The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort

A Westin, one of Marriott’s brands, on an island of its own, Miriandhoo, in Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2011. The official website calls it a wellness family resort, certified by Green Globe; Google rates it 5 stars. There are 70 villas, 41 on the beach and 29 over the water, according to the events page, which lists them for anyone hiring the whole island; Expedia counts 70, Tripadvisor 69.

The website prints no opening date: the first Google reviews date from September 2018, and in December 2025 one guest described it as a resort 7 years old.

8 types, all with a private pool, according to the villas page and the premium villas page. On the beach: Beach Villa – Pool, 140 m², for 2, with a 5 m² plunge pool; Family Beach Villa – Pool, 140 m², with 2 double beds, for 4; Deluxe Beach Villa – Pool, 164 m², for 3, with a 6 m² pool; Family Deluxe Beach Villa – Pool, 164 m², for 4; 2 Bedroom Villa – Pool, 297 m², with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; Heavenly Beach Residence, 508 m², with a kitchen and a dining room. Over the water: Overwater Villa – Pool and Heavenly Overwater Villa – Pool, both 194 m², the latter at the end of each arm of the jetty.

The website warns that the sizes are approximate and does not say how many villas there are of each type. On the Heavenly Beach Residence its figures fit together: it takes up to 8 guests, no more than 6 of them adults, according to the premium page and the rooms page, read on 15 October 2026. The Beach Villa takes no extra bed, and the Family Beach Villa not even a cot.

On Miriandhoo island in Baa Atoll, 112 km from Velana airport according to the website: 30 minutes by seaplane, or a 25-minute domestic flight to Dharavandhoo and a short speedboat ride. Hanifaru Bay, the manta bay, is 18 km away.

The island is small and can be walked round. In May 2026 a mother travelling with her 4-year-old son found it easy to get about, and in February 2026 a guest wrote that even with the resort full it never felt crowded. The noise comes from the seaplanes, which land in front of the villas several times a day.

By the shared Trans Maldivian Airways seaplane, about 30 minutes, or by a domestic flight to Dharavandhoo followed by the speedboat, which Booking.com puts at 20 minutes. The website’s main page gives 2 seaplane prices: $620 per adult and $310 per child return in its text, $279.50 one way and $559 return in its transport panel. The domestic flight transfer costs $495 per adult and $247.50 per child return, and the charge is added to the booking.

Seaplanes fly only in daylight: for the last one your international flight must land in Malé by 3.25pm, and for the return the website asks for a flight leaving after 9am. The resort does not control the schedule or the waits, which are the airline’s. On Expedia the compulsory transfer fee for guests aged 12 to 17 is paid at the hotel.

No: it is an island, and the official website says there is no parking, nor any charging point for electric cars. You arrive only by seaplane or speedboat, and on the island you walk or ride the staff’s buggies, which guests mention.

The beach villas open straight on to the sand, the water villas have a ladder down to the reef. The premium villas page describes a necklace-shaped lagoon on the west side, safe for children, families and beginner snorkellers.

Elsewhere the reef comes close to the shore. Guests recommend water shoes for the stones and coral; in December 2025 a family found only one side of the beach suitable for children, and in February 2026 a guest noted that under the water villas the current runs strong on a windy day. There are life jackets in the villa, says a May 2026 guest.

Yes. The resort, says the website, is built on the island’s reef, and you go in from the beach or from the water villas’ ladders. Guests in 2025 and 2026 describe reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays, parrotfish and passing dolphins; one in June 2025 recommends the calmer west side and the stretch in front of The Pearl.

Masks and fins are free at the Aqua centre, according to a February 2026 guest, and in July 2025 an hour of guided snorkelling was offered. The resident marine biologist gives talks and has guests plant coral fragments, according to the experiences page.

A main outdoor infinity pool, with towels and free entry, according to the website, below Island Kitchen; the Kids Club has its own children’s pool. All 70 villas have a private pool: 5 m² in the Beach Villas and Family Beach Villas, 6 m² in both Deluxe types; for the water villas and the 2 largest the size is not published.

