Kandolhu Island: One For Your Travel Bucket List

Kandolhu, having recently been voted #5 in Best Hotels in Asia, and #11 in Best Hotels in the World on Trip Advisor's annual Traveler's Choice Awards for 2017, is as dreamy as I imagined.

As you get off the boat and walk onto the pier it's as though all your woes disappear, we had been travelling for a total of 16 hours and honestly, half way through we started to question whether it was actually worth it... it is. We were greeted by friendly faces at the pier welcoming us onto the island with some smoothies. We were instantly whisked away to our rooms and that was it, our holiday had begun. It probably only took us about 15 minutes to get completely settled in, unpack both our toiletries and suitcases before switching into beach clothes and turning on the automatic replies: out of office for 10 days.

We couldn't have been in a more magical place, the first thing we did was grab lunch and then explore the island. Crystal clear waters surrounded us, it was breathtaking.

My auntie and uncle, who also came along on this trip with us, stayed in an ocean pool villa which was simply stunning. Although smaller than our room (we stayed in a pool villa, more on that further down) you can't beat walking out onto your balcony and looking straight out into the ocean. We spent so many evenings sat on the balcony watching the sunset and admiring all the sea life below us. If you're after the trip of a lifetime then I would highly recommend staying in an ocean pool villa it's the epitome of the Maldivian experience in my opinion.

Getting anywhere on the island meant walking through the jungle, carefully planted mazes which led to each spot on the island. Kandolhu is an incredibly small island and although there weren't a whole load of places to go to, getting anywhere always seemed like an adventure! The nighttime walks were particularly exciting because there is a lack of artificial lights along the paths so it really became an adventure - don't worry though, you'll find a torch in every room to light the way back should you need one.

I rather foolishly, didn't take any pictures of the inside of our pool villa. Once we had settled in it was never as perfect as it was the day we arrived but if you'd like to see what the rooms are like then head to my YouTube channel where you can watch my Maldives travel vlog which includes a room tour from the day we arrived. We had a huge villa all to ourselves, an incredible bathroom with a bathtub and outdoor shower, a wardrobe area and finally our room with a huge bed we would fall into every night. One of the best things about the pool villas is all the private outdoor space, there were loads of seating areas surrounding our villa and a pool we could cool off in during the day. Not only that, stepping through the clearing led you straight onto the beach.