Paradise Island Resort & Spa – Maldives – Hotel Review
Paradise Island Resort & Spa is a luxurious five-star resort in the North-Malé Atoll in the Maldives. The resort is surrounded by azure waters and a beautiful lagoon and feautures bright white beaches and an abundance of palm trees. Paradise Island offers all the amenities you need for a luxurious tropical island vacation. In this detailed hotel review, I will give you an overview of the resort’s unique features and highlights, as well as our personal experiences staying here.
DISCLAIMER: WE WERE HOSTED ON A PRESS TRIP AT THIS HOTEL, WHICH DOES NOT INFLUENCE MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS AND REVIEW ABOUT THIS HOTEL. ALL EXPRESSED OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. I MAY RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR PURCHASES/BOOKINGS MADE THROUGH THESE LINKS, AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU.
The Location
Paradise Island Resort & Spa is situated on the island Lankanfinolhu, one of the many islands of the North-Malé Atoll. The island is about 900 meters long and 200 meters wide. It is relatively close to Velana International Airport (about 10km). You can conveniently reach the resort with just a 15 to 20-minute speedboat ride. This is a big plus if you don’t want to lose much time for transfers to/from the resort during your vacation, especially considering the long international flight times to the Maldives.
The Transfer & Check-in
We arrived at the international airport in Malé early in the morning after a long international flight and were immediately greeted by a friendly airport representative of Paradise Island Resort & Spa. He first guided us to the resort’s booth in the arrival hall and then took us to the speedboat in front of the airport. As we were the only guests going to the resort that morning, we had the speedboat completely to ourselves which was pretty nice.
Once we got to the resort’s jetty, we were greeted by the resort manager, our personal island host as well as some additional staff members who all gave us a warm welcome to the island. The staff took care of the check-in process while we could enjoy some cold welcome drinks and refreshing towels.
Afterwards, our island host showed us the island in typical Maldives-fashion with a buggy ride around the island. He also gave as useful information about the resort and the amenities along the way. Ultimately, he brought us to our Deluxe Beach Pool Villa and gave us a short introduction to the room and all its amenities. We also exchanged phone numbers so we could discuss the timings of our planned activities while being at the resort via WhatsApp which is super convenient. He also took care of all our reservations during our stay.
The Property & Amenities
Paradise Island Resort & Spa is a great place if you want to enjoy a relaxing Maldivian vacation surrounded by turquoise lagoons, white sandy beaches, lush jungle and an abundance of palm trees. The vast island smoothly combines the typical tropical vibes of a Maldivian island with the luxury of a five-star resort.
All resort buildings including the rooms and villas are built with typical Maldivian architectural influences. Once you arrive at the jetty by boat, you follow the boardwalk to the reception area that is part of the resort’s main facility complex and also includes various restaurants, shops, leisure activities, and much more. Overall, Paradise Island features two buffet restaurants, three à la carte restaurants, one coffee shop and three bars who nearly all have wonderful views onto the lagoon.
Close to the main buildings, the resort features an impressive palm-fringed infinity pool with a glass front, which is overlooking the ocean and offers many sunbeds and umbrellas. The unique pool is definitely one of the resort’s highlights.
In addition, the resort has two gyms, a soccer field, a volleyball & basketball court, tennis courts, badminton, squash, billiard tables, table tennis, a watersports center and a dive center.
You will also find a wonderful spa with multiple treatment rooms on the island, including a sauna and steam bath. Moreover, there’s a photo shop, a bike rental shop and some other small island shops and boutiques.
You can also have meetings and wedding ceremonies at Paradise Island.
The Rooms
Paradise Island Resort & Spa offers 271 rooms in total. Although this number is really big compared to other resorts, it never felt like there were too many people on the island. This is always an important factor for us as we prefer having an intimate luxurious vacation experience. So, if you spend time in your villa or exploring the island’s beaches and lagoons, or relaxing by your own private pool, you will barely see any other guests (except for during the meal times at the restaurants). If you love being around people on the other hand, you can just head to the main pool or one of the bars to socialize.
Paradise Island offers a huge variety of room types: Beach Villas, Deluxe Beach Pool Villas, Sunset Beach Pool Villas, Two Bedroom Family Beach Villas, as well as Water Villas, Water Villas with Whirlpool, One Bedroom Ocean Suites with Pool, and Two Bedroom Ocean Suites with Pool.
