Baglioni Resort Maldives

This was our fourth trip to the Maldives, and our fourth consecutive year visiting. Before this trip, we had already spent 25 nights at resorts in the Maldives: 7 nights on our first trip, 7 nights on our second, and then 8 nights and 3 nights at two different resorts on our previous trip. When I say 25 nights, I mean only the nights actually spent at resorts. I am not counting hotels in Malé, airport stays, or time spent on airplanes. I am not mentioning this simply to say, “I have been to the Maldives many times.” I mention it because I think our previous experiences help explain why Baglioni meant so much to us. Every time we returned to the Maldives, we seemed to arrive with some kind of expectation. It was almost as though we were searching for something. On our earlier trips, we found new meaning each time through snorkeling, then freediving, and eventually scuba diving. After experiencing scuba diving in the Maldives, we also stayed at Soneva Jani. By then, I felt that we had experienced almost everything people tend to imagine when they think of “the Maldives.” But eventually my wife and I realized that what we were truly looking for was not, “Let’s go to the Maldives and do something.” What we were looking for was the experience of being **genuinely at ease**. Not feeling that we had to swim simply because we were in the Maldives. Not feeling that we had to go diving. Not forcing ourselves to eat something just because we had already paid for it and it would feel wasteful not to. These were lessons we had gradually learned, sometimes through trial and error, during our previous stays. Baglioni was different. At Baglioni, there is a sense of **freedom**. The freedom to do something only when you genuinely want to do it. The freedom to choose between room service and going to a restaurant. To eat and drink what you want, when you want it. To join one of the many activities available, or to decide that today you simply want to do nothing. For 14 nights, we were able to almost completely forget about our everyday life in Seoul and simply spend peaceful and happy time together. My wife had followed my pace on our previous trips and had even earned her Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certifications. But what she actually enjoys more is swimming comfortably and safely in a pool. This time, unlike on some of our previous Maldives trips, she did not feel that she had to go diving just for me. She could spend her time exactly as she wanted. Something also changed for me. On previous trips, I was constantly thinking about seeing something more spectacular underwater and about filming it. This time, I was finally able to leave the camera behind and dive and snorkel purely for myself. Diving not to capture something for other people to see, but simply to experience it for yourself, turned out to be something completely different. I felt calmer. I noticed marine life more carefully. I was able to observe things in a more relaxed and safe way, and strangely, those moments stayed in my memory more deeply than many of the things I had filmed before. More than anything else, I loved that freedom. Before the trip, I had researched the dive sites and hoped to visit places such as Fushi Kandu and Vommuli Caves. In the end, I did not get to visit all of them — and surprisingly, that was completely fine. The dive center guided us toward places where they believed we could have better experiences under the actual conditions at the time, and Baglioni’s own house reef also had a great deal of beauty to discover. That itself felt like part of what I had learned during this trip: it was no longer necessary for everything to happen exactly as I had planned in order for the experience to be meaningful. I think experiences like this can contain enough energy to change a person. I do not remember another journey that moved something this deep inside me. Another reason Baglioni became so special to us was its people. The entire resort felt less like a collection of separate departments and more like one team. At many resorts, the butler naturally becomes the main person through whom most of your experience is organized. At Baglioni, however, we gradually found ourselves developing small relationships with many different people: the housekeepers, the minibar staff, the person making pancakes at breakfast, the restaurant teams, the reception staff, and many others. To me, this was one of the greatest differences between Baglioni and the other resorts we had visited. By the end of the stay, some of them almost felt like friends. Now that we are home, I genuinely miss them. **Anish** took care of our minibar. I imagine that most guests do not return home remembering the name of the person responsible for their minibar, but we remember him. He checked everything carefully and was always kind. One day, we happened to meet him on one of the paths rather than at our villa. He was clearly in the middle of his work, but he greeted us with such a bright and genuine smile. It was a sunny day, and we were simply walking back to our villa. Nothing extraordinary happened. Yet that brief moment with his smile somehow became one of the memories I brought home. **Nipun** worked at the breakfast station making pancakes, crêpes and other dishes. He always seemed to enjoy what he was doing, and he quickly remembered that I ordered French toast every morning. His French toast was so good that during the 15 days we were on the island, I think I ate it 15 times. Coming home also meant realizing that I could no longer have Nipun’s French toast every morning, which was genuinely a little sad. **Joy**, at the pool, took care of towels and served drinks. We spent a lot of time at the pool, and Joy always made it easy for us to feel comfortable there. Joy even remembered the drinks we preferred. These may seem like small things, but during a long stay, they make a place begin to feel familiar. **Rajat**, at Mirto, made an extraordinary amount of coffee for me. I did not have many long conversations with him, but I certainly drank a lot of his coffee — often more than two cups at a time. He has a way of making people feel comfortable, and he makes very good coffee. **Edi**, whom we often met around Mirto and La Limonaia, was especially helpful to me because I do not drink much and know very little about wine. He recommended wines that worked beautifully with the food and allowed me to experience how much the right pairing could bring out the character of a dish. I also learned something from the way he served: polite, attentive, but always maintaining just the right amount of distance. I could always sense that he cared about doing his job well and was continuously trying to improve. **Prakash**, who manages the restaurant teams, was another person I found very impressive. As someone who also runs a restaurant, I naturally found myself watching how he worked. I could see him placing and managing his staff according to the situation while still paying attention to what was happening around the guests. When he looked after us, he was attentive without ever making that attention feel intrusive. We also had a longer conversation with him, and it gave me a better understanding of both resort service in the Maldives and the particular kind of service Baglioni is trying to create. I learned a lot from him. **Wei Wei**, from Myanmar, whom we met at Yama and Taste, was wonderful. She is interested in Korean culture and was naturally curious about us. She paid close attention to all the small details throughout our meals and often noticed what we needed before we had to ask. She would sometimes use Korean words she knew, which always made us smile and immediately made the atmosphere warmer and more comfortable. And then there is **Naresh**, also at Yama and Taste. Naresh is probably the person my wife and I will remember most from this trip. He told us many stories about India and about his own life, while somehow never missing anything that was needed at the table. Even when the restaurant was approaching closing time, or had already passed it, he continued serving us with genuine enthusiasm rather than making us feel that we needed to hurry. But what made him especially memorable was the conversation. He seems like someone who is constantly trying to understand something through life itself. And when he feels he has understood something, he tries to express it in words that another person can also understand. He is very quick-witted and has a wonderful sense of humor, so conversations with him often had us laughing. Yet somewhere in the middle of those jokes, he would suddenly say something genuinely thoughtful and reflective. That combination made our conversations both entertaining and surprisingly deep. As someone who runs a restaurant myself, I found there was a great deal I could learn from the way Naresh understood people, relaxed them, made them laugh and, at the same time, never forgot that he was there to provide excellent service. Finally, I would like to mention **Gem, the Front Office Manager**. There was a situation during our stay in which we needed an explanation and, more importantly, needed to understand each other properly. What impressed me was that when we had not yet fully understood one another, she did not simply stop at that point or repeat the same explanation. She began by trying to understand the emotions involved, and then patiently spent the time and effort necessary for all of us to understand the situation more completely. That approach stayed with me. Afterwards, whenever we happened to meet around the resort, she always greeted us warmly. A difficult moment therefore did not remain simply a difficult moment; it became another experience through which we came to appreciate the people working at the resort. If you are considering a longer stay in the Maldives, I especially recommend Baglioni. We stayed for 14 nights, yet because of the variety of restaurants, room service and different styles of food available, we never felt concerned about becoming tired of the dining options. More importantly, the structure of the resort allowed us to decide each day how we actually wanted to spend it. After four trips and a total of 39 nights spent at Maldives resorts, I finally found at Baglioni what I think I had been looking for all along. Not another activity. Not another spectacular photograph. Not another thing to accomplish. But the freedom to be there, with someone I love, and to be completely at ease. I sincerely hope more people will have the opportunity to experience this resort.

