Baros is a truly special place - this was our first visit, but hopefully will not be our last. It came highly recommended by friends, and more than lived up to their praise. The natural beauty of the island itself is immaculately maintained, and the villas very comfortable with some nice touches and treats (we booked a water villa, but the beach villas looked lovely as well). Baros has a wonderful house reef, with lots of interesting fish, rays, baby sharks and even turtles - really accessible (even for a snorkelling beginner), and there's a great marine specialist team on hand to help, guide and advise all levels.
A good range of three restaurants for a small resort, from informal/quality local dishes, through fish and mediterranean specialities and up to a fine dining restaurant in the Lighthouse (we normally avoid 'fine dining' on holiday, but this was absolutely delicious, and well worth sitting on the sea terrace and watching the sea life). Sails Bar also a great and elegant oasis, where barbecues and Maldivian buffet events are sometimes held (expensive but well worth it)...and even 'cool' live music a few times a week (we worried it might be intrusive, but it was great and added to the memorable atmosphere).
Nicely equipped gym and fabulous spa (great massages). Everything very walkable through the lush palms and plants (again, it's a small island, and you can walk around in ten minutes max!). We didn't necessarily want our time to be too 'managed', but dolphin watching, reef tour, nature walk all worthwhile.
So, all terrific, but without doubt the very best feature of Baros is the staff. They are without exception friendly, incredibly helpful, polite and professional and we could not recommend them more highly.
As you can tell, we loved Baros. It might not be the most fashionable, or the most luxurious or the newest or coolest (and although there are some honeymooners, the average age of the clientele is quite 'mature'!), but you can understand why they get a lot of repeat guests.
In fact, the only possibly negative things were out of their control. a) We had a few days of bad/mixed and windy weather (we went in late January, which is obviously supposed to be dry season!) and b) you can see the outline/lights of Male/a few other islands from some parts of Baros in the distance. One of the reasons for us choosing Baros is that you don't have to do a seaplane transfer - it's only about 25 mins by luxury speedboat, which you get on just a few steps from the airport. So really convenient after a long international flight. The downside of the proximity is obviously that you don't always get that 'remote desert island' feel, but for us the overall experience more than compensated.

This was one of my favorite hotels of all time. The setting is so peaceful and luxurious. The food was incredible. And the people who worked there are some of the nicest I've ever met. They will go above and beyond for you.

Baros is a lovely island, and all the staff are lovely. The weather was perfect, along with the sand and sea. Unfortunately our romantic meal was cancelled due to weather. An alternative wasn't offered. That is my only criticism.