Beach Bungalows are lined around the outside of the resort island facing out to sea, but don’t assume that they always have beach on their doorstep.

The Maldives’ beaches are among the best in the world but erosion is an issue that most resorts have to deal with. It means that some rooms, for at least some of the year, have little or nothing in the way of a beach in front of them. Obviously these are the last rooms to be given out. Even if an island has no erosion problems, the beaches bulge and diminish with the seasons.

Vista versus privacy and shade

Another consideration with beach bungalows is the trade off between the view, and privacy and shade. Seeing the beach and lagoon from your window or veranda and stepping out onto the sand is a wonderful feeling. But it also means that neighbours and passers-by can see everything you do, that you don’t get shade outside from the midday sun, and that there is an increased risk of beach erosion without the trees and bushes to stabilise the shore.

A few resorts have little vegetation to conserve anyway and you have to be right on the beach (Komandoo for example). Mostly, though, designs compromise by providing immediate shade and privacy and a cut through the vegetation to the beach and lagoon. There are many variations on this and you can decide what suits you when choosing an island and whether or not it is important to you. You can always request certain rooms when you get to your island and see what they are like.

There are just a couple of resorts that have two storey blocks and a couple more with rooms in rows. Almost all rooms are either semi-detached or detached, though the space between the detached rooms and the concealing vegetation varies.

Traditional bathrooms

Bathrooms have become a major design feature these days. The basic tiled cubicle doesn’t cut it any more. Happily the social history of the Maldives offers a style that is so suitable it has been taken up by many, if not most, resorts.

In the back of every Maldivian house there is a small, coral-walled yard with rough sand on the floor and a well in the middle. This is called a giffili and it is the Maldivians’ attractive and functional bathroom. Of course, top-end resorts have now taken this to luxurious extremes, which is a delight if you can afford it.

If your room is nothing to write home about (and it has to be said that more than a few expensive rooms are dull, dark or poorly furnished) then you have the rationalisation that you won’t spend much time in it anyway. So then location is the key to enjoying your stay. Work out your priorities and badger the management until you get the room in the location that works for you.