All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn how we test.
When it comes to luxury resorts, the Maldives is, well, swimming in them. Want an underwater restaurant where you can dine with manta rays sailing past your head? Check. Or how about villas where you could slip ‘n’ slide straight into the ocean? Got that too. In a part of the world so saturated by luxury properties, it could be hard to make a splash, which is why JOALI and JOALI Being's ascent to one of the most coveted holiday destinations in the Indian Ocean (it was just nominated for Travel + Leisure's 2025 World's Best Awards) is nothing short of impressive. And having experienced both properties recently, I can confidently say these accolades are well-deserved.
Founded by Turkish hotelier Esin Güral Argat, JOALI and JOALI Being counts sustainability and female empowerment as their core values and take home the prize of many firsts. They're the first art-immersive resorts in the Maldives, whereby artworks by world-renowned artists from Seckin Pirim to Reinaldo Senguino (some of whom have worked with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton) are sprinkled throughout the resorts, not just to admire but to actually interact with. We had breakfast in a striking manta ray-shaped hut by artist Porky Hefer, for example, that is used as a private dining venue. JOALI Being is also the first-ever wellness-centric resort in the Maldives, boasting state-of-the-art programmes and amenities rivalling the likes of SHA Wellness.
Needless to say, expectations were high when I stepped off the seaplane and onto JOALI's jetty. What does this 73-villa paradise, which just welcomed F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr., actress Sophie Turner and Princess Diana's nieces all in one week, have in store for us? As our jadugar (the Dhivehi word for “magician”), or butler whisked to our over-water villa, we knew those expectations were about to be blown out of the water. Just the sweeping 180 views of crystal-clear waters would be enough to make the long journey worthwhile, but the super-chic villa is a marvel in itself, complete with a private infinity pool, iPad-controlled lighting system—and did we mention the views? When a baby black-tip shark swam under our sundeck a school of bluefin tuna raced past, my husband and I decided we weren't leaving.
Our jadugar was available on Whatsapp at our beck and call and mostly to shuttle us back and forth down the jetty (the longest in the Maldives) to the main island where all the gorgeous restaurants are housed. The breakfast spread is already an embarrassment of riches—there's a “cold room” dedicated to just refrigerated refreshments and a fresh peanut butter churn—but dinner is a whole experience in itself. With four distinctive restaurants, two of which are helmed by Michelin-starred chefs, you could dine on wagyu steak at Saoke as a shiver of nurse sharks sleeps nearby the sushi bar, and then munch on exquisite truffle pasta the next evening at Bellini's.
As I scarfed down my delicious seafood pasta cooked with reef fish plucked straight from our shores, I sat on plush floral cushions in a dreamy emerald green hue made in collaboration with luxury Italian shoe brand Aquazzura. Collaborations like these are also unique to JOALI, whose boutique contains a tasteful curation of international designers from Missoni to Osereé. It's clear from the mix of emerging brands and cult global labels that founder Esin loves fashion. Beyond being (again) the first in the Maldives to collaborate with international brands like Linda Farrow, the delicate robes in every room are printed with a bespoke pattern by the same South African artist who creates scarves for Hermès.
Indeed, the resorts are brimming with feminine touches, but none more so than at JOALI Being which prides itself on having the highest concentration of female employees in the Maldives. Beyond its artisanal amenities and objet d'arts, the resort's architecture with its soft lines and light wood feels like a cocoon (also making it highly Instagrammable by the way). When we were given a questionnaire before our arrival requesting everything from the kind of pillow we required to whether we'd like a TV in the room, we knew our well-being was going to be the focus of this second leg of our trip.
After hopping off the short, 15 min boat ride between the two properties, we were taken to our wellness consultation where our cells' stress levels were scanned and our general health goals were assessed. JOALI Being has full-time, world-class practitioners across every discipline from Ayurveda to TCM on hand to help you with whatever you want to achieve during your stay, be it hormone balancing or mental health. After an extensive consultation session, we decided relaxation and detoxing were priorities for me. I was offered a personalised programme of treatments and activities for my stay, which consisted of: Watsu (or water shiatsu) where a therapist performs stretches on your body in a small pool under a starry dome; cryotherapy where you step into a frozen room for up to four minutes; and sound healing, where 14 instruments, including a harp attached under the bed, is played around you to set off a series of vibrations.
Relaxed is an understatement when it comes to describing how I felt after these treatments that put my body in a state of such zen, not even the tropical thunderstorm that evening could shake me from my blissful stupor. After a short session in their gorgeous sauna with glass walls looking out into the jungle and another stint in the wraparound salt room covered in Himalayan salt bricks, I sat out by AKTAR, the Herbology bar, where a personalised tea was prepared for me as I melted into the lounge chair.
With 39 treatment rooms, a spacious yoga studio and the Maldives' largest gym, as well as tennis and Padel courts (complete with visiting coaches from the likes of top 10 ranking tennis players) even on a rainy day it's impossible to run out of ways to relax or be entertained. It is exactly this approach to wellbeing—the belief that wellness does not necessarily stem from deprivation or an extreme regiment—that sets JOALI Being apart from other, more monastic wellness resorts.
Which is why, when we requested to add a sea turtle snorkelling tour to our programme, our Jadugar happily obliged. A 20-minute boat ride took us to an untouched island, around which was a sparkling reef filled with enormous schools of blue-striped snappers, and coral fish in every colour of the rainbow. Just after spotting the alien-like needlefish floating in the distance, our tour guide pointed to a large mass nuzzling into a rock, before it revealed its beautiful shell. We swam with five sea turtles that afternoon, following them as they hunted for food and bobbed to the surface for air, and as we sailed back to the resort, knowing what awaited us was a 90-minute signature massage, and a Japanese dinner overlooking the ocean, my husband and I couldn't help but look at each other with an overwhelming, unadulterated sense of joy.
Rooms from £1100 per night.
