I am going to Maldives! The arrival. The ride. The overwater villa. The dinner. The breakfast. The pool. The SPA. The gym. The beach villa. Alila Kothaifaru Maldives Today I am going to Maldives by myself. “What are you doing there by yourself ?!” That was most people’s reaction. It has been my dream place since I was in my 20s, but I could not find the right people to go with.
So here I go, I believe it will be a great trip! Flying with British Airways today. Boarding!! Total time from LHR to MLE is 10 hours and 25 minutes. If you also went there by yourself please leave a comment and let me know how was your trip. Wow, I can already see the blue ocean! It is the most breathtaking landing I ever had.
I got my luggage. It is my first time here, so a bit nervous. I was met by a very lovely staff from Alila after exiting the airport. The hostess is so nice that more than half of my nervousness went away. Alila can be reached by seaplane, so we went to check in at the seaplane counter. I was asked just to relax and enjoy; and she will take care of everything.
Now we are going to the seaplane terminal. The weather is sunny and bright. The capital Male is just across the bridge. We arrived at the seaplane terminal. This is the new seaplane terminal opened in Oct 2022. All the hotel lounges are at this seaplane terminal, so the guests can rest here while waiting for the seaplane.
Alila does not have its own lounge, so we will be using the VIP Lounge of the seaplane companies. It is very spacious here. There is a small buffet area. The staff handed me my boarding pass for the seaplane. The snacks and drinks are complementary. I am still in my spring outfit, so I will go and get changed.
It is about time to board, so we are going to the gate area. This is the waiting area of the gate. This is the boarding pass. Time to board. It is my first time taking a seaplane. I am excited, haha. The seaplane looks smaller than I thought. There are 5 rows with 3 seats on each row. These are the captain seats.
Safety instructions. I feel the seaplane is noisier than the airplane. We are leaving! Have you ever dreamed of being a pilot? It looks so cool to me. Taking off. Up in the sky 🙂 Just wondering which hotel is that one?
The seat belt sign is off 😛 It is the most magnificent flight view I have seen. The view really took my breath away. The cloud, the islands, the sea, I am out of words to describe how I feel at the moment. So let’s just sit back, relax and enjoy this moment. Please don’t forget to Like & Subscribe while enjoying this view 🙂 Now I feel my decision of coming here is definitely a right one.
Solo or not 🙂 We are approaching Alila! I am getting more excited! The Seaplane Landing. Taxiing to the hotel. Alila Kothaifaru Maldive. The staff are already there waiting and welcoming us. We arrived! Here came some music 🙂 The staff helped with my bags.
A wet towel was served. It was needed after the 40 min seaplane ride. Still water – my boring choice 🙂 The staff were introduced to us. There are also staff who can speak Mandarin. There is also a special greeting if you are a Hyatt Globalist. The staff will take us to our room and do the check in there.
A small orientation of the hotel is given. The Dive Center. Alila Kothaifaru Maldives was opened in 2022, so it is relatively new. Look at the color of the water! The Water Sport Center. We can do water sport activities from here. We can borrow the snorkeling equipment here, but we need to sign a liability form.
The Pibati Cafe. It opens from 10:30 am to 5 pm. Complementary tea and snacks during 3-4pm. There is also a kid’s play area. The snacks will be different every day. The Tennis Court. It opens from 7 am to 8:30 pm. Booking is required to use the tennis court. The Reception Area. We actually do not really need it because we will do the check-in in our villa.
The Seasalt Restaurant, Infinity Pool, Mirus Bar. The Seasalt restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No booking is needed. The island is not very big. We can walk around it in 15 min.
The beach villas are here. The Gym and SPA. The SPA is open from 10 am to 8 pm. The SPA is a tree house concept. The SPA is located upstairs and the gym is downstairs. The gym is 24/7. No booking is needed. There are complementary sunrise and sunset yoga classes we can sign up. The Umami Japanese Restaurant.
