Our recent stay at the Anantara Kihavah was absolutely fantastic; we stayed at the resort for close to a week, and it was an experience we'll cherish forever. Even our first impressions on arrival were memorable: we were greeted on the pier by the genuinely friendly staff and, under the rhythm beats of the drums, escorted to our host, who took us to our villa, which looked exactly like it was in the pictures! The resort had an exceptional service! The hospitality of the island staff makes you feel welcome and cared for – and we couldn't be happier with our wonderful villa host, Snezhanna! Her punctuality, hospitality, and personality made all our interactions a delightful experience. She took care of everything for us, from planning/arranging surprises to ensuring that even the most minor requests were met promptly and seamlessly for us. Dining on the island is also like no other — each restaurant within the resort offers a unique selection of cuisine (you should try visiting as many of them as possible). The head chef (Joachim) is passionate and is very interested in discovering each guest's preferences. His warm, friendly demeanor and wealth of experiences traveling around the world make him very lovely to talk to! Must-try activities on the island are scuba diving/snorkeling (colorful reefs and wildlife like no other), stargazing (there's a giant telescope, clear sky, and a fantastic guide), and, of course, water sports. Also, in case you get sunburned, there's a doctor on an island who is always there to help you out ;) We also appreciated that this place is very well suited for people who don't speak much English. The staff is straightforward to communicate with, and they try to match you with the right villa host before arrival.

The trip was everything we dreamed it would be - obviously the property and the villa were stunning, but it's really the top notch customer service and high quality food that set this place apart for me. We would definitely return for our next trip to Maldives. Possible considerations: There were tons of children here - this resort is very family friendly. That was not a problem for us, in fact it inspires us to plan to take the kids on a future trip - but worth noting in my opinion.

The overall stay at Anantara Kihavah was a very pleasurable experience. From the food to the personnel, every aspect of the stay was well designed and fine-tuned by the hotel. Special praise goes to our personal caretaker Piyal, who helped us create the perfect holiday. He designed a carefully thought out arrangement of dinners as well as helping with every need we had. The staff were very hospitable and seemed genuine. The food was on par with the quality of the hotel and the diversity of restaurants was quite satisfactory. We ended our stay with an exploration of the cosmos, visiting the observatory on the island and getting a tour of the sky.

We have two overwater villa , Had a fabulous stay, certainly do feel welcomed on the island, freindly staff, and we always see the manager and execuitve chef checking with us and other guests about the stay. Maruice , the gm even remebered and kept his promise swapping our kiddos hilton caps with Anantara caps. Little things do matter to your guests in the world of hospitality . Couple things could be imprved tho, the Water villa certainly showed its aging for the past 10+ years. the wooden stairs outside the villa to the reef is extremely slippery, also the wooden handrail is shaky not a very sturdy to grab when the stairs already slipperty. Some wood on the deck even have nail exposed or is coming off lose. Nevertheless its still great room with transparent glass in tub and toilet. Also here to shut out to the diver team, with pure bad luck on our fishing trip with 6 of us and only 2 catches , their team able to help us catch one more , just enough for our next day dinner. But the kitchen communication could be better as far as fish preparation (we wanted whole but they filet it without checking). Guided snorkeling was fantastic, the team was able show our kids all kinds of marine life along their best known house reef.. not mentioned it was a windy rough wave during the trip. we were all enjoyed and appreciated the diver attention on the rough condition. Breakfast options for us could be a little bias, this is may be due that the property have more europeans visit than asians. We felt the hot breakfast selection buffet could offer a little more after we have been with lower budget such as Shareton and Hilton.and higher tier as W , St Regis , Conrad most breakfast have maybe twice as much selections and a la carte menu as well. Finally our butler is a little overwhelmed with the guests shes receiving. So it actually did impact us on whether waiting for buggie , not able booking spa in time due to back and forth time lost on spa questioning. We tried not bug our as shes overwhelmed. but at same time it did impact us. The photographer defintly needs some quality of shooting , the price we paid on the photo session is defintly a premium price but the quality of photo is lacking. The photographer told us usually they'll have 2 but with our family of 6 it was only one guy able to offer the service , and the photo backgrounds mostly blurred out given the natural beauty of the island , its quite a disappointment on the turn out. The same price we paid at the W photo session is much more professional turn out. Nevertheless, despite all the little stuff, all of us certainly had a good time. The management and staff were all wonderful group of team to accomodate the guests.

From the time we arrived in Male until the moment we left, including all transfers by seaplane, Anantara Kihavah Villas took care of our every need and looked after us. The island is in a stunning location in the Baa Atoll, but the scenery is matched by the beauty and comfort of the over-water villas. Food (half-board) was superb at the five restaurants - the best we have had consistently at any resort we have stayed at. And not to be missed (albeit pricy) is a meal at Sea, the underwater restaurant. Special high praise goes to our hostess who looked after us and attended to us from start to finish. This was a wonderful vacation for us and we would return in a heart-beat.