Park Hyatt Maldives: A wonderful, relaxing solo trip

As a solo traveler, I am usually the only single person wherever I go.  Saying that I need a “table for 1” does not bring me much discomfort. Not as much as the person on the receiving end of that statement.  There’s usually this “Oh” look.  Being the only solo traveler at the Park Hyatt Maldives, a luxurious five-star resort, just put a spotlight on my singleness and being self-partnered.  

My sister reminded me that I tend to choose honeymoon destinations to vacation in… Fiji, the Cook Islands, Hawaii?  Hmm.. she wasn’t wrong…  maybe it was me.  This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy myself, I definitely did.  It was everything that I wanted.  So without further ado, here is everything on my trip, from costs to food to activities. Enjoy!

1. Costs

1.1 Flight to Male

The Park Hyatt Maldives was a reward to myself for completing my first year contract in a conflict zone.  It was luxurious, extravagant, and everything that I wanted my reward trip to be.  I remember buying my plane tickets to Male (the capital of the Maldives).  During the first bad week I had in Afghanistan, there was a flight sale from Abu Dhabi to Male.  I jumped on it. For $625 USD on Etihad, I had a flight for one day after my contract ended.  November 2.  

1.2 Park Hyatt Maldives

A few months later, Hyatt announced it was reevaluating their points. I hurried up and booked the Park Villa at the Park Hyatt Maldives at 25,000 points a night.  It is now 30,000 points a night for a Category 7 hotel.  Since I had points from both my Chase Sapphire card (which has a 1-to-1 transfer to World of Hyatt points) and my Hyatt card, it was easy for me to book 5 nights with points only.   I promised to always be transparent about my costs. So, here is what I spent on six nights in the Park Villa and two nights in the Overwater Sunset Villa.

• Park Villa – 125,000 points (5 nights @ 25,000 points per night)
• Park Villa – $760 USD (1 night)
• Overwater Sunset Villa – $2,945 (2 nights @ $1,472.50 USD per night)
• plus taxes.

1.3 Domestic Flight

On top of these costs is $520 USD transfer fee, per person.  This includes a domestic flight on Maldivian Airlines from Male to Koodhoo, and a speedboat transfer from Koodhoo to the resort on Hadahaa.  

1.4 Conclusion on Costs

Yes, this is extremely extravagant.  I’m fully aware, but my first year in a conflict zone was something worth celebrating.  I doubt my second year anniversary trip will be nearly as extravagant, and significantly less to celebrate.

Just a final thought on the costs – when you receive the bill at the end, it will be a surprise (22% service and taxes is a shock), as it was to the American couple I shared the trip back with.  But know that you’ve committed to spending money on this holiday and don’t be crass and sit there with a calculator and the bill, adding up everything one by one.  Mistakes can be made, but also remember, with service and tax, that’s already adds 22% to everything.  If you’ve committed to this holiday, then embrace it. There’s nothing worse than ending a holiday on a sour note.

2. Arrival to Male

The day of travel, I left Abu Dhabi in the morning and arrived in Male around 2 pm.  It was easy enough getting through immigration and customs.  Because the Maldives is a Muslim country, there is a prohibition of alcohol, which makes it only accessible on the resort islands.  As a traveler, you cannot even bring alcohol into the country.  (And thank goodness I didn’t buy that duty free whisky I was eyeing to save on drink costs…)

An attendant from Park Hyatt met me at the Male airport, and immediately identified me and waved to me as I walked out of customs.  “How did you know who I was?” I asked.  He said I was the only single woman deplaning and it had to have been me.  That was blunt.  But also, likely accurate.  

He escorted me to the Maldivian Airlines counter, where I dropped off my luggage and received my boarding pass in return.  He then brought me up to the lounge, which was comfortable, but not particularly exciting.  The buffet began serving food at 3 pm, which consisted of simple sandwiches and little cakes.  I promptly ate about 5 tuna sandwiches, knowing that I would arrive at the hotel very late.

3. Welcome to the Park Hyatt Maldives

Fast forward a domestic flight (with one stop in the middle), and a speedboat ride entirely in darkness, we arrived at the Park Hyatt Maldives around 9 pm.  Yes.  I had been traveling all day by then.  

Something to note – the time zone on the resort islands is one hour ahead of Male (the capital).  They said it had something to do with more sunlight during the day.  This, by the way, made it extremely confusing.  For some reason, I found it difficult to adjust my apple products.  When you turn off the “set automatically” time setting, it asks you for a time zone.  I couldn’t find a time zone that aligned with one hour ahead of Male.  (Further east, you have India and Sri Lanka, who have an extra 1/2 hour, just like Kabul).  Anyway, it’s possible, but in the end, my watch and iPad were at the correct time, but I could never get my phone right.  

Sunny, my host for the week, greeted me and whisked me away in a golf cart directly to my villa.  She explained everything on the island and gave me a quick overview of the resort.  She was absolutely wonderful and would help me with everything all week long.  I regret not taking a photo with her in the end.  Whichever host you end up with, you’ll be in great hands!  That, I am entirely sure of.  

4. My typical day at the Park Hyatt Maldives

4.1 Breakfast

For those staying in the Overwater Villa (or for Globalists in the World of Hyatt program, which I am not), breakfast is included.  Breakfast comprises of two hot plates for order and anything in the buffet, which had breads, croissants, a variety of tropical fruits and yogurts, and meats and cheeses.  For those who have to pay for breakfast, you can either order ala cart or the breakfast buffet (described previously) at $38 USD.  Hyatt adds service (10%) and tax (12%) on top of that, so breakfast usually runs $46 USD.  After a few days, they knew my usual, which was a coconut quinoa porridge, and some egg dish, with a side of pork bacon and French baguette.  I would drink a soy latte with my meal and a double espresso after my meal.  The servers were always great.  

Usually at breakfast, Sunny would come over to say hi.  So would Stavros, the new General Manager, who just arrived the day before me.  Stavros always checked in on me regularly, which I appreciated.  

After breakfast, I would go for a swim in the pool (there were two pools – one next to the Dining Room, where we had breakfast, and one next to the Spa.  I’d typically choose the spa, being a little further away from people.). I’d take breaks from swimming and go back to reading.  

One day, I had an amazing massage at the spa.  (I received an email before I arrived saying if I pre-booked my spa appointment, I would get 10% off.  I did, but I don’t think the systems are connected. The Spa never actually received my appointment.  They gave me the 10% off regardless.). Sometimes, I would be at the cabana reading, depending on the location of the sun.  By afternoon, when the cabana no longer offered any shade, I would retreat to my villa.  The sun in the Maldives is no joke, considering how close it is to the equator.  

I typically only had two meals a day while there, either breakfast and lunch or breakfast and dinner.  This was because breakfast was already enormous, with two entrees.  And generally, I didn’t do much besides find a spot, lay there, and read.  

4.2 Activities

There are a variety of things to do during the day at the Park Hyatt Maldives… if you are in a couple.  Most of the activities on the island require a minimum of 2 persons to do.  The full list of activities is here.  This is obviously understandable. However, I stuck to mostly the solo activities, being unwilling to pay double or be the third wheel on a honeymoon.  There is a sunrise and sunset yoga offered on different days.  

You can borrow snorkeling gear at any time and keep it through the duration of your trip.  And the snorkeling in the area is amazing!  I wish my underwater camera worked so I could show you guys…(there was an error message with the SIM card).  But the schools of fish in neon blue and yellow were everywhere and would just swim around you, feeding on the coral below.  I didn’t know, but the Park Hyatt had just hired a marine biologist at the resort to help with coral conservation.  Apparently all the resorts are doing that nowadays, which is pretty great to hear.  Much of the Maldives is expected to be underwater by 2100…

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I had gone to register interest in visiting a local island, knowing that I would have to be a third wheel on someone else’s trip.  The next day, Stavros came to visit me at breakfast and said he had arranged for them to take me on my own.  That was exceedingly kind, especially knowing that the cost of the speedboat to take us to the local island, as well as the 4 staff on the boat itself and the guide himself… all of that must have added up.  But for $200 (plus service and tax), they were willing to take me.  (To see my photo journal of a local, Maldivian island, click here!)

Before dinner, I would always go out and shoot the sunset, which almost every night was a different color and absolutely stunning.  The two jetties on the island provided a good subject for my photos and therefore almost every sunset photo has the jetties in it.  

4.3 Dinner

For dinner at the Park Hyatt Maldives, you can either choose the Dining Room or the Island Grill.  There are also themed dinners, either at the Island Grill or out on the beach.  I attended the Maldivian local feast night, where I filled my plate to the brim with tuna, dosa, and random curries.  The Island Grill is built on sand itself, which was unfortunate as this was the only meal I wore shoes to. 

The majority of my dinners were at the Dining Room.  Toward the end, I discovered you could have really delicious ice cream for dessert at $4 a scoop.  Their coconut ice cream was absolutely amazing!

On my last night there, there was a cocktail reception on the beach.  They have these once a week, where they serve cocktails and small bites.  There are Maldivian drummers and dancers there to perform as the sun sets.  

5. Parting Thoughts

And that was how I spent 7 days in paradise at the Park Hyatt Maldives.  It wasn’t as isolated as I thought it would feel, for being near the edge of the known world.  Every where you go on the island, you are always connected to WiFi.  I was never out of contact with my friends and family in different parts of the world and different time zones.  Someone was always awake.  Secondly, the staff are very friendly and are always there for a nice chat.  

And the people watching was also something to look forward to on a daily basis.  

• There was a famous Croatian singer and her husband/partner, who did elaborate photo shoots that I found on Instagram.  
• There was a Korean woman and her husband/partner, who were in full gear, black body suits and head covers so that no sun would touch their bare skin, save for their feet.  They looked like they were going scuba diving, but actually were not.  They wore these into the pool, as well as the ocean.  
• There was the American family and their teenage daughter, who played a strange card game at dinner, and despite their best efforts, never got the gist of the game.  The night before, they couldn’t finish their soup, and asked the staff to save it for later. They couldn’t finish it because it had too much “spice”, specifically ginger.  When the server said they tossed it at lunch, they lamented over what a shame that was, and it was a perfectly good soup, if only there were less ginger.  Surprise, surprise, they got a free soup, with less ginger.  (I never knew that you could ask hotels to save something for later.  I always assumed it was a “eat it now or it will be lost” scenario.  And I think between the two of us, I am perhaps right.)

The Park Hyatt Maldives gives all guests a free voucher for a photo shoot and one free, printed 5×7. Knowing that the shots will be gorgeous, people obviously buy them.  So yes.  I did a photo shoot, and the shots were absolutely gorgeous.  And yes.  Of course, I bought some, in addition to my printed 5×7.  I rarely have photos taken of myself, so this was a great way to commemorate this trip.  

All in all, I had a wonderful time at the Park Hyatt Maldives, and for me, I knew what I was getting myself into, in terms of a) an expensive, but luxurious trip, and b) and isolated solo, yet kinda wonderful experience.  

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Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

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