What are the key points for choosing a hotel in the Maldives? "Huvafen Fushi," a paradise you can visit while you're still alive

My 10th trip to the Maldives was to "Huvafen Fushi Maldives."

This is the place I chose 14 years ago for my very first trip to the Maldives.

It is the hotel that created the world's first underwater spa.

In the Maldives, which consists of over 1,200 islands floating in the Indian Ocean, there is a unique style called "one island, one resort," where each island is a single hotel.

I went to the Maldives thinking, "I have to go at least once in my life!" and when I actually got there, I was so moved that I thought, "This is a paradise you can visit while you're still alive!" Since then, I have visited many different hotels, but for my 10th trip, I returned to "Huvafen Fushi."

⭐ What are the key points for choosing a hotel in the Maldives?

The number of resort hotels in the Maldives, which follow the "one island, one resort" concept, is said to be between 150 and 170. I heard there were about 140 fourteen years ago, so they are increasing!

Choosing which hotel to stay at among them is important, but it depends on the purpose of your trip, your budget, and the number of days.

Since there are no direct flights from Japan, I always use Singapore Airlines, traveling KIX ↔ Singapore ↔ Maldives (Male Airport) for an 8-day, 6-night trip.

Transportation from Male Airport to each resort is by speedboat or seaplane.

If the distance is far, you take a seaplane, but they don't fly after sunset. If you arrive at night, you have to stay one night at a hotel at Male Airport, which feels like a wasted night and is frustrating (lol). When I went to "Conrad Maldives" and "Soneva Jani," I used a seaplane, and there is a private lounge inside Male Airport, and the spectacular view from the sky is an activity in itself!

Since the distance from the airport, hotel grade, facilities, and room specifications vary, you should check travel agency brochures and tourism websites to decide on your essential points.

These are the conditions I decided were must-haves at the beginning, and "Huvafen Fushi" matched them perfectly.

If you go, the dry season from January to March is the best time!

Rather than sightseeing, I think it's best to enjoy marine sports like snorkeling, scuba diving, and SUP, go on picnics to sandbanks that only appear during low tide, or just relax on the beach and read by the pool.

I was so moved that I visited "Huvafen Fushi" four times, then went to "Conrad Maldives" twice, and also visited "Anantara Kihavah," "Soneva Jani," and "Gili Lankanfushi." In 2025, for my 10th trip to the Maldives, I chose to return to my roots and visit "Huvafen Fushi Maldives" for the first time in a while.

There is a private lounge inside the airport where you check in.

Inside the lounge, there are beautiful photos of the two-bedroom Ocean Pavilion room I'm staying in this time, as well as the infinity pool that blends into the ocean, which makes me excited♪

But the center of the conversation was my friend's passport.
Believe it or not, it got wet during a previous trip and was in tatters.

Actually, when we were departing from KIX, it was hard to scan because of this, and we were in a huge panic, thinking,
"What if we can't leave the country?"
"What if we get stuck at Singapore Airport?"
So, I was relieved that we made it to the Maldives safely.

I mean, my friend who came here on a whim with this passport has nerves of steel (lol).

"Huvafen Fushi" is about a 40 to 50-minute speedboat ride from Male Airport.
The luggage we checked at the lounge is loaded onto the boat by the staff and delivered to our room, which is very convenient.

Upon arriving at the island, we were welcomed with a welcome drink and sand art.
When I visited in 2025, it happened to be around Valentine's Day.
I can't believe it's already been almost a year since then—time flies!

There was also sand art on the path leading to the hotel.
I walked carefully to avoid stepping on the heart from earlier, but you can't pass through here without stepping on it!

Does this mean they did this just for the eight of us!?
Thank you so much!

⭐ The Ocean Pavilion where dreams come true

This time, we stayed in a room called the“Two-Bedroom Ocean Pavilion with Pool”.

Actually, this is a special room I stayed in during my fourth visit to Huvafen Fushi, where I upgraded for just the final night.

The overwater villas are on both sides of the pier that stretches from the island into the lagoon.
That alone is wonderful, but one day, looking from the boat on the way back from diving, I saw that the pier continued even further, and at the very end, there was an incredibly huge villa!

When I heard about it 14 years ago, it was about 700,000 yen per night.
Wow!

Then, on my fourth visit, I took the plunge and spent the last night there, thinking,
“I want to stay here for a week someday.”
This time, that dream finally came true, and I was so moved!

