We wanted to spend our honeymoon at a luxurious 5* resort as the honeymoon comes only one time in life and we wanted to make it memorable!!
We got married on 27th Nov 2020 and decided to go on a honeymoon in Maldives.
Things to keep in mind before choosing a perfect resort in Maldives.
Budget: Decide your budget and try to fix things in that.
The more you spend, the more you get.
Covid report: You need to get an RT-PCR negative certificate 72 hrs before your travel
You have to fill the following form as it's mandated by the Maldives government
https://imuga.immigration.gov.mv/ethd/create
You need to upload your covid test report along with other personal information, then a QR code will generate and you have to show this QR code at Maldives airport for quick immigration.
Resort transfer: Resorts that are near to Male airport are accessed via speedboat and resorts which are away from male airports are accessed via seaplane.
The farther you choose the resort from male airport, the clearer water you get with good coral and fishes around.
All-inclusive package: I would suggest you book an all-inclusive package for the Maldives trip as it would be best.
If you are opting for a resort that does not give an all-inclusive package, you might have to pay $10 for a water bottle, $12 for a pint of beer, and $15 for personal-sized pizza along with $6 per person per day as green tax and for resort transfer speedboat: $100-150 per person and for seaplane: $400-500 per person for the return journey.
If you choose a resort with an all-inclusive package, you don't have to worry about anything.
Most of the resorts with all-inclusive package give you the liberty to order anything from their menu any time you want, along with drinks which is the best thing.
Most of the premium resorts in Maldives offers complimentary airport transfer, it's included in their all-inclusive package.
Currency: All resorts in Maldives deals in USD.
It would be best if you carry USD from your origin country to avoid hefty conversion rates at the airport.
Pro tip: Give tip to your Butler or server as gratitude on the first visit to get the best service throughout your trip.
Since we were clear with our requirements such as an all-inclusive package, water villa with pool, and perfect hospitality, we had shortlisted around 15-20 resorts for our honeymoon, and out of those we had decided to opt Heritance Aarah property.
And it turned out to be the best decision ever I must say!!
About our journey
We took a flight (Go air G8 1530) from Mumbai at 9:10 AM and reached Male airport at 12:00 PM.
It was a 3h 20 min journey.
After arrival at Male airport, we had our immigration and our covid report was checked.
After this, we were escorted by a resort representative to the seaplane terminal.
Our luggage was loaded and they asked us to wait at the lounge area.
Seaplane service is managed by Trans-Maldivian Airlines (TMA)
All good 5* properties have their private lounge at the seaplane terminal where guests can have some quick food and relax until they get seaplane.
We had some good food at the Heritance lounge and then we got our seaplane to the resort.
We boarded our seaplane at around 2:30 PM and then a trip to paradise began.
It was a scenic 45 min seaplane ride.
As we reached the property, we received a warm welcome with traditional Maldivian style and after completing check-in formalities, Heritance appointed us Mr. Faheem as our butter who took perfect care of us throughout our trip.
He was responsible for our restaurant reservation, anything we needed during our stay, and pick and drop with buggy to roam around the property.
He was really kind and always ready to help.
Cheers to him.
Accommodation category
Heritance Aarah has a good range of accommodation types such as
Beach Villa (1 bedroom beach villa with direct beach access)
Family beach villa (2 bedroom beach villa with direct beach access)
Pool beach villa (1 bedroom beach villa with personal pool and direct beach access)
Family pool beach villa (2 bedroom beach villa with personal pool and direct beach access)
Ocean villa (1 bedroom water villa with direct ocean access)
Ocean suite (1 bedroom water villa with personal pool and direct ocean access)
Grand ocean suite (2 bedroom water villa with direct ocean access)
All categories has basic amenities such as king-sized bed, oversized daybed, large bathroom, large sun deck, private outdoor area, tea & coffee facility, safety box, wifi access, flat-screen tv, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, pillow menu, and ultimate range of drinks along with cashew nuts and chocolates.
Since we wanted to get an experience of a beach and water villa, we booked 2N stay at ocean villa, 1N stay at ocean suite, and 1N stay at pool beach villa.
Our experience was tremendously awesome throughout our stay!
Restaurants
The best part of Heritance Aarah is the wide range of restaurants and bars.
You can go any time to any restaurant for food.
You just need to make a reservation through your butler for dinner.
Heritance Aarah has the following restaurants
Ranba: Asian cuisine (a la carte)
Baani: Urban chic (a la carte)
Hataa: Street food experience from Bangkok, Colombo, Tokyo, Istanbul, and Mumbai (Fixed menu on rotational basis)
Ralu: French & Italian cuisine (a la carte)
Ambula: contemporary Maldivian and Sri Lankan cuisine (9 course fixed meal)
Ginifati: Seafood grill (fixed menu)
The range of bars as follows
Baani Falhu Bar: 9:00 to 00:00
Udaras Pool Bar: 10:00 to 22:00
Bandhi Pool Bar & Pizza Hut:
Bar: 10:00 to 00:00
Pizza: 11:00 to 16:00
Ralu Lounge Bar: 7:00 to 00:00
Sky bar: 18:00 to 00:00
Other inclusions
Heritage provide other inclusions too in their all-inclusive package such as
# 30 min spa massage
# Introductory scuba dive
# Snorkeling equipment
# Non-motorized water sports
Honeymoon Freebies
If you are honeymooners, Heritance Aarah provide ultimate freebies to the couple such as
# Bed decoration
# Bottle of wine with cake
# Romantic candlelight dinner at beach
You just need to give them proof of your marriage such as a marriage certificate or invitation card along with marriage photos.
Things to keep in mind for the return journey.
Management will ask you about your return flight during check-in formalities.
You will get information about your seaplane for return transfer 1 day before your journey.
You have to fill the same form for departure to get smooth immigration.
Form link: https://imuga.immigration.gov.mv/ethd/create
You would need a covid negative certificate to enter in your origin country.
The covid test in the Heritance would cost you around $150 per person.
If you tested positive, you have to follow quarantine rules as per the Maldivian government and the cost will be covered by your own.
The Maldives government allowed you to depart from the Maldives without a covid certificate, so you can take the test in your country of origin as well if you want.
For travelers from India:
You can take covid test on your arrival at Indian airport, which will be more preferable and cost-effective.
You have to fill Imuga (Maldives immigration form) along with an air suvidha form which is mandated by the Indian government.
Air Suvidha link: https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration
Luggage packing
The Maldives is a conservative Islamic country and, except for resorts, is officially “dry”. Don't try to sneak booze from the resort into the airport, because your luggage is X-rayed and it's illegal to carry alcohol on Maldivian flights or airports.
You are not allowed to carry any liquid more than 100ml in your cabin bag.
So keep your deodorant, water bottle, cold drink cans, face wash in your check-in bag.
Our experience
We landed at Mumbai airport on 9th Dec via Go air G8 4030 flight at 5:00 PM and the airport authority took our test at 6:30 PM and we asked to wait at the airport until we got our covid negative certificate. (1.4k per person for covid test)
We had to wait for 8 hrs to get our test result.
We were not allowed to go outside of the airport until we get covid negative certificate (It depends on their rules and regulations and it might get change though)
Try to get information about this from the Airport website.
We had options to wait in the common airport area (crowded and people were seated on their luggage bags), airport lounge (2.5k per person for wifi, designated seating area, and food), or stay at the transit hotel in T2 terminal (5.5k for double occupancy including breakfast)
We decided to stay in Niranta transit hotel as the room was comfortable and perfect to get good sleep.
We had received our covid report at midnight 2:00 AM in our mail, and we checked out from the transit hotel at 8:00 AM after breakfast.