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Review about Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli, is it worth it?

We tell you what the OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli Hotel in Maldives is like. Facilities, food, service, we will see everything.


Our dream of visiting the Maldives came true, and moreover, to spend Christmas! A heavenly destination. To make it even more memorable, the chosen hotel should live up to expectations. The elected hotel was the Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli, here we are going to tell you how it went and the review we have of this establishment.

Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

The location

The Hotel is located on the North Male Atoll, the island, called Helengeli, is about 810 m long by 80 m wide and the hotel is all there is! When they told me that it was like that in the Maldives, that many of the hotels had their own island, I couldn’t believe it. I had to see it in person. But that’s how it is, and the fact is that the island is really tiny, you can go around quickly.

Helengeli Island Map

To get to Helengeli from Male airport, the hotel picks us up, tags our bags and puts us on a speedboat that takes about 50 minutes to our destination.

Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

The reception and the staff

Arriving by speedboat at Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli, we are greeted by hotel staff like a mini party. To make the wait shorter, while we check in, they give us a wet towel (it’s appreciated because it’s hot) and a drink… blue.

The staff was very friendly throughout our stay, from the restaurant staff, front desk employees, daily room cleaners. They all behaved very well.

Blue sparkling wine

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The room

In the OBLU hotel by Atmosphere at Helengeli there are several types of rooms in the Hotel, and we stayed in two, since they were several days and that way we could see the island from different angles. These are the rooms we stayed in:

Beach Villas

This is the most “simple” category of the hotel, so to speak, these rooms do not have a direct view of the sea. This makes them a little darker than those in the next category (which are right in front of the sea). But this is not a big problem, just as access to the sea is literally a few steps away.

Room in Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

The decoration of the room is very nice and colorful. An important thing to know is that for these types of rooms there will be two assigned sun loungers on the beach, you can see them as they have the room number. This is excellent since you don’t have to go looking or “separating” very early.

Ocean View Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

Water Villa with pool

This room is higher level than the previous one. What we did was stay half the nights in the first one and the other half in this one. What characterizes these “water villas with pool” is that the side facing the sea is directly on the sea. Besides that they have a mini pool. The view is spectacular and they are much brighter.

Book the hotel here:

Bathroom

The bathroom in the two rooms is huge, with a shower without a ceiling. It sounds pretty crazy, but that’s right: the bathroom is not completely covered. That has its drawbacks, but I have to say that it is a very pleasant experience.

And that’s one of the reasons why drones are prohibited in the hotel.

How much is it?

The price was, as you can imagine, not cheap at all. Moreover, at Christmas, that made the price increase even more. The price was approximately 600 euros per night, this has been the most expensive hotel ever, surpassing even the Negresco. I saved for a long time to be able to enjoy that stay and I don’t regret it, it was a success. The fact that it is so expensive is what should make us be even more picky when choosing the hotel where we will stay. It is not a trip that can be done very frequently.

Most likely, if you travel to the Maldives in a season that is not as crowded as Christmas, the price will be much more affordable, but yes, it is still expensive. Of course, it must be taken into account that while staying at the hotel, nothing else will be spent, since the activities, three meals and drinks are covered.

In fact, there is something I have to say: before arriving at this hotel, I was afraid that it would be of the style “you have to tip for everything; otherwise they will ignore you”, but this does not happen here. Regarding the topic of tips, from the beginning we are told that we should not tip employees directly, at the end of our trip we will deposit what we consider to be a fair tip in the box designated for it. This is distributed equally among all the employees because let’s be fair: there are employees that we don’t get to see, but they also contribute a lot to making our stay pleasant (for example: the cooks). As I said before, the staff behaved so well that we did tip with great pleasure and gratitude.

Hotel facilities

The hotel has two restaurants and a bar. One of the two restaurants, called The Spice, was the one we attended throughout our stay as it served the food included in our plan. The other restaurant is paid separately and is à la carte.

In addition, there are two swimming pools, one for families with children and the other for “adults only”, I think it covers all visitors to the hotel quite well. From the two pools you can order cocktails or “mocktails“, which are non-alcoholic cocktails, and they bring them to you without any problem.

Ocean View Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

The three meals are buffet style, but what a buffet! It has a wide variety of options to leave with a full belly, there is food from various parts of the world. Upon arrival, we are greeted and seated at the table of our choice, we never had a problem with that, and we were not always at the same table, I liked that. Only Christmas Eve was a little more difficult, but since we arrived early, we didn’t have so much trouble.

Activities

During our stay at the OBLU Hotel by Atmosphere at Helengeli we were able to enjoy several activities that were already included in our stay. In addition to being able to snorkel (here we tell you about our experience snorkeling in the Maldives).

Some activities were because it was Christmas week, for example, one night we had a demonstration of traditional Maldivian dance: boduberu. Also, “Under the Stars” movie screenings of Christmas movies.

Espectaculo en Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

Other activities that we could enjoy are:

  • Visit to a local island
  • Afternoon fishing (where nothing fell XD)
  • Discourse to discover the marine species of the island
  • Coral planting session

The activities are highly recommended, what I observed is that many did not attend them. It was better for us as there were no crowds of any kind.

Species we meet

The island, being in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is surrounded by very diverse fauna and flora. And in the hotel itself we could see several species, here I bring you a few photos:

And here we show you the species we saw under the sea: Swimming with Sharks and Turtles: Snorkeling in Maldives

Something that was worrying me before arriving!

I have to say that before going, I was afraid that because it was Christmas the hotel would be full and there would be crowds everywhere. It was true the hotel was full due to the date it was, but even so, the crowding was not felt at all. Not in the bar, not in the restaurant, not on the beach. It was a complete enjoyment.

Sunrise in Maldives

Final thoughts on our review about Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

If you are looking for a hotel where you can live a memorable experience, where you can disconnect from everything and not worry about anything during your stay, the OBLU by Atmosphere Hotel at Helengeli is an excellent option, hence this review. I know there are many such hotels in the Maldives, but as this is the only one we have been to, it holds a special place in our hearts. A truly unforgettable stay.

Sparkling wine at Hotel OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli

Here we summarize our opinions about the hotel:

Room:4.8 out of 5 stars (4.8 / 5)
Bathroom:4.8 out of 5 stars (4.8 / 5)
View:5 out of 5 stars (5.0 / 5)
Facilities:5 out of 5 stars (5.0 / 5)
Breakfast:5 out of 5 stars (5.0 / 5)
General:4.9 out of 5 stars (4.9 / 5)

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Olga Grijalva

Olga is a traveler and travel content creator with 17 years of experience. Her goal is to share useful information to help you plan your adventures. She has visited more than 40 countries and is excited to share her experience with you.

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