India, April 11 -- Most visitors don't realise this but there are actually two Maldives: Before and After. I like them both, but sometimes I really miss the Before. Before what? I hear you ask. Well, before the Maldives became one of the world's great luxury destinations. Before the world's millionaires descended on the islands and some of the world's greatest luxury resorts, like the magnificent Cheval Blanc and the elegant Four Seasons LG, became famous. Now, so many new high-priced resorts have opened that even I, who goes to Maldives at least once a year, can no longer keep track. Why do I miss the Before period? Well, because it was less crowded, and you had a distinct sense of the Maldives, of the 1192 tiny natural coral islands surrounded by some of the clearest water in the world. The resorts were small, and though the food was not great and the pools were ringed by recliners full of large pale Europeans who had found a package rate from travel agents, it didn't really matter. Most villas were connected to the lagoon, so you didn't have to bother with the pool. And I usually found an Indian or Sri Lankan chef who would cook something simple for me. We never give the Taj group the credit it deserves for being a pioneer in tourism in the Maldives. It opened two small resorts on lovely natural coral islands that were only a short boat ride away from the airport, but when you got there they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps because connectivity from India was poor, the Taj never marketed the resorts to Indians. I used to fly to Trivandrum and then take an Indian Airlines flight to the Maldives, but many others went via Colombo. There were no direct flights from Mumbai or Delhi in those days. Though I did not write about food or travel in that era, my wife did. And when she wrote about the beauty of the Maldives, the general response was 'What is this place?' If you were to look for a dividing line between Before and After, I guess it would be the opening of Soneva Fushi by Sonu Shivdasani. It was the first real luxury resort in the Maldives, and Sonu did such a fabulous job of marketing the Maldives as an international destination that Soneva Fushi managed to charge rates that were unprecedented in the region. Some years later, One&Only opened Reethi Rah by reclaiming large areas of the sea to expand the original coral island, and created a Caribbean-style resort that was an instant hit with Brits. By then, the Maldives was fully into the After phase and well on its way to becoming the playground of the rich. Now, room rates of Rs.2 to Rs.3 lakh per night are not uncommon. And not only are most of the world's great hotel brands here, but the ones that are not (Aman, Bulgari, etc) will soon open new resorts. Some of these resorts are outstanding. Many have spotted the F&B gap and run restaurants with outstanding chefs. So great is the variety of options that are now available, that hotels tend to cater to specific markets; Velaa gets the oligarchs, Nautilus gets rich Russians and Indians feel most at home at the Taj Exotica (a luxury upgrade on the Taj's original resort.) My problem with the After phase of the Maldives is that the new development has little to do with the things that attracted me to the Maldives in the Before phase. For a start, almost all of the resorts look pretty much the same. Look at drone shots of five top Maldives hotels and I challenge you to be able to tell them apart. There is now a caricature Maldives hotel template and rare is the property that deviatesfrom it. Then there is the problem of overcrowding. Most hotels that you would want to stay at are a seaplane ride from the airport. Each of the popular atolls that the seaplanes fly to now host so many properties that when you look out from your villas you don't see a vast expanse of blue sea. You see at least two other resorts. It's worse in the area near the airport, where there were once a handful of top properties (Taj, Reethi Rah, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, etc). Because you don't need seaplanes to get to them, they have a special cachet. But now so many new islands are being created out of nothing by reclamation that the area is going to become the Maldives equivalent of Delhi's Aerocity. I suspect I am not the only Maldives regular to feel that way. One solution is to find a hotel that is a little further away from the crowded atolls. That's become a more realistic option after the Maldives developed an excellent network of domestic flights and new airports. Initially hoteliers were nervous about venturing far into the sea after the Shangri La failed in a slightly distant location and the Alila opened to very little public interest. That's changing now. There is a new Soneva Secret at the edge of the Maldives, and now that Hyatt has bought Alila, the Maldives property has suddenly taken off with better management and a greater luxury focus. I went a couple of weeks ago, and though it involved taking a domestic flight rather than a seaplane, the truth is that normal aircraft are much more comfortable than most seaplanes. I liked the resort because it is designed to seem peaceful. It has only 50 or so rooms and is cunningly planned so that the restaurants and public areas rarely seem full. There is no question of staring out into another resort and all I could see was miles and miles of ocean. The location is equatorial (You can take a boat to the exact location of the equator). The beach is completely natural and this is an original island, not one of those that has been extended artificially, let alone created out of nothing, like many of the new resorts. Because it was built as an Alila, the villas are not perfect: Some could be better lit and the pools are too shallow. (I guess the intention was to make them child-friendly.) But they open directly on the white sand of the beach and give you a real sense of island living. (There is now a new Alila at Kothaifaru, not to be confused with the Park Hyatt and its original branding.) Obviously I loved it because it took me back to the Before phase of the Maldives, though this time with gourmet food and fine wine. But Hyatt is careful about how the hotel is marketed. The occupancy was 90% when I was there and just one other villa had Indians. Hyatt is positioning the hotel as a resort for guests over the age of 30 who may have already been to the Maldives at least once before and now want something a little more exclusive, with personalised service and a sense of place. That may be why they have not marketed much in India: This is not the Maldives of private yachts, wild parties and recklessly driven speedboats. It's a calmer, gentler experience that reminds you of why the Maldives is such a special place. Perhaps the trend for resorts that celebrate the Before phase of Maldives tourism will grow. I certainly hope so....