This was such a needed trip! When I saw a deal to the Maldives pop up on TravelZoo, I reached out to my coworker and thankfully she jumped on the chance with me.

The hotel we stayed at was Mecure Maldives Koodoo. As soon as we met the hotel concierge in the airport we were pampered.

We stayed in a beach villa that was perfectly dreamy.

All the food and drinks were included. Being able to not have to make decisions and just know it was all taken care of made this one of the best trips I’ve had in a while.

The property itself was gorgeous. To get around we wandered through shelled paths of trees.

Our little hut was never far away from anything we wanted to do. In fact, I am so thankful for we didn’t stay in the above water villas because:

🚶🏽‍♀️Our walk to food & drinks was shorter and took us through flowers & along the beach compared to sun roasted wood boards. We saw animals & got to drink from fallen coconuts as a result.
🌴 We had an outdoor shower under swaying palms and a shaded back deck for reading. When you’re that close to the equator, shade is very valuable.
🏖 We had immediate beach access where we could enjoy the waves & wade in instead of jumping off a dock. Also, more shade!
🛖 Our hut didn’t sway with the water while we slept! & the wind didn’t blow the water out of the mini pools.
🙈 We had privacy and no one could see us changing the way we accidentally saw some folks in the water villas!
🔭 Our view included the cute little huts as a point of interest along the horizon line. & we could walk out to them anytime we felt like it!
💰 We saved some money we got to use on jet skis & spa days.

I kinda loved how thrown off we were by the time zones. It meant that every morning I was waking up at 4am to see the sun rise on the beach.

It was my first sun of the season so I made sure to layer on extra sunscreen. Breakfasts in the morning always started with a latte and some fresh juice.

During the day we had our choice of laying at the pool or the beach. Tough life.

One afternoon I took a cooking class and learned how to make a Maldivian fish curry. It was amazing. I was the only one in the class so it was a private lesson!

We also made other friends along the way like gardeners that gifted us fallen coconuts and Americans who could make amazing folded palm shapes.

The outdoor shower was a God send. As soon as we realized it was there we never showered again inside the whole trip. We had one or two little lizards join us but rinsing off in the evening sun was magical.