Umami only opens for dinner. Booking is required. Yakitori Bar. We can do lunch and dinner there. No booking is required. Umami needs a reservation and it seems it is always full, so book in advance. Are you a fan of Japanese food? All the overwater villas are in this area. I cannot get enough view of the water.
The villas all look so beautiful. I am so eager to see mine. Here it is! Upon entering the room, I can immediately see the ocean.
The room is very spacious and bright. It has a king bed, a sofa set, a table, a TV and a mini bar. The ocean really drew my attention. Let’s go to the deck to check it out. The view is amazing. 180 degree of the ocean. There is also a private infinity pool. Any photo ideas? Welcome fruits, snacks and champagne.
The king size bed. What’s on the night stand? Pillow mist, phone, note book, universal outlet and USB. The bed is very clean and comfortable. Enjoy the ocean view on the bed. Please don’t forget to Like & Subscribe 🙂 There are some booklets on the TV stand. Daily activities. Coffee machine and complementary bottled water.
Mini bar menu. Complementary tea and coffee selections. Water boiler. There is a refrigerator. Drink selections for a fee. Next is the bathroom. It features a vanity area, a double sink, a bath tub, a separate shower and toilet area. The view of the bathroom is also amazing. I want to relax in the tub and enjoy the ocean view.
Bath salt is provided. There are both handheld and rainforest shower heads. Toiletries. Double sink with extra towels underneath. Very neat and clean. Amenities are placed inside a box. Dental kit, shaving kit, comb, cotton pad, cotton buds, lip balm, sanity bag, etc. Bath robes and slippers are in the closet.
The slippers are thick and comfortable. Life jackets. Hats. Hair dryer and bags. Laundry price. The vanity area. Sun screen, insect repellent, after sun cooling gel. There is a separate toilet area. There is a window in the toilet area. Poop with a view? How do you like this overwater villa? Please leave a comment and let me know.
Time to have some fun! Oh, I forgot I cannot swim 😛 I will just enjoy the view then. I called a buggy car to take me to dinner. She told me snorkeling around the villa is really nice. We can see a lot of colorful fishes and even big star fishes. It looks this is a very good snorkeling area. I am only staying two nights here as I will meet my family and have a vacation in Thailand.
After vacation with family, I will go to Japan for the Cherry Blossom for a week. You can watch my Japan Cherry Blossom vlog in my channel if interested in what it is like 🙂 I think at least 3 nights here if next time. My first Maldives experience. Alila Maldives was opened in May 2022, so it will be two years.
The evening view is very beautiful with the lights on and not fully dark yet. The Seasalt restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Table for one. To be honest, I don’t want to sit among all the couples, so I will just sit in the corner table and watch 🙂 Now it is getting dark.
The restaurant started to get busy. Music with sound of the ocean. Some freshly baked bread was served. It tasted really good. Catch of the day. I forgot the price, maybe about 50 USD. I’m finished, It looks I am the only solo traveler here. I decided to walk back to help digest the food. Sorry about the mess 😛
The ocean put on a different view at night. I am very jet lagged and sleepy, so I am going to sleep. Good night 🙂 I got up around 5am because of jet lag. I was hoping to see the sunrise, but the villa is not facing the sun in the morning. Time for breakfast. The sunrise villa cannot actually see the sunrise 🙁 It looks the sunrise changes at different time of the year.
Seasalt restaurant for breakfast. It is a different view during the day. I like to go early to avoid the crowd and enjoy it more. Do you like the day view or evening view better? That was my seat last night. The morning feels so refreshing. The juice and wine station. This is the buffet area.
The design feels like Japanese style. Hot dishes. Bacon and sausage. Dim sum. Curry and beans. Lamb and tofu. Noodle and veggies. Egg station. Freshly made omelette. Roasted chicken. Fruit and salad station. Bakeries. I really love the loved the chocolate croissant here.
