My wife and I stayed at the JW Marriott Kaafu for a week in April 2026. We had been considering a number of other Maldives resorts - including the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and Kudadoo - but ultimately chose the JW based on a few factors: a favorable points conversion, its status as one of the newest resorts in the Maldives, and its location (more on this below). To say it was the experience of a lifetime would be an understatement; we were blown away by the facilities and the amenities, and most of all by the kindness and generosity of the staff.
- Facilities: as the JW is only a little over a year old as of this review, all of the rooms and buildings are all still top notch and spotless, with a fairly modern, upscale decor. We stayed in an overwater villa which had the same design features as other upscale Maldivian hotels (e.g. infinity pool, ladder down to the water, overwater hammock, covered lounge area), though with a layout that did seem to maximize the view of the ocean from the interior. The room amenities are thoughtful: beyond the basics of toiletries and robes, they also provide flip flops and a beach bag for your stay, as well as the ability to sample four different types of pillows by firmness. We were also pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by a bottle of champagne, some petit fours, and a bowl of fruit upon check-in. Lastly, while we didn't bring our kids on this trip, at every turn, we almost wished we had, since the Kids Club and daily activities seemed quite wonderful.
- Location: the JW is located about a 15 minute boat ride from Velana International Airport. We chose the JW in part because of this location, since the quick transit meant not having to deal with long waits for sea planes, and maximizing the time you have actually enjoying the Maldives; to wit, less than two hours passed between our international flight touching down and us relaxing with champagne in our villa's infinity pool. The downside though is that if you are choosing the Maldives to experience total isolation with nothing but ocean to see in every direction, this is probably not the hotel for you. From a good number of the villas (the even numbered 300s overwater villas and half the beach villas), you can clearly see Male on the horizon, and some 10-20 seaplanes and jetliners pass over on any given day. For us, the noise from those flights didn't bother us at all and wouldn't stop us from unequivocally recommending this hotel.
- Food: while the hotel lists seven different eateries, the hours limit your options at any given time. For breakfast, the only options are room service or Veyo, the hotel's omnibus restaurant, with a breakfast buffet that is surprisingly comprehensive, with sections for fruit and pastries, an omelet and waffle station with sausage and bacon, salads and dips, cold cuts and cheeses, an East Asian noodle soup bar, dim sum, and an Indian and Maldivian food section. For lunch, the only additional option to Veyo is Wahoo, the pool bar that is directly adjacent to Veyo, and which opens up the possibility for pizzas (as well as other dishes also served by Veyo). Dinner is the meal with a wider array of options, which include Riva (a space that is essentially half of Veyo, but that serves a large South Asian menu), the chef's table Pure (which must be booked in advance), and Nikkei and Athiri (essentially a light sushi/seafood cocktail bar, and a Japanese/Peruvian fusion steakhouse, respectively).
All of the food was incredible, with highlights being the Maldivian curries at Riva and the crispy rice bites at Nikkei. In fact, one of the few suggestions we had for improvement was the lack of tasting menus outside of the chef's table Pure; we wanted to try so much more on the menu than we had time for, and the price and portion sizes made that difficult before we were too full. We were told that the hotel is already considering adding an omakase menu to Nikkei and more regular seatings at Pure, so hopefully that'll be something that changes in the future.
- Activities: the JW offers a pretty wide range of activities, from watersports and excursions, to cultural activities, and spa and fitness offerings. For our part, we took advantage of massages and the spa, the PADI refresher course and diving, the nurse shark snorkeling and dolphin sunset cruise, the mixology and cooking classes, and fitness sessions with Madu in the gym. We don't know if it's because of the specific guests at the resort that week or if it was because of the hotel's sixty percent occupancy while we were there, but for many of these activities, we were the only two on the excursion, which increased the feeling of attention and care for us from the staff. Some additional notes:
Diving/snorkeling - on our dive we were able to see two turtles and multiple Moorish idols, parrot fish, and clown fish; and the dive staff were expert in quickly finding a large pack of spinner dolphins on our sunset cruise. Unlike other Maldives resorts, the JW does not have a house reef, and while we did spot a number of fish and eagle rays swimming in the beaches around the hotel, this is not one of those places that you jump out of your villa to find a nurse shark or anything. That being said, the excursions for snorkeling and diving more than made up for that.
Fitness sessions - everything that everyone says about Madu is true. He was incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful in putting us through some light workouts that met us where we were, and helping us with some stretches that really alleviated my back pain the entire time I was there (even more so than the spa massages, which is saying something).
- Staff: For us, the biggest positive from the JW was the staff's thoughtfulness. We felt incredibly taken care of, with so many staff members checking in on our stay and comfort throughout the week. This care manifested itself in ways both little and big. There were numerous times we would arrive to our room or the spa or a restaurant to find a message written in sand or cloves or palm leaves wishing us a happy anniversary or birthday, or the several times we were sent a complementary drink or dessert for the special occasions we were celebrating. When one of us realized we had forgotten to bring contacts, a dive shop staff member let us borrow his prescription dive mask so we could still scuba. When we asked about purchasing the hotel's bubble bath to bring home to our kids or the tea shop's milk oolong for a gift for our parents, our butler Ismail went out of his way to make sure we were sent home with a complementary bottle of each. We also would later sheepishly find out that having inquired about training sessions with Madu before our arrival - given all of the outspoken glowing words about him on TripAdvisor - that he had postponed his planned vacation to meet with us. These are just a few examples of the truly exceptional and thoughtful staff experiences that elevated our experience and made the trip so wonderful.
All in all, we could not recommend the JW more. It is a fantastic hotel with even more fantastic people and deserving of more praise than even we could ever heap on it.
