Drift Thelu Veliga Retreat

Lovely and personable staff, incredibly beautiful location. Everything you could imagine for a Maldivian holiday!

Lack of options for food - we went through a lot of the menu over 5 days. But it is a small island so totally understandable, and the chef was great!

The resort is captivating , a beautifully preserved place for the comfort and relaxation, a combination of greens , white sand and crystalline water . Amazing , friendly and polite staff at your service all time . Maria and Rayyan from the reception are great and willing to assist with your needs. The restaurant Chief Mr Wasana ( I hope the name is right) prepares the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten in a resort. His hands are Gold !! ( luckily we were few guests and were offered a La carte menu instead of buffet) Stayed in water villa , the room is cozy , we had complete view of sunset.. magical. Beauty in each corner of Drift Retreat resort , must try the bar for a drink with stunning views . Budget friendly compared to many resorts in Maldives and honestly should be rated 5 stars including service .

No TV Hair dryers are old version

Great Island, very nice staff, Nice spots to go snorkelling, great food with a big variety…it actually feels like being in paradise. Absolutely awesome!

Food was really lovely, thought the chef did an excellent job with cooking lamb😀,my favourite. We liked our water villa, lots of fish on the house reef, very friendly. Bar area was perfect for star gazing.

It is a small resort, restful, relaxing, quiet- we loved it, but it may not be for everyone.

love this place , very peaceful. great staff. very barefoot and relaxed, and still chic. just how we like it. don’t worry too much about dressing up for anyone but yourself. I personally find that vibe fabulous. you do you at Drift. balenciaga or matalan, who cares? very clean - I think maybe it would be nice to be able to opt out of having towels and sheets replaced so often? (for environment etc.) I personally do not need my sheets replaced more than once a week, but the housekeeping staff did their job to perfection and with such care. they clearly work really hard to keep everything perfect. they were brilliant. re. tipping we just kind of spread our tips best we could amongst bellboys cleaners cooks waiters etc. i don’t think you have to. not everyone tipped. it’s up to you. they were just grateful. I would like to know that staff is looked after - that there is a a lovely place for them to spend leisure time etc as they live on the island, stuff to help them stay fulfilled (they seemed happy though! just my thoughts) suggestions aside - the place is tiny and pure magic , fabulous gardening/landscaping, magic little walkways. great food. the chefs try hard to offer a variety which is appreciated. we had three massages - they were great. the rest of the time just a lot of relaxation, snorkelling, kayaking, food and wine! they have great cocktails and mocktails too. will be back. thank you so much to everyone at Drift. it’s fabulous value.

a small note we would have liked to be reminded that there is an online immigration form to fill out before leaving maldives. we didn’t know this and it created unnecessary stress at the airport - also when leaving drift, the seaplane arrived quite late and did a large drop off /pick up on the way to the airport (which is fine if arrives earlier) so we arrived last minute at the airport, exactly one hour before our 11 am BA flight takeoff. thankfully we made it through all the large queues - immigration and two security checks - and onto the plane at the last minute. I am sure it had to do with events outside the seaplane operators control like people arriving late to the seaplane on the way to us etc - but still worth mentioning.

This place is paradise on earth! It not only exceeded our expectations but as well made us experience our best summer vacation so far! The property is on a small unique island and consists of water villas and bungalows. They created a small tropical forrest on the island part so that the bungalows are well hidden and you can have your privacy. The water villas have their privacy on the terrace where you can directly enter into water. The villas were spacious, very clean (they provide twice a day housekeeping!) and had tasteful decoration. Because it is a 'retreat', there are no big loud parties or screaming people or children. You can really relax and get most of the experience. The sea is just fabulous! We were able to experience most of the underwater wildlife from reef sharks (baby to middle size), turtles, rays to various tropical fish. You don't need to be excellent swimmer there. You just need to bring your snorkelling gear or use one from the property (for free). And in the evening, you can just spend hours with star gazing if you want. Food has been delicious. There was always something for vegetarians. Dinner menu is different each night. The staff has always been very kind and showed excellent hospitality. For us this has been an unforgettable stay. We will come here for sure again.

A truly beautiful and very peaceful island. Our water villa on the sunset side was light and airy, well furnished, spotlessly clean (cleaned twice a day) with efficient air con plus a ceiling fan, which was great as it was extremely hot in the middle of the day. The views are truly amazing with a big deck and direct access to the ocean. The sunsets were lovely and the night time sky equally so. The coral is a short swim and largely healthy with many different types of fish. The staff are unfailingly friendly and smiley and cannot do enough for you. The food is eclectic but good and plentiful with a different theme every night at the live cooking station, manned by a really cheerful chef! Be aware though that alcohol (unless on AI) is very expensive. The island is tiny which may not suit people looking for a lot to do, though there are various trips available. It is beautifully kept and there is no need for shoes from the moment you arrive until you leave. If you are looking for a relaxing holiday in lovely surroundings this is the place. Read less

Alcohol is very expensive

We fell in love with this amazing resort, amazing view we could not take our eyes off it, great professional service from all staff, great food and especial great service from the chef. The water villa was amazing with all what we could just dream of. We took SPA treatment that was great. Lucky us the weather in 90% of the time was great to us also :)

All was amazing, but juts one comment we had regarding breakfast - we were missing the cream cheese :)

fantastic coral reef, very easy to reach from water villas, a lot og fish and live corals. from water villas you can see stingray, sharks, turtle swimming near and of course a lot of fishes. No children under age 15 allowed, very quet and peaceful place - real retreat very good service everywhere

i liked everything

It was really great, dream like place , will recommend it to anyone!

Even i loved the experience, I would recommend to CHECK all the prices that your package includes. there is A LOT of hidden costs and everything is very expensive. Sea plane ARE NOT included. Soft drinks are no included , expensive and alcoholic drinks are VERY expensive ( 8 dollars per small beer and 20 dollars per cocktail, 15 dollars per small glass of wine and nothing is included except 2 small bottles per day of water. any trips or extras on the island are also very expensive! Sunscreen cream costs 50 dollars in local boutique. saying all that the nicest staff EVER really made it all worth it, i wish I just you about all the extra’s that will come later, as spend extra 600 dollars for a one week stay plus sea plane cost wich is about 900 dollars ( per couple ) which in some place website says its included! hope you will have a great time. Water villas where We stayed was absolutely beautiful and worth it!