Taj Exotica Maldives review: a strong lagoon, but not a five-star experience

Context and short verdict

We are seasoned Maldives travelers who spent 2 nights at Taj Exotica this past march at the tail end of our vacation.

One of our main priority when selecting an island (other than the overall quality and standard of the resort) is the lagoon (different shades, overall coloring, expansiveness, sand softness, etc) and we were told by several friends/acquaintances that the Taj Exotica lagoon was one of the best if not the best lagoon in the Maldives. For reference, we have experienced some amazing resorts and lagoons in the Maldives so far at similar price points… Soneva Fushi, Milaidhoo, como Cocoa Island, six senses, Conrad Rangali, jumeirah olhahali, Ayada, Amilla, Vakkaru, constance moofushi… to name just a few, so our expectations were extremely high for taj - both for the lagoon and for the resort quality overall given Taj is a well regarded brand in India.

The TL;DR for anyone who does not want to read the rest of my review is that that our stay did not feel particularly luxurious nor that the lagoon was particularly exceptional - or at least NOT exceptional enough to make up for shortcomings (food, housekeeping service, overall atmosphere).

IMO, you are better off visiting any of the resorts I listed above given the similar price points & much more luxurious offerings that match the price point.

Read on for the rest of the review!

Transfer and first impression

We transferred from Six Senses Laamu to Taj Exotica and the airport pickup was effortless. The taj rep was waiting for us in the domestic terminal arrival area and whisked us off to our speedboat. We, luckily, were the only arriving passengers at that time and had zero waiting time before we embarked on the quick 10 minute boat ride to Taj. I have to admit that the arrival really felt like a 5* experience as Taj could have easily had us wait 30m-1hr for other arriving passengers but instead took us to the resort directly with zero wait. So kudos there.

There are two things you will notice when you arrive at taj after the short speedboat ride: (1) the lagoon is huge (& very pretty in this arrivals area) and (2) you are literally at the doorstep of Malé. I will not dock points off of this because this is something that is clearly researchable and also obvious due to the vicinity of taj to Malé, but Malé is definitely an eyesore and is clearly visible from several points on the island. So anyone looking for seclusion should keep this in mind (and certainly look elsewhere as Taj is not very secluded at all).

Villa and lagoon

We were then driven by buggy to our our deluxe beach villa. The first thing you notice about taj is just how small and skinny this island is. In fact, I would even hesitate to call it an island since its more just like an “extended” sand bank with some trees. The island itself is not very lush but also at the same time does not feel artificial either since it is not. It kinda just feels a bit bare with just a few trees here and there and super narrow pathways. The sand within the island is also not soft so shoes are necessary.

Let me start off with the positives about of villa (there is really only one that I liked about this villa): the spacing. In recent years, there has been this trend to optimize space for revenue even in the 5-6* bucket so villas end up being built super close to one another. The taj deluxe beach villas are very well spaced out and super private with an amazing garden area/day bed/ hammock setup. The rest of the villa, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The design is quite dark and dated as is the furnishing (couch and bed). The bathroom also has a lot of cheap looking countertops and reminds me more of a bathroom in a city hotel than the Maldives. Further, the single use plastic amenities were also not great to see.

The view from the villa is actually more “remote” than I was expecting since you do not see Malé or really any other islands whilst you are inside the garden area of the deluxe beach villas. The lagoon is also extremely wide so while there is a decent amt. of boat traffic in the distance, this boat traffic is not audible.

What I also found disappointing was the quality of the lagoon in front of our beach villa. Whilst the lagoon is a beautiful shade of crystal clear turquoise north of the arrival jetty where there are unfortunately no villas, the same cannot be said about the situation on the south of the arrival jetty.

The lagoon in front of the deluxe beach areas is actually A LOT deeper than I was led to believe with all the research I did, and therefore never is crystal clear and blue. From afar, the lagoon actually looks very photogenic. However, when you get closer to it, you will see that it is actually extremely murky and stagnant (it is so stagnant that I almost entirely missed a stingray that was swimming right at me - crazy!!). I am not sure how much of this is due to seasonality, but one reason that I would attribute to this murkiness other than the general depth, is the placement of the arrival jetty. Since the jetty is SO large, it does a “great” job at obstructing currents and creating stagnant water in this area as well as small chunks of oddly shaped seaweed.