The 209 beach villas (of all kinds) stretch out along all sides of the island and the 62 over-water villas are all built into the lagoon and connected with the island via a long boardwalk.
We stayed two nights in a Deluxe Beach Pool Villa with our own private pool right at the beach and one night in one of the four One Bedroom Ocean Suites with Pool. Let me tell you a bit more about the rooms we stayed in:
Deluxe Beach Pool Villa
Paradise Island Resort & Spa’s Deluxe Beach Pool Villas are the perfect choice if you want to stay in a villa right at the beach with the luxury of your own private pool.
The villa measures 150 square meters and features a modern, nautically designed bedroom, a luxurious bathroom, an outdoor shower area, and an outside terrace. The outside deck offers a seating area, a hanging sofa, two sun loungers as well as a pool, and has side walls for more privacy.
In the cozy room, you will find a very comfortable king bed, a sofa, a working desk, a wardrobe, some shelf space as well as your minibar including a tea and coffee station. The modern tiled bathroom offers an indoor shower, a bathtub, two vanities and access to the outdoor shower. While I absolutely love outdoor showers, my favorite place to spend time was our private pool that was surrounded by coconut palm trees and offered stunning views onto the beach and the azure lagoon.
Just one thing to consider when staying in this villa type is that you have a shared wall with your neighbors, so if you have loud neighbors (like we did), you will hear everything. This is however the only point we didn’t like, everything else about the villa was amazing!
One Bedroom Ocean Suite with Pool
We also stayed in one of the only 4 exclusive One Bedroom Ocean Suites with Pool for one night. The spaciousness of this over-water villa totally blew our minds! With 255 square meters, it is one of the biggest over-water villas we ever stayed in. The Ocean Suite features a huge living room, a bedroom, a walk-in wardrobe, a bathroom, a whirlpool area, and a massive outdoor sundeck including a pool.
The living room has a big dinner table for four, a working desk, a comfortable sofa area, and a minibar including a tea and coffee station. Across the small hallway is the walk-in wardrobe with lots of shelf space for your clothes and luggage. Behind the wardrobe, you’ll find the bathroom with two vanities, an indoor shower, and access to the outdoor whirlpool. The bedroom features a comfortable king bed and a sofa. The entire front of the villa is equipped with sliding floor-to-ceiling windows so that you can enjoy unparalleled views onto the lagoon, which is really amazing.
Our favorite feature of the Ocean Suite was the spacious outdoor deck. On the sun terrace you can find two sunbeds, a seating area, a tucked-away open-air shower, an amazing pool and a staircase leading right into the lagoon. We really loved this villa and wish we could have stayed here longer than one night! If you want to spoil yourself, I can definitely recommend choosing this room type!
The Restaurants & Bars
Paradise Island Resort & Spa has two buffet restaurants (one for all beach villa guests and one for the water villa guests) and three specialty restaurants. You can also order room-service 24 hours.
Bageecha is the resort’s all-day buffet restaurant for the beach villa guests and is located right by the infinity pool. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and boasts plenty different food options so everyone will find something that fits their taste (the buffet is endless). It’s counterpart for water villa guests is The Lagoon, which offers a smaller selection of the same/similar dishes in a more intimate setting over the water. As we stayed in different villa types, we could try both main restaurants and we personally preferred The Lagoon because of the unparalleled over-water location and the smaller number of guests dining here. We also did not mind, that the buffet was not as big as in Bageecha. In general, in both main dining outlets the staff was very attentive, friendly and always up for a small chat.
If you want to have à la carte dinner, you can head to Farumathi (Seafood), Ristorante al Tramanto (Italian), or Fukuya Teppanyaki (Japanese) and try out a multitude of dishes.
We went to the seafood restaurant Farumathi on our second evening and were dining on the outside deck with a view onto the ocean. The food presentation was excellent, and so was the food – absolutely exquisite! I would also like to highlight the incredible staff at this restaurant (especially our waiter) that was really outstanding and made the dining experience even better! The level of service at this restaurant was probably one of the best we’ve experienced in all specialty restaurants of different resorts so far. All in all, our dinner truly was a wonderful and magical dining experience.
If you fancy cocktails or some refreshing drinks, you can visit the Athiri Bar (next to the watersports center) during the day or head to Hulhangu Bar (main bar) which is open 24 hours. The latter is the best spot for sunset drinks, the place where live bands and DJs play, and where you will find the resort’s dance floor once the sun goes down.
