At many resorts in the Maldives, only a small percentage of rooms are overwater villas, and often require a big upcharge. In the case of the St. Regis Maldives, the resort has a total of 77 rooms, and about two thirds of them are overwater.
St. Regis Maldives layout
All overwater villas are located on the same jetty.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villas
We were assigned room 518, which was a sunset overwater villa, located towards the end of the jetty.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villas
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa 518
There’s something surreal about staying in an overwater villa. Maybe it’s partly the novelty — this was “only” my third time staying in an overwater villa. But somehow overwater villas feel to me like adult treehouses.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa 518
My previous overwater villa stays were at the Park Hyatt Maldives, which has beautiful villas. However, this villa was stunning.
Just outside the door were two bikes.
St. Regis Maldives bikes
Just inside the entrance was the living room, which featured a long table with four chairs.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
Past that was a couch and a chair, along with a TV. The seating faced the beautiful deck.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
On the coffee table was a fruit plate and some chocolates.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa welcome fruit
Then along the window was a comfortable chair with ottoman, as well as a welcome bottle of sparkling wine.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa living room
Towards the bedroom was a cart with nine bottles of liquor, which were part of the minibar.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa minibar
The rest of the minibar was located behind the couch.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa minibar
There were a variety of snacks and nuts.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa minibar
Then there was a display with chocolates — unlike most of the rest of the minibar, these were free.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa minibar
Then there was complimentary bottled water, an illy espresso machine, and a kettle.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa coffee & bottled water
The minibar featured juice, water, and soft drinks.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa minibar
Then there was a separate fridge with bottles of wine. You can request to have them stock it with other things.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa wine fridge
Behind the minibar was the guest bathroom, featuring a sink and toilet.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa second bathroom
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa second bathroom
The living room was separated from the bedroom by a set of sliding doors. Unlike suites at most other hotels, the St. Regis Maldives overwater villas are designed so that the living room and bedroom are next to one another rather than behind one another, in order to maximizing the views from all rooms.
The bedroom featured the signature St. Regis mattress, along with high quality linens.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa bedroom
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa bedroom
To the left of the bed was a flat screen TV, while to the right of bed was a rocking chair. I can’t imagine ever watching TV when you have a view like this, though…
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa bedroom
A further set of sliding doors separated the bedroom from the bathroom.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa master bathroom
The bathroom had double sinks, a soaking tub, a partitioned off toilet, and a huge walk-in shower.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa master bathroom
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa soaking tub
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa toilet
The shower had both a rainforest showerhead and a handheld one.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa shower
Toiletries were Remede branded, as usual at St. Regis properties.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa Remede toiletries
Then behind the bedroom was a massive closet. It had a vanity and plenty of storage.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa closet
While the inside of the villa was gorgeous, the outside was most impressive. There was a huge deck, with a pool, a couple of daybeds, a table with two chairs, etc.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa deck
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa plunge pool
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa plunge pool
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa deck
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa deck
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa hammock & lounge chair
There were also a few hammocks of sorts. Along the side of the deck was some netting. It took me some time to “trust” the netting enough to actually lay down in it, but eventually I did.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa hammock & lounge chair
The villa also had direct access to the ocean.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa direct water access
The villa faced the rest of the island in the distance, and in the other direction you just had the ocean as far as the eye could see.
St. Regis Maldives overwater villa view
Beyond that I should mention that Wi-Fi in the room was fast (not even just by Maldives standards, but legitimately fast). I also appreciated how functionally the room was designed. Outlets were everywhere you’d hope they would be, which unfortunately isn’t the case for many newly built hotels.
Since this is a St. Regis, you also receive complimentary coffee & tea via butler service 24/7, which is a great feature.
St. Regis Maldives complimentary coffee
In the next installment I’ll talk more about the resort activities, dining, spa, etc.
St. Regis Maldives bottom line
I think the pictures of the overwater villas speak for themselves. This place is STUNNING. Usually you give some design leeway for secluded island resorts, recognizing the additional challenges of building such hotels. Well, the St. Regis Maldives made no compromises. The villa was beyond gorgeous.
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