Condé Nast readers and the South Asian Travel Awards judges have been busy handing out silverware to the Maldives this month, and the results give holidaymakers a useful shortlist of islands that are genuinely delivering right now.
Leading the charge is Constance Halaveli, which landed 10th place among the Top 25 Resorts in the Indian Ocean in the Condé Nast Traveller UK Readers' Choice Awards 2026. It wasn't the only Constance property picking up honours — the Mauritius-headquartered group saw its Seychellois twins Constance Lémuria (13th) and Constance Ephelia (17th) make the Condé Nast Traveler US Top 20, while Constance Tsarabanjina in Madagascar took 12th among the Rest of Africa resorts. Four properties across one portfolio is a solid vote of confidence from readers who have actually stayed.
The wellness crowd also has reason to pay attention. JOALI BEING, the dedicated well-living island in Raa Atoll, came in at No. 8 in the Best Spa Resorts in the US & Around the World category of the Condé Nast Traveler US Readers' Choice Awards, which drew nearly 800,000 survey responses this year. The resort structures its programmes around four pillars — Mind, Skin, Microbiome and Energy — and positions itself less as a spa hotel and more as a full transformation stay. Fair warning on price: Ocean Pool Villas start from USD 2,442 per night for two on a B&B basis.
Meanwhile at the South Asian Travel Awards, which marked its tenth edition covering India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Kandooma Maldives in South Malé Atoll was named Leading Family Resort. The 146-villa property has carved out a niche by thinking beyond small children — it's now building programming for 13-to-18-year-olds, an age group most resorts ignore. Practical perks help too: under-13s stay and eat free, and the island is a straightforward 45-minute speedboat from Velana International Airport, skipping the cost and luggage limits of seaplanes.
Ocean Group Maldives rounded out the regional haul by winning Leading Dive Centre/Brand, recognition for nearly three decades of running PADI-certified dive operations across luxury resorts, now extending into coral restoration and marine biology programmes.
Why does this matter if you're planning a trip? Awards voted on by readers and industry judges act as a rough quality filter in a country with 150-plus resort islands. If you want prestige and polished service, Halaveli is the safe bet; if the holiday is really about the spa and resetting your habits, JOALI BEING is the one that just got validated by US readers; and if you're travelling with teenagers or young kids, Kandooma has quietly built one of the more family-friendly setups in the atolls — with a transfer that won't add another hour or a second flight to your day. Divers, meanwhile, can check whether their chosen resort runs its dive centre through Ocean Group, whose operation now carries the regional stamp.
The 2026 awards season suggests the Maldives isn't just competing on overwater villas and blue lagoons — it's winning on family logistics, wellness programming and underwater expertise too.
Story via Maldives Insider.
