12-03-2025
The new resort that shows the Maldives is turning into Dubai
It was a packed karaoke night at the Hard Rock Café. Since we'd crept in at the back, two English women had belted out Valerie and a Frenchman had crooned something romantic in his mother tongue. Then just as my husband plucked up the courage to do a number, three glamorous African-American women launched into a stadium-quality rendition of Midnight Train To Georgia.
The whole room went wild ('You've got to be kidding,' he whispered, sinking back into his seat). After downing our cocktails we slipped out into the tropical, star-filled night, because this wasn't just any Hard Rock Café, it was the one in the Maldives.
We were staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, one of three properties at Crossroads, a mega resort development of nine artificially created paradise islands in the turquoise Emboodhoo lagoon, a 15-minute speedboat hop south of the capital, Malé.
Crossroads was built by Singha, the Thai beer company, and so named because of its geographical location, where traders have met for 2,000 years. Four islands have been developed so far. The Hard Rock and its neighbour, Saii Lagoon Maldives, part of Hilton's Curio Collection, are connected to each other and to a bustling marina island by stilted wooden walkways. The third hotel, SO/ (owned by Accor), sits five minutes away by boat.
Gliding into the large, circular 30-berth marina on the Crossroads ferry, framed by a 'village' of pretty, candy-coloured wooden buildings that house about 50 businesses including 14 restaurants and an assortment of bars, a nightclub, coffee shops, food stands and little boutiques, we passed an assortment of gleaming yachts, including a 193ft beast called Idol, owned by French billionaire and Decathlon CEO Thomas Leclercq. How very Dubai. I couldn't help wondering whether the Maldives had lost its way.
As unromantic as they sound, man-made islands will prove essential to the survival of this Indian Ocean archipelago in the face of global warming. As the world's lowest-lying country, a majority of its 1,192 islands sit less than a metre above sea level and some estimate that 80 per cent of them could be submerged by 2050. Projects such as Hulhumalé, a nearby residential island built to solve the chronic housing shortage in Malé and provide locals with a safe haven, are important. But building more islands just for luxury tourism, further depleting the fragile natural ecosystem? Bit harder to justify.
There is, however, something about welcoming, family-friendly Crossroads that sets it apart from other luxury resorts. It actively encourages day trippers to come for free, laying on a complimentary mini-ferry from Malé, for tourists and locals alike, who can enjoy all the facilities of its marina including the Saii beach club and gelato bar. For people living in high-rise Malé – almost half the population – this has become a game-changer on a day off and gives Crossroads a refreshingly local flavour.
I stayed at all three hotels, each of which has overwater and beach rooms and villas set within an impressively lush tropical landscape, plus restaurants and facilities just for hotel guests. Nothing is far apart but it could take you half an hour to walk between certain points, so there are bikes to borrow and golf buggies you can flag down for a lift.
First up was Saii Lagoon, my favourite and the cheapest: simple and unpretentious, with friendly and efficient staff. Its pretty wooden villas and rooms are mostly white with pops of colour in art and fabrics and additional touches depending on the room category, from hammocks and outdoor bathtubs to plunge pools and daybeds.
We enjoyed its laid-back beach club, where an international mix of guests including lots of families relaxed around the pool or snorkelled in the turquoise ocean (the gear is free to borrow). It's also right next to the marina, so easy to pop to, say, the Len Be Well spa for a massage (from about US$100 for an hour) or the mini-mart for a snack.
'When you've got a multi-generational group like ours, value for money is really important and Saii Lagoon had a great Black Friday deal, which we jumped at,' a man called John from London told me at the swim-up bar.
One morning we had an 'unplugged cooking session' with the chef, in the middle of the hotel's thriving organic garden, where we learnt to make fishcakes with papaya salad (and an amazing dressing of olive oil, soy, fish and plumb sauces) before sitting down to enjoy it under the swaying palms.
Over at the Hard Rock Hotel, the vibe was a bit different. Checking in next to us was a Hells Angels type from Michigan in an AC/DC T-shirt and his bleach-blonde wife in super-tight jeans.
'My wife and I are huge music fans and for years now, we've been travelling the world trying to visit every Hard Rock Cafe,' said Michigan Mike. 'When they started opening hotels, we were so happy. Hard Rock in the Maldives is a dream holiday for us.'
Hard Rock references were everywhere, from vintage festival photography (Woodstock, Isle of Wight etc) in all-day restaurant Sessions and mounted guitars signed by the likes of Keith Richards and the Ramones. Our overwater villa was surprisingly understated, painted in multiple shades of blue and splashes of sunshine yellow, with huge white bathrooms.
The most expensive hotel, SO/, has a 'fashion' theme, so, for example, they refer to the jetty as the 'runway' (over-theming alert). It is beautiful, with cool modernist glass villas and Missoni-like zigzag headboards. My only niggle was the overly intimate bedroom loo, in a cubicle with a glass door, only frosted to waist height.
The hotel has three excellent restaurants, including a beachclub for casual wood-fired pizzas and the like, Asian-fusion Citronelle Club in an earthy dining room with basket lampshades and up a sweeping, Insta-ready staircase, Moroccan restaurant Hadaba.
The range of experiences available at Crossroads is mind-boggling: sunrise yoga; sunset dolphin-watching cruises; big game fishing; Aqua Zumba; snorkelling and diving; water polo; cocktail, mocktail, sushi and pizza making; art sessions at the kids' clubs; coral propagation at the Marine Discovery Centre; interactive exhibitions at the Maldives Discovery Centre; and not forgetting the likes of jetblades, jetpacks and jet surfboards.
A highlight of our trip was the 'Ultimate Surf & Turf' dinner at the marina, taking in three restaurants from renowned Sri Lankan-Japanese chef Dharshan Munidasa, whose Ministry of Crab in Colombo has been voted one of Asia's best restaurants and has an outpost here. You are collected in a buggy stocked with Moet & Chandon and ferried from one to the next – exquisite snapper sashimi at Japanese Nihonbashi Blue followed by delectable Sri Lankan mud crab at Ministry of Crab and finally unbelievable sirloin steak at Carne Diem Grill.
While enjoying all that these newly created resort islands have to offer, it's difficult not to feel conflicted. The most sustainable way to visit the Maldives would be to book into a Maldivian-owned guesthouse on a local island – and there are plenty to choose from. But given these artificial islands are here to stay, it's good to see Crossroads doing things a bit differently.
Francesca Syz travelled as a guest of Crossroads Maldives, which offers doubles at Saii Lagoon from £193; Hard Rock from £247 and SO/ from £1,159, all including breakfast.
