When owner Jiri Smejc built Velaa Private Island, it was his goal to create the ultimate private hideaway and the most luxurious resort in the Maldives. With absolutely no expense spared yet still with focus on authenticity, local materials and being at one with nature, Velaa opened in 2014 and has since been hailed as among the top three in ultimate luxury. Holiday makers looking for the very best will choose between here, Cheval Blanc Randheli and One&Only Reethi Rah.
I’ll cover food and restaurants in my next post, but I want to start by showing you around the island and telling you what there is to do on this private paradise! 
Of course, one of the major draws of The Maldives are the perfect powder white beaches and given the exclusivity of Velaa you’re unlikely to see many other people crowding up the sand. 
So you can hang around all day!
You can enjoy the resort’s iconic swing chair or just walking around with the sand beneath your toes!
Though every villa has it’s own pool, guests can also enjoy the pool right on the beach and it’s only a few steps to the ocean from there. 
You can even lounge right in the pool and barely need to move to cool down.
Avi, the hotel’s pool bar and restaurant even has tables in the pool so you can casually sip your cocktails there during the day. 
With a live DJ in the evening, Avi is also the ideal place to grab a night cap under a blanket of twinkling stars. 
Though if you’re looking for a lively night out, don’t come to The Maldives, people are here to relax and many never leave their room. 
Meaning public areas are quiet but super relaxing.
Head upstairs from Avi bar and there’s a stylish games room with a sweeping view across the beach and the ocean. 
Back down to ground level and although there’s a reception area it’s rarely used. Anything you need can be delivered at the touch of a button and your butler is always by his mobile phone. 
Around this main area is also where you’ll find the library…
With a hand-picked selection of over a 1,000 books for rainy days…
As well as two beautiful boutiques with gorgeous clothing and jewellery.
Diving and watersports are a big deal on every Maldivian Island and Velaa has a dedicated dive centre. Sharks, manta rays and sting rays can be spotted on nearby reefs and of course the eponymous Velaa turtles!! But as with everything, luxury is taken to another level at Velaa and as well as super luxury yachts, speed boats and dhonis, guests can also channel James Bond as the hotel is one of the only resorts in The Maldives that actually has a submarine!
If golf is more your thing then submarines, there’s the Velaa Golf Academy, the perfect place to ‘Practice in Paradise.’ I personally don’t know much about golf but it was amazing to see a six green course on an island like this! There’s even a lake and golf lessons are provided by PGA qualified professionals. If golf really isn’t up your street, there’s plenty of other sports including tennis, squash and beach volley ball – there’s even a climbing wall!
Finally in this post, I want to tell you about the hotel’s beautiful spa. Very few hotels can boast a spa in collaboration with My Blend by Clarins, but Velaa Private Island is not like most hotels…
There’s only a few treatment rooms at the spa, but every single one is a hut above that beautiful blue lagoon. 
Inside the treatment room, the elegance of Velaa style is maintained, and there are floor to ceiling windows out to sea as well as glass panels in the floor for watching the fish! We chose a couples’ massage designed bespoke for us using Clarins products and smooth strokes guaranteed to relax! Many of the treatments offered at the spa are Asian-inspired and there’s also Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation for healthy body and mind.
After the treatment you can check out the relaxation area with this beautiful whirl pool jacuzzi that seems to float right on the ocean! Now as well as the usual sauna, steam room and salon, there are a few very special additions to the spa. Velaa also boasts a snow room! The only one of it’s kind in The Maldives, it really does include little heaps of snow – it’s definitely unusual but great for someone like me who can’t cope with too much heat!
Another special feature of the spa is the Cloud Nine relaxation pod which is perfect to put you in a state of deep relaxation – a cloud shaped pod leaves you feeling like you’re floating on air!
I was honestly worried I’d be little bored in The Maldives, isolated on this little island but there really was no chance of that! The days at Velaa Private Island just flew by and I could have stayed double the time!!
PIN FOR LATER:
