- Maldives Holidays
- Maldives Islands
- Emerald Maldives Resort and Spa
Ideally located in the Raa Atoll area, Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa promises a relaxing and wonderful visit. The property has everything you need for a comfortable stay. Take advantage of the property's free Wi-Fi in all rooms, 24-hour room service, 24-hour security, convenience store, daily housekeeping. All rooms are designed and decorated to make guests feel right at home, and some rooms come with closet, complimentary tea, television in bathroom, dressing room, towels. Take a break from a long day and make use of the boats, canoe, watersports equipment rentals, wind surfing, snorkeling. Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa is an excellent choice from which to explore Maldives Islands or to simply relax and rejuvenate.
It’s taken me some time to write a review as I’m always lost for words when I try to describe how amazing the quality of our stay was. We arrived to a genuine, warm welcome off our Seaplane by Jude and his super team and were soon whisked off in our privet buggy 🛺 by our lovely Villa Host, Yash, who gave us a brief tour of the island before delivering us to our huge, beautiful over water villa. The Villa was superb, stunning views, lots of space, immaculately clean and the welcome gifts were much appreciated after a vey long journey. Being able to swim directly off the steps from our deck was just bliss. Throughout our stay the village was kept immaculately clean by our delightful housekeeper Shaajiu, who was always very understanding if we asked for him to call back a little later. Food service was first class at all the different locations around the resort and KD was not only a top rate F&B manager he was a delightful host who went above and beyond to look after anything we requested. Another star of the show was Alok, the wonderful executive Chef. He took an interest in all our likes and dislikes and gave us some super suprise dishes. He, along with the rest of his fabulous team have also raised the bar on buffet dining and we just loved eating at the buffet and trying diffent food from the vast selection of dishes. Special thanks must go to the amazing pasta chef (I’m sorry, I never got his name) who went to extraordinary lengths to ensure I got the pasta dish I ordered. Delicious drinks away make a meal even more enjoyable and they were in plentiful supply, with a superb selection. We were really cared for brilliantly by both Sonny and Ray (Amajit, I think) our Sommeliers. While offering us a selection of wines they understood we’d enjoy it was great to enjoy some of their other suggestions and try wine we may not have considered. There are plenty of experiences to enjoy on or from the Island but by far our favourite was a peek behind the scenes to see the “Heart of the House” courtesy of the brilliant and fascinating Avinash, Chief Engineer. This was a wonderful way to understand how all the dedicated team behind the scenes work so hard to make guest stays so perfect. Additionally it was interesting to understand how the resort operates on an environmental level and all the processes involved. We just loved it. As the resort continues to achieve even higher and higher levels of excellence I’d hope that the water sports and marine biology team will be able to learn from the stunning example set by the other teams. Snorkelling on the house reef was amazing but we were able to enjoy so much marine life from our deck and pontoon. I never expected to be sat having coffee and watch sharks and turtles swim past. Wow. All in all the most magical place and we would love to be able to return one day. Thank you Mr Jude and all your amazing team, both front of house and behind the scenes.
We had the most wonderful stay here for our honeymoon, and from the moment we arrived, we were made to feel incredibly special.
The level of care, attention and hospitality throughout our stay was truly exceptional. Every member of staff went above and beyond to make our honeymoon memorable, with thoughtful touches and genuinely warm, personal service that made us feel so well looked after.
The standards throughout the resort are outstanding. The food and drinks were exceptional, with an excellent choice and consistently high quality, and the facilities were beautifully maintained and exceeded our expectations. Everything has clearly been considered with comfort and enjoyment in mind.
What really stood out, though, was the people. The warmth, professionalism and attention to detail from the entire team made such a difference. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble, and there was a genuine desire to make our experience as special as possible. We felt like royalty and got very emotional when we had to leave as we felt we had made friends as the care and love was so genuine.
We couldn’t have wished for a better place to celebrate our honeymoon. We left with some incredibly happy memories and would return in a heartbeat. Emerald Maldives is a truly exceptional resort, made even more special by its wonderful people and outstanding hospitality.
Paradise with genuinely exceptional staff – one of the best holidays we've ever had ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We have just returned from an 11-night stay at Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa, and it has been one of the best holidays our family has ever had. We've stayed in many five-star hotels over the years, and while Emerald has beautiful villas, stunning beaches and crystal-clear water, what really makes this resort stand out is the people. The staff genuinely want you to have the best possible holiday, and that shines through in everything they do.
