Ozen Life Maadhoo has been on our list for a while and we were so excited at the opportunity to finally stay at the resort on our last trip to the Maldives. The location, reputation and generous all-inclusive plan had us hooked so read on to learn more about what to expect from this fantastic resort in the Maldives.

Location: 5/5

Resorts “near” Malé often get a bad reputation in the Maldives and it’s honestly a bit misguided. There are dozens of luxury resorts within boating distance to Malé that offer guests the same untouched, serene environment as you would expect from any isolated resort in the Maldives. Ozen Life is no different. Located in South Malé Atoll about 45 minutes by speedboat from the airport, Ozen Life Maadhoo offers guests an impeccably blue lagoon, beautiful swimming beaches and a lush, tropical island. 

Situated on a set of long white-sand islands with lush vegetation, the property has been around for many years, allowing the natural foliage to grow in and truly feel like a tropical paradise. Being so close to Malé comes with the huge advantage of proximity and access to the resort, while not compromising on picturesque views. There is very little within eyesight around the resort and you can certainly not see a towering island of high rises anywhere nearby.  The water is pristine, calm and perfectly swimmable on both sides of the resort and often, you can see dolphins swimming just off the reef near the overwater villas. 

Lobby & Check in experience: 5/5

If you’ve seen some of our other reviews in the Maldives, you’ll know that lobby and check in is not your typical hotel arrival experience and it’s often quite difficult to get 100% right. Lobby and check in begins the moment you arrive at Velana International Airport and are greeted by hotel representatives on arrival from your flight. We were coming from a domestic flight from Park Hyatt and before we even exited the airport door, two representatives from Ozen were waiting for us. They immediately introduced themselves and grabbed our luggage from us and we were whisked off to relax in the Ozen lounge before our private transfer to the resort. 

There are only a few speedboat transfer lounges at the airport today and Ozen has one. It is small, but has an ample sitting room, snacks, coffee and water. The entire experience was really thoughtful and it was amazing to grab a quick coffee and snack before heading out. Our wait was only 10 minutes before we were taken to the waiting speedboat. So far, the experience was 10/10. When we got to the dock, we were even further surprised to see a beautiful enclosed speedboat, which is a far cry from the usual speedboats in the Maldives.

You can see our beautiful enclosed boat here:

Considering Ozen includes the transfer in its rate, we were absolutely mind blown to see this deluxe speedboat ready to take us to paradise. We were served water, told how to get on the wifi and then our 45 minute journey began.

Once we arrived at the dock, we were greeted by the hotel management with flowers, welcome champagne and introduced to our butler in the lobby. Our butler took us to our villa in a very cool buggy and we were provided a quick tour of the island along the way. Once in the room, he showed us all the amenities, provided us with his number on Whatsapp and then he confirmed if we’d like additional bottles of wine or snacks in the minibar. He asked if we would prefer rosé and we said sure why not! Within minutes, two full sized bottles of rosé appeared and were placed in the minibar. 

Overall, Ozen Life Maadhoo absolutely knocked the arrival experience out of the water. We confirmed with other guests on property that they had similar experiences and all of them said the same thing.

Rooms: 4/5

Ozen Life Maadhoo features 95 villas with 49 of them being overwater (Wind) and the rest being on land (Earth). We were checked into a Wind Villa with Pool, which is a 1200 square foot villa that features a large interior living space as well as a patio with extended pool.

When you first walk into the room, you’ll see one of the most unique features we have seen before: a glass floor right upon entry where you can see the lagoon below. This immediate viewing window was such a treat. While the exterior of the villas are definitely on the older side, the interior has been newly refreshed with beautiful wallpaper, new windows and accents throughout. 

On the left side of the room is a large minibar and entertainment area that features a soundbar, TV and large minibar that is included in the rate. There are a variety of snacks, non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic drinks and wines available. You can also request additional items free of charge. There are coffee and tea facilities as well with complimentary pods and more are available on request. 

There is a seating area in the room with an additional viewing glass floor beneath. While there is no desk in the room, the seating area doubles as a decent work space. 

The bathroom is large and features an indoor tub with floor to ceiling windows to the view as well as a his and hers closet, unique 3-way mirror that lights up (amazing) and a gorgeous his and hers vanity with sea glass countertops. The shower also has a floor to ceiling window with a large rain shower. The rainshower is so large that it has a support bracket to keep it up – it was an incredible shower experience. The bathroom also features Asprey products and a large selection of toiletries available including bug cream, sunscreen, combs, toothbrush kits, vanity kits and more. 

The exterior of the room features a lounging hammock, small dinette, pool and over-pool lounge bed. You do also have direct access to the lagoon for a swim. 

The interior of the rooms have been beautifully refurbished, with brand new glass windows, updating wallpapers and decor and new touches to the bathrooms. They are currently working on redoing all the roofs of the villas and repainting so we do hope that that elevates the exterior style of the rooms. The siding on the villas is a bit dated and while they did repaint, they could use some more thorough reparations on the siding and privacy walls.

