The Nautilus Maldives

Style

Iridescent idyll

Setting

A hop from Hanifaru Bay

The Nautilus Maldives has all the hallmarks of honeymoon heaven: a private island with softly swaying palms, palatial overwater houses and residences with brilliantly blue views and teeming marine life under the sparkling sea. But, you’ll soon find that this is ‘laidback luxury’ to a horizontal degree, and the unscripted anytime, anywhere dining gives you total freedom to dream up your days. Your sidekick in sybaritic scheming is your House Master (that’s your private butler, ahem), who’ll email ahead to personalise your minibar, fix up watery excursions to bucket-list dive spots and uncannily intuit your passing whims faster than you can say, ‘piña colada, please’.

Facilities

Quartos

26 houses and residences.

Checkout

Check-in is from 2pm and check-out is at noon. Both are flexible, subject to availability.

Mais detalhes

Rates include cooked-to-order breakfast served all day, tailor-made welcome platter with champagne on arrival, light bites and a daily cocktail at Naiboli pool bar and non-motorised water sports, snorkelling and access to padel courts (to name a few).

Also

As The Nautilus is spread out and sandy, there's limited wheelchair access.

Academia de ginástica

Acesso gratuito à Internet

Lavanderia

Piscina

Restaurante no local

Serviço de quarto

Spa

At the Hotel

Beach, house reef, pool, a flotilla of yachts and boats, dive centre, spa, steam room, yoga pavilion with daily yoga, gym, padel tennis courts, multipurpose sports court, free non-motorised water sports gear (snorkels and masks, paddleboards and transparent kayaks), kids' club, free WiFi throughout and your own House Master (personal butler). In rooms: private temperature-controlled infinity pool, furnished sundecks, free bottle of champagne on arrival, fruit bowl refilled daily, free laundry service (up to two pieces a day), packing and unpacking service, TV with free on-demand movies, desk, air-conditioning, minibar with non-alcoholic drinks, free bottled water, Nespresso machine with Dinzler coffee, Dilmah tea, black-out curtains.

Our Favourite Rooms

Let’s be clear, each of the 26 houses and residences on the island are pinch-yourself slices of paradise – they all come with a private pool, a furnished sundeck, out-of-this-world ocean views and a House Master, so there’s absolutely no chance of picking a dud. However, we did lose our cool a little over the glass-bottomed living rooms in the Ocean Houses – it’s a beautiful thing when little Smiths totally lose interest in screens because the real Finding Nemo is playing beneath their feet. For a once-in-a-lifetime stay, it has to be the scene-stealing Nautilus Mansion, a literal sandcastle which was personally designed by the resort’s Maldivian owner as his platonic ideal of a beach residence.

Poolside

As well as the individual infinity pools at every house, there’s also a family-friendly temperature controlled pool on the beach at the island’s edge. It’s dotted with cosy cabanas and sleek sunloungers – plus, you’re perfectly placed to take advantage of the deli-style snacks which are served all day at Naiboli Pool Bar. At night, you can watch the ‘Nautilus rising’, when the shell decal lights up and the pool is filled with a phosphorescent glow.

Spa

The soul-soothing Solasta Spa is made up of three overwater, glass-bottomed treatment pavilions, so you can watch tropical fish buzzing about through your massage chair. The extensive menu boasts skin-plumping facials, Ayurvedic mud scrubs and stress-busting massages. You can also mix and match treatments according to your mood. Bliss out afterwards in one of the relaxation lounges or the steam bath. For a supplement of $100, you can have any spa treatment in the privacy of your room.

Packing Tips

An underwater camera… so you make like Man Ray among the Manta Rays at legendary dive spot Hanifaru Bay.

Also

There are daily yoga and meditation sessions in the yoga pavilion, and you shouldn’t have trouble clearing your mind with the endless sea and sky as your backdrop. For the jetlag-afflicted, in-room treatments are available to bring the spa to you.

Crianças

All ages are very welcome and the resort lays on lots for children aged three years and above in its Young Wonderers club. If prearranged, up to two children (under-12s) can stay and eat from the children's menu for free when accompanied by an adult.

Galeria

Food & Drink

Top Table

Spotted a sparkly sandbank in the distance? Why not motor out there for a picnic à deux. Like Castaway, but with more champagne…

Dress code

The food may be posh but the atmosphere here is anything but – even at upscale Zeytoun, you can rock up barefoot.

Hotel Restaurant

There are three restaurants (though you can dine anywhere, anytime), so the island is your freshly shucked oyster. Thyme has a sandy, beach-house ambience and laid-back fare – salads, burgers and fresh fish are served up daily. Step it up a notch with dinner at Ocaso, an indoor-outdoor grill that mixes up smoke-laden Japanese, Peruvian and Latin flavours to great effect. At the end of a long jetty, Zeytoun looks like a pirate ship’s prow and has proposal-worthy pods positioned over the lagoon. With views this gob-smacking, the food might play second fiddle, but incredible European and Mediterranean flavours hold their own admirably.

Hotel Bar

If you’re feeling peckish, the Naiboli Pool Bar serves free all-day deli bites as well as knee-weakening cocktails. Hide from the midday sun under a cosy cabana or swing from the rafters (elegantly) in a hanging basket chair.

Last Orders

The timings here are all fitted around you, so don’t fret about checking your watch.

Room Service

From midnight snacks to crack-of-dawn cravings – you barely have to peep to be fed and watered.

Planes

As soon as you touch down at Velana International airport in Malé, a Nautilus staff member will whisk you into the VIP lounge, take care of customs, immigration and collecting your luggage, then escort you to the sea plane (transfers are US$1750 a person) for the 30-minute hop to private-island paradise.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Though your island base is only 250m across, The Nautilus is packed to the gills with diversions for water babies and lounge lizards alike. Start your morning mindfully with sunrise yoga or guided meditation on the overwater yoga pavilion, or hit the gym for a cardio hit. Then, flipper up for a snorkel around the pristine house reef where you’ll spot fluoro-coloured fish buzzing around the coral and maybe even a turtle or a manta ray. If the urge to venture into the deep blue yonder suddenly strikes, you’re in the right place – deep sea diving, boat trips to deserted islands and dozens of dive sites are all on the menu. The most famous spot in the Baa Atoll biosphere is Hanifaru Bay, where mantas and whale sharks are known to wander. Back on solid land, the Solasta Spa will restore the sun-dazed and salty to luscious and lustrous in their glass-bottomed treatment pavilions which hover over the lagoon. Then, bring what’s left of your appetite (the free feast of snacks at Naiboli Pool Bar may have dented it a bit) to one of the three restaurants on the island for fresh, Med-inspired fare with a side of spectacular sunset and nary a shoe required.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .