Arrival At The Dusit Thani In The Maldives!

After a few days in Madrid (and a quick stopover for a few hours back at home in London), we finally headed out to the Maldives!

I can’t even pretend! I’d been looking forward to this trip for quite a while so I was justifiably excited when it finally arrived.

A few movies, a snooze and a ‘couple’ of wines later we landed in the Maldive’s Male Airport – greeted by the heat, humidity and some much needed sunshine.

Within a few minutes of getting past the requisite immigrations and custom checks, we were whisked off to the private lounge of the resort we would be staying in – The Dusit Thani Maldives, while arrangements were made for our seaplane transfers.

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel hungry when we arrived by but surrounded by the pastries and drinks, I pretty much stuffed my mouth full with everything I could find!

Before long, we were picked up by our seaplane captain and headed out to our much-anticipated new home in the Maldives.

The seaplane takes about 25 minutes to get to the resort and is an amazing way to see the Maldives and get a true sense of why this island country is pretty special!

We kept playing guessing games to try to figure out which island would be ours and before long, it became obvious as we swooped in on The Dusit Thani.

The very first thing I noticed was just how clear and amazing the water looked. I’ve been around quite a bit but honestly, I’ve never seen anywhere quite like this!

The Dusit Thani is located in the BAA Atoll and is the Maldives’ first ever UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve (an atoll is a ring-shaped collection of these coral islands) which meant the snorkelling promised to preeeeetty good!

We were greeted by cool towels, a delicious drink and promptly introduced to our butler.

I kid you not, it took a couple of minutes for this to sink in properly. It was only as we were being whisked off in a buggy to our place that it finally dawned on me! We had a BUTLER! Our butler was there to pay attention to everything you needed 24/7 – we’re talking sorting our spa treatments, dinner reservations, tennis sessions, snorkelling, cocktails… anything!

The popular idea of what a butler is these days stems from the UK (thanks to shows like Downton Abbey 🙂 ) and despite staying in a fair few fancy places in the UK (and coming from the UK), I’d still never experienced what it was like to have a butler.

My fascination with having a dedicated butler was soon replaced with my amazement at how beautiful the island is!

Fancy a little gander at the digs? Well, let me take you on a little tour!

If you’re really nice, you’ll arrive to delicious exotic fruits, chocolates and champagne! (J.K. *in Oprah voice* You’re ALL getting treats!!!)

I’m a huge fan of a welcome like this! 🙂

I’m a sucker for a huge bathroom! 🙂

The ocean villas have their own pool along with THAT amazing view!

They’re also perfect for going snorkelling right from your villa!

It’s so very easy to fall in love with this place straight away and to feel right at home! I just love it when the hype of a place lives up the reality. The Dusit Thani definitely lives up to my Maldivian hype. 🙂

I’m pretty sure we can all see the flaw in Lloyd’s plan above! (I’m at least pool ready!)

Eventually, we decided to get changed and head out in search of the famous infinity pool (it’s the biggest one in the Maldives) and some well earned cocktails! (Oh and food, mustn’t forget food!)

Everyone on the island gets a bicycle (you can walk if you want) but I’m not patient – I wanted those cocktails esta pronto!

Thankfully, everything’s pretty close and so you’re never too far from a bar or a restaurant (there are 6 of them on the island).

We meandered our way through the island, discovering it’s secret relaxing spot, beaches and best snorkelling points.

Eventually deciding to pitch our tents by the pool where we would be guaranteed of as much of pretty much any drink as we wanted.

The time on the island is one hour behind the mainland and so when someone here tells you they’re on island time in the Maldives, this is both literally and figuratively true!