Compared to the villa on the left, the one on the right is definitely larger!

What's surprising is that there is a pool in the living room!

There is a glass window above the pool's surface, but if you dive underwater, you can go straight out to the terrace!
During the day, you can see the sparkling blue sea, and during the magic hour, the sky turns pink, making the room itself a spectacular spot!

Of course, there are stairs to go down into the sea!
You can go straight from your room to the coral reef!

Since our arrival day was Valentine's Day, there were welcome food and sweets in the room, along with Valentine's chocolates.

The words “Happy Valentine's Day” were written on the bed.
There were also remnants of a party that must have been held on the beach the night before.

I believe it was during my third visit to Huvafen Fushi that a Valentine's dinner was being held.

This is the master bedroom.
It's big enough to toss and turn about five times!

I was surprised by the size of the bathroom!

A bathtub with a view of the ocean!
I took everything out of my suitcase and stored it in the large closet.

The other bedroom also has a bathtub with an ocean view.

The kitchen and dining area are also well-equipped☆

There are various board games in the living room cabinet.
On the terrace, there are sofas and tables on both sides of the pool, and my friends were opening their PCs and working here in the morning♪

And this is the Ocean Bungalow with Pool room where other friends stayed, and it was also where I first experienced the Maldives♪

There is a glass floor under the living room table!
During the day you can see tropical fish, and at night you can even see large fish gathering around the lights♪

A private pool!
You might wonder if you need a pool in an overwater villa standing on the sea, but that is the ultimate bliss.

After snorkeling in the sea, rinse off the salt here!
I always bring my own fins, mask, and underwater camera, and I can quickly wash them off here too.

I was so moved here 14 years ago that I decided, 'I'll come back!'
I should praise myself for working hard over the last dozen years to make it back!

Most of the other guests I see in the Maldives are couples, elderly couples, or families. I have never seen people coming as friends or in groups like us before.
Two guys in their 30s in this bedroom... (lol).

The obligatory bathtub with a view of the sea.

⭐The whole island is a scenic spot!

On the first day, our butler gave us a tour around the island.
For one week, we had a butler dedicated to our group, and with just one phone call, we could get a pickup, as well as make various reservations and requests.
We get around by cart.

The main infinity pool.
It gets deeper as you go toward the back, truly becoming one with the sea!

This is what it looks like from the side.
Towels, citrus water, and sunscreen are also provided.

This is the salt pool!
The salt concentration is as high as the Dead Sea, so you can just float around♪
There was also a meditation program you could do while floating here.

There are daybeds that anyone can use scattered everywhere, so you can sunbathe to your heart's content.

This is the library.
There are books and DVDs, and a business center equipped with PCs.

Next to the library is a ping-pong room!
A heated ping-pong tournament started!
In front of that is a giant chess set!

The top left is a building where you can do yoga on the sea.
The top right is the gym!
I only saw it from the outside (lol), so here is a photo I got from a friend who went to the gym.

Everywhere is a scenic spot.

Villas are scattered not only over the water but also on land, meaning on the island itself; the one on the left is an oceanfront land villa with a private pool.
This is also a special room where I stayed for just the last night during my second trip to the Maldives.

By the way, what was very convenient this time was that the key card was an armband. And it was waterproof!

The poolside bar.

At night, the shadows created by the lighting are also art.

An overwater restaurant!

An overwater spa!

The entrance to the underwater spa!

I will introduce details about the spa, activities, and gourmet food in the Maldives in articles from next week onwards.

~Summary~

The Maldives is truly a "paradise you can visit while you're still alive" and a "paradise you can come and go to freely many times."
"A paradise you can visit while you're still alive"
"A paradise you can come and go to freely many times"

I was captivated by the Maldives, which I visited thinking "Once in a lifetime!", and the thoughts of "I want to come back!", "I'll go every year!", and "I'll be able to stay in this room for a week!" became my motivation and greatly contributed to the expansion of my business.
"I want to come back!"
"I'll go every year!"
"I'll be able to stay in this room for a week!"
became my motivation and greatly contributed to the expansion of my business.

Goals written on paper and commitments kept being spoken come true! It was "Huvafen Fushi Maldives" that made me realize that it is very good to go back to the starting point when you have achieved something.

It was "Huvafen Fushi Maldives" that made me realize that it is very good to go back to the starting point when you have achieved something.

Maldives Magazine

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