“Flying over water that looked like it had dye in it was so unbelievably magical!”
Steph Claire Smith x The Asia Collective
Day 1
We have arrived! We waited in the W Retreat & Spa Maldives lounge for our seaplane transfer to Fesdu Island. Flying over water that looked like it had dye in it it was so unbelievably magical! We arrived at the W Retreat & Spa delighted to see the staff waiting and waving at us from the jetty. We were taken straight to our room and needless to say… It was amazing! We stayed in one of the Wonderful Beach Oasis villas. One thing that stood out to us instantly was how amazingly private it was. We enjoyed a couple of drinks at SIP and indulged in an absolute feast at FISH afterwards. Our amazing dish was called ‘Ocean To Table’.
Day 2
I opened the blinds and was excited to see that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We had a morning dip in the ocean just outside of our room, and headed straight to the buffet breakfast at KITCHEN. The buffet was simply perfect – all the choices you’d want from a buffet. Josh and I chose to sit at a table that actually sat in water, so from our ankles down, we were in the pool!
Afterwards we grabbed ourselves some snorkel gear and checked out the reef! It has got to be one of the most incredible reefs I have ever seen. Josh and I were blown away with the amount of fish that was surrounding us. We also swam into turtles and even some reef sharks! I was frightened at first but in the end it was a breathtaking experience. That night we checked out FIRE for dinner, and there was an incredible fresh seafood and meat buffet!
Day 3
We decided to hit the gym first thing in the morning! The gym was filled with all the equipment I would normally use and more, it was great. After breakfast we went snorkeling again… We just couldn’t get enough of that reef! At 1pm – lucky me – I got to indulge in an hour massage at AWAY SPA. Josh got to chill out on the day bed just outside of the spa room right over the water, so he didn’t miss out completely. From there we hit WAVE and tried out the water entertainment sea bobs! They were so so so much fun! We knew it was our last night at the W Retreat & Spa so we went back to FISH for another amazing dinner and some wine. We stayed up longer, just lying on the beach chairs listening to the ocean and looking up at the stars.
Day 4
We made the most of the amazing buffet on our last morning and also tried some of the items from the menu. I strongly recommend the healthy bowl with rhubarb! We had one last snorkel, and got within meters of a reef shark! Our last lunch was a wood fired seafood pizza at KITCHEN, it was sooo good! The rest of the afternoon we just made the most of our private space in our villa, and were treated with fresh lamingtons from the chef! A real Aussie treat!
The seaplane then took us back to Male, the main island and airport in the Maldives. We were incredibly sad to go, and definitely want to go back. But our trip wasn’t over just yet! We jumped onto a speedboat that took us over to Kandooma Island where Holiday Inn Resort Maldives staff were waiting to greet us. We went straight to dinner at the buffet in the main cafe and crashed pretty hard after that back in our room, we were so tired, plus the pillows were so incredibly soft!
Day 5
We headed to the breakfast buffet and created a to-do for the Holiday Inn. We were only there for a short amount of time and there were soooo many activities on the island, we didn’t know where to start! But we ended up just swimming in the beautiful blue water and sun baking. Later that afternoon we checked into our over water villa! We watched the most beautiful sunset together whilst laying in our overwater hammock… Just reminiscing about the week and expressing to each other how badly we didn’t want to leave! We had some beautifully grilled fresh seafood that night, and headed up to THE DECK for a drink under the stars.
Day 6
Knowing that Josh had to leave at 9:30am, we woke up early, had breakfast on the deck of our water villa, and relaxed on the hammock again. Once Josh left, I was treated to an hour massage at Kandooma Spa and an hour pedicure treatment. It was awesome. The staff were so lovely and I fell asleep so many times in my treatment, I was so relaxed! After lunch I then decided to check out the gym, to be as active as possible before being stuck on a plane for hours. I was extremely impressed with the gym, the equipment selection was great, it was air conditioned well, there was water and towels available and I could play my own music through the speakers. I spent the last hour of my stay sun baking on the sun beds at our over water villa. Then the boat came, and took me back to the airport.
“It was an incredible trip. We had the best time and couldn’t stop smiling. As corny as it sounds, we truly will remember it forever!”
This Maldives Travel Diary featuring W Retreat and Spa and Holiday Inn Resort was written by @stephclairesmith