At 5 or 6 m², the beach villas’ pools are for cooling off; for a swim there is the main pool, in front of Island Kitchen’s tables.

The main pool is open every day from 8am to 6pm, according to the website, which says nothing of heating or temperature. In January 2026 a French couple write that the water in their private pool was at 26°C. The Kids Club and its pool are open from 10am to 7pm.

In 3 restaurants and 2 bars, according to the website: The Pearl, Japanese over the water, with fresh-caught fish and kaiseki, Tuesday to Sunday from 6.30pm to 10.30pm; Island Kitchen, international cooking with the Eat Well menu, from 7.30am to 10.30pm above the pool; Hawker, Asian street food from an open kitchen, noon to 3pm and 7pm to 10.30pm; the Sunset Bar, cocktails and tapas, 6pm to midnight; the Beach Bar, 11am to 10.30pm. The dining page speaks of 4 venues instead.

Room service runs round the clock, and the resort arranges private beach dinners and picnics. Guests say dinner at Hawker needs booking, the seafood barbecue night costs $65 a head and the kitchen adapts dishes to diets and allergies.

The website says only that meal plans are available, without publishing what they contain, and the dining page’s FAQ says breakfast at Island Kitchen is charged. From the official pages: the half board of the festive offer covers breakfast at Island Kitchen and dinner at Island Kitchen or Hawker; the all-inclusive plan, according to the holiday page, 3 meals a day, unlimited drinks and the minibar. Children under 12 eat free from their menu.

Guests fill in the rest. At the end of July 2026 a honeymoon couple’s all-inclusive plan covered Island Kitchen and Hawker, and in October 2025 a couple paid for The Pearl on top; there is also a Premium All-Inclusive, which a February 2026 family recommends. Those who ate à la carte in 2025 paid $40 to $50 for a burger.

The Heavenly Spa by Westin stands on stilts above the reef, joined to the island by a walkway. The experiences page mentions a treatment suite for 2 with a Jacuzzi and ocean views, and Google Hotels a glass floor over the sea, which an October 2025 guest looked through during a massage. The sauna and the steam room, scented with white tea, are in the WestinWORKOUT gym and open round the clock. The website publishes neither the spa’s floor area nor its number of rooms.

Treatments are paid for and booked: the website says an appointment is required. The gym’s sauna and steam room are free for guests, at any hour. The festive offer, from 20 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, takes 20% off treatments, and in May 2026 a honeymoon couple had 30 minutes of spa in their package.

No page of the resort publishes a day pass for anyone not staying on the island.

Every day from 10am to 8pm, by appointment, according to the website. The gym, sauna and steam room are open 24 hours a day; the main pool closes at 6pm.

The website lists body scrubs and wraps, massages including for couples and in the villa, facials, manicures and pedicures, men’s treatments and scalp and hair treatments. The signature is the 90-minute Heavenly Sanctuary Ritual, to nourish and protect the skin, with products made for Heavenly Spa.

The website publishes no prices. Guests in 2026 write warmly of the Heavenly Spa’s massages.

Yes: it is built for them. The Westin Family Kids Club is free and open every day from 10am to 7pm, with indoor and outdoor play areas, a pool, the pirate ship, pizza and cupcake classes and beach explorations; under-4s need an adult, and the website gives no upper age. Children under 12 stay and eat free from their menu, babysitting is available and the lagoon on the west side suits the youngest.

On Booking.com children from 12 pay as adults and an extra bed costs $50 a night per child; in the gym under-15s need a parent. Families in 2025 and 2026 praise the club and the clinic open day and night.

According to the website: the WestinWORKOUT gym, open 24 hours with a sauna and steam room, a tennis court with a coach, yoga and running routes round the island; the Aqua centre for diving, water sports and excursions, with kayaks, paddleboards and jet skis; the marine biologist, Maldivian lacquer workshops and the art studio; a meeting room, a shop, 24-hour room service and free Wi-Fi for Marriott Bonvoy members. The Green Delight kitchen garden covers 1,200 m², and the island has its own water-bottling plant and, since August 2024, 650 solar panels, according to the sustainability page.