The Staff
During our stay at Paradise Island, the entire staff was very welcoming, friendly, and always helpful whenever we had any questions. The housekeeping staff as well as the waiters at the food outlets were very attentive. Having our own private island host was a big plus as we could easily communicate via WhatsApp and were kept informed about all our planned activities. He really did an awesome job! Also the Spa team took great care of us during our visit to the spa. They gave us a warm welcome at the spa reception, guided us through the spa area, explained everything about the treatment and ensured that we had a wonderful spa experience.
Activities
Paradise Island Resort & Spa has an abundance of activities and experiences on offer. From various sports including two gyms to different excursions to an endless list of motorized and non-motorized watersport activities – there is something for everyone!
As we are big fans of water-related activities, we tried out the resort’s 30-minute semi-submarine trip around the house reef. It was the first semi-submarine trip for us and we really loved it. It was much better than the typical glass bottom boat trips we had done in other places before. We saw lots of colorful fish, a turtle and two sharks through our underwater windows during the trip.
Afterwards, we went to the watersports center to rent two SUPs to cruise around the lagoon which was really fun. We also tried out a seabob for the first time. After learning how to navigate the seabob, I really had a blast with this fun underwater toy. You can move through the water like a dolphin! I can highly recommend trying it at least once!
Ultimately, we also joined a sunset dolphin cruise. It’s actually one of our favorite things to do whenever we are in the Maldives. There’s nothing like enjoying a beautiful Maldivian sunset while watching dozens of dolphins play in their natural habitat. The crew also served some champagne and some snacks during the trip. A truly magical experience!
Other excursions you can do at Paradise Island include snorkeling trips, diving trips, fishing trips, local island hopping, and many more.
Spa & Wellness
We visited the Araamu Spa for a couple treatment. The spa is a beautiful Balinese-style spa, tucked away in a secluded area of the island. For us, a Maldives vacation isn’t complete without a relaxing spa treatment in a tranquil setting! At the spa, you can choose from various massages & treatments, Indian Ayurveda, facials, bathing ceremonies, and full packages.
We opted for the 80-minute Loabi-Loabi couples’ massage that consists of a 50-minute full-body massage and a 30-minute herbal bath with Ayurvedic oil. We really had a wonderful and relaxing spa experience. The only thing is that we would have preferred to have a little more privacy for the bath right after the massage, as the staff already started to prepare the rest of the treatment room for the next guests during our bath. In our opinion, it would be better to do all the preparations once the guests are finished with their entire treatment.
Sustainability
Paradise Island Resort & Spa has implemented various sustainability-focused practices and conservation programs to take care of their natural surroundings. With its installation of about 2,600 solar panels on the rooftops of their facilities, the resort is able to significantly reduce the amount of fossil fuels and power about 150 villas across the resort with renewable energy.
The use of refillable glass water bottles, environmental management systems, and sourcing produce from local fishermen and farmers all play a part in their sustainability initiatives. Moreover, the dive center at Paradise Island has implemented a coral garden restauration program where coral fragments are planted on designed coral frames to help healthy coral reproduce itself and withstand the rising ocean temperatures.
Conclusion
Paradise Island Resort & Spa is a luxurious 5-star island resort in the Maldives. The resort has a perfect location with only short transfer times from/to the international airport, so you don’t lose any valuable vacation time. Paradise Island offers everything you need for a relaxing vacation – from a beautiful tropical island setting surrounded by turquoise lagoons to a stunning infinity pool to multiple excellent specialty restaurants to amazing experiences and activities, the resort has it all. It’s the perfect vacation destination for couples, honeymooners, as well as families. We had a wonderful stay at Paradise Island Resort & Spa. I can definitely recommend staying at this resort and would stay here again anytime.
Pin this review for later!
— My Travel Photography Gear —
Camera: Sony A7R III
Allrounder Zoom Lens: Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8
Favorite Lens: Sony FE 35mm F/1.8
Telephoto Zoom Lens: Sigma 100-400mm F/5-6.3
Drone: DJI Mini 3 Pro
GoPro: GoPro Hero11 Black
Phone: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Camera Tripod: Rollei Compact Traveler No. 1 Carbon
Phone Tripod: Lammcou Tripod
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Check out my Presets (photo filters) to edit like me!
To read more about my photography gear, click HERE.