Park Hyatt Hadahaa: A Lovely Remote Maldives Resort with a Wonderful Robinson Crusoe Vibe

I had requested overwater room 51 at the end of the jetty, which we were given. It was the "best of the bunch" and was huge, with panoramic unobstructed views, and the GM threw in a bottle of champagne, a couples' massage, and dinner on the beach so we were looking forward to those! The resort was very generous and nonalcoholic drinks were free all day long with our half board, which was a first out of the 17 resorts we have visited thus far. All sparkling and still water was free as well!

Gorgeous little Park Hyatt Hadahaa in the remote Gaafu Alifu atoll.

The views from Villa 51 were lovely, being on the end of the jetty. The residence is next door and could be seen on the very far right of our villa, but honestly it did not distract from the stunning sunset views from our villa. The residence also has a large wooden screen that did not allow any views of our villa. There were no islands in sight to speak of, so all across the horizon was vast, gorgeous nothing but tropical breeze and the multi-colored turquoise sea and blue sky. Our deck was small but really nice as there was a large two-person sofa bed and a small pool next to it.

Sunset views from our overwater villa #51

The room, including the bathroom, had all floor-to-ceiling glass, which really added to the ambiance and brought the outdoors in. We loved sitting outside at night and seeing the star-filled sky. There was no light pollution at Park Hyatt. Our villa was also really quiet and gave us a sense of isolation, and is one of the nicest rooms for open panoramic sea views we have experienced thus far.

The floor-to-ceiling glass in the bathroom made the whole are sunlit and stunning!

We were given a tour of the residence. Most of the high-end Maldive resorts have a large multi-bedroom residence. At Park Hyatt, it is the personal residence of the two owners of the island—one is Thai and the other is Maldivian—and they rent it out when they are not in the house. It's named Kiaali #52, which incorporates both of the owners' last names. This is the largest residence we have toured in our 17 resorts so far, and it has the wow factor times three—it is just stunning! I would call the decor understated elegant, with an incredible amount of glass. The residence has the most exquisite views at the end of the jetty, including of the gorgeous sunsets, with no islands in sight.

There was floor-to-ceiling glass in our overwater villa, flooding it with natural light and unobstructed views.

The reef

We swam around the circular island drop-off a couple times the first day as we do in all the resorts, and saw a few turtles, friendly black tip reef sharks, some eagle rays, and nice large corals on the water-villa end of the island. It took us about 90 minutes to circle the island as the current was running a bit and the wind was coming down a little. It was still too much weather for paddle boarding, but we did go kayaking.

Our deck with a pool and comfortable seating in overwater villa #51

I would rank Park Hyatt second of the 17 resorts we have been to in terms of corals. The coral recovery here is really impressive—blue, orange, yellow, green—and the fish life is not too bad either! There were a lot of good-size Titan triggerfish who were fortunately minding their own business. We also saw a few turtles on all our swims, quite a few black tips and a couple white tips, a lobster, a good amount of schooling fish, and lots of rock cod and other tropical fish, along with beautiful recovering corals, especially on the the water-villa half of the island where the current is stronger. We also saw a four- to five-foot barracuda just lying on the sea floor in a fairly shallow area—quite the set of teeth as its mouth was open for all to see!

We still remember our first trip to the Maldives before the worldwide El Niño bleaching of 2016, swimming around islands with so much colorful coral and beauty. Fortunately, the fish give the reef color as well as character—some are downright hilarious to watch! We also loved sitting on our deck after our swim with the open views stretching to the horizon—so peaceful and dreamy!

Dining

Island Grill has the best food on the island, and has nice ambiance as well with a “feet in the sand” setting, but reservations are necessary and they fill up fast. The Park Hyatt is a such a pretty little island and the powdery glistening white sand is plentiful and incredibly soft, with large areas around most of the island!

Our complimentary anniversary dinner on the beach was in a gorgeous setting with a warm breeze, red sunset, and soft music. It was dreamy!

The food is good and we always found plenty we liked and it was presented nicely. The meat was exceptional, with generous portions of Wagyu beef that was tender and well prepared.

We also really liked hanging out in the dreamy open-air bar, which is perfectly located on the beach for sunsets and also borders the large infinity pool.

Staff

The staff is amazing and some of the nicest and most attentive we have had in the Maldives. They have a genuine warmth and we felt very well taken care of! On my birthday, screwdrivers suddenly appeared at breakfast, a large tropical fruit display was brought to our table, and Chef Dave made a delicious little cake. That’s the Maldives! "We aim to please!"

The lovely Vidhun Spa with its own private pool

• Nazeef cleaned our room twice a day—it was well done and he was always helpful!

• There is an in-house photographer who gave us a complimentary photo session, and he had a drone that he used while we were swimming.

• Eid, our butler, and Nabil, the assistant GM, who are both from Egypt, took excellent care of us.

• Some of the other staff were Chef Dave, Estill in the game room. We also had many wonderful waiters, including Rohit, our waiter during our beach dinner who did a fantastic job!

• Robin was our stargazing guru, who was very informative.

• There were many more I can’t name, but we loved them all and appreciate the many smiles we received all day long!

We highly recommend this little Maldivian gem. It’s a perfect little traditional barefoot island!

The remoteness and unobstructed views made it feel like you had landed on a gorgeous deserted island!

The remote setting with the warm breeze, waves lapping, and starry sky above was something we will remember for a long time. I recommend doing a split stay in the same atoll if you have 10 days or longer to experience more than one resort!

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Maldives page.