The last 12 months have seen no let up in resort openings in the Maldives, with Shangri-La, Naiade, Constance Hotels, Taj, Angsana and Alila all opening new hotels.

But is it really still possible to get punters to part with thousands of pounds for a week on a speck of sand 11 hours’ flight away?

The answer seems to be yes. “It is expensive, no-one would deny that,” says Elegant Resorts’ commercial director, Alison Scott. “But it’s somewhere people still want to go and smart hoteliers have been making sure they address cost concerns by offering added value.”

The launch of new thrice-weekly British Airways flights to Male from Gatwick from October 25 will also ensure a flurry of Armani-clad bums on seats to the islands.

BA head of sales Richard Tams reports demand for the service has been high so far: “The Maldives has been growing in popularity over the years, yet the options for premium travellers have so far been pretty limited, especially non-stop from the UK. Our three-class service including new Club World cabin will change that.”

A week at many of the Maldives’ top five-star islands doesn’t usually leave much change out of £3,500, but there are deals to be had at great resorts. Thomas Cook Signature, for example, has been offering seven nights at the five-star Diva resort for £1,599 full-board in a junior suite – down from £2,699.

The operator’s product and contract manager, Charlie Greenwood, says she is happy with the way the destination has performed this year. “The Maldives is outrageously beautiful and it will never be anything other than an absolute treat to go there,” she says.

THE NEWCOMERS

1. Diva

Marking Naiade’s Maldivian debut, Diva offers a seriously impressive array of facilities.

From its Japanese restaurant Pure, through to the delicious wine pairings and Italian fare created in the open kitchen of Allegria, cuisine is clearly one of the ways in which Diva is making its mark.

Understated and relaxed Diva opened last winter on Didhoonolhu in South Ari Atoll, an island resort Naiade took over, but at the hands of Mauritian designer Virginie Koenig, it has been transformed into a bells-and-whistles 21st-century resort with six restaurants.

Didhoonolhu is one of the biggest islands in the Maldives, and its size is utilised well. The great kids club, teen club and range of activities and facilities make this one of the leading options for families here, but at the infinity pool with sleek bars and restaurants either side, fashionable couples can languish in quiet luxury too.

Pre-opening, the spa was originally billed as Anne Semonin, the expanding French brand, but Diva now has a fairly non-descript Coconut Spa instead. Another disappointment was the charge to hire bikes; Diva is a big island and it really helps having your own ‘wheels’.

One thing everyone will love about Diva however, is its lush vegetation, with the addition of some super-colourful bougainvillea and frangipani all over the island. A small army of gardeners tend the flora while women from local islands sweep the pathways of stray leaves.

2. Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa
The far southern atoll of Addu is home to one of the region’s most hotly anticipated arrivals in recent years; Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa.

Villingili is so far south that when I got off my flight with Maldivian, the national airline, to Gan I was actually given a certificate to commemorate my crossing of the equator.

The resort sits on its own island in an area completely undeveloped in tourism terms, but where much of Maldives’ future resort growth will take place.

Shangri-La is next to Gan, a former British army base, which is now deserted save for its airport, a few canons and a smattering of businesses in barrack-style buildings. The whole journey from the UK to the Shangri-La takes around 14 hours. But it was worth it.

Shangri-La is the country’s largest natural resort island with a beautiful wide beach to rival those of Thailand. There are said to be 17,000 palm trees on the island and 45 other plant species including huge Banyan trees, while beach hibiscus, frangipani and pretty sea trumpets provide bountiful petals for decoration around the resort. The island even has inland lagoons with complex mangrove systems, pointed out to me on a nature tour of the island.

Most people who work in tourism in the Maldives come from Addu Atoll and are said to be amongst its friendliest; and there’s strong connection between the resort and nearby islands. Guests can even take a cycle tour along part of the longest road in the Maldives, an 11-mile stretch linking Gan, Feydhoo, Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo and Hithadhoo, all inhabited islands on the western side of Addu.

All guests get a bike at the Shangri-La if they want one and this being the Maldives, it’s very flat on the island, so getting to the magnificent Chi Spa with its garden pavilion treatment rooms, was easy.

The Maldives was the source of an ancient currency, the cowrie shell, which was found in the waters here but used all along ancient marine trade routes. In homage to that, the spa’s Kandu Boli Ritual ritual uses big tiger cowrie shells to apply pressure during the treatment, which also includes the therapist singing you a Maldivian lullaby. Yes, really. 

