Oceanside private dinner, movies under the stars and more in the Maldives

We spent an amazing week in the Maldives at Park Hyatt’s resort on Hadahaa island over Valentine’s Day. On our dream vacation, we decided to splurge on both the Valentine’s Spa Package and the Valentine’s private dinner package since we had saved thousands of dollars by both flying and staying on points. The Valentine’s dinner package was $400 per couple, minus 10% for booking in advance. It included not only a romantic oceanside 4-course gourmet dinner but also a movie night with a light dinner and afternoon tea with snacks. We made 3 meals out of the package on 3 different days during our stay, which made it quite reasonable given the cost of food on this tiny island where everything is imported. Each experience was delightful and the private beach dinner was something we had always wanted to do. It was one more item crossed off our bucket list. Park Hyatt Maldives knows how to do private beach dining well, just like everything else they do.The evening started with champagne and canapés in our own private sitting area on the beach, watching the sun begin its descent. We had our own waitstaff who were happy to take photos of us in the gorgeous setup, complete with heart-shaped palms and rose petals on the sand. We kicked off our shoes to savor the feel of the sand under our toes.After champagne and canapés, we moved to our table for two to begin our delectable four course meal prepared by award-winning Executive Chef Pankaj. For our first course: Hadahaa’s seafood platter comprised of mud crab & avocado salad, tuna ceviche, lemongrass & chili infused prawns, black mussels, reef fish gravlax, sauce rouille, capers, pickled shallots, and fresh baguette. Everything was very fresh and delicious, and it was more food than we could eat. We were full already and had only just begun.Next we received a palate cleanser of blood orange sorbet and coconut & lime espuma, which was cool and refreshing and prepared us for the next course.The main course for sharing was surf and turf: lobster bolognaise, chermoula spiced king prawns & calamari, veal sirloin & sweet bread, asparagus, and truffle potato mash. Each bite was flavorful and exquisite.Regrettably, we could only take a few bites before we were uncomfortably full and had to call it quits. We were so disappointed that we were not able to finish the amazing meal. I think spending all day in the sun wore us out, because we were both falling asleep in our chairs by this point as well. First it was just Bertaut- I noticed his head bobbing as the waves lulled him to sleep. I succumbed next to the ocean’s relaxing lullaby. Our server came by at one point and we were both sound asleep in our chairs, so he didn’t disturb us until our next course came out. It still makes me laugh that we both crashed at our private romantic dinner on the beach, but the experience was still one-of-a-kind. Luckily the chef agreed to serve our dessert to us on another night of our stay since we weren’t able to take another bite without being miserably full. We enjoyed the Valhorna tasting platter during our movie night and it included chocolate & passion-fruit mousse, chocolate mi cult, bitter chocolate tart, almond ice cream & cocoa tuile. That was also more than we could handle after a filling dinner so we only managed to savor a few luscious bites. Part two of our Valentine’s dinner package was the rooftop movie night. We were able to choose the movie from their library’s selection of DVD’s since we were the first couple to reserve that evening. There wasn’t a huge selection of newer films but they had some good classics. We were joined by only one other couple so it was nearly a private viewing. The rooftop area was romantic and cozy, in line with the rest of the resort, and had lounge beds for two to snuggle under the stars and moon.We intended to bring a bottle of sparkling wine that we received from newly made friends at the resort, but forgot to grab it from our room. So the wonderful staff said not to worry and served us one of their chilled bottles and later swapped it for ours. Once again we were blown away by the outstanding service that made our vacation impeccable. We enjoyed popcorn and 3 tasty dishes from their movie night menu- a delicious shrimp appetizer, cheeseburger and fries, and fish and chips. Finally, our private dining package included afternoon tea at The Drift, which is located on the jetty with the water villas. We made our way out to the gorgeous coffee shop but found out that they were getting ready to close for the day. They offered to serve us our afternoon tea the following day in our pool villa. We were game since we hadn’t indulged in room service yet and wanted to enjoy our last day of the private plunge pool. We snapped a few photos at The Drift since its location on the jetty with the park water villas has beautiful views of the island and water and enjoys nice ocean breezes.The next day our afternoon tea was delivered to our park pool villa while we were enjoying our last day in paradise. We opted for smoothies instead of hot tea and were given a tasty selection of pastries, sandwiches, and sweets.We enjoyed our snacks and smoothies while gazing out at the breathtaking ocean from our villa after a swim in our private pool. A perfect day in paradise to end our wonderful vacation. If you liked this post and want to get our tips to travel like a millionaire, please sign up for our email newsletter and RSS feed.