The Maldives is a fairly magical travel destination; spectacularly beautiful.
And it offers a serious point of difference.
On most holidays, a disappointing hotel restaurant is a minor problem: you walk down the street and find somewhere better to wine and dine.
In the Maldives there is no street.
Almost every one of the country's resorts has an island to itself, so whatever its kitchens serve is what you eat, three times a day, for the whole stay. No UberEats, no local takeaway.
That makes the meal plan one of the biggest decisions of the trip, and one of the least understood.
LuxAtolls, an independent website that compares the Maldives' 180-plus resorts, has catalogued what each one actually puts on the plate: every restaurant, its menu where the resort publishes one, and exactly what each meal plan covers.
That makes the meal plan one of the biggest decisions of the trip, and one of the least understood.
LuxAtolls, an independent website that compares the Maldives' 180-plus resorts, has catalogued what each one actually puts on the plate: every restaurant, its menu where the resort publishes one, and exactly what each meal plan covers.
Which is extremely useful if you are planning a trip with a gourmet focus.
"The resort is the holiday," says founder Tym Lewtak, a long-time travel marketer who keeps going back to the Maldives. "Two properties with identical star ratings and similar nightly rates can be wildly different choices."
Nowhere is that truer than at the table.
All-inclusive in the Maldives doesn't mean what it means in Cancun, or the Caribbean, or Byron Bay. There is no standard.
At one end, a plan might be three buffet meals and house drinks in a single restaurant. At the other, Hurawalhi in Lhaviyani Atoll pours unlimited cocktails, wines and Taittinger champagne, and its sister island Kudadoo includes a meal at the 5.8 Undersea Restaurant, an all-glass dining room 5.8 metres under the sea.
The price gap between plans is just as wide.
LuxAtolls' Maldives Pricing Index found that across the 45 resorts selling both as paid upgrades, the all-inclusive supplement averages 173% more than the half-board one, largely down to the drinks. Most resorts now offer a choice: 113 of the 183 properties tracked have three or more meal-plan tiers.
Drinks are also where the bill creeps up. Every bar tab attracts a 10% service charge and 17% GST, so a US$20 cocktail actually costs US$25.74. Over a week, a couple spending US$200 a day on extras pays about US$400 in tax alone, which is often what tips the sums towards all-inclusive.
Prices on LuxAtolls are shown in US dollars, and its quotes include the service charge, GST and the US$12-per-person-per-night green tax, so the price quoted is the price paid.
The Maldives isn't only for big budgets, despite its reputation for luxury. Entry-level resorts start at around US$300-400 a night for two, breakfast included.
"There is a $5,000-a-night Maldives," Lewtak says. "There is also a $400-a-night Maldives. Most people only ever hear about the first one."
LuxAtolls' all-inclusive guide, resort reviews and quote service are at luxatolls.com.
