I’m so excited to share that our honeymoon trip has already been settled! After doing so much research and narrowing it down to two choices, it took me another extra week to finally make up my mind. While it was honestly a really tough decision to make, R and I analysed both villas down to every single detail and picked our favourite!
With so many beautiful villas situated in different islands of Maldives, I was seriously spoilt for choices and to be honest, I didn’t even know where to start because I was initially clueless about my expectations. I didn’t even know the price range. To start off with the planning process, I browsed through different resorts on Agoda, Expedia, TripAdvisor just to get a feel of the prices and types of resorts offered.
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| Source: Westin Maldives |
Maldives has always been my dream honeymoon destination ever since I was young, like way before we talked about marriage. I was never an adventurous traveller nor a water sports player, but somehow or rather, I fell in love with Maldives when I saw the amazing ocean view in photos. Amazing is probably an understatement. And as I grew older, I started to appreciate beach vacation even more than I ever did.
Here are some of our requirements for the Maldives trip:
1) Overwater Villa is a MUST
2) All meals must be included (Preferably all-inclusive package)
3) Sufficient activities in the resort
4) Within a budget of about 4k for 5D4N including flights
With this budget, we narrowed down to these 2 choices – Adaaran Prestige Vadoo & Kandima Maldives.
I’ll be comparing these 2 resorts in this blog post in case you are considering the same choices as us! Bear in mind that we will be comparing the differences based on the fixed budget that we have instead of comparing the same category of rooms or package.
PACKAGE PRICES
(Estimated prices only as the prices differ from platform to platform and fluctuates daily)
We were comparing between these two resorts and rooms, the reason why we didn’t even consider Kandima’s All Inclusive package is that it’s over our budget! We paid for full flight + hotel package so the costing has some differences. To be exact, our flight + hotel package on Expedia + domestic transfer works out to be about $4.4k.
Adaaran (Sunset Overwater Villa) = ~$850/ night (All Inclusive)
Kandima (Aqua Villa with Jacuzzi) = ~$ 650/ night (Full Board)
Adaaran Prestige Vadoo
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| Source: Adaaran Prestige Vadoo |
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| Source: Adaaran Prestige Vadoo |
Kandima Maldives
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| Source: Kandima |
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| Source: Kandima |
DOMESTIC TRANSFER
Adaaran (Speedboat transfer only) = $180 per pax
Kandima (Domestic flight + speedboat transfer) = $480 per pax
*Seaplane options available at about $800 per pax
The domestic flight transfers for Kandima is a lot higher which makes it really expensive to travel there. Even though Adaaran has a more expensive package, it’s a slightly unfair comparison as all inclusive definitely has more benefits than full board. And not forgetting the cheaper transfer cost.
FOOD & BEVERAGES
Adaaran:
Ala-carte Breakfast (Available for villa dine-in)
3 Course Set Menu Lunch
Complimentary high tea/ canapés in the evening
3 Course Set Menu Dinner (Once at the Japanese Fine Dining Restaurant)
Inclusive of Complimentary beverages (Alcoholic/ Non-alcoholic)
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| Source: TripAdvisor |
Kandima:
Buffet Breakfast
Buffet Lunch
Buffet Dinner
Inclusive of soft drinks
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| Source: Kandima |
At a glance, Adaaran has a much better deal in terms of food and beverages options! Some may prefer eat-all-you-can style, but I really like the exclusive service and ambience of a fine dining restaurant a lot more. Plus there are more meal options including high tea!! #foodielife
I think the 2nd most important aspect is that breakfast can be served inside our villa without additional cost! R usually wakes up late in the morning so we’ll usually skip the hotel breakfast, but this really elevates the entire experience and maximise the specialty of an overwater villa! (I’m actually SUPER excited for this! 很有 feel!)
ROOM DESIGN
Kandima was my first choice initially mainly due to the room design.
While Adaaran offered more favourable package options, I felt that the room design is slightly underwhelming. The rooms are definitely spacious (91 m²) and not sloppy (based on the photos), but there’s a missing wow factor that I was looking for. It’s not exactly a very fair comparison as the two resorts have totally two different themes, and it really boils down to your personal preferences.
Adaaran has an unpretentious and traditional beach style with its thatched roofs and wooden furniture. There’s a private pool at the deck and a open concept jacuzzi indoors.
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| Source: Adaaran Prestige Vadoo |
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| Source: Adaaran Prestige Vadoo |
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| Source: Adaaran Prestige Vadoo |
On the other hand, I fell in love with the colour scheme and design of the rooms in Kandima because of the clean, modern and beach-theme ambience. The Aqua Villa with Jacuzzi is just super gorgeous, and I could totally imagine myself dipping into the Jacuzzi while enjoying the view. Although the room size is slightly smaller (73 m²), Kandima has a more instagrammable venue.
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| Source: Kandima |
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| Source: Kandima |
Which do you prefer?
TOURS/ ACTIVITIES
Both resorts seem to have plenty of options for tours and activities. At a closer look, both resorts offer unique tours that I was interested in. Some interesting excursions offered at Adaaran include Whale Submarine, Dolphin Safari, and Photo Flight. On the other hand, Kandima has a turtle quest which I was particularly interested in.
Since we opted for an all-inclusive package at Adaaran Prestige Vadoo, snorkelling equipment are complimentary. On top of that, we get to enjoy 25% off their spa treatment (one-time use), and there are other included activities such as DJ night, beach volleyball and Balinese performance.
It is important to consider all these small details for your trip as you will most likely be staying in the same island for the whole trip, and there should be sufficient activities to keep you busy unless you don’t mind spending extra money for other tours.
After considering all aspects of this trip, we made our final decision on Adaaran for these main reasons:
WHY DID WE CHOOSE ADAARAN PRESTIGE VADOO?
1) All-inclusive plan = more benefits
2) Better food and exclusivity compared to a buffet
3) Breakfast in the villa facing the ocean! (That’s a huge YES for me)
4) Cheaper & easier domestic transfer = money better spent on an upgraded plan (Saves time too!)
5) The reservations team is also very efficient in their replies, making me feel at ease whenever I have any enquiries!
Yes, there’s a lot of thought placed into our Maldives trip planning process because it’s also our Honeymoon and my dream destination!
I’ll be sharing more photos and review about the resort after our trip! Stay tuned!
