Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa

We have been to Maldives 16 times since 2011. Every person/family is different – so our review is naturally personalized from our “demands of a dream vacation”. What is important for us: 1) HOUSE REEF SNORKELING– have to be easy access from beach/jetty and we prefer fish soup over corals. 2) ALL INCLUSIVE – have to be a la carte. 3) POOL VILLA 4) PRICE…… We have been to the following resorts since 2011 Outrigger Konotta 2 times Milaidhoo 2 times Kandolhu (5 times) Centara Grand (2 times) Hideaway Beach (2 times) Park Hyatt Six Senses Emerald So how does we rate Emerald compared to “our” Maldives wish list…. 1) House reef Emerald have a very good house reef with many small fish. You can access the reef from water villas or the beach (one side of the island) – but it is not the best house we have seen . You can´t snorkel around the Island because of Seaplane and boat traffic. Half the Island also have a big lagoon where it is to far out to the reef. There is also no “jettys” to snorkel between so you are limited to snorkel back and forward to same place if you are in Water Villa. In House reef we will give Emerald 4 in rating (where 5 is best) Our Chart is: 5*: Milaidhoo, Kandolhu 4.5* Konotta, Hideaway Beach 4* Centara Grand, Emerald 3*, Park Hyatt (also good but not so close to beach and more difficult to reach) 1* Six Senses (cant at all recommend because so far out for snorkeling.) What is the differences in house reef between these resorts ? Milaidhoo have the biggest amount of fish ever seen – like a big wall in front of you with 1000 fish in front of you. This is so amazing. Kandolhu is so wonderful and easy to access from jetty and beach – and have many turtles, Octopus, nurse sharks and big fish everywhere. We simply love this reef very much. The reef in Konotta is better in corals but still in total Emerald have a very good house reef. 2) FOOD: Emerald all inclusive is really wonderful and high level –no extra at all ever in any restaurant (unless lobster). Minibar and in room was included (half bottle of white and red wine is “limited” though limited) and could be better. The selection of wine in restaurants was in very good quality – and so was the wonderful drinks in the bar. Emerald do a fine job – but we also have to be honest and say – that we think that Kandolhu and Milaidhoo, here are a little better. This is mainly because of the different restaurants they have to offer and quality of food and service. Emerald makes unfortunately a fixed plan on arrival where all the dining places and time was set in advanced. The buffet at main restaurant is good with many different cooking station and quality is fine – but we since we prefer a la carte dining then we wanted to change one night away to one of the other 2 al la carte restaurants – but this was not possible. When we are on vacation we don’t want to be “set” on a fixed time plan and where to eat. We have suggested management to changes this – and was informed that in future (real soon) that this will be done – so that we look forward to when coming back. Our food ranking is: 5* Kandolhu, Milaidhoo 4.5* Konotta, Six Senses, 4* Park Hyatt, Hideaway Beach, Emerald 3* Centara, So does this mean that Emerald is bad ? – not at all. All places here are high quality – but Kandolhu take it to another level with 30 rooms and 5 places to eat. This is hard to beat for any resort. Milaidhoo also are on a luxury level of its own. That is why we give these two a little higher ranking. But we could still go back to all resort again – if it was food that was our only choice and if Emerald will change their fixed plans and time and place. So Emerald is truly a very nice place to be for all food lovers.. Rooms: All rooms in Emerald is nice and have good space compared to many of the other resorts – and we loved the privacy here in the beach villa with pool and directly access to beach and snorkeling – just steps outside our villa. The water villa with pool we also tried and can recommend highly. So we will give Emerald 5* in room quality. Also the gym, yoga class we used a lot and they are also adding up the quality level of Emerald. Our villa ranking is: 6* (out of this world) Konotta Residence villa with pool 5* Milaidhoo Beach villa with pool 5* Milaidhoo Water villa with pool 5*. Hideaway Beach 2 bedroom family villa with big pool 4,5* Emerald Beach Villa with pool, Emerald Water villa with pool 4,5* Kandolhu Duplex beach villa with pool + Kandolhu Beach villa with pool 4,5* Konotta Beach villa with pool, 4* Six Senses (water villa) 4* Kandolhu (Jacussi beach villa) 4* Centara (sunset water villa) 4* Hideaway Beach 2011 beach villa with splash pool before renovation 3*. Park Hyatt beach villa 2*. Centara beach villa (no privacy - can hear people next door) Even this list is long – we would without hesitation go back to all rooms again from 6* to 4*… (We did not like the concrete floor and dark layout off Park Hyatt and we think that Centara beach villa have no privacy at all and you can hear people next door room easy.) So what is our conclusion then – and what is our recommendation ? All these wonderful resorts makes it very hard to choose – and we don’t have only one favorite. But the final thing that also comes in mind is the budget – and this makes it sometimes easier (or harder) to make the choice. When we travel we always ask for prices on Milaidhoo, Kandolhu, Hideaway, Konotta to compare price. Now we can add Emerald also to that list – but if prices are close then we would to be honest choose Milaidhoo and Kandolhu first – before Emerald. But we would love to come back to Emerald again. We are so grateful about all service and attention from all staff in Emerald. It will not be fair to mention one from another - because it was all the way extremely good. In restaurants, bar, pool – fitness/yoga – house keeping, sommeliers and management was doing a lot to make you feel happy and relaxed. Everywhere there was kindness and a wonderful attention that was given in a naturally high level that impressed us much. But again when we travel to resorts with only 30 or 50 rooms you get to know the staff a little more -and the staff also have a better chance to get to know. Which is impossible at a big resorts with over 100 rooms. But still Emerald do a very good job here. We can only give Emerald our best recommendation.

There are not enough words to describe this amazing and breathtaking resort. We have travelled over 20 hours and the experience made it well worth it. We had originally booked the hot tub villa but we are able to upgrade to the pool just as we wanted which was an amazing way to start the trip. Along with the bathroom being the prettiest bathroom we have ever seen the staff had also decorated our bed saying happy honeymoon which gave it a nice touch. Every single person working at the resort greeted us with a smile for the whole week and was super friendly and approachable. All the guys at the sunset bar were awesome - Nishandha and Areej. We did not get everyone’s names but we will never forget Areej at Sunset Bar. He was definitely friendly and full of energy, and he was one of our highlights of the trip. Rao the front desk manager also checked in with us and was super friendly. He made sure our honeymoon dinner was going smoothly. Ladies at the spa also provided an amazing massage.. my husband talked about it being the best one he has ever received. Shout out to all the guys that work around maintaining the resort and landscaping. The staff in the bar and butlers likely get acknowledged often but those working out directly in the scorching sun /landscaping probably not so much. We made sure to tip those for their hard work which may sometimes go unnoticed. We will definitely be back!!!