DISCOVER A NEW LUXURY ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORT IN MALDIVES

  This was our third trip to the Maldives in as many years and our first time away from the UK at Xmas and it didn't disappoint.

The transfer from... read more the international airport to domestic lounge to the short boat ride has been well documented on other posts - it's seamless, the Pullman team are there to guide every moment, yes it takes a bit longer but it's definitely worth it once you arrive.

Our first 3 nights were in a mix of a one bedroom over water villa and one of the Aqua villas. My wife and I stayed in the one bedroom, whilst our 23,22 and 19 year old boys had a night each under water with the sharks, rays and schools of fish each evening. They were live streaming their friends in the USA and no-one would believe what they were seeing and thought it was AI - no it was totally real and yes unbelievable!

We were on the Sunrise side and it was less windy, weather was sunny most mornings and had some cloud and intermittent rain in the afternoon.

We walked everywhere as we are all active and made good use of most activities on the island - totally understand with little ones or older relatives, the need to get buggies - but as well reviewed, you might have to wait a little while as the demand can be quite high. We all used the gym which our sons used a lot and said it was of a high enough standard for college athletes. The tennis court was equally high standard, as were the racquets and balls, for one of our sons who plays US College D1 Tennis.

We snorkelled off the Romeo and Juliet beach and walked out 20 mins at low tide to the house reef and were not disappointed. The coral was vibrant and colourful compared to our last two Maldives resorts, the fish plentiful and we saw turtles swimming on our trips. It is quite far out and the currents have to be managed responsibly, ideally with stronger swimmers, out in a group checking in on each other.

You do see eagle rays, sting rays, sharks and all sorts of fish just walking around the piers around the over water villas near Souk and Sol Rising.

We went on the fishing trip and had a bite but it was the one that got away. We went on the turtles trip and the team took us to two amazing locations and we secured lots of go pro professional style footage. We used the spa for 3 x deep tissue massages and they definitely did the trick!

Food wise we ate breakfast at Melange on a table of 6 most mornings which catered for all of our varied needs - from omelettes, to crepes, to muesli to eggs Benedict to iced lattes, to English Breakfast tea with milk to fresh juices. Fresh pastries and honey was a delight! We also went to Souk for breakfast which was quieter and more balanced portions and ingredients and made to order which broke up the week.

Most lunchtimes we went to Melange for amazing salads, tandoori chicken, the best Chinese dishes and Indian dishes, and our boys loved the pasta bar and had fresh pasta with pesto quite often.

Evenings were varied and we enjoyed soups and bisque, seafood and sushi, hot meats and lots of asian and European dishes.

Overall Melange was a 5* buffet Maldivian style restaurant and our health conscious boys who eat a lot - it really hit the spot.

As a dessert lover, the dessert bar was not quite up to the standard as the rest of the buffet when compared to other resorts. The ice cream bowl was limited to two scoops and the toppings were quite limited - other resorts offer as many scoops as you can eat with lots of varieties of treats, sweets, nuts and drizzles. The fresh fruit was plentiful and the cakes were ok, the creme brûlée and occasional prepared dishes were good.

The Souk restaurant was of a high standard, the service was relaxed and polite and the food was freshly prepared and had something for everyone.

Phat Chameleon was as we expected, vegetarian and small portions, with some hits and some misses but overall a good experience.

We found the service at all bars and restaurants to be polite, attentive and we didn't have to wait that long, and if it was busy, we just asked for drinks directly or suggested we went to the buffet if the table needed to cleaned and set.

We were there for the Xmas activities and the tree, sleigh and island decorations were beautiful. The gala dinner and entertainment were of a high standard and we had a great alternative Maldivian Xmas Eve and Day.

Our trip was perfect and there is only one thing we would personally request that the management have a look at - which is servicing the non alcoholic drinks on the island.

Over the last 2 years in the UK, there has been a significant rise in the growth of non alcohol beers and drinks and the only drink on the island in this category was non alcoholic prosecco - which was lovely but on other islands, we've enjoyed Heineken Zero, Corona Zero and Guinness Zero.

So 5* all round and ideally a bit more 0's !

