Velassru is pretty good in terms of their facilities. It's pretty newly furnished resort as well, after taking over from the formal Laguna resort. However, it's too near to the airport, as it can be pros or cons.
Mirihi wise... for me, I think it's more romantic and homely than the other Maldives resort I went, just becos there are absolutely no crowds...and their ambience there at nite is WOW, especially walking on their sanding flooring at their common area. Hahaha... it really depends on different ppl's feel about romance. Sometimes it does comes with a price.
Mirihi's rate for villa, spa, excursion, yacht dinning is one of the more affordable one in MAldives.
However, I think the "romantic" moment does sets in when the time, location is right. Most of the time is during dinner, be it BBQ dinner, private dinner, on the yatch for sunset cruise... but it's never associate when there are crowds. HAA..
Not many resort have such a wonderful and healthy house reefs. You can literally snorkel till u forget about time... in Mirihi. The other one that I went that have beautiful house reef is W Resort & Spa. Their rates used to be cheaper then... now, it's approaching at least USD800 or more per nite, breakfast.
Some resort would provide free Snorkeling set... it really depends. Some might charge the usage. As I used to dive and snorkel more often, I got my own set. It's more hygienic that way.
Yes indeed... most resort would just give 2 mineral water bottle per day. The 500ml type. Some might give 1 big bottles. Most of the time when the cleaner comes and clean the room, they will replenished it. Thus I always request them to clean my room twice a day... give them some tips(about USD2).. and ask them for another 2 bottles. So effectively you'll have 4 or more. I'll get my own coke there as well, 12 cans, and some mineral water as well.... this will save u some money. (1 big bottle of mineral water is USD10 or more, while coke is USD5 or more per 330ml).
You have to prioritized what is your needs for the trip, then it's easier to select your idea resort. There are many other resorts that have less crowds, really nice cosy rooms, nice house reefs, but again... sometimes the rates just put us off. Mirihi in my humble opinion is by far, the best mid range resort in Maldives(based on it's cons)...
Mid-high end resort below:-
Another value resort with good quality rooms and affordable is Coco palm Bodu hithi. I was there in July 2011. Their water villa is not too pricey and it got a pool. The down side is their house reefs are not really good...but it's one of the not so crowded resort at a reasonable price.
Conrad(water villa island) is another one I can find peace and quietness... but rates is not cheap now.
You might also want to consider Angsana Velavaru... but it's purely land villa, unless u opt for their stand alone water villa at will cost u about USD750 or more a nite.
OR u might want to consider the soneva range of resort, Soneva Laamu or Soneva Fushi.... these are ECO, green resort.
The last one I can think of is Zithali Kuda-Funafaru. A nice 50 rooms resort by seaplane... they offer both land and water villa with/without pools. Rates are still reasonable.
Let me know if u need other help.... you might also want to consider the transfer time for each resort, as well as SQ flight timing arrangement..
Cheers!