Read on 3 October 2026: Celebrate Festive – Early Bird, code EVE, for stays from 20 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, with 10% off, half board, $100 of dining credit, children under 12 free, a dolphin cruise, 20% off the spa, floating breakfast in the water villas and the Two Bedroom, an hour of kayaking and a 30-minute photo session; and the Marriott Bonvoy double-points offer, up to 20,000 points, with breakfast and children eating free.

The holiday page promises early bookers a free upgrade from full board to all-inclusive. The New Year’s Eve gala dinner is left out of the festive offer.

The resort arranges weddings and vow renewals on the beach, with a photographer and honeymoon packages, and receptions for up to 40 guests, according to the events page. It publishes no prices and does not say whether the ceremony is legally binding. In March 2025 an American couple held their private wedding here, with make-up, spa and video.

For groups and companies there is the Ocean Room, 98.9 m², for up to 40 seated theatre or banquet style, and the whole island can be hired: 70 villas, 3 meals a day, 2 hours of sunset drinks, non-motorised water sports, a 45-minute treatment each and the transfers.

Yes: the holiday page announces a New Year’s Eve gala dinner with entertainment and fireworks, within a festive calendar from 22 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 that includes the tree lighting, the Christmas Eve buffet at Island Kitchen and a 5-course wine-paired dinner on the beach. The festive offer calls the gala compulsory and charged on top, children included.

No official page publishes its price. On Google Hotels, read on 12 October 2026, the night of 31 December cost $1,026 for 2. In December 2025, 2 guests not booked on the Christmas Eve gala found The Pearl and Hawker full; the next day the resort offered them dinner.

No: the website lists no course and no golf packages. The island has the tennis court, with the resort’s coach, the WestinWORKOUT gym and, according to guests in 2026, padel, pickleball and table tennis.

All year: the website announces no closures, and the Google Hotels calendar, read on 6 October 2026, priced 110 of the 117 nights from 7 October 2026 to 31 January 2027. Missing were 26 October, the nights from 26 to 30 December and 21 January: prices absent, which does not mean closed.

For the mantas the season runs from June to October, according to the website. Guests who came between June and September, in the rainy season, describe short downpours between clear days.

Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, for 2 adults and one night: $1,779 on 7 October 2026, $1,998 on 28 October, $1,859 on 19 November, $2,075 on 13 December, $4,198 on 24 December, the calendar’s peak, $3,018 on 31 December and $1,980 on 14 January 2027.

These are Maldives-market figures with taxes and fees already included: for 7 October the official website, on the same listing, asked $1,779 for the Beach Villa – Pool, and Priceline’s link carried a total of $1,779.44. The calendar names no villa and no meal plan; the seaplane is extra. Of the 117 nights read, 110 had a price.

On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.6/5 from 331 ratings, Tripadvisor 4.8/5 from 1,193, with a Travellers’ Choice 2026, Booking.com 8.9/10 from 26, with value for money at 8.5, and Expedia 9.6/10 from 46. In the 259 Google reviews with text, September 2018 to September 2026, 91% of those who mention the villas are positive, 90% of those who mention the location and 80% of those who mention the staff. On price the reviews agree less: the seaplane is charged separately and, without a meal plan, about 26% in service and tax comes on top of à la carte prices.

Google Hotels’ prices for the Maldives include taxes and fees. The official website, in the pages read, prints no rates; in February 2026 one guest wrote that about 26% of service and tax is added to à la carte bills. On Booking.com cots and extra beds are paid separately at the hotel, and the seaplane, says the website, is added to the booking.

Check-in is from 3pm and check-out by noon, according to the website and Booking.com. In April 2026 a family with a baby had their villa at 11.30am, and at the end of July 2026 a honeymoon couple were given a late check-out arranged on arrival.