  We decided to go to Pullman Maldives for our winter vacation because we have always had wonderful experience in another Pullman resort. It was our third time in Maldives and... read more we had very high expectations. I’m happy to share that Pullman Maldives even exceeded them in every aspect. From the arrival on Male Airport to the check-in for departure the team took such care of our family that we felt like home but in paradise. The place has it all - incredible beauty, reach marine life, modern villas, plenty of activities, great dining options and outstanding service.
We stayed at two beach pool villas and one sunset ocean villa which was great because we were able to capture the best of all on that wonderful island. We enjoyed enormously the three restaurants that offered a great variety of food, drinks and excellent service. The bars are all beautiful, the live music at the Hub made every evening special and watching the turtles and sharks around Saffron is something no one should miss. There were so many activities that 10 days were not enough to explore everything but whatever we tried was fantastic. We enjoyed a lot the house reef snorkeling, the jet ski and the fun tube. The Christmas Eve Party was the top of all, spectacular setting and performance.
We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the entire team - people are what makes the difference and at Pullman Maamutaa resort you can find the best example of welcoming, knowledgeable and dedicated personnel. We would like to mention some of its members who did outstanding job to make us feel amazing during our stay: Aman from Security and Santosh who saved our vacation finding the mobile of our son in the dark and rainy night; everyone in the restaurants especially Kamal, Azleef, Zin, the hostess Nisha, the sommelier (I’m so sorry I can’t recall the name), the music band and most of all the su chef at Melange Subrata who made special meals for our daughter and her vegetarian boy friend.
Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you again.

  Hands down the best trip we have ever been on. Pullman far exceeded all of our expectations and made the 37 hour travel time from America WORTH IT! This resort... read more lives up to the 5 star rating. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted with palm necklaces, pineapple juice, and a refreshing cold towel - then received an island and villa tour by front desk staff, Hassan. He was wonderful answering all of our questions and making us feel welcome. The housekeeping staff was amazing as well - our room was decorated twice with “Happy Honeymoon” on our bed. Such a special touch! The island is easily walkable, but there is a buggy service that will take you wherever you want to go. We rode with Bipin the majority of our trip and he was WONDERFUL. He took the time to point out marine life when we rode over the villa boardwalk! He was so personable and had great energy, we loved chatting with him. We stayed in the sunset ocean villa and it was perfect. The hammock was lovely for relaxing and we hopped in the ocean right off our deck several times for snorkeling. The resort has 3 additional pools so we were able to get our pool fix when we wanted! The food at Pullman is INCREDIBLE. There is a buffet, Melange, open for breakfast lunch and dinner along with an Italian restaurant, Souq Oven,... Hands down the best trip we have ever been on. Pullman far exceeded all of our expectations and made the 37 hour travel time from America WORTH IT! This resort lives up to the 5 star rating. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted with palm necklaces, pineapple juice, and a refreshing cold towel - then received an island and villa tour by front desk staff, Hassan. He was wonderful answering all of our questions and making us feel welcome. The housekeeping staff was amazing as well - our room was decorated twice with “Happy Honeymoon” on our bed. Such a special touch!

The island is easily walkable, but there is a buggy service that will take you wherever you want to go. We rode with Bipin the majority of our trip and he was WONDERFUL. He took the time to point out marine life when we rode over the villa boardwalk! He was so personable and had great energy, we loved chatting with him.

We stayed in the sunset ocean villa and it was perfect. The hammock was lovely for relaxing and we hopped in the ocean right off our deck several times for snorkeling. The resort has 3 additional pools so we were able to get our pool fix when we wanted!

The food at Pullman is INCREDIBLE. There is a buffet, Melange, open for breakfast lunch and dinner along with an Italian restaurant, Souq Oven, and a vegan restaurant, Phat Chameleon. We ate one morning at Sol Rising which offers a power active breakfast - it was delicious. We enjoyed all of the dining locations - the food was fabulous everywhere. A special shoutout to Parvesh who made us pad Thai one day for lunch - the staff can make you anything you want! We also enjoyed a private dinner and a private picnic lunch, where Shafeu made sure to check on us and that everything exceeded expectations. The food was exceptional and we had great conversations with Shafeu!

Finally the excursions and activities we did - turtle snorkeling, paddle boarding, jet skis, massages, sunset fishing - ALL AMAZING. Our massages from Jonna and Anoj were exceptional, so relaxing and we felt so comfortable. All of the excursion and activity staff went out of their way to make us feel safe and educated.

