A Beach Paradise awardA Romantic Escape awardExceptional Food awardExceptional Service awardSpa Heaven award

What amazed us most?

The island is so small that you can walk around it in just 15 minutes. There are only 50 villas on the island, 14 of them water villas, which creates a wonderfully intimate environment, perfect for honeymooners. All of the villas are tucked away from public spaces and surrounded by lush greenery that provides guests with unbeatable privacy. Every villa features floor-to-ceiling windows and doors that lead out to a private deck, some fitted with a personal plunge pool, and direct access to the beach. The king-size bed with drapes faces the panoramic walls for an amazing view of the jungle garden. On the first day, while I was having tea on the terrace, I saw a “batman” shadow running over our deck. I thought there were bats on the island but, when I looked more carefully, I saw cute animals in the trees – flying foxes. They are, in fact, bats, but they only eat nectar and pollen. There are lots of them on the island.

Why should you come here?

To experience a luxurious romantic getaway. Because the island is so close to the Equator, and far from the light-polluted rest of the world, we were lucky enough to see the Milky Way with our naked eye. We couldn’t believe it! We spent our evenings lying on the deck of our water villa, watching stars and meteoroids entering the atmosphere and burning up every 10-15 minutes. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all visible without a telescope but the hotel will provide you with one so you can see the craters, mountains and valleys on the moon. To experience barefoot dining under the stars. Our favourite was the Grill Bar - prawns, lobsters, fish and meat were freshly cooked on the grill upon request. There was a huge selection and we couldn’t even eat our way through all of the desserts there were so many of them!

thing about the hotel

The reception area is the most interesting architectural structure on the island. It’s a huge upturned dohni, a traditional Maldivian boat, which provides shelter from the sun and makes for the perfect place to cool off during the hot afternoons. We also really liked the personal touches at the hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Ann, who took us to the reception area and later showed us around. Every villa also has a host, who takes care of the guests, organises events and tours, and keeps you informed about the activities taking place. Our villa host was Jay, a really nice girl who was always smiling.

the most of your stay

You can’t go to Hadahaa and not enjoy one of their amazing spa treatments. My massage was done by Ayun from Bali, who did it exactly right - not too hard and not too soft. It was the best body massage I have ever had. The name of the spa, Vidhun, means “to shine” and it’s true – after the treatment, our bodies were shining with radiant good health. All of the treatments are designed around the Sehathu concept, which means that they balance hot, cold and dry for maximum benefits. Everything in the spa was just perfect - from the delicious drinks to the all-local ingredients to the soft velvety towels.

What else

is there to see and do?

50 metres from the land villas and right under the water villas lies a colourful underwater kingdom with around 1,200 species of fish and 250 species of coral. We had been told that the house reef at Hadahaa is one of the best in the Maldives and we were definitely not disappointed.

to get here

The island is so remote that you will need to take a 1-hour domestic flight and then a 30- minute speedboat trip. The feeling of seclusion you experience when you arrive makes it well worth the trip. At the airport, we were met by Park Hyatt representatives who assisted us with the domestic transfers so everything went very smoothly.