Arrival
Our holiday began with our first ever seaplane flight. I was a little apprehensive beforehand, but it turned out to be a fantastic experience. The aerial views of the Maldives are breathtaking and really set the tone for the holiday.
A few tips for future guests: wear light clothing as the seaplane can become quite warm, particularly if you're onboard for 40–45 minutes. If you tend to overheat, pack a small handheld fan. The aircraft is also extremely noisy. Earplugs are provided, but if you have noise-cancelling AirPods or headphones, definitely take them as they make the journey much more comfortable.
Our seaplane stopped at another resort before we transferred by speedboat for the final 15-minute journey to Emerald. As we were the only passengers on the boat, it actually added to the adventure and made our arrival feel even more special.
From the moment we stepped onto the jetty, we received a wonderful welcome. Staff were waiting for us with cold towels, refreshing drinks and champagne before taking us on a quick tour of the island by buggy and then on to our villa.
Beach Villa 255
We stayed in Beach Villa 255, and if we ever return, we'd happily request exactly the same villa again.
It was peaceful and private, with direct access onto a beautiful beach. The villa itself was spacious, beautifully designed and extremely well equipped. We had two very good-sized bedrooms with plenty of storage, lovely bathrooms, quality toiletries and hairdryers.
So many useful extras are provided too, including dressing gowns, slippers, flip-flops, umbrellas, life jackets and even rain ponchos for those tropical showers.
Waiting for us on arrival was a lovely fruit bowl and a bottle of Prosecco.
The complimentary minibar was excellent and replenished every day. It can also be personalised, so if there's something you don't like, they'll happily replace it with something you prefer.
We had Snickers and Bounty bars, Original and Sour Cream & Chive Pringles, plus lovely glass jars filled with peanuts, cashew nuts, granola and jelly beans. It was brilliant if you fancied something to snack on between meals.
Our private pool was another highlight. The water was beautifully warm—probably the warmest private pool we've ever experienced—and it was cleaned constantly, so it was always spotless with no insects floating in it.
The terrace had four sun loungers and side tables. There was some lovely shade in the morning, but our only small criticism was that there wasn't really any shade on the terrace during the afternoon because of the villa's position. We simply cooled off in the pool, went for a late lunch, headed to the beach or relaxed inside the wonderfully air-conditioned villa, so it certainly didn't spoil our enjoyment.
Housekeeping & Bikes
You'll spend much of your holiday walking on sand, so inevitably you'll carry some back into your villa.
Our villa was kept spotlessly clean by Rameez, who did an amazing job. Considering the amount of sand that naturally gets brought inside, we couldn't believe how immaculate everything was kept. Every time we returned, the villa seemed spotless again.
One of our absolute favourite things about Emerald was having our own bicycles.
Every guest has a bike with a basket, and we used ours constantly to cycle to breakfast, lunch and dinner and simply explore the island.
It's such a simple thing, but it added enormously to the relaxed feeling of the holiday. In fact, now we're back in the UK, cycling around the island is one of the things we miss most!
Dining
Overall, we thought the food was very good, although some restaurants stood out more than others.
Aqua
Aqua is the main buffet restaurant and where we had breakfast every morning.
Our biggest criticism wasn't really the food but the restaurant itself. We found it surprisingly warm because the design doesn't seem to allow much natural airflow, and there weren't enough fans to keep the dining area comfortable.
There was one portable fan, and if nobody else had claimed it, we did! We really think the resort would benefit from investing in several more so diners can choose whether they'd like a fan beside their table.
Breakfast itself was good.
We particularly loved the Eggs Benedict and poached eggs, which were cooked perfectly every morning by the lovely Om. He was always smiling and so friendly that we genuinely looked forward to seeing his welcoming face each morning. Thank you, Om, for all those perfect eggs!
There was also a lovely selection of pastries, although occasionally we found a few to be a little stale. We're not sure whether that was simply due to the humidity.
A very special mention must also go to one of the chefs from Nepal - Vikas - who had trained in India and also worked at Le Asiatique. We told him that my father-in-law had been born in India and how much we love authentic Indian food. The head chef was the very talented Makesh who came to see us and make sure we liked his food.