Let me be clear: if you've never seen a Maldivian lagoon in your life, I presume this will still wow you to some extent but since taj more often than not gets praised for its all around amazing lagoon and one of the best in the entire country, I cannot say that I have had the same experience in front of the deluxe beach villas.

Where the lagoon, however, really did WOW me was in the most unexpected area of all: by the staff area beach on the northernmost point of the island, where most guests probably never step foot. This has got to be one of the most magnificent spots in the Maldives (however let me highlight that this is just a small area of the overall resort). The water is free from any seaweed and is totally stagnant and has a million different shades of blue due to the depth. On the downside, this is the area closest to Malé so while you are enjoying the colors of the water, you are also swimming in what feels like the reflection of the Malé skyscrapers since you really are that close. You can get a very similar experience at Conrad Rangali, for example, but in a totally remote setting.

Food

Food was another big issue for us at taj. The HB plan is “dine around” but the credit at deep end is very minimal (I think something like $30pp). So you are just confined to the main restaurant for dinner.

Lunch offerings are probably some of the most expensive I have ever come across not only in the Maldives, but all over the world. A burger is like $50 USD. Even FS landaa and soneva had cheaper lunch prices so this felt totally out of place for a resort that does not compete in the same league. And not only were they expensive, but the preparation methods and tastes were super basic.

We had similar issues at dinner. As mentioned, we were on the HB plan. In the nicest way possible…. 24 degrees in my opinion needs a full overhaul to even make it into 4 territory, never mind 5. For starters, I think there is a huge missed opportunity here to dine under the stars. The table spacing at 24 degrees is very bad (you are dining with your neighbors) and it is all in a semi open air venue. The menu at 24 degrees is huge, perhaps too big, with a million different cuisines. While the choice of food is welcomed, none of it was really all that good so perhaps taj should narrow down the menu and improve the quality of the food. On our first night, I ordered a caesar salad (probably my mistake to order this at an indian run property in the Maldives), but it was super soggy. The paneer tikka was extremely rubbery which was out of place for an indian resort IMO. The grilled tuna and curries mains were pretty good, but the plating felt like a 3* resort.

Breakfast was maybe even more disappointing than the other two meals to the point that on our second day, I skipped it all together as the quality was so poor. On our first day, I ordered a cold cut and cheese platter which contained the most basic, most processed cold cuts and. Same with the fruit platter which was just so poor. I think that I rank the breakfast as taj as my least favorite breakfast I've had in the Maldives.

Housekeeping

Finally, we also had some issues with our room boy and general housekeeping. On our first night, as we were getting ready for dinner, he informed us that the latest the the lastest he could do turndown service as 6pm since he had to go back to Malé. Sorry but what!? Never came across this in the Maldives. So when we brought it up to our butler, he said this was not true and infromed management. The next morning, again same issue… no making up of the room until late morning and that was after I followed up with my butler again. Admittedly the team was SO apologetic about this and even gave us some goodies like a taj branded passport holder which is nice gesture. But still shouldn’t have happened in the first place as this is basic service.

What worked

In terms of what we did like at taj, I can say it boiled down to the following (I don't what the positives to get lost in the negatives):

+ the staff was, overall, mostly friendly and tried really hard + our villa host mohamed was super attentive and responsive, but unfortunately he had 10 villas to look after which is an insane amount of villas and speaks to the experience taj caters (most other deluxe properties have 3-4 villas per VH even in the business periods). + the lagoon north of the jetty is beautiful + the quick transfer for short stays is welcomed & the arrival process + the privacy / garden area of the villa + the photo book given on departure was a nice touch

Value and final verdict

In terms of cost and value for money… we paid about $1,050 per night including transfers, taxes, and half board for the deluxe beach villa which is one of their premium rooms and is on the higher end of what we usually pay for our trips to the Maldives. Yet, this was the absolute lowest price I could find for mains season in this villa category as they usually run in the 1.5k range per night in this season.

In all I cannot say that the room or the experience was worth the cost. Would we come back? Probably not but never say never. This is for sure an island that I would not spend more than 2 nights at given the shortcomings terms of food and location. Admittedly, on a very good deal (max 50% of what we paid), I would come back just to experience the staff area beach once more…. But that is likely not realistic. There are many more islands (in the Malé atolls alone) that I would rather revisit or newly visit before coming back to Taj Exotica.