Best of the Maldives: Wake-Up Call – Taj Exotica

Taj Exotica - wake up service

Our neighbour wakes up his wife each day by bringing her a cup of coffee in bed each day. We’ve always thought that this was a touching and romantic ritual. If that sound lime more your cuppa tea than an alarm clock blaring in your ear or even a room phone ringing off the hook, then Taj Exotica will be happy to oblige. For your wake-up call, they bring your tea or coffee (according to your request) to your villa and present it with a gentle knock on the door. As a bonus service, they will also block all calls to your room until your wake up call time.

Best of the Maldives: Biodegradable Coffee Pods – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

Park Hyatt Hadahaa - biogradable coffee pods

Park Hyatt Hadahaa introduces the eco-friendly coffee with its Ecocaffe coffee pods on its villa’s mini-bar.

  • The world’s only certified biodegradable coffee pods for Nespresso machines to Maldives resorts. Almost all resorts are using plastic or aluminium pods in their rooms.”

Not having to leave you room for a tasty brew in the morning also makes it ‘low miles’ to converse your own personal energy.

Best of the Maldives: Mini-Bar Wine – Huvafenfushi

Huvafenfushi - CUBE mini bar

National Drink Wine Day today. The perfect occasion to splash out of bit of a special tipple. And if you really want to celebrate but are worried about stumbling back to your villa, then check into Huvafenfushi which offers the most exquisite bottle of wine I’ve come across…in its mini-bar. A $695 bottle of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtescede. If you are not splurging, then you might want to be a bit careful “raiding the mini-bar”.

I Heart Maldives

Hearts - beach beauty

IRed heartMaldives

The Maldives is long renowned as one of the most romantic places on Earth.  No surprise that there are hearts are everywhere you look in this corner of paramour’s paradise.  So to celebrate Valentines Day today instead of a dozen roses, a dozen hearts in paradise…

  1. Sand – Anantara Kihavah
    Anantara Kihavah - sand heart
  2. Balloons – Kurumba
    Kurumba - heart balloon
  3. Underwater – Rasdhoo Madivaru
    Rasdhoo Madivaru - diving heart
  4. Breakfast – Centara Grand
    Centara Grand - heart breakfast
  5. Fruit – Constance Moofushi
    Moofushi - fruit heart
  6. Acrobatics – Finolhu
    Finolhu - Acrobatics
  7. Dinner on the Sand – Centara Grand
    Centara Grand - sand heart
  8. Dinner in the Sand – LUX Maldives
    LUX South Ari Atoll - sand heart dinner
  9. Beach Candles – Atmosphere Kanifushi
    Atmosphere Kanifushi - heart sand candles
  10. Simple Bed Décor – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu
    Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu - heart bed decor
  11. Fancy Bed Décor – Huvafenfushi
    Huvafenfushi - bed heart
  12. Hands – One and Only Reethi Rah
    One and Only Reethi Rah heart hands

Best of the Maldives: Private Buggy – One & Only Reethi Rah

One and Only Reethi Rah buggy rank 2

If you want to take to the wheel, One and Only Reethi Rah offers buggies for their guests to drive themselves. They are available for rental (except for Grand Villa and Duplex guests which include a villa buggy free of charge). Of course, you can still opt for the chauffeured service on call. And when you pull up to their main restaurant, no worries about parking as they provide their own “Valet Parking” service (see below).

One and Only Reethi Rah buggy rank

Best of the Maldives: Buggy Stop – Canareef

Canareef - buggy stop

While the main jetty is often the focal point of to-ing and fro-ing, the biggest islands like Canareef (well, one of the longest), also lay on ground shuttles with little electric buggies to ferry people across the property itself. You can call them when you need them, but depending on how busy and far away they are, they might take a few minutes to reach you. Rather than expending any energy standing in the tropical sun, Canareef has constructed a number of sheltered buggy stops at its prime spots (eg. restaurants, spa).

Best of the Maldives: Artistic Arrival Jetty – Soneva Jani

Soneva Jani - arrival jetty

First impressions make the biggest impact. It’s one of the reasons why I added a photo of the “Arrival Jetty” to the Maldives Complete Profiles. We were particularly struck by Shangri-La Villingili’s towering welcome pier this summer. But Soneva Jani has set a new high bar in terms of aloha artistry with its sculpted creation.

Best of the Maldives: Budget Private Island – AaaVee

AaaVeee - private island

If the price of oil has got your sovereign fund in a slump or interest rates have hit your hedge fund, then maybe you want to consider the value priced private island hire available at AaaVeee. (thanks Paola) You can only bring up to 50 of your posse mates, but in the low season you can get away at a mere snip of a price of $50,000 per night…

  • 01-Nov-16 through 27-Dec-16 (Full Board) – $50,000
  • 28-Dec-16 through 06-Jan-17 (Full Board) – $100,000
  • 07-Jan-17 through 20-Apr-17 (Full Board) – $75,000
  • 21-