LUX* South Ari Atoll

Trip advisor We have returned from a 9 night stay from the Lux South Ari Atol. We booked a water villa for our honeymoon which gave us amazing views every morning, looking straight out on to clear Maldivian water from our private balcony. The staff and service was amazing from start to finish. You can feel they are proud of the resort and focus on giving guests the best experience ever. Nothing is never too much to ask as the staff are more than willing and happy to make sure you are enjoying your stay. Our personal assistant Ahmed was amazing, constantly updating us with restaurant options and available activities and excursions for the day. Niya also made us feel extremely welcome and was very attentive with anything that we needed. A true gent who was friendly but extremely professional all at the same time, he is a true asset to the resort. The chef Marc was also an absolute star, accommodating for menu tweaks and delivering dishes to us from the menu of other restaurants giving us the options and flexibility to enjoy all different style of cuisine from one restaurant while showing us true hospitality with complimentary tasters of dishes we wanted to try. The kobe beef skewers are a must have when you visit the resort!! He also gave us some of infamously tasty Maldivian chilli peppers to take with us and advised how I could grow them back in the UK. P.s if you get a chance try to book a sunset beach BBQ, it was an u forgettable experience watching the sunset over dinner. The staff and the chefs for the BBQ were focused on making sure we had the amazing experience, it means a lot when you receive the personal service that the resort delivered. The island is absolutely beautiful and has so many complimentary features and services from free snorkelling, paddle boarding, and kayaking etc. I personally loved the art studio where they used recyclable materials from the island to help you unleash your creativity allowing us to paint on obsolete coconuts, wood trimmings and old bottles. The staff running the art studio were very friendly and helped me create my very own souvenir to take with me. Covid Safety The resort ensured all guests were PCR tested at the beginning of our stay and we were all regularly temperature tested to maintain a covid free and safe environment which made us feel at ease. Overall we would certainly urge anyone who is planning to visit the magical Maldives to book their stay at the south Lux resort. The island is a perfect size to explore without being too small, the services are great, the food is delicious and the staff are amazing. We feel we not only went on our honeymoon but we met some extremely nice people who became friends by the end of our trip. We were given a very warm send off by everyone from the staff to the resort manager when leaving the resort which was lovely! This resort is a must to book. If you ever go say hello to Ahmed, Niya and Marc from me !

We chose LUX* South Ari Atoll for our honeymoon and it was honestly the best experience we've ever had so far. Absolutely amazing staff, everyone seems to know us by name and what happened to us (one of us was a little under the weather on one of the days and every one of the staff we met, from the buggy driver to the restaurant waiter seemed to know about it and checked that we were feeling better) and that's just one of the little things we noticed that made it feel like the staff really cared about us. Eman was in charge of us and he made sure we were kept informed of the restaurants that were opened everyday and was quick to reply to any questions we had and organized all of our trips for us. We were a little worried about the weather as it is supposed to be the wet season but it only drizzled for 5minutes on one day and rained heavily for 20-30minutes another day which we spent indoors anyway with the yoga which was one of the free activities at the resort. The rest of the days were either really sunny or slightly cloudy which is nice as it provides some shade from the sun! We just didn't have enough time to do all of the activities as there were so many and we were just too tired! We had the free couples massage, free professional photoshoot, free yoga sessions almost everyday, free sunset cruise. Not to mention the bicycles that were provided free of charge which we thought were chargeable! Food wise, there was a variety of options available and it did not feel boring or like we were stuck with the same food for the time we spent there. We particularly enjoyed our teppanyaki experience at Umami which is a must try with Allan, the chef. For the excursions, with the current situation, there are much less travellers so the excursions feel really private. On the manta ray excursion, there were only 2 couples in the boat which felt like we hired a private excursion. Mr Mamoun, the resort manager was there every single morning to check on us during breakfast to see if he can do something for us or whether we had any complaints whatsoever, which was close to none! The only slight issue we had was immediately addressed with a lot of professionalism and we were honestly impressed as it was really not a big deal but they treated it as such which made it feel like the staff at LUX* really do want our experience to be nothing short of amazing. Even with the current ongoing situation, we did not feel unsafe at all as they do regular temperature checks on all guests and all staff wear masks throughout the day, We will definitely visit LUX* again in hopefully not too distant future!

Stayed here with my dad beginning of September 2020. The entire stay from touch down to Male to leaving the island, has been an amazing experience. Every member of staff that we have encountered have been wonderful- kind, helpful and always wanting to go the extra mile to make us comfortable and ensure we're enjoying our stay. If you're concerned about COVID here- don't be. Every person on the island has been tested negative and they've taken maximum precautions to ensure our safety. We stayed in the beach pavilion with the all inclusive package- highly recommended to go all inclusive. The room was spacious and comfortable, footsteps away from the shore. Hearing the waves as you fall asleep- ahhh, bliss. Room's got all the amenities and essentials you could ask for. Every meal, coffee, mocktail, dessert we've had on the island has been exceptional quality and you can taste the love and care it's been prepared with. Special thanks to Ibrahim at Beach Rouge who always took our requests on and gave us AMAZING pasta! and HUGE thanks to Chef Subbunhi at Senses who blew us away with his special starters and mains that he spoiled my Dad and I with!! Oh how I miss the food and sounds and smells of the ocean with every meal. Did I mention the icecream bar? Unlimited ice cream for the win! Special thanks to Riley I could write a book about how good the food was but I'll move on. I came here mainly for the diving. The dive center is a great setup and very reasonably priced. I've done 10 dives with Sandrine and Amir who kept me safe and made my dives memorable. 2 words- WHALE SHARKS!- Just magnificent; and a once in a lifetime experience being in their presence. Special thanks to Nihaan the island's marine biologist. He'll amaze you with his knowledge about the whale sharks, the ocean and all that dwells in it. Highly recommend the snorkeling trips with him! Last but not the least, Imaad who looked after us and ensured we were enjoying our stay- thank you!! It's the experiences and people you meet that make your trip memorable. And Lux exceeded our expectations. Thanks to the hotel manger Mr. Mamoun, Irshad, Jam, Hassan, Mofizul and Centey and everyone else we've met here. You guys are magic. If you're looking to come to Maldives- save yourself the trouble of researching and looking at other hotels and atolls, just choose Lux South Ari. I doubt you'll find better.