Velaa Private Island review: a natural-island hall of fame stay

Arrival

After a quick breakfast at Kuredhivaru, the Velaa boat was there to pick us up promptly at 9am for the 20-minute speedboat to Velaa.

It’s funny, the Velaa captain told us that the sea was going to be “rough” and asked if we wanted sea sickness bags…

I had a look at the sea and a small laugh came out.

I think the waves were 2% of what they were two days prior. Needless to say, the boat ride was not “rough” lol.

Natural island and landscaping

I was very excited to finally visit Velaa. Why? Well, there are a ton of incredible 5 luxury resorts, but there are hardly any luxury 5 resorts that are built on fully natural islands. Sounds like the simplest thing, but just about any luxury resort that has opened (or will open) in the last/next 5 years (Patina, Ritz, Waldorf, Bulgari, Baccarat, Aman, Mandarin… the list goes on) is either built on partial or almost fully reclaimed land. The exceptions I can think of are the Joali properties & SJ in the last 10 years…

So in a way Velaa somehow feels like a “vintage rarity” that is almost impossible to come across.

As we made our way from the arrival jetty into the island, my first impression of this island was:

Oh my god, WHAT is the landscaping budget!!!!

At any given point you may find yourself walking around Velaa and there are at minimum 5 people raking leaves, cutting tree branches, or watering plants. This is not an exaggeration.

The island is so beautifully lush with the most incredible assortment of vegetation + flowers + shades of green I’ve seen in the Maldives/anywhere in the world. It has the lushness of somewhere like Soneva Fushi or Niyama but it feels like a small private garden (I am not sure how they pull it off). I’ve never seen anything like it.

And this “over the top” feel is woven through every single element of Velaa. For those of you who may not be intimately familiar with the history of Velaa, Velaa is owned and run by a Czech billionaire as his own passion project. He originally budgeted $100M for this project in the late 2000s/early 2010s but the island ended up costing over $220M+ to build and all profits are poured back into the resort in an effort to make it the best private island in the world (I think they’re on to something). They close down for 1 month every year, re-thatch the villas twice a year, redo the jetty every 1-2 years… and so on. This is a level of maintenance that I’ve not really seen any other property perform.

Beach Pool House 15

Our villa, number 15, was a 2BR Beach Pool House facing the south side of the island. The layout is essentially the same as the Deluxe Beach Pool Villa, but with the addition of a second bedroom and bathroom.

Overall, I really liked these villas. They are incredibly luxurious and, more than almost any hotel villa, have the feeling of a beautifully designed private home or apartment. They are also extremely comfortable and have a real sense of space and privacy. That said, you can understand why Velaa has decided to renovate them next year. The current interiors use a fairly dark color palette and pretty bold colors (red, green, etc.), and while still elegant and very luxurious, some elements are beginning to feel a little less contemporary. I hope that the renovations will be more of a refresh than a reinvention, bringing the interiors up to date while hopefully retaining that residential feel that makes the villas so appealing.

The one thing I would keep in mind with the Velaa villas is their size relative to what you might expect at this level (… and the fact that there’s no place to store your luggage). This is particularly true of the Sunrise/Sunset Water Villas and Beach Pool Villas. They are beautifully done, but objectively more compact than some comparable villas in this segment, including at Cheval Blanc or Soneva or really the rest of the comp set.

For example, the entry-level Beach Pool Villas are essentially one large room rather than having a completely separate living room. It did not detract from how much I liked them, but it is worth being aware of when comparing villa categories purely on square footage and layout.

Beach

The beach outside of our villa was not the best on the island. Rather, the best beach is by the entry-level beach villas OR the 4BR residences… so in front of the most expensive or least expensive villas. The sea walls are definitely doing their job for the most part as the beaches are nice and wide (also the sea walls do not detract from the villa that much).

Dining

I think where Velaa really shines compared to some of the other islands in this segment is in the F&B. Breakfast is fantastic (not as good as Patina, but still fantastic), and Aragu, Athiri, and Faiy are all truly excellent, with Aragu being in a league of its own (I posted some pictures but we had a 7-course tasting menu and each course was better than the next). I think this might be one of the most upscale/best restaurants (granted we did not try Le 1947 at Cheval so perhaps that is on the same level). Faiy serves incredible fresh lunch eats and the buffet at Aragu for dinner was epic and had a ton of premium ingredients (that unfortunately even places like Joali were unable to deliver).

Overall, I liked the food here on par with Patina and would rate it above the food at CB, if only for the fact that the prices here are reasonable and a steak tartare is not $120 net….

Reef conditions

Unfortunately, due to the choppy sea, I did not really have the opportunity to snorkel. As you can see in the pictures below, the weather really cleared up for our stay here (thank god, if I had to endure two days of rain whilst at Velaa I would’ve cried and probably never gotten over it), however the swells remained very high.

Velaa or Cheval Blanc?

And now the age-old question: did I like this place more than Cheval Blanc? I am not sure, but I don’t think so. What I preferred here was that the service felt more down to earth (I still am thinking about the Maldivian gardeners at Cheval Blanc greeting me with Bonjour Monsieur…) and that the island is breathtaking from tip to tip. However, the facilities (e.g., main pool or breakfast restaurant), villa, and lagoon (the latter two being the two things that I care the most about in the Maldives) are just so darn spectacular at CB that it makes it hard to top. So while I think that a pairing between these two properties (with an additional 5 nights at Jani) would be my death row combo, I think if I HAD to (gun to my head) pick one right now, then my vote would go for CB. I think.

But who knows, maybe my opinion will change tomorrow, and Velaa certainly has solidified itself in my personal hall of fame…. I can only dream of returning one day.