We stayed here for a week and had an absolutely fantastic stay. This was our 11th time in the Maldives and 2nd time at Baglioni, but this was the best stay ever. We came to Baglioni last year in February and loved it, but this time loved it even more because the food and the service were a few notches higher than the excellent standard we experienced last time. The chefs Madhu (Taste), Newan (Yama), and Mamun (Limonaia) wowed us with every meal we had. We had customized food almost every time we ate at these restaurants, and the quality and preparation impressed us every single time. Thanks for the best Teppanyaki and maki at Yama, best international cuisine at Taste, and excellent Italian food and pizza at Limonaia. The pool bar had an extremely good team and took the time to get to know us and served us champagne and cocktails all day long. Anmol at the pool bar made sure that my husband had a big glass of champagne in his hands every time we were at the poolside. Thanks to the housekeeping staff who took care of our water villa 242 by decorating it with towel art and keeping it clean and welcoming. Thanks to Rameez for taking care of our entire stay. Thanks to the diving team, especially Gianna, who made sure our son got his diving certificate in 3 days. Thanks to everyone including Prakash (F&B head), Sanjay, Pratik and Naresh for taking care of us and making it memorable. I am sorry if I missed any staff names. You all were awesome!

It was an excellent vacation, in a beautiful small Island. The Baglioni Team was all the time present and available to solve our needs. Water villa is big and really nice; Liton taken care on it very carefully. Special thanks to Yerma for his great organization and availability.

Very beautiful esperience, beautiful island, wonderful staff and Elisa gave us great support and has been always available. The only suggestion is about the bottles of water that are not sealed up and the costs of the international waters are too high.

The environment is quiet and serene. The waters surrounding the island are crystal clear with a reasonable beach front. The staff were exceptionally friendly. The food was very delicious and prepared with fresh ingredients with special attention to our anniversary dinner on the beach thanks to Yerma and Chef Maduka. Our room was cleaned twice daily. The 90 minute spa was out of this world and flew by in no time. We spent 5 days at the resort and it was over before we realized. Highly recommended if you value privacy, peace and quality cuisine with a minimal number of guests (well under 100).