Milk, yogurt, muesli and chia pudding. Different types of cheese. Cereals. And they have macha latte here! Macha latte with coconut milk! I wish every morning can be like this. It is about 7:30 am now, I guess everyone is still sleeping? Besides buffet, we can also order from the menu. And the menu items are all VERY GOOD! And everything is included in the breakfast price.
The things are made to order. This is the menu. My Macha Coconut Latte is here. Oh, what are those little eggs? They look so nice. Did I order those? I ordered an avocado toast with eggs and salmon Japanese breakfast. Yummy.
And some tuna curry. Am I eating too much? This is dinner in my original time zone. Can I get a smoothie? 🙂 And some dessert to finish. What a wonderful breakfast that I wish I can have every day. Walk around to help digest. This is the public infinity pool. The bar is not open yet. It feels not that hot walking.
I am so friendly 🙂 Not sure if there is bicycle to rent, it will be more fun. I’m back. Ah, GOOD MORNING 🙂 The gym is 24/7 with room key access. It is not that big, but it has everything needed. Jogging with a view.
The SPA is upstairs with a tree house concept. The staff are preparing. There is yoga place; and the yoga class is complementary. There are 4 treatment rooms. All are the same.
Couples can have massage together. I can hear the background sound with birds singing. There is a shower area with a bath tub open to the nature. Do you want to lay down here? The beach villa is much larger with a separate living space. There is an open air bathroom. I still like the overwater villa better.
What do you think? There is complementary tea and snack from 3-4 pm. We can select spices and mix them. To be honest, I still did not know what are those even after he introduced, lol. I always have difficulty in making choices, so I just let him choose for me. That’s a lot of spices. Hope it will taste good. It’s ready.
Fried dumplings? Coconut cakes, local chips. Remove it after 3 to 4 minutes. The taste is lighter than I thought. It is getting hot, so I will just look around a bit. This is the LIBRARY. It looks like some place to relax and do some reading. This is the reception area. Is it a bit weird to record the bathroom 😛 But this is really nice.
It feels so good just relaxing on the deck. I want to bring my family here next time. My tiramisu is here 🙂 Tiramisu with a scope of (melted) coffee ice cream. I feel so happy. I didn’t notice this many fish during the day. It is around 6:30 am. I am leaving early this morning. I don’t want to leave.
My flight is 12:30 pm, but I need to leave here around 8 am. The last seaplane will leave by 3 pm. The breakfast starts at 7 am, so I still have some time to enjoy it. I will choose a seat close to the wall today. Macha latte, my favorite 🙂 The hot items are different from yesterday’s. I will just try a little of each.
I ordered the eggs I saw yesterday. Egg in a Shell – Scrambled egg, black truffle, tobiko. This one is a must order. It is really good. Crab & Prawn Omelette. Japanese Teriyaki Salmon. Time to catch the seaplane. Our luggages are getting loaded. Time to board. I am so reluctant.
It is about 45 min to fly back to Male. We will first go to another hotel (5 min) to pick up some passengers. Safety instructions. Leaving 🙁 See you Alila. Taking off. The visibility in the morning is not as good as around the noon.
It is still very beautiful. Each hotel here is on a separate island, we arrived at the other hotel. The water is so clear and beautiful. After a quick stop, we are now heading back to Male. Taking off again. I am still feeling it while editing the video. Please don’t forget to Like & Subscribe 🙂 Landing together with another plane.
It is Emirates. We are landing as well, but over the water 🙂 Got off the seaplane and walking to the exit. Our hostess is already waiting for us at the exit. We are taking the Alila shuttle to the international airport. It was a 5 minute ride.
Going to check in now. This is the Male airport duty free shopping area. It is a small airport. It looks there is no bridge to get on the aircraft directly. I am taking AirAsia to fly to Bangkok. Here comes to the end of this journey and I really want to share this journey. Do you want to go to Maldives now? Alone or not.