Niva Velassaru Maldives: The Easy Way to Do the Maldives
The hardest part of many Maldives trips is the last leg. A long flight lands you in Malé, then you wait for a seaplane or a domestic flight, and half a day is gone. Velassaru skips all of that. The island sits in the South Malé Atoll, about 20 minutes by speedboat from the airport.
We filmed here in May 2024, when the resort was still called Velassaru. Today it's Niva Velassaru, and it's a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
The island and the water
From the air you understand the place at once. It's a small green island with a sandbank curling away from it, and water villas running out over the lagoon on their walkways.
The picture we kept coming back to is on one of those walkways. The boards open around a V of bright lagoon water, with the water villas lined up on the horizon behind it. Go at the start of the day, when the sky is clean and nobody's around.
Beach villa or water villa
The villas are built from thatch, stone and teak. The choice comes down to how you want to spend the day:
Beach villa: the sand is your front step, so pick this one if you like walking straight down to the sea.
Water villa: the lagoon is under your deck and your sun loungers face open water. This is the classic Maldives picture.
Food and evenings
The evenings are where the resort shows its design. The bar is the room we filmed most after dark, with a ceiling of dark timber strips running down to the back wall, and low seating around it.
For dinner, there are two very different ideas:
Sand: dinner on the beach, with your feet in the sand at the water's edge.
Sora: Japanese plates in a room perched on the water.
The main lounge is open-sided, with curved sofas and ceiling fans, so the sea air moves through it all day.
Who should book it
Book it for a short Maldives trip, a stopover or a couple's break, when you don't want to lose half a day getting to the island and back.
If remoteness is the whole point, look further out. For that, read our guide to the best luxury resorts in the Maldives, where you'll find stays in far quieter atolls.
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