We could not have asked for a better honeymoon. We will absolutely be back to the Maldives and Pullman is our #1 spot! More

  Most amazing experience, best resort with breathtaking views. Staff are exceptionally friendly and kind. So many activities to choose from. Would highly recommend and suggest 5days stay or more to... read more fully experience all on offer. Will definitely return in the near future. Arrived as strangers and leaving as family.

  This place is fantastic! Food is amazing and staff is so accommodating and nice! The villas are great, have to get the ocean pool villa miniumum. Definitely recommend it! You... read more need to do the massages with Ayu and Kinzang! Get the hour massage! More

  Our stay at Pullman Maldives followed our stay at another resort in an overwater pool villa that was absolutely exceptional, so our expectations were quite high. On arrival, we... read more were given a tour of the island and the basics were explained to us (how to request a buggy, how to make dinner reservations, where they were needed etc). When we arrived at our villa we realized it was not the sunset side as requested and confirmed. Disappointment #1. The villa was nice and clean. Nothing to complain about here other than it wasn't the side we requested. We found the beach in front of our villa nice, but a bit riddled with large broken shells, etc. Again, we were comparing this to the pristine sand beaches of our prior resort. There was also a berm of sand bags on the beach in front of our villa which does detract from the beauty somewhat. Also on the sun rise side, we had sun on our pool all day and it was smoking hot. The trees/vegetation blocked any breeze that may have cooled it off. In hindsight, we wished we booked an over the water villa here instead of a beach villa. We ate at Melange the first two nights. Buffet food was good, and the drinks were even better. We appreciated the friendly staff and great selection of beer, wine, and cocktails. We also dines at Phat Chameleon and Souq Oven... Our stay at Pullman Maldives followed our stay at another resort in an overwater pool villa that was absolutely exceptional, so our expectations were quite high.

On arrival, we were given a tour of the island and the basics were explained to us (how to request a buggy, how to make dinner reservations, where they were needed etc). When we arrived at our villa we realized it was not the sunset side as requested and confirmed. Disappointment #1. The villa was nice and clean. Nothing to complain about here other than it wasn't the side we requested.

We found the beach in front of our villa nice, but a bit riddled with large broken shells, etc. Again, we were comparing this to the pristine sand beaches of our prior resort. There was also a berm of sand bags on the beach in front of our villa which does detract from the beauty somewhat. Also on the sun rise side, we had sun on our pool all day and it was smoking hot. The trees/vegetation blocked any breeze that may have cooled it off. In hindsight, we wished we booked an over the water villa here instead of a beach villa.

We ate at Melange the first two nights. Buffet food was good, and the drinks were even better. We appreciated the friendly staff and great selection of beer, wine, and cocktails. We also dines at Phat Chameleon and Souq Oven which was our fave.

We were told to book activities and reservations a day in advance (note that to my knowledge, you are not permitted to book activities in advance of your arrival). We arrived on a Saturday evening and Sunday we went to the dive centre to book diving. We were surprised to find the earliest availability was Tuesday, which, given we flew out on Thursday, was the last day we were able to dive. We booked two morning dives. We were toying with doing more dives, but that wasn't available for us.

At the same time we booked the sunset cruise for Sunday night, and then headed to the watersports centre to book jet skis. The earliest possible booking for jet skiis was the day before we left (so we booked them) and were told that only one jet ski was available, so we weren't able to take them out together as we hoped.

Following this, we went rent bikes (which were almost fully rented out so there were very few options),

Well.. c'est la vie, let's get back to enjoying our holiday!

Overall, the Pullman is a scenic resort with fairly nice facilities,but I found it lacking in level and quality of service as well as availability of activities and optional services.

The good:
- food is quite good. Especially at Souq Oven. The drink selection and bar/wait staff were great everywhere, and my husband enjoyed the free sisha hour at the bar on the sunset side. We also enjoyed the singers/entertainment in the evening at the Hub bar and the HIGHLIGHT of our trip was the diving. Incredible! We saw turtles, sharks, rays, and many fish all just in the first 10 min of our first dive. The equipment was good and our guide very good. Also our sunset cruise that turned into a dolphin cruise was awesome.

The bad:
- buggy service is unpredictable , slow, and at the main places, a bit of a line up at times. You have to wait in the heat so you can see when they arrive.
- the fact that you can't book in advance
- garbage in the surrounding bay and beaches
- lack of privacy in beach villa (grounds workers walk through the front)
- some of the staff don't seem very keen (and certainly not empowered) to provide service... generally complacent. More