I’ve been putting off writing a review of the Shangri-La in the Maldives in hopes that I would keep it a secret from the traveling masses. However, the last episode of Season 14 of The Bachelorette features the resort and so I guess the secret’s out!

The Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa is a magical place. It’s located on the Southern most inhabited atoll in the Maldives and is easily accessible from Gan International Airport. Flights arrive from both Male, the capital of the Maldives, and Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. We flew in from Colombo on Sri Lankan which was a phenomenal way of combining the two parts of our vacation.

The hotel offers free boat transfer from the airport directly to the hotel. On arrival we were greeted by the front of house staff and coconut cocktails. It took about 10 minutes for the baggage to be off-loaded from the boat and loaded on the waiting golf carts. Then we were swiftly whisked away to our over-water bungalow.

There are three separate peninsulas of over-water bungalows and our villa was located in the southern most located one. It was ideal for us as it was located away from the boat traffic and had wonderful snorkelling right off our deck. Some tripadvisor reports say that the reef at the northern end of the island surrounding that set of over-water villas is the most lush but we found ours to be just spectacular. Walking home from breakfast on different mornings we saw sea turtles and small reef sharks swimming under the elevated walkway.

The room itself was amazing! The king bed faces floor to ceiling windows with large french doors leading out to the large, two-tiered deck. The bathroom features a spacious tub and both an indoor and outdoor shower. The outdoor shower has viewing areas on each side so you can keep an eye on the sea life so you never miss a beat.

The over-water villas are well spaced out. At some Maldivian hotels the over-water rooms are very close together which reduces your privacy and restricts the movement of larger sea creatures. We basically were never aware of our neighbors during our stay despite the rooms definitely being occupied.

Each room comes with two bicycles so that you can easily get around the island. Villingili is larger than most resorts in the Maldives and the bikes were a wonderful way to get around the island. You can also request a golf cart to transport you. The bikes are bit rusty but totally functional. Just don’t put anything light coloured in the baskets as they may get stained with rust marks!

One of the most attractive aspects of the Shangri-La was the availability of a full board rate. It included buffet breakfast and essentially a stipend to spend at lunch and dinner at any restaurant on the island. The amount included in the rate was definitely enough to enjoy either a two or three course meal depending on entree ordered. The full board rate also included house wines and certain cocktails. With the full board option we would just enjoy our vacation and not worry about the food bill at the end of the trip.

There are three restaurants on the island which were all wonderful. During high occupancy periods all are open each night but if you go during a lower occupancy period they tend to rotate the restaurants open for dinner. We tried each of them but especially liked Fashala which is located on the northern tip of the island. Sit at the edge of the restaurant and watch the crabs scuttle along the sand bank that slopes into the sea.

You could easily while away your days just enjoying the sunshine and floating in the calm sea right outside your door but the hotel offers plenty of other activities. It is the only hotel in the Maldives with a golf course; its a short nine hole course but neat none-the-less. Since we’re not big golfers we didn’t hit the links but J used the cart path to do some plane spotting one morning. The highest point in the Maldives is located on the golf course and stands at a staggering 5 meters above sea level.

They have an excellent dive centre and J got his PADI scuba certification while we were there. The dives we went on were varied in nature; we saw several nurse and reef sharks, sea turtles and so many schools of fish. The boat was well out-filled and the equipment was in good condition.

One of the highlights was a late afternoon boat ride in search of spinner dolphins. We found a huge pod of them in the waters off the island and I could have spent hours watching them leap and twirl.

The whole experience was amazing! J basically had to drag me kicking and screaming from the island when it was time to come home. Go visit if you can – you won’t regret it!

General Tips for Hotels in the Maldives: 

When J and I were looking at going to the Maldives we wanted to make sure we had the best experience possible considering how far we were travelling and how expensive the hotels are. We looked at a lot of hotels (and I mean A LOT) before we settled on the Shangri-La but generally we found there were a few things mentioned in TripAdvisor reviews that we found especially relevant:

• Some of the hotels have installed concrete breakwaters just off their main beaches to help prevent erosion of the island and the beaches. These tend to interrupt your sight-lines and so check traveler pictures carefully if you think you’d be bothered by this.
• The hotels within at least a 30 minute boat drive of Male are still close enough that at night you can still see the lights of the city. The twinkling lights of the metropolis can look lovely in the distance but if you would rather feel like you are alone in the middle of the ocean then consider moving farther away from the main point of arrival.
• Close to Male there is also an island that is affectionately referred to as “Garbage Island”. In the Maldives they burn all their garbage as a means of disposal and it is transported to this island for incineration. Check the location of your hotel to be sure you’re not too close to this!

Most importantly – enjoy!!