3. Alila Villas Hadahaa
Alila Hotels and Resorts is also located in a remote part of the Maldives, in North Huvadhoo atoll, unspoilt and pitched as being how the country was pre-tourism.

Alila is an Asian brand known for its hip hotels in Indonesia and Thailand, and as well as being the first boutique hotel in the south, their new resort has brought a totally different look to the Maldives.

Its focus on design is evident from the minute you step into the open-air ‘lobby’ which is sheltered under an enormous up-turned and hand-crafted wooden dhoni.

Authenticity is something Alila general manager Julian Moore is passionate about. Before the resort opened, he spent a long time visiting local islands meeting the people, the chiefs and visiting schools.

“It is so remote here that some of the school kids did not even know what a hotel was. They haven’t seen tourism here so this gives us an amazing opportunity to work with them to introduce it in a considered way and give our guests unique experiences we don’t feel are offered by other resorts.”

The resort has created a number of ‘Journeys by Alila’ which include a “celestial navigation” – a moonlit cruise offering stargazing in a sky totally free from light pollution and a trip which charts the development of an island.

North Huvadhoo atoll is the deepest in the Maldives, so divers will find unexplored waters; meanwhile snorkellers can simply walk off the beach and be on the house reef within minutes. 

4. Constance Halaveli
This resort has decided its USP was to create a place where all the villas have pools.

The 86 villas, which opened this summer, are lovely, and an impressive presidential villa will be ready by the end of the year. The fact there are so many over-water villas (57 of them) makes this Halaveli’s “standard” category, a unique factor in itself as the water villas often carry the premium price tag at resorts.

My Halaveli villa had a beautifully appointed bathroom and the bedroom spaciously fits a bed, living area and hi-tech Mac mini system with massive screen – you can while away the evenings by picking a complimentary film from the system’s extensive library.

Of course during the day, the view outside is what you’re glued to. From the private deck, all you see is miles of nothing but blue, as you tuck into another delicious lunch delivered to your villa.

The swanky Jing restaurant is also over the water, with an open kitchen and smart decor the backdrop for Asian fusion food after a pre-dinner drink at sunset in Jing’s bar.

The whole of Le Spa de Constance is also over water, which makes for a magical setting and my Thai massage was excellent, with the doors open to the sound of the sea as the therapist tried to pull and push me back into shape.

There are just 28 beach villas on the island itself, as well as kids’ club, dive centre and Meeru and Jahaz restaurants. Meeru is designed for toes-in-the-sand dining, but sadly, its sand is already eroding away.

Halaveli has the advantage of Constance Hotels behind it, with their experience of running luxury hotels in Mauritius and Seychelles, so it shouldn’t be long before this resort gets the level of visitors it deserves. 

5. Vivanta by Taj Coral Reef

Having had the deluxe Taj Exotica and affordable Taj Coral Reef on offer for many years in the Maldives, the time had come to revamp Coral Reef.

In a last-but-not-least flourish, I made a final resort visit at what is now called Vivanta by Taj at Coral Reef and my closest stop to Male. It was also what proved to be my shortest site inspection, given the island’s small size.

But again – it’s what you do with it that counts in the Maldives and Taj has excelled in creating a vibrant resort with colours that pop and creative interiors which leave you covetously wondering where they’ve bought it all.

General manager Allwyn Drego has come down from the Taj Exotica in Goa to open the resort, bringing many of his best staff with him and is now justly proud of what has been achieved at Vivanta.

This is also Taj’s first resort hotel under its new Vivanta brand: vivacity, vividness and bon vivant are the words and concepts Taj played with to create the brand and all are definitely evident here.

Also try… InOcean Villas at Angsana Velavaru

This marks the novel addition of the “only floating resort in the Maldives” with villas and a restaurant on stilts and completely on their own, with the nearest land a kilometre away by boat.
There are just 34 of the InOcean Villas stylishly decked out in reds, oranges, black and yellow with a pretty coral motif ever present. Outside space include a personal 21sq m pool, catwalk down to a daybed framed by drifty muslin, steps to the sea, outside dining area, sun loungers, rooftop terrace and the latest must-have in the Maldives – a hammock suspended over the water. The villas are a little close together, however, which means you can see your neighbours in their pools and on the deck. There’s a restaurant and bar as part of InOcean and one of the bigger villas has been turned into a spa, where I had a great facial followed by rooftop yoga at sunset.