Hotel Snapshot
After a few nights at JOALI Maldives, leaving felt borderline emotional. During the 20-minute speedboat ride to its wellbeing-focused sister property, I kept wondering how anything could possibly top what I’d just experienced.
But arriving at Bodufushi Island—and passing through JOALI BEING’s biophilic “Gate of Zero”—quieted that doubt almost instantly. The transition felt intentional, as if the island itself was asking you to arrive lighter than you came.
Design & Character
JOALI BEING is designed to work on your nervous system. As the Maldives’ first entirely wellbeing-focused island, its architecture leans heavily into biophilic principles—curved structures, muted tones, and organic materials that dissolve the line between indoors and out.
Now I mentioned, JOALI Maldives and JOALI BEING may be sisters, but they’re far from twins. The difference is felt immediately in the layout and shared spaces. Where JOALI Maldives has the Manta Treehouse, JOALI BEING offers the sunset-facing Turtle Treehouse—designed for slower rituals like romantic breakfasts, intimate dinners, or evening cocktails as the sky shifts color.
The Rooms
With just 68 villas, guests don’t have a bad room to choose from. The land-based shorefront residences are lovely, but you’re in the Maldives—so it feels almost wrong not to opt for one of the Ocean Pool Villas. The in-room wellbeing bar here is alcohol-free, and televisions are intentionally omitted to encourage a more digital-free stay—an extension of JOALI BEING’s holistic approach.
Jutting out into the bay, curved wooden walkways lead to overwater bungalows with direct access to the lagoon—it’s quintessentially Maldivian in the best way. Inside, floating beds, open-air layouts, and private plunge pools immerse you into paradise. Soft seafoam greens and pale coral tones are accented by sea-glass-style rain showers and mosaic tile ceilings, while the freestanding bathtub—perfectly framing the Indian Ocean—might just be the best bath view I’ve encountered to date.
Food & Drink
Dining at JOALI BEING is rooted in nourishment rather than indulgence. Across FLOW and MOJO, menus follow an earth-to-table ethos that prioritizes freshness and balance without feeling restrictive.
Breakfast became a ritual—green juice, poached eggs with broccolini, eaten slowly. After a hands-on Indian cooking lesson, lunch at MOJO felt earned rather than excessive. Even at Yutori, the property’s Japanese restaurant, dishes like miso black cod and A5 Wagyu felt intentional, not indulgent for indulgence’s sake.
At the SAI Tea Lounge, we journeyed through the time and history of tea—learning that most tea in the U.S. isn’t actually tea leaves, but rather they’re infusions. From white to green to black teas, our lovely sommelier shared the stories of each origin—often sourced from the Asian region—72 teas imported from 16 countries comprise their extensive library.
Spa & Wellness
Wellness at JOALI BEING is less about programming and more about guidance. Each stay begins with an Integrative Wellness assessment—a deeply personal intake that looks at everything from bioenergetic markers to lifestyle patterns—to help shape how guests move through the island. Rather than prescribing a rigid itinerary, the team gently steers you toward what your body actually needs.
My days unfolded slowly: sound healing sessions at SEDA, walks along the Discovery Sound Path where chimes and instruments hum softly through the jungle, and time spent at AKTAR learning the foundations of herbology—blending aromas and understanding how plants support balance in everyday life. At KAASHI, the hydrotherapy hall, the Watsu pool delivered the most memorable treatment of the stay: a weightless, floating experience that left me calmer than I’d felt in months.
Movement is equally intentional. At CORE—the largest fitness center in the Maldives—working out feels less like discipline and more like privilege. Morning yoga in the pyramid-shaped studio, cryotherapy sessions, and open-air workouts make it surprisingly easy to reconnect with your body while on vacation. By the end of my stay, wellness didn’t feel aspirational—it felt natural.
Amenities & Service
No small detail goes unnoticed at JOALI BEING. The team has hospitality down to a science: warm greetings with a hand over the heart and a soft “Marhaba” each time you pass a staff member; cold towelettes offered at every turn—before meals, after meals, on the seaplane, and at the spa; even ice blocks tucked beneath chilled dishes like mochi at Yutori.
I could write a novel about how lovely these people are. At check-in, guests are paired with a private Jadugar—the Maldivian term for a personal butler—and ours, Ann, met every request with a gentle smile and genuine care, whether it was delivering forgotten snorkel gear to the beach or anticipating needs before we voiced them. Across the island, service feels instinctive: water glasses refilled the moment they dipped low, coffee orders remembered without asking.
You don’t just feel looked after here—you feel like part of the family.
Fast Facts
Location: Bodufushi, Maldives
Rating: 5-Star
Room count: 68 villas
Pricing: Rates start at $2,500 to $4,000 USD per night.
Dining: Earth-to-table concepts across FLOW and MOJO focus on nourishment without restriction, blending wellness-driven cuisine with indulgent touches like A5 Wagyu and miso black cod at Yutori. The SAI Tea Lounge’s 72-tea library—sourced from 16 countries—turns even afternoon tea into an immersive ritual.
Amenities: Private Jadugar (personal butler), 68 beach and overwater villas with private plunge pools, biophilic architecture and immersive art installations, Integrative Wellness assessment and personalized programming, SEDA sound healing hall, KAASHI hydrotherapy complex with Watsu pool, AKTAR herbology learning center, Discovery Sound Path, CORE fitness center (largest in the Maldives), open-air yoga pavilion, cryotherapy, FLOW, MOJO, Yutori, and SAI Tea Lounge dining concepts, alcohol-free in-room wellbeing bars, and curated movement and mindfulness experiences throughout the island.
Our favorite thing about the hotel: CORE—the island’s expansive fitness studio—was an unexpected highlight. I’ve yet to visit a hotel where the gym became the centerpiece of my trip, but here it felt more like a playground than a place of discipline, sparking a childlike urge to move.
Airport: Seaplane from Malé International Airport, followed by a short speedboat ride
Bodufushi, Maldives
