Guide
Family house or small hotel: how big a guesthouse actually is
Registered rooms divided by registered places, island by island — from 22.6 rooms on average down to 6.6.
3 min read · Figures checked 8 August 2026
"Guesthouse" covers two different things in the Maldives. On one island it is a family house with four rooms and the owner in the kitchen. On another it is a twenty-room building with a reception desk that happens not to be called a hotel.
Divide the registered rooms on an island by the number of registered places and the difference shows up immediately.
Where the places are biggest
| Island | Places | Rooms | Average rooms each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maafushi | 47 | 1,060 | 22.6 |
| Hanimaadhoo | 4 | 76 | 19.0 |
| Gulhi | 15 | 229 | 15.3 |
| Dhiffushi | 27 | 354 | 13.1 |
| Guraidhoo | 22 | 234 | 10.6 |
Where they are smallest
| Island | Places | Rooms | Average rooms each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velidhoo | 6 | 25 | 4.2 |
| Omadhoo | 19 | 93 | 4.9 |
| Keyodhoo | 19 | 106 | 5.6 |
| Fulhadhoo | 22 | 126 | 5.7 |
| Fehendhoo | 9 | 59 | 6.6 |
Neither end is better. A larger place is more likely to have a lift, a restaurant and staff on duty at night; a four-room house is more likely to mean eating what the family eats and being driven to the harbour by the owner.
What this does not tell you
Room counts say nothing about room size, cleanliness or whether breakfast is included. We have not stayed at any of these places — the figures are from the Ministry of Tourism register, and everything beyond them is worth asking about directly.