Regarded as the ‘Pearls of the Indian Ocean,’ the Maldives is situated near Sri Lanka and hovers just above the equator. Among the 26 atolls that form the island nation, we stayed at the Park Hyatt Maldives located at the southernmost point of the archipelago in Hadahaa.
After taking a train (Amtrak from NY to DC), two large planes (Emirates from IAD to DXB to MLE), a small seaplane transfer followed by a boat transfer, we finally arrived at our resort after sunset! We were greeted on the jetty with refreshments by the general manager and our assigned hostess for the week. She drove us via buggy to our 5-star private beach villa, a secluded location where I planned for us to stay during the first half of our Maldives trip.
The private beach villa was drop-dead gorgeous and provided us with the privacy we sought against the backdrop of a pandemic. Upon stepping into our new abode, we were welcomed with a bottle of champagne, a bucket of ice, and a bowl of freshly cut tropical fruit. In addition to a private entrance to the beach just yards away, we had our own private pool that was guarded with natural flora to obscure our view from neighboring villas. Arriving on a Sunday, we took a midnight swim our first night in the Maldives and enjoyed our constellation view of the starry sky, free from the typical light pollution we’re accustomed to seeing back in New York.
As a Hyatt Globalist, we both cashed in on my free all-you-can-eat breakfast benefit every morning. I can’t rave enough about how fresh and delicious everything was at our resort. Since our stay spanned five nights from January 30th to February 4th, they were even mindful about celebrating the Lunar New Year with intentional Chinese cuisine on the menu. And as a Globalist VIP, we also enjoyed the daily free drinks at the evening happy hours where Val and I made friends with the resident performing artists who hailed from Manila! They sang a recurring ballad-heavy playlist fitting for all the couples and families enjoying their time together on the beach.
Since we were both on PTO, we had the opportunity to disconnect from our daily responsibilities and spend more quality time with each other (and keep her Instagram friends and my Snapchat following updated with the stunning views). I scheduled one key activity for each day, and on Monday, we went on a guided snorkeling adventure to see the beauty of the coral reefs up close. On Tuesday, I booked us a couples massage for more relaxation, as if the calming waves didn’t induce us to nap already throughout the day. Wednesday was the proposal—more on that in a separate post—and our swap to our overwater bungalow. I wanted to make sure we sampled both the beach and bungalow properties for a robust experience.
We kickstarted the day of the proposal by transferring to our overwater bungalow, and we were blown away at how hyper aesthetic the whole experience was. Our view of the Indian Ocean felt more pristine than what can be captured for a desktop wallpaper. The interior of our villa was spacious and the ceiling-to-floor movable window panes allowed for more natural sunlight to be let in than what we saw from our beach property. We can definitively say that we preferred the bungalow to the beach villa!
On Thursday, I booked us a floating breakfast to take place in our overwater bungalow’s private pool. The resort staff brought in plates of snackable delights on a floating wicker basket—it’s the stuff seen in so many influencer ads, haha. We spent the entire morning informing our relatives and besties of the engagement as they were still living half a day behind us on the other side of the world. With the proposal out of the way, I could finally relax and enjoy the Maldives for what it was: a fleeting moment in paradise. After lathering ourselves in sunscreen, we took the time to do our own snorkeling underneath our overwater bungalow and do a follow-up photoshoot around the island. We took our PCR test on this day in order to get the results back in time to re-enter the United States, and also finished our souvenir shopping where we ended up purchasing a pair of matching Park Hyatt Panama hats as a souvenir to shade our eyes under the midday searing sun. Fun fact: the entire perimeter of our island can be walked in 20 minutes.
Alas, like all great things that come to an end, Friday was our last day at the Park Hyatt Hadahaa Resort. Our hostess packed our breakfasts for us in neat boxes and whisked us away to the jetty one last time via the island buggy. Leaving just as we entered, we said our goodbyes in the pre-dawn darkness to those who made our stay so memorable. And we cannot say enough kind words to express the level of attention to the care we received. Our general manager greeted us with every passing interaction throughout our week, and our hostess expertly communicated everything that we needed to know at the appropriate touchpoints across our equatorial journey. The Maldivian hospitality significantly amplified my curated proposal planning to the next level in a way that Val and I will remember for a lifetime.
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