We did have the chance to tour an Earth villa with pool during our stay and we absolutely loved the style and layout of the Earth Villa with pool. You enter the villa via a privacy gate and the pool extends the length of the villa. The villa itself has a nice patio area with covered lounge and seating area. The interior has a beautiful king bed, minibar and seating area. The bathroom features an interior his and hers vanity, closet and toilet room as well as an exterior tub and shower.  The exterior bathroom is extremely private and relaxing. All the pool villas are currently on the sunset side of the island and they are building some additional pools on the sunrise side coming up.

Service: 4/5

Ozen Life Maadhoo has a lot going for it when it comes to service. Every villa has a shared butler who is available to assist with anything you need, from room requests to making appointments at the spa, to picking you up wherever you are. Our butler was fantastic and was always prompt in responses and somehow always knew where we were at all times. 

The resort also offers twice daily housekeeping and the housekeeping was exceptional. If you’ve read many of our other reviews, you’ll notice that housekeeping is often a low point for a hotel’s service experience. However, our housekeeper was excellent. Their timing was always exceptional and usually occurred while we were out to dinner or breakfast. They always refilled the used amenities in the toiletry kit, such as the vanity kit. They did a thorough and complete cleaning every day and the room felt completely turned over every time we came home. The housekeeping was so thoughtful, in fact, that they had custom floor mats that covered the glass floor areas at night to ensure the morning light doesn’t bother you. 

One area we felt the service could be a bit more refined was when it came to dining and beach service. While the hotel does offer beach drink and food service, you often had to go and chase people down and even then, they typically would hand you what you wanted versus bringing it to you. While there were very few people at the beach, there were multiple employees. Many of them complained about being bored to us, and yet didn’t quite understand that they may be less bored if they proactively helped the guests that were on the beach by bringing water or cold towels as a nice proactive gesture. Similarly, at a few of the dining outlets, some groups of employees would spend the majority of their time huddled around chatting versus proactively supporting guests. 

That being said, many of the waiters and waitresses we met were incredibly friendly and wanted nothing more than to make a guest’s day as fantastic as possible. When I happened to get attacked by some mosquitos on a particularly wind-free day, one of the waitresses found a housekeeper to find bug cream for me. We also saw multiple guests receive goodbye cakes and treats on the morning of their departure, and we received one too! There is a lot of thoughtfulness that goes into the service aspect of your stay, even if it isn’t the most refined.

Dining: 4/5

Ozen Life Maadhoo offers 5 restaurants and 2 bars, including the 1 all day buffet. There is a lot of variety on property, including an underwater restaurant that is included in the all-inclusive plan (with stays more than 4 nights). We had the chance to try all of the outlets and here is what you need to know.

The Palms

The Palms is the all-day dining outlet that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. This venue is set on the beach in a beautiful structure that is very reminiscent of Sonvea, with it’s round roofs, natural wood columns and posts and sand floors. It’s a beautiful outdoor, covered venue and serves buffet style all day. 

While we are not typically big buffet-lovers, we were pleasantly surprised by the variety and the quality of the breakfast and lunch. They have a made-to-order station where they bring the dishes to you after ordering, as well as an interior space that offers a mix of western and eastern cuisine, fresh juice station with made to order juices and fruit stations, pastry stations and more. 

For lunch, we enjoyed the fresh made-to-order sushi station and every day we ordered a mix of sushi and nigiri. The fish is fresh, tasty and plentiful. 

Once per week the resort does have a special gala night hosted at the Palms and we did get to partake in this on our last night. There was a lot of variety and almost every was made-to-order, which made for a fresh and delicious experience. 

Lonu

Lonu is open for lunch and is the traditional Maldivian cuisine restaurant. While the food was good, we were disappointed by the quality of the service at this restaurant. Given that this was a specialty restaurant, we would have loved for them to provide an elevated experience to go with the elevated Maldivian cuisine. It is a set menu every day and disappointingly, the food was served almost immediately upon sitting down, versus allowing guests to order a beverage and relax. Each course was served within minutes of each other, so you ended up with a table full of food and an empty glass within minutes of sitting down. Overall, this was a bit of a miss for us. We hope that we can return and try it again when they improve the service there. 

Tradition Peking

Tradition Peking is located in an overwater restaurant that shares a space with Tradition Indocylon and is open for dinner. While the exterior is a bit old and dingy looking, the interior is beautiful with beautiful wood columns and incredible views of the lagoon. Peking is the asian restaurant and they feature a large, delicious menu with a fantastic variety of dishes. Both Tradition Peking and Indocylon feature speciality champagnes available only at those outlets and we thoroughly enjoyed the champagne and the food. 

Tradition Indocylon

Tradition Indocylon shared the space with Peking, but features an Indian menu with a huge variety of delicious options and is open for dinner. We asked the chef to make some of his favorites and he did not disappoint. We had the chance to try so much from the menu and loved everything. The best part of the restaurant was the Moet that they offer as their special champagne. I highly recommend booking a table at Indocylon.

