COMO Cocoa Island, Maldives
COMO is a small collection of luxury hotels and resorts with COMO Cocoa being my seventh in their portfolio. Their brand is among my favourites for their design, service, locations and food. COMO Shambhala in Bali is one of the best resorts I’ve stayed in anywhere in the world, and after reading great things about COMO Cocoa in the Maldives, I arrived at Malé’s international airport with high expectations.
The Maldives probably has the easiest visa policy in the world for tourism where every or almost every nationality in the world can arrive without having to obtain a visa in advance. Immigration was fast with no questions asked, and I met the COCOA representative right after. After approximately 40 minutes by boat, with WiFi onboard, I arrived for a warm welcome on the island where General Manager, Benjamin Kreuz was waiting.
After a welcome drink of coconut water, one of the staff escorted me to a beautiful water villa. I stayed in the third category of villas at this 33-water villa resort, but as I later discovered during a site inspection, any category of villas here is fantastic. I especially liked the design, freestanding bathtub with bath salt, outdoor shower and their signature bathroom amenities that are some of the best I’ve experienced in my travels. The WiFi is free of charge and at an acceptable speed for calls and emails, but high-quality streaming might be a problem.
The staff-room ratio at COMO Cocoa is around 4. There are not many resorts with four times as many staff as there are rooms, but it’s part of the reason for the great service. Another part is COMO are doing things by themselves as I got to discover as Kreuz showed me the back of the hotel. An impressive successful project with a great work environment. You’ll find staff that’s been working on the island for years, and it’s yet another reason why I think the service is excellent.
An example of the excellent service I experienced was in the restaurant where the friendly staff remembered my preference for coconut water during meals. General Manager Kreuz told me they have the best food in the Maldives and after four meals on the island, I think he has a point. COMO Cocoa’s executive chef from Thailand is well-experienced and does an excellent job. I have stayed at more than 50 resorts in the Maldives and while it can be hard to compare meals from years ago, Gili Lankanfushi, COMO Cocoa and both of the Four Seasons are all places I would highly recommend if you care about good food in a trip to the Maldives.
To sum up, COMO Cocoa is one of the best experiences I’ve had in the Maldives. A stunning little island with high-quality accommodation, food and service.
