Fairmont Maldives, Sirru Fen Fushi

Fairmont Sirru Fen Fushi has all the hallmarks of a perfect Maldivian paradise, with pearl-white beaches ringing a patch of tropical forest, and a string of beautiful villas puncturing the island and the turquoise water shallows. But there is so much more to this resort.

The Maldives is rightfully seen as the quintessential tropical destination, and for us, the experience never gets old, even after a dozen visits. Arriving at Fairmont Maldives, Sirru Fen Fushi felt like discovering an idyllic private island experience anew.

This impression has a lot to do with the distance from Male, and with the island’s solitude. The seaplane flight is fun but long, and with no other resorts for many miles, touching down on the quiet sea surrounding the Sirru Fen Fushi was like arriving at the end of the world.

Our seaplane docked directly to the hotel jetty, and after a welcome ceremony, our personal butler took us on a ride around the place, showing facilities along the way. Finally, we reached our beach villa.

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Refined luxury with boho looks

Tastefully designed, with thatched roofs and whitewashed walls, the architecture and design of the resort embody an exotic paradise. the first impression, as we entered, was that of a home-away-from-home (except much bigger, and with a beach, and a pool…), with the pleasant interior beautifully furnished with turquoise carved wooden doors, light wood, woven rugs.

We stayed first in a sprawling Deluxe Beach Sunset Villa and later moved to a villa-on-stilts, called Grand Water Sunset Villa. We loved both, for different reasons.

The beach villa had a lot of space, a great setting among the greenery and palm groves. And, of course, our own beachfront area with a swimming pool, a hammock, and a gazebo. Water villas are more compact but are very romantic, with a copper bathtub and a cool swing on the patio. Plus, our Grand Water villa had the swimming pool surrounded by actual sand. It’s certainly the first in the Maldives — a novel idea that tries to bring the feeling of “sand under your feet” to the overwater accommodation.

But that’s not the only “first” at the Fairmont Maldives.

Art on the reef

This resort has some serious creative credentials. It was the first in the country to fund and build a showpiece art gallery, set up directly in the ocean, and featuring over,- and underwater sculptures. They have been since taken down (soon to be replaced with new, abstract forms), but meanwhile, the spirit of an imaginative approach to hotel design is present in many other places on Sirru Fen Fushi.

Take the main pool of the resort. Claimed to be the longest in the Maldives, the pool cuts through the entire island, with breaks for pathways, and a whole grove of tall palm trees incorporated directly into the pool, as if simply left where they stood. It’s a unique design choice, and, if nothing else, it makes for a very pretty sight.

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Things to do

The name of the island, Sirru Fen Fushi, translates as a “secret water island”, and certainly the life here is organized around the experience of the island and its surroundings. There are romantic picnics, sunset dolphin cruises aboard a private yacht, and even overnight sailing under the stars. And of course, the beach here is great and snorkeling in the surrounding lagoons is rewarding.

We enjoyed the food here quite a lot, from private in-villa dining to culinary adventures in four restaurants and bars. The items on the menu never felt overcomplicated, or overly fancy — but they were delicious. And the all-bamboo poolside bar, Onu Onu had the best set up to watch the setting sun dip in the ocean. We loved to spend the last hour of the day here.

In that last hour, we would reflect on how much Fairmont Maldives feels like an idyllic island escape, a paradise of tropical palms, powdery sand, brilliant sun, and clear, shallow sea. And we would love to visit again.

in our opinion

The Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi has crafted everything to the last bolt, ensuring the guests leave with no other impression than that of a perfect tropical vacation.

But it is the resort's excellent service, great food, and sophisticated design that take things up a notch, making the stay into a very special one indeed.

What we love

• This is one of the most northerly placed resorts in the Maldives. There are no other resorts around, which means no light pollution, and good diving and snorkeling.
• The design ticked all the boxes for us. It is an intelligent mix of chic luxury and boho style, with pillows and swings and other organic-looking things. Combined with the extremely well-crafted architecture, the design creates a sense of luxury and class.
• Grand Water Villas have an actual mini "beach", as in, sand platform surrounding the private pools. It's a cool idea.
• The Willow Stream Spa is fantastic. We had a wonderful treatment here and loved the overall design and theme.
• Food! Breakfast is served in the Raha Market, and the spread was vast, with everything you'd ever need for a great start of the day — including champagne, to top it all. Buffet Dinners in Raha Market were really extensive as well.
• We had a great butler — but the entire staff is exceptional. The quality of service here is definitely a highlight.
• The best a la carte dinner we had at the excellent Azur restaurant. It's a proper seafood fine dining experience.
• One of our fave places to hang out was the beach bar Onu. Lovely sunsets from here! So is from the overwater Japanese restaurant, Kata. The place has a beautiful overwater architecture as well.
• A grove of tall tree palms grows right in the resort's main pool. It's very picturesque.

What you should know

• Try to book half of your stay at a beach villa, half in a water villa. Both are great, but have a very different feel and provide a different experience. Book the jungle tented villas if privacy is the main thing for you — they are tucked away amidst the thick jungle and really well screened.
• The resort claims the longest swimming pool in the Maldives. Extending from one beach to another, the 200m structure cuts the island in half — however not all of it is actually swimmable.
• The scheduled seaplanes dock directly to the hotel jetty, which is very convenient, but for the guests in the nearest sunset beach villas it means a lot of noise from time to time.
• At the time of our stay, the island did not have a sufficient number of bicycles. However, we have been assured that a substantial shipment of bikes, for all guests, is being already processed. So, stay tuned.
• The sand is not truly powdery in all areas, turning into coarse, coral sand in front of some beach villas.
• The sunrise beach villas have less attractive beach area in front of them, with artificial wave breakers protecting the island from the east side. Some sunrise water villas also look towards these breakers.
• There is no easy access to the best reefs, so rather than snorkel from the beach you need to hitch a ride on one of the boats.
• It's a remote place. The resort is located a solid one hour by seaplane from Male. It's not a private plane but a scheduled flight and the Trans Maldivian Airways is responsible for the flight schedule. Their last flight departing for Male leaves the island at 2 PM.
• At the time of our visit, the first impression at the airport was not the best. There was no private hotel car transfer to the seaplane terminal and no dedicated, branded hotel lounge at the airport (there is a third-party lounge instead). This doesn't compare well with other top resorts here and is clearly an opportunity for Fairmont — which they do recognize, and a private lounge is in the works.
• Getting there: British Airways operates direct flights from the UK, and Air France from Paris. The other carriers go through their hubs: Emirates through Dubai, Qatar Airways through Doha and Etihad via Abu Dhabi. Also, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Fly Dubai, Condor, Virgin Atlantic and KLM, all operate flights to the Maldives from major international cities.