M6m

M6m – Minus 6 meters, is the underwater restaurant that sits at the end of the jetty at Ozen Life Maadhoo. The restaurant is included in the all-inclusive plan for anyone staying over 4 nights, which is a great opportunity to experience a magical meal underwater. It is open for lunch and dinner and we recommend couples go for dinner as lunch time is typically for families. It is a set menu and you can select from a seafood, meat or vegetarian menu, or you can choose from the three based on what you would like to eat. They also offer a complimentary wine pairing, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The service here was significantly elevated compared to the other venues and we had an excellent experience at M6m.

Joie De Vivre

Joie De Vivre is the main pool bar on property and they do serve snacks and lunch. You can sit inside, at the pool or just off the main pool on the beach for service and we thoroughly enjoyed their cocktails. They do offer pizzas as well, which we did not try this time. This bar is also open late at night for after dinner cocktails. 

Gin is In

Gin is In is the gin bar on property and located above Joie De Vivre. They serve a variety of good gins and then there are gins for purchase (like Monkey 47). We are big gin people so this was a great spot for us to enjoy a post-dinner gin and tonic. 

Hudhu Bay

Hudhu Bay is the newest area of the property and is the beach bar. The service here was not very good, but they do serve pizzas on the beach and a variety of beverages. They make a great aperol spritz, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, there are so many great dining experiences on property and we thoroughly enjoyed the fresh cuisine and many options available throughout. The wine list was extensive and we appreciated the selection across the property. We hope that Lonu’s service is upleved in the future so that every guest can enjoy the best of Maldivian cuisine. 

Facilities: 5/5

Ozen has an enormous suite of facilities across the property that make it an excellent choice for guests looking for fun, adventure and relaxation. There are a lot of great facilities that have been refurbished recently, making things feel a lot newer than the exteriors would lead you to believe.

The gym is fantastic and has a tremendous amount of equipment. The view is fantastic and there are always two gym attendants in the gym that are there for assistance and cleaning. They also offer a huge calendar of complimentary activities like yoga, fitness classes, circuit training, floating meditation and more. We took part in a lot of activities that were excellent, including a floating meditative massage and morning yoga. The gym also has a salt water pool, fresh water pool and shaded lounge area. Finally, you will also find a steam and sauna at the gym. 

Separate from the gym is a tennis court located on the far end of the island and is available for guests to use and includes tennis racquets and balls.

The spa is located near the fitness center and offers a variety of spa treatments in overwater suites. Much like the rest of the property, the exterior of the spa buildings are a bit tired, but the spa rooms are beautifully appointed and have a fantastic view. Guests staying more than 4 nights have access to a complimentary massage and it was an excellent experience all around. The prices were reasonable if you choose to add on time or book additional treatments. Often, the resort brings in third parties as well to offer specialty treatments on site. During our stay, there was a visiting practitioner, Nimisha Rattan that offered a suite of massages and treatments for guests to try. 

The activities center offers a number of excursions and trips that guests can partake in. One of the most unique and popular features of the hotel is their unlimited snorkeling excursions for their guests. Every day at 9am and 3pm, there is a boat that will take guests on snorkeling adventures to various sites and you can go as many times as you want.

Similarly, guests have separate access to one adventure excursion and one sunset fishing trip per stay. There are additional paid excursions as well, but it’s amazing to get to experience some of the best experiences in the Maldives included in the rate. 

The water sports center is located next to the pool and offers complimentary non-motorized water sports as well as paid experiences like jet skis. Max spent a lot of time at the watersports center kitesurfing and the attendants were helpful, kind and knowledgeable. Max also got to take part in learning how to e-foil, which is a blast. 

Lastly, bikes are complimentary on property. All beach villas come with 2 bicycles per villa that are assigned to each villa. The over water villas have access to complimentary bicycles that are parked throughout the property (as they are not allowed on the jetty). Unlike many properties we have been to in the past, there were always ample bicycles around for the taking.

The Indulgence Plan at Ozen is very flexible and inclusive. We were very impressed with the offerings that they both honored and the expectations they exceeded, from the deluxe speedboat transfer to the complementary activities. Some of our favorite facilities were the wellness-related options, including the complimentary activities. We can highly recommend the floating meditation and yoga classes. 

Style: 4/5

Ozen Life Maadhoo is situated on a pristine, picturesque lagoon and does a great job taking advantage of its beautiful location. The new facilities on property, like The Palms restaurant, are beautifully designed and really elevate the resort. There are a lot of older facilities, like Traditions restaurant, that detract from the beauty of the resort and we do hope as they continue to develop the resort and renovate the facilities, that that will resolve those lacking pieces. 

The interior of all the venues and the seating areas are incredibly stylish and well-decorated. We look forward to returning once the property is fully complete to experience the full renovation at its finest.

Overall: 4.4/5

Overall, we absolutely loved our stay at Ozen Life Maadhoo. It’s very clear that the management takes great care and pride in providing a stellar guest experience throughout your stay. From an impeccably well-done arrival experience, to generous all-inclusive offerings, there are so many 5-star experiences at Ozen. With small tweaks to service training and upgrades to some of the exteriors of the older facilities, we have no doubt that this property has the potential to be a truly 5 star experience on all fronts. We can absolutely recommend a trip to this spectacular all-inclusive resort in the Maldives.