Vikas and Makesh very kindly made us the most wonderful stuffed potato parathas with spiced potato curry and freshly made poori for breakfast. They were absolutely delicious and made such a lovely change from our usual breakfast.
It was incredibly thoughtful and very much appreciated.
Beach Club Grill
Our favourite restaurant was undoubtedly the Beach Club Grill.
The beachfront location is stunning, allowing you to sit looking out across the turquoise ocean, and there's a lovely sea breeze—which is especially welcome at lunchtime!
We visited for both lunches and evening meals, and the food was consistently excellent.
We particularly enjoyed the hummus, Fish Tartare and Chicken Caesar Salad starters. Main courses included a delicious Miso Chicken, burgers, pizzas, fresh fish, tuna fillet and pasta dishes.
Desserts were probably one of the weaker areas across the resort in general. They often looked absolutely amazing but sometimes tasted fairly average, which was a shame.
However, the Beach Club served a fantastic Chocolate Fudge Cake and a lovely Coconut Chia Parfait, both of which we really enjoyed.
The service here was also excellent, and combined with the beautiful location and consistently good food, this was the restaurant we most enjoyed returning to.
Le Asiatique & Teppanyaki
Le Asiatique was another real highlight of our holiday and serves some wonderful Asian food. We booked the Teppanyaki experience, and luckily for us, the other diners arrived around 40 minutes late, which meant we had the chef - Vikas - almost entirely to ourselves for much of the experience. He was simply amazing.
Not only was Vikas a fantastic chef, but he was a brilliant host with a great personality. He interacted wonderfully with our two older teenage sons and even had them trying some of the Teppanyaki cooking skills themselves, which had us all laughing.
He was also very accommodating with dietary requirements.
The food was superb and incredibly plentiful - we simply couldn't finish everything!
This was the same wonderful chef from Nepal who had made the Indian breakfast for us at Aqua. He brought so much warmth and personality to our stay and genuinely made us happy. We'll never forget that evening.
The Teppanyaki experience was one of the highlights of our entire holiday.
The food at Le Asiatique generally was really good too, so definitely take full advantage of the menu rather than only visiting for Teppanyaki.
Amazònico
Unfortunately, Amazònico was our least favourite restaurant and, in our opinion, is one area of the resort that could do with some attention.
We found the service here less warm than elsewhere and, at times, rather rushed. On one occasion, we were still eating our main courses when a server arrived with the dessert menu and wanted us to choose our desserts. It didn't create the relaxed dining experience we'd enjoyed in the other restaurants.
We also found the food quite mediocre compared with the standards elsewhere at Emerald. One meal was particularly disappointing, and we did pass our feedback on to management, who listened professionally.
The restaurant itself is set on sand and has several huge fans to keep diners cool. You definitely need the fans because of the temperature, but unfortunately they're extremely noisy. We found ourselves struggling to hear each other speaking across the table, which rather destroys the ambience.
The churros we ordered were chewy despite being freshly made, and our son had a sausage that was so tough he simply couldn't eat it.
For us, Amazònico was the weakest part of the dining experience and didn't quite match the otherwise very high standards of the resort.
Gala Night & What to Wear
Gala Night was beautifully done and is definitely something to look forward to.
The individual restaurants close and everyone dines together on the beach outside Aqua. The whole area is transformed with lots of lights, live music and a fantastic selection of food, including lobster, sushi and many other dishes.
It creates a wonderful atmosphere and felt like a genuinely special evening.
For anyone wondering what to pack, don't worry too much about dressing up. Emerald is actually a very relaxed five-star resort.
For Gala Night, men need to have their shoulders covered and wear smart-casual shorts, but we simply wore T-shirts and shorts and felt perfectly comfortable.
In fact, throughout our stay we barely saw anyone particularly dressed up. Because you're walking on sand so much of the time, most people live in sandals or flip-flops, and the evening temperature is only slightly cooler than during the day.
Vest tops, T-shirts, shorts, skirts, playsuits and casual dresses are all absolutely fine. Nobody seems to care what anyone else is wearing, which we loved.
Breakfast is even more relaxed, with many ladies simply wearing swimwear and a cover-up—which makes complete sense, especially given how warm Aqua can be!
