LUX South Ari Atoll

We had a truly wonderful stay at LUX, enjoying every minute of our holiday on the incredibly beautiful island. Photos don’t do it justice – you need to witness the vivid colours and incredible wildlife for yourself! After arriving at Malé and being escorted to an air-conditioned lounge (with snacks!), we had a 90-minute wait for a seaplane before being met at LUX by our brilliant concierge, Rachael. Rachael was super helpful and efficient – very friendly but always professional, and she took care of us impeccably well, responding to WhatsApps promptly and providing gentle reminders of our arrangements for dinner and excursions. Our room attendant, Muaz, was absolutely wonderful: so friendly and attentive, without being at all intrusive. Our room was incredibly clean for our whole stay, despite the best efforts of our 4- and 7-year old children. At the beginning of our stay, he found out what the children’s favourite snacks were and made sure the mini-bar was well-stocked with them for our whole visit. We especially loved Muaz’s towel animal creations. We were all sad to say goodbye to him on our last day. Food at LUX is excellent, with plenty of vegetarian options and a great kids’ menu at each restaurant. We loved going to East Market for breakfast, and appreciated the attentiveness and friendliness of all the staff there. Veli Bar was a great spot for lunch, complete with the world’s best and most hard-working bartender, Praveen, whose delicious cocktails and mocktails will linger in my memory. The spa is excellent, and all the therapists were brilliant, but a special mention goes to Wayan for her wonderful Araamu Dhathuru Signature massage. In one of the over-water treatment rooms, Wayan and I were lucky enough to spot an enormous (and rare) Mangrove Whipray through the glass-bottomed floor under the massage bed. An unforgettable experience! Travelling with a 4- and 7-year old, we were interested to see what the Kids Club (PLAY) was like, but as our children have never been to a Kids Club on holiday before, we were fully prepared for them to find it unenjoyable, and to prefer to stay with us all day. We needn’t have worried. On more than one occasion, our 7-year-old son refused to leave Kids Club when we arrived to collect him, as he was having too much fun. Shaai, Sham, Ella, Mayu and Zaara have created a calm, welcoming space where children are free to choose from a wide variety of activities, including special events like cookie-making, pizza-making, seasonal crafting, and little excursions around the island. The space is large and clean, with shaded play areas, a water-play area set up in and around a large ship, and an air-conditioned room they can retreat to if they need to cool down. It was wonderful. Thank you, ladies! We stayed in a beach villa with a pool, on an all-inclusive basis, and I would recommend both. The pool water was cooler than the outdoor shower, so a quick dip before bed was a great way to cool everybody down. We all enjoyed daily(!) visits to the ice cream parlour, ICI, as the flavours changed each day, and the ice cream and sorbet were truly delicious. The Diving Team were also excellent, and my husband completed his PADI qualification at LUX. Special thanks to Yuan and Becca for making the course so fun. We loved sitting on the over-water nets at East Bar, drinking a cocktail and watching the fish and sea creatures below. We also highly recommend (for adults) the whale shark expedition. I believe it is open to children aged 8+ but in my opinion it is a bit too hectic for younger children, as there can be many other boats with lots of snorkellers at the site, all rather frantically vying for a sighting of the majestic sharks. The sea turtle expedition was much calmer, and the children loved it. I was really impressed by Marine Biologist Nihan’s knowledge, ethos of respect for the ocean, as well as his sweet rapport with our children. I would also like to take a moment to mention Shawkat, one of the buggy drivers on the island, whose indefatigable cheerfulness and friendliness were absolutely marvellous. He was so genuinely kind and warm - a very special person. There are many other staff members who made our time at LUX special – I wish I could name them all! Thank you for making our holiday so wonderful. Alongside the staggering natural beauty of its location, LUX’s biggest strength is its staff, who all seem genuinely dedicated to giving guests a terrific experience. Nothing is too much trouble, and little personal touches like learning our children’s names and remembering our preferences at restaurants etc were much appreciated. I realise how lucky I was to spend this time at LUX and really hope to return one day. If you are able to go, I highly recommend it.

We took our honeymoon at the LUX and had the most wonderful time. We looked at a lot of resort while we were researching. But chose the LUX mainly because of the range of restaurant and water activities included in the all inclusive package. Which did not disappoint. We steyed in 2 different villa .the beach villa for 6night and a water villa for 4night which I also recommended.A bigg shout out to Ali who looked after use in our beach villa and treated use like royalty. Also to Zahir from MIXE who greeted us every evening.Highly recommended and I would definitely return 🙏