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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Maldives for a family of 5

13 replies

George79 · 03/08/2022 00:38

Hello we’re thinking of going to the Maldives next year and would like recommendations for a resort where we could stay. There are 5 of us (kids will be 12, 10 and 7) and we prefer to have a suite type arrangement rather than 2 separate rooms. Also want somewhere with good kids club / organised activities for the children. Thanks in advance

OP posts:
Namechangedincaseshesonhere · 03/08/2022 00:45

I would recommend Lilly Beach. Ultra All Inclusive, has a kids club, and I believe they have family villas as well.

valleyofadventure · 03/08/2022 00:54

Niyama, heaven on earth and fantastic for/with kids. One hour sea plane journey from Malé.

Ahhhcantthinkofag00dname · 03/08/2022 20:43

Thanks very much

Notmybloodymonkeys · 03/08/2022 20:45

Kuramathi is gorgeous and has family villas and a kid’s club.

minipie · 04/08/2022 13:45

You will find a lot of islands have kids clubs BUT they are more aimed at under 10s or even under 6/7 really. There also may not be many kids there as it’s still a very coupley destination. Your older kids would more likely be snorkelling or doing watersports so personally I’d look for islands good for those.

I would look at the following:

Niyama and Lux have great kids clubs but no house reef to speak of so v limited snorkelling.
Kuramathi kids club looks great and it has a good reef. But it’s a big busy island and a bit marmite. Might be a good option for tweens though.
Centara Grand is very family centric, good reef, has a kids & teen club. But quite built up compared with many islands.
Reethi Beach has family rooms and great reef but no kids club.
Lily Beach as mentioned above.
Adaaran Select Meedhupparu is a good value option.

Conrad Rangali, Amilla Fushi, Anantara Kihavah, Como Maalifushi all look amazing and tick all your boxes - if you have the money!!

Vakkaru, Dhigali, Constance Halaveli are also pricey but a bit less so.

Other options worth a look : Cora Cora, Movenpick, JA Manafaru, Hideaway.

Costs: Don’t forget to factor in:


  • transfer costs (Seaplane costs a lot so if budget is tight, look for resorts closer to Male with a speedboat transfer)

  • taxes (included on some booking sites but not others).

  • Food and drink costs a bomb so if you are looking at a half board or breakfast only offer remember you’ll spend a lot in resort. Many book AI to avoid this but it’s often way more than HB and not worth it unless you’ll eat and drink a lot.


Too much?? 😆

BookwormButNoTime · 04/08/2022 14:11

it will be totally dictated by your budget to be honest. I spent ages trying to find family friendly accommodation suite style so the kids could have separate beds in their own room (as opposed to having to share a pull out sofa bed). That was our main priority.

Ayada, The Nautilus, the Soneva resorts and the Hard Rock Hotel gave us the best options. We did a split stay on two islands.

The Hard Rock isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as it’s quite lively and on one side of the island you can see Male. BUT it had a great all inclusive where you can use the restaurants at the Crossroads Marina, great kids activities (although for the younger ones) but also stuff going on like beach volleyball, circus, live bands etc. and non motorised water sports. It was also a lot more “affordable” - talking Maldives prices here. Speedboat transfer so cheaper and no mad panic for getting back to the airport.

The Nautilus was to die for although you might need to mortgage a kidney to go there. We were left some inheritance with instructions it must be spent on the trip of a lifetime. It was, indeed, just that.

ArtfulPuss · 04/08/2022 15:12

We went to Centara Grand when our kids were similar ages – 11, 9 and 6 – and it was perfect for us at the time. We were in a two-bedroom beach villa, which had a double bed on the mezzanine and a twin room downstairs for the younger two; DS1 (11 at the time) slept on a sofa bed in the living area.

There was a kids' club and also a teen zone with table tennis, etc. One of the reasons we picked CG was that they didn't have jet skis or any other motorised watersports (this was 6 yrs ago, might be different now), but there was good provision of non-motorised watersports. There were also various organised activities suitable for older kids + pre-teens. I remember the house reef being v. good for snorkelling, and the diving centre was great too. It's a Thai-owned resort so unsurprisingly the spa was lovely! Food was good too, with a Thai restaurant as well as an overwater Italian restaurant, which provided a bit of variety in terms of menu and setting.

Then we stayed in a villa at Amilla Fushi this year, which was next level in terms of facilities, service – and budget! A very special place, and we all absolutely loved it.

We booked Amilla through a small, specialist operator who were excellent at advising on options to suit our requirements. The resort itself was their suggestion, when another option (The Hideaway) fell through, and when we had to postpone from last year due to Covid they managed everything brilliantly. We would normally book flights/accommodation etc. ourselves, and I had already done loads of research (keeping notes via a geekily detailed spreadsheet, which I will refer back to if we're ever lucky enough to get the chance to go back!) – but in the end we were really glad to have the help of experts who had visited all the resorts we were considering so were able to tailor their advice, give us insider info that we wouldn't necessarily have picked up on from websites and negotiate an accommodation upgrade.

Happy planning!

Ahhhcantthinkofag00dname · 09/08/2022 23:43

Thank you artful puss and bookworm for all the useful info

KevinPhilbin · 13/08/2022 06:34

Hi
i am at Niyama now - waiting to see the GM.
sorry but it’s a big fat “No”
Basically the website lies. There are not 4 “segregated” age groups - there aren’t even 4 staff! All ages are lumped together so our 11 year old is expected to make bracelets with 5 year olds. There are zero age appropriate activities for anyone over about 6. Therefore no 8-12 year olds bother. Owning - result is NO kids club
Oh and Q: Coca Cola - guess how much per litre?


  1. $5

  2. $10

  3. $25?


A: $90 !!!!!! It’s $13 for a 200 ml juice in your fridge!!!!

$240 for a tennis lesson for two

forget a kids club and go to Six Senses!!!

Maldives for a family of 5
Maldives for a family of 5
KevinPhilbin · 13/08/2022 06:37

Hi
i am at Niyama now - waiting to see the GM.

sorry but it’s a big fat “No” here if you want a kids club - the reason we booked was the lies on their website!!!

Basically the website lies. There are not 4 “segregated” age groups - there aren’t even 4 staff! All ages are lumped together so our 11 year old is expected to make bracelets with 5 year olds. There are zero age appropriate activities for anyone over about 6. Therefore no 8-12 year olds bother. Owning - result is NO kids club
Oh and Q: Coca Cola - guess how much per litre?
$5
$10
$25?

A: $90 !!!!!! It’s $13 for a
200 ml juice in your fridge!!!!

$240 for a tennis lesson for two

forget a kids club and go to Six Senses!!!

Maldives for a family of 5
Maldives for a family of 5
quickquickslow · 18/08/2022 15:18

We went to Niyama when our kids were 12 and 8; they went to the kids club a couple of times and quite enjoyed it, but otherwise they hung out together playing billiards or riding their bikes around. Mostly they were with us I guess; swimming, snorkelling, diving etc.

It was the holiday of a lifetime for all of us.

We were on a tight budget - certainly never drank from the mini-bar, but we never do in hotels. They provided bottles of water every day and we just drank them.

quickquickslow · 18/08/2022 15:19

Ayada is great too but the journey there is ruinous.

KevinPhilbin · 19/08/2022 03:46

Revised - Cola miscalculation - $45 a litre

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