Exceptional Staff
The greatest asset at Emerald Maldives is undoubtedly the staff.
They are all so lovely and welcoming. The servers looking after our drinks and meals were wonderful, and we must say a huge thank you to mmmm and nnnnn, who looked after us so well.
Our villa was kept absolutely spotless by Rameez, who deserves a special mention for doing such an excellent job throughout our stay.
KD was attentive throughout our holiday and even arranged for us to have a beautiful floating breakfast in our private pool, which was such a lovely experience.
And then there was our butler, Amaan. Amaan was still undergoing training during our stay, so he wasn't always around in person, but his communication was excellent. He responded quickly to our messages, regularly checked that everything was okay and was always keen to help. Most importantly, we all really liked him. If we returned to Emerald Maldives, we would absolutely ask for Amaan to look after us again.
The Sunset Bar team were fantastic - big thanks to Alim, Pawan, Shaiaha, Anthony, Kamal, Azmeel
The restaurant servers such as Niushaan and Piyush and Nitin were amazing too!
When I Became Ill
Unfortunately, I became ill during our holiday, and this was when we really experienced just how caring the staff at Emerald can be. Amaan and the team checked on me every day and offered to arrange a doctor if I needed one. They made fresh honey and ginger tea for me at breakfast and, when I wasn't well enough to leave the villa, arranged for peanut butter toast, tissues and anything else I needed to be brought to me. Those little acts of kindness meant an enormous amount. It didn't feel like staff simply doing their jobs, it felt like people genuinely caring that I wasn't well and wanting to make me more comfortable. We'll always remember that.
Final Thoughts
Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa is a truly wonderful resort.
The island is stunning, our Beach Villa was beautiful, the private pool was heavenly, the housekeeping was exceptional and cycling around the island on our bikes was an absolute joy.
But above everything else, it's the people we'll remember.
From Om's smiling face and perfect eggs every morning, to our wonderful Teppanyaki chef Vikas, Rameez keeping our villa immaculate, KD arranging our floating breakfast, Amaan looking after us and all the restaurant and bar staff who greeted us so warmly - the people made this holiday special.
If we had any suggestions for improvement, they would be to provide more fans and better cooling in Aqua, rethink some aspects of the dining experience at Amazònico and perhaps provide more afternoon shade around some of the Beach Villa pools. But these points need to be put into perspective because there was so much we absolutely loved.
Would we return? Without hesitation.
And we'd happily request Beach Villa 255 and ask for Amaan to look after us all over again.
Thank you to everyone at Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa for giving our family such a wonderful holiday. We came home with some very special memories - and we're already missing those bike rides!
We spent 12 nights at Emerald on our honeymoon and we had the most incredible time. From start to finish we were made to feel like royalty. The resort is simply stunning and everything, from the service to the food, was exceptional. Special thanks to Sid, our villa host, who couldn’t do enough to help us particularly when I was unwell in arranging for the doctor to see me and also to Foysel, one of our room attendants, who was a lovely friendly gentleman who always cleared our room to an immaculate standard. We will be back!
Mr and Mrs Bonney Villa 226
The staff and their level of personalized service is what separates Emerald Resort from all the other options in the Maldives. From the moment we stepped off the plane we were treated like royalty. Wisham, our coordinator/Butler, made sure everything was perfect. From the rose petal bubble bath and sunset anniversary dinner that he planned, to the little gifts that made our stay special. Even the Executive Chef and the Head of Food and Beverages became personal friends, to the extent that they prepared individualized meals for us daily. When they heard we would miss the Maldivian dinner, they made some special dishes for us and delivered them for lunch on the other side of the island. Even though we were the only ones signed up for the reef snorkeling excursion Johan, the dive manager, still sent us out. Snorkeling with Hiya was a highlight of our stay , she was enthusiastic and brilliant at spotting wildlife. We also booked a couples massage and enjoyed the relaxing and serene treatment areas. The service wasn't limited to just the regular staff, even the gardeners and maintenance staff would always give a friendly "Hi". The rooms were gorgeous and modern with a luxurious bathroom. We rarely ever saw the housekeeping staff but every time we came back to our room it was cleaned and restocked.
I'm sure that everyone on the island has a similar experience but we left thinking that we were the most important guests.
