NH Collection Maldives Havodda Resort Review

Amari Havodda Featured Image

Ever since I have been old enough to travel anywhere outside of my immediate city/state, I have always dreamed about visiting a paradise like the Maldives. Having seen pictures in magazines or social media, it looked just absolutely breathtaking. For our honeymoon in 2017, we decided to make those images a reality. As you will see in my review of NH Collection Maldives Havodda, it was just as expected.

UPDATE (2/27/2024): At the time of our visit in August 2017, the resort went by the name “Amari Havodda Maldives”. On or around August 2023, the resort was rebranded and now goes by the name “NH Collection Maldives Havodda.”

Getting to NH Collection Maldives Havodda

Getting there was a bit of a struggle for unseasoned long haul travelers like us and planning the itinerary took a little bit of work. As I’m writing my review of NH Collection Maldives Havodda significantly later from when we visited, some details may be overlooked.

We flew from Albany, NY (ALB) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL), PHL to Doha, Qatar (DOH), DOH to Male, Maldives (MLE). As we were approaching Velana International Airport, we were already giddy after seeing this from the window of the Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 we were on:

Islands
The land of 1000 islands, each one more beautiful than the last!

Our Maldivian greeting:

Welcome Mural
First thing you see when entering Velana International Airport. Can you think of a better way to be greeted?

Getting through customs was a breeze. Once we walked out, an NH Collection Maldives Havodda representative greeted us, took our bags and walked us to the shared airport lounge. In this lounge, we were able to finally relax a bit on some decent lounge chairs, get a drink, etc. There was a small area to get food but we didn’t eat anything. Next up was our regional airplane transfer.

Velana International Airport Lounge
The lounge at MLE where we waiting for our regional prop plane flight

So, if you were counting, that is four flights and one boat ride to get to our resort and the same to get back. The prop plane transfer and boat ride itself, as it applies to most resorts in the Maldives, was a couple of hundred dollars per person as well. It seems the farther you go from Male, the more expensive the transfers get. The entire trip took 31hrs (layovers included). WOW! What an adventure! But we’re finally there! Lets dig in to the real details of this beautiful island paradise, shall we?

Checking In at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

We arrived at our resort at 9:30PM local time and were greeted by members of the staff who gave us a sweet drink and warm towels. The whole check-in process took around 30 minutes followed by a guided tour of the island (albeit at night) on a golf cart. The driver took us to each of the buildings (such as dining hall, pool/bar area, spa, etc.). It was a bit hard to remember considering there are virtually no ‘street lights’ on the island but it’s a small island, so how tough could it be?

Main Welcome Area
The check-in/welcome area as you walk away from the NH Collection Maldives Havodda boat

The Overwater Villa at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

My wife and I had reserved an Overwater Villa on the sunset side for our honeymoon. Since we got in late, we didn’t get to appreciate what this meant until the following morning but let me just share some photos as words don’t do them justice.

Overwater Villa
Your typical Overwater Villa
Overwater Villa Bathroom
The interior shower (used for actual showers with soap, etc.), toilet area and bath tub
Overwater Villa Outdoor Bathtub
The sink area. There are actual two sinks and two mirrors, one for each of us :). A nice hammock is in the background, we didn’t actually use it but it’s over the water and pretty cool.
Overwater Villa Outdoor Showed
This is the outdoor shower. This shower is only to be used when rinsing off from the ocean as it drains right back into the ocean. Using soap here would be bad for the environment.
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Overwater Villa Deck View
This is the view from the deck attached to our Overwater Villa which includes a lounge, a large hammock to sunbath in and steps that go down into the ocean.
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Overwater Villas
There are two spots on the island that have Overwater Villas, this was ours. Ours was in the back right corner.

The Pool Area at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

The pool area at NH Collection Maldives Havodda was quite nice. This area is also shared with the bar area which is the ‘hub’ for night life at the resort. My wife and I spent a lot of time lounging around this area, playing Jenga, etc.

Once nice change from most resorts with pools is that it wasn’t chlorinated or if it was, it was a small out. There is nothing worse than getting out of a pool and smelling like you just got with a rinse/spin cycle in your washing machine.

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Pool
Pool area during the day which offers a great view
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Pool and Bar Area
Meanwhile, at night there is always a decent group of people in this area. NH Collection Maldives Havodda will sometimes host dance nights, etc. here as well.
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Pool
The pool area also makes for some cool pictures. Just ask my wife!

The Beach at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

The beach? We talkin bout the beach!? It’s the Maldives, the beach was amazing. The sand is ridiculously fine, no rocks at all. It was like powdered sugar. Meaning, if you stand in one spot too long, you are likely to sink to your ankle in sand as the waves splash against your feet. Simply phenomenal!

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Beach and Dock
Picturesque
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Beach
Perfect sand
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Beach
No matter which part of the island you’re on, the beach is amazing
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Beach
Here is an example of me sinking into the powder like sand as I stood with the waves crashing against my feet
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Beach
We weren’t the only ones who spent a good portion of our time doing laps around the island

The Property at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

NH Collection Maldives Havodda is situated on a relatively small island, compared to others we researched. You could do a full loop of the beach in under an hour or so. However, it is well maintained and staff is always around. There was some construction going on when we were there, but it did not interfere with our stay in the least. There was even a crew that climbed the palm trees near the bar/pool area and cut off loose/old branches so they wouldn’t fall on guests.

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Interesting Fruit on Tree
An interesting thing I saw on one of the island trees
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Garden Canopy
In the center of the island was this nice covered area
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Paths
The inner parts of the island had their own beauty but the only downside is there is hardly a breeze so it gets pretty warm when you’re away from the ocean
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Repairs
Reminded me of the band

Dining at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

Besides the clear blue water and the amazing views, the best part of the whole experience was the all-inclusive plan and the amazing food.

The main dining hall at NH Collection Maldives Havodda is called the Amaya Food Gallery. Here is where we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are three other dining options on the island but we didn’t try them as some required reservations, etc.

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Amaya Food Gallery
Amaya Food Gallery
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Amaya Food Gallery
The Amaya Food Gallery was very busy during meals

The food at the Amaya Food Gallery was usually a different theme each day for lunch and dinner. Some days it was European, some days it was more Asian, some days it was even somewhat American (burgers and hot dogs).

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Lunch
A typical Traveling Ukrainian lunch. As you can see, I don’t believe in the color green.
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Lunch
Hot dogs and french fries

As part of our Honeymoon package, we actually had a candle light dinner reservation on the beach one evening where we ate lobster and other delicious foods.

NH Collection Maldives Havodda Candlelit Beach Dinner
The setup for those who had reservations for this wonderful evening
NH Collection Maldives Havodda Candlelit Beach Dinner
I haven’t been able to find a lobster as good as the one I had at NH Collection Maldives Havodda and believe me, I’ve tried

Video Highlights

Overall Thoughts of NH Collection Maldives Havodda

In case you couldn’t tell in my review of NH Collection Maldives Havodda, it wouldn’t even be a thought in my mind if I was asked to visit again. Even with the cost being somewhat prohibitive (around $8,000 USD with flight in August 2017).

We both really enjoyed our week stay at NH Collection Maldives Havodda and we definitely plan to visit the Maldives again to further experience the beauty of this part of the world.

Hope you enjoyed my review of NH Collection Maldives Havodda. Have you stayed at NH Collection Maldives Havodda? What did you think? If you were to go again, would you do anything differently? Tell me in the comments below!

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