chili and am saddened that they haven’t got any shipment in. Massi said he will see what he can do. Shortly after, Massi brought me the Maldivian chili that I’ve longed for. Superb stretch Massi for going to great lengths for little old me, LOL! Luna too, went to great lengths to give us such excellent service. She asked us questions of what we liked and what she can do to better our stay. We let her have it that evening. But instead of just hearing us out, Luna took it upon herself to oblige our questions and answers. She set up a special dish upon request for breakfast. She also set up another special dish, not on the dinner menu, for our dinner. That is service or what Buzz Lightyear would say, “to infinity and beyond!” because that’s exactly what Luna did. She went to infinity and beyond to make us feel special. Kadek, my three hour massage therapist, has amazing massaging skills. I’ve had many massages in my lifetime and I would have to say that I will compare all my massages to Kadek’s from this moment on. He knew where my tensions were. He concentrated on them tensions. The pressure was perfect. Never too intense where I was uncomfortable or too light where it didn’t justify the tension. Again, the pressure was perfect. I told my wife that if I had an unlimited resource of money, I’d hire Kadek to get a massage everyday. Cons: although everyone, the staffs, that we’ve encountered, there’s absolutely no name tag attached to them. There were only a few handful of staffs that actually introduced themselves to us. For the majority of the time it was just a welcome comment with no name introduction. There should be name tags so guests like ourselves don’t have to guess what to call them. The frontlines, EVERYONE, that are interacting with guests should introduce themselves. Yes, we would like to know the names of the persons that are seating us to our table or taking our orders. As I mentioned earlier, there were only a handful that did introduced themselves, while the majority didn’t. Although the food during dinner was phenomenal, the breakfast on the other hand was quite mediocre to say the least. I felt like breakfast was catered to one population and the rest of the other population are out of luck, they’re stuck with what’s on the menu. It’s fine if someone is only at this resort for a night or two. But like ourselves where we’re staying six days and six nights with the same breakfast every morning, it gets old after the third morning. What I’m trying to say is that there isn’t a wider variety on the breakfast menu for the variety of people that visits this island, SO/. Overall I really did enjoy my stay here at SO/. The island is very well kept by the people behind the scene. The staffs themselves are very friendly. As for the cons as mentioned above, there is always room for improvement as there is for growth. I would not mind coming back to SO/ in five years.