I've always wanted to visit the Maldives, for as long as I can remember. As someone who enjoys travel a little bit too much, I can't believe it's taken me this long to get myself there. For me, the hardest bit about travel actually is finding someone with no commitments or a lot of holiday time, to come along with me. I'm not really a fan of travelling alone as I like sharing those moments with someone. If it was up to me, I'd travel every single day, maybe I need to marry someone who feels the same way. It's time to start my Maldives series, I'm going to be breaking this up into nice little bite sized chunks and then I'll do a post at the end of the series with top tips of where to stay in the Maldives and why. I learnt a lot in the Maldives about what to do and what not to do, for example, some Maldives holidays can be very relaxing whilst some are just draining with all the travelling. It's an expensive trip so I want to make sure I'm thorough with these posts, ensuring that if you do go, you only end up at the best places. Let's start with Velassaru, a very good place to start, that's for sure.
We arrived in Male airport, around 15-18 hours from London depending on what flight route you take, luckily, no further plane was required in Male and we hopped straight onto a speed boat and within 30 minutes, we were in paradise. All of a sudden, you're a little part of the ocean, going about your life on one of those tiny islands; Velassaru was certainly a good choice for our first Maldives experience. It's not often I can't fault a place, I've really tried to find faults with this one, but I honestly couldn't complain about anything. This hotel sets an example for all future hotels; incredible location, incredible staff and excellent food.
Velassaru is beautiful, calm, relaxing, I'd say it's a medium sized Maldives resort. You see the odd person here and there so there's a really nice atmosphere, but you can be completely private and tucked away if you wish. It's up to you, you can stay in the room and be private or, you can wander around and find other people. I liked the size of this resort (I think it has about 120 rooms) because there are things to do, you can wander around, go snorkelling, go for a walk or try the various restaurants - you certainly wont get bored.
We checked into our beach villa, at first, I was a little disappointed as I wanted the real Maldives experience, for me, that means a wooden house on stilts in the middle of the ocean. However, we did that twice in our next two hotels so more on that soon. It was good to experience a different stay in each of our hotels and actually, we were told that many couples prefer the beach villas.
What seems like a comfortable, spacious, wooden room (the ceiling was so lovely and hut like) suddenly transformed into paradise when we walked through the double doors behind the bed into the bathroom of dreams, it was like a rainforest.
I'd have taken the bath home with me if I could. It's safe to say, I spent so many evenings bathing in here.
We had a huge outside area with comfortable chairs and our own little pathway to our beautiful stretch of beach, untouched, calm and beautiful. Our first few days were pretty cloudy, with a hint of rain, but apart from that, we did okay and it was still really warm.
Bikini, online here. Sunglasses, online here and here.
Bikini, online here. Sunglasses, online here and here.
We explored the beautiful area, spotting sharks along the way. One thing we noticed is how incredibly lovely the staff are around the whole resort, all stopping to say hello and taking time out of their day to talk to us in a genuine way.
Velassaru might be a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean but the food is exceptional. This isn't a standard all inclusive, this is delicious dining, at every restaurant, from breakfast through to dinner. I'd highly recommend going all inclusive, you'd be crazy not to; with things like steak, lobster and cocktails mixed by in-house mixologists on the menu. Every single meal we ate at Velassaru was a culinary experience. Even the tapas at their beach bar (perfectly located next to our room) was epic, freshly made and actually, probably nicer than the tapas we had in Barcelona. The chefs are experts in the Maldives and the resorts employ the best, Velassaru certainly made my belly very happy.
We walked off that divine tapas and headed to the spa, the most beautiful spa I've seen, a hut surrounded by water. Bikini, same as above.
Feeling extremely relaxed, we headed out for dinner - it was a little drizzly but that didn't stop the staff drinks which we were invited to - it's such a welcoming resort and they got everyone together to embrace the moment. The staff are all genuinely so happy to welcome you to their home (the staff all live on the resort) and it was a genuine pleasure to get to know them. I wore one of my favourite outfits yet, this floral two-piece which is currently in the sale, online here. I got my gel nails done in the UK before I came out at my favourite, the Nails Inc Champagne Bar and obviously got my hair done at Sassoon so at least I didn't have much maintenance to do beauty wise whilst I was here!
Dinner was exceptional, something I'd be more than happy to pay for at a top rated London restaurant, in fact, probably better. Usually, in hotel restaurants I expect the food to slide a bit but because you can't leave the island you're on in the Maldives, if the food was bad, it could definitely dampen the trip, well it's safe to say that the food at Velassaru was incredible. The waiters were also exceptional, this particular restaurant on the island is situated within a wine cellar which makes it pretty special. This resort had 5 restaurants so you definitely wont get bored!
We had another cloudy morning, but still headed up to explore, we found this stunning hammock which I could happily spend all day on. Black and white swimsuit online here. Playsuit online here.
The clouds were still around but it was scorching so we went out to the beach, I took my Pure Zen yoga towel with me which is actually great for the beach too as it's super light weight, eco friendly and dries pretty much instantly (it's micro-fibre). My swimsuit is from Simply Beach.
Another day, another epic lunch which certainly did not disappoint, anything you can imagine will be served to you. With every bite we were like: this is the best hotel food ever. It isn't like been in a hotel, it's like been in paradise and dipping between exclusive restaurants every single day.
That evening, I opted for a silky black maxi. I love it a little bit too much. We ate candle lit by the beach which I unfortunately couldn't photograph as even for my new camera, candle light is difficult to photograph! Maxi online here at MissPap (10% discount with promo code EMSHELDON10) or ASOS do an identical one here.
The following evening, we ate inside the teppanyaki restaurant, another must do, it's the restaurant in the middle of the ocean and it felt so special eating in there.
The chef put on a show as he whipped up some epic delights.
Sadly, I had to kiss goodbye to this incredible bathroom. Swimsuit from Simply Beach again.
It's safe to say, we had the time of our life at Velassaru and I wouldn't hesitate to fly right back to that gorgeous little island now. My only regret? Four days is not enough, I could have happily spent a month there. This gorgeous little island has the best atmosphere, the most exceptionally friendly and professional staff, the most divine food and, lots to do; from movie nights under the stars, to excursions on boats, to snorkelling, a really great gym, diving, water sports, yoga and more - you certainly wont regret booking a trip here. I'd like to thank the staff from the bottom of my heart for giving us a once in a lifetime stay, although, hopefully we will be able to go back!
You can watch my vlog below to see more of my time at Velassaru - it would be incredible if you could subscribe to my channel here!
You can watch my vlog below to see more of my time at Velassaru - it would be incredible if you could subscribe to my channel here!
Have you ever visited the Maldives? Would you like to? Do you like the sound of Velasaru?
Lots of love, Em x
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