This was my third time in the Maldives, though the last time was six years ago. Admittedly, we have been spoiled by our previous islands - Vilu Reef and Athuruga - which were just perfect (at the time, before the tsunami - since then they have become over-developed, apparently), including the food and service.
Nika is an attractive, green island (apart from its ugly sea walls), with large bungalows and lovely private beaches but it is better to be on the southern side of the island (we were on the northern side, unfortunately), as you get more sunshine, calmer water (in February) and easier access to the reef. However, the 'sunset villas', as they are called, are more expensive.
Although the beach bungalows (villas) are very spacious, they are also very dark inside, which, personally, annoyed me after a while, as I was escaping from a dark European winter. The furnishings are also a little on the old side, and there are no chests-of-drawers (why?).

But while we managed to have a lovely relaxing holiday, snorkelling along the house reef (not the best we have seen, but fairly good) and just chilling on our beach, there were a few things which disappointed us. 1) The service, especially in the restaurant, was sometimes terrible, and certainly not worthy of a 4-star hotel. The waiters seemed totally lacking in motivation and did not even greet you when you walked into the restaurant, and it was very hard to get a smile out of them. We also had a very bad first impression on the island with the luggage porters, who carried our luggage to our bungalow and looked at us with such nasty faces - not a hint of a smile or 'thank you' even when we tipped them. Scary! (And not exactly welcoming....).
2) The breakfast buffet, which appeared to consist of the cheapest food and lowest quality ingredients (such as plastic-wrapped cheese), apart from the fresh fruit. There were many cakes and croissants on offer, but most of them tasted horrible and unnatural. Not what I normally like to eat. There were no decent bread rolls (only some tiny white industrial ones if you were 'lucky' and they hadn't all been eaten). The jams had a very chemical, artificial colour, which we refused to eat. The breakfast buffet should be a LOT better for the price we paid....However, to be fair, if you made a 'special order' the evening before, such as hard-boiled eggs or better-quality cheese, they would give it to you directly the next day.

The lunch and dinner buffets, on the contrary, were fairly good and most of the cooking was done by an Italian chef., so the pasta was always good! There was always lots of fresh fish, including carpaccio, if you like that sort of thing. However, when dishes ran out they were not always replaced, even if you did not arrive late. I also did not appreciate the meal times, which were very late for me and meant that I always had to go to bed on a full stomach, since I like to go to bed early and get up early.

We had the impression that the hotel was trying to extract as much money from its customers as possible. Everything was generally very expensive, yet they still manage to make 'mistakes' on your bill at the end and you find mysterious figures added on for things you have not consumed. It was also very difficult to check final bills properly because of the way they were presented, so the 'mistakes' we found on ours may only have been the tip of the iceberg.

Another negative point was that our tour operator's brochure had promised us a (free!) tennis and badminton court and free water and soft drinks with meals. The drinks/water with our meals were, in the end, NOT free and there was no tennis or badminton court as they have removed them and are now building a spa (which, you can be sure, won't be free...).

I have to say, that I chose Nika because I thought it was one of the few islands which was still simple, natural, with large, private bungalows, not too over-built or overcrowded, etc., so I am very disappointed that they too are going down the 'spa' route. These days there are so many islands with spas to choose from, so why not stay different? They are also (apparently) planning to close shortly to build (yes, you've guessed it) yet more water bungalows. Now that really will ruin the view and the island (for those of us who are true, old-syle Maldives lovers). But of course, that's what it all boils down to in the end - money. How sad.

The fact is, the island was full of nouveau riche Russians and Chinese, so they have plenty of new markets opening up and don't have to worry too much about fussy 'old' West Europeans like us! It's these new 'big spenders' that are calling the shots now.

The Maldives I once knew and loved appears to exist no more.....)-:

Nika was one of the first luxury resorts in the Maldives, and has resisted the urge to go giddily up market like many other places. It has gigantic villas which are a little old fashioned but very comfortable and perfectly maintained. You also get a private beach, which is good from the privacy point of view, but less good as you can't walk around the island.

There is a very special feeling to the island - hard to describe. The service is good, people hang out at the beach bar for aperitivo as the sun goes down, the house reef is excellent for snorkeling. Everything is relaxed and enjoyable.

This is an all-inclusive resort, and from this point of view, the food is the best in the Maldives (I live here, so I have a reasonable sample to work from). It is Italian owned, and most guests are Italian, so necessarily, the food is of high standard. The chef will cook to special requests as well. Breakfasts are less good - again matching Italian expectations.

Dive center - it is OK, a bit cavalier to be honest, and not the best out there.

You can get massages, and they have a small spa, but this is not a huge benefit. They are building a full size spa at the moment. No pool.

No 'animation' thank God.

Highly recommended - would say it is the best value, all-inclusive resort in the Maldives.

Very nice small resort owned by an Italian. Every sunset/beach villa - which are spacious - has it's own private beach, which gives you the most possible privacy. On your private beach you find everything you need like 2 different types of sunbeds, hammock, swing and a jacuzzi. Just a few meters from the beach you find a beautiful coral reef where you can spend hours snorkeling and discover all the reef animals you want to observe (like turtles, octopuses, reef sharks, rays, etc.).
Food varies between ok and excellent. Chief cook is italien. So when it comes to italian food like pasta or tiramisu the food is excellent, fish is good/very good, meat is ok/good. The variety is ok. What I like very much is the set menus they have for dinner (very relaxing unlike stressfull and sometimes ridiculous buffet thing most places offer for every single meal).
To mention is also the massage center: very good. We had on our trip prior to the stay on the Maldives a few massages in India (all of them Kerala style). And the massage on Nika was among the bests we had (also Kerala style).
Cons: The resort is not the newest anymore (you can see that in the sunset/beach villas), air taxi to and from the island su... (but this is more an issue of the air taxi company) and the island is pricy like a lot of the luxury islands on the Maldives.
And don't go there if you want entertainement, there is nothing. It's a very quiet and relaxing island.

This was our first trip to the Maldives and we wanted to experience a once in a lifetime trip. Nika did not disappoint. It is a very small island so if you are looking for choice of restaurant and entertainment I would not recommend this island. We hesitated between a water bunglaow and a beach bungalow but our travel agent recommended the latter. There is apparently much less space and privacy on a water bunglaow than a beach bunglaow. We had a fantastic private beach and the snorkelling was amazing. We paid extra for a sunset bunglaow and I would recommend this extra expense as you get sun all day on your beach. The bunglaows are huge and very private, simple maldivian style.
The only negative point (and it did end up being quite a problem at the end) was the food. There is only one restaurant on the island and while initially, the food seems good, after 10 days eating in the same place, the menu did become a little repetetive.
Just one word of advice, don't bother with the fishing village trip as there is nothing to see and it ends up just being an excuse to take you to some over-priced shops full of cheap tacky items. Also, make sure you are all inclusive - drinks are very expensive but I have been told that this is the same all over the Maldives.
If you are looking for a very relaxinf laid back atmospher, this is the place.