SO/ Maldives

There is something about booking a holiday to the Maldives that makes you feel like you’ve finally made it.

The photos are beautiful. The water doesn’t even look real. You imagine stepping out of your villa in the morning, coffee or tea in hand, with nothing to worry about except whether you’ll spend the afternoon by the pool or in the ocean.

We recently spent five nights at SO/ Maldives in August 2026, booked through Luxury Escapes, and in many ways, we had a lovely time. Our children had a wonderful time and there were some people who genuinely made our stay special.

But unfortunately, there were also things that happened that completely changed how I felt about the experience.

When something doesn’t feel right

During one of our excursions to Crossroads, I left a white linen Assembly Label dress in our room. I know it was there because I had actually considered wearing it that day before deciding to save it for our family photographs which had been booked for the following day.

When we returned, it was gone.

At first, I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it had somehow been mixed up with laundry or towels. However, it never re-appeared.

When I later unpacked our luggage, I realised that another dress — a floral Mister Zimi dress — was also missing and subsequently realised 2 further Mister Zimi dresses were missing (all light breathable fabrics and casual dresses).

I raised the issue of the first missing dress with our GEM immediately, but what disappointed me most wasn’t simply the missing clothing. It was the lack of response afterwards. I expected someone to take the concern seriously, ask questions and investigate what had happened. Instead, there was very little follow-up.

And when you’re staying at a resort marketed as a luxury property, that’s difficult to accept.

I posted a review to Luxury Escapes outing my experience and customer service reached out to me to follow up. They were great. However the hotel have since acted like I had simply mislaid these items around the island and stated they haven’t turned up in lost property. I don’t mean to be captain obvious but if someone steals from you, they aren’t going to drop the items into lost and found.

When your private space doesn’t feel private

We also had a really uncomfortable experience involving another family staying at the resort.

A children’s bicycle with stabilisers had been provided for our use (the bikes are across the island and available for all guests) and was kept at the entrance to our villa. On more than one occasion, members of another family walked directly into the entrance area of our villa and took the bicycle.

This wasn’t a case of someone picking up a bike from a communal area because they thought it was available. They were physically entering the private entrance area of our villa to take it.

We approached them twice and asked them to stop taking the bike.

Their response was that they were on holiday and could do whatever they wanted.

I found this incredibly concerning. Being on holiday doesn’t give you permission to enter another guest’s private villa area or take belongings that aren’t yours.

It also made me question our privacy and security. If other guests felt comfortable walking directly into the entrance of our villa, what else could they feel entitled to do?

I also witnessed the same woman berating a member of staff because a buggy hadn’t arrived quickly enough when it started raining. I found the behaviour incredibly uncomfortable and was genuinely appalled by the way the staff member was treated.

What disappointed me further was the response from our GEM. When I raised these incidents, I wasn’t even asked who the guests were. There was no apparent effort to identify them or address the behaviour.

And that’s the part I keep coming back to.

Things can go wrong on holidays. Staff can make mistakes. Guests can behave badly. That’s life.

But how a resort responds when something goes wrong is what really matters.

It wasn’t all bad

I don’t want this to sound like we hated our holiday because we absolutely didn’t.

There were some genuinely wonderful moments.

Our children loved The Nest, and Rachel was amazing with them. She was one of the people who really stood out during our stay.

The ladies at the spa were also fantastic. They were lovely, warm and professional, and our time there was one of the highlights.

And we all loved Luna at The Citronelle.

Those experiences reminded me that a resort is ultimately made up of people, and there were plenty of staff who made our holiday enjoyable.

But unfortunately, the negative experiences are the ones that stay with you.

Would I go back?

No.

And that’s disappointing because the Maldives itself is incredible.

I previously stayed at Meeru and had an amazing experience, so I know how wonderful a Maldivian holiday can feel when you leave feeling completely relaxed and looked after.

For me, luxury isn’t simply a beautiful villa, turquoise water and expensive cocktails.

It’s feeling safe.

It’s knowing your privacy is respected.

It’s trusting that your belongings are secure.

And, perhaps most importantly, it’s knowing that if something does go wrong, someone will actually listen and do something about it.

I don’t expect perfection from a holiday. I don’t think anyone does.

But I do expect basic respect and security.

It’s a strange feeling to come home from what should have been a dream holiday and find yourself thinking less about the beautiful water and more about the things that made you feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps that’s why, despite the beauty of SO/ Maldives, I don’t think we’ll be returning.

Sometimes a place can be beautiful and still not be the right place for you.

And for our family, unfortunately, SO/ wasn’t.

I would urge any travellers planning to visit SO/ to find alternative accomodations as I would hate for anyone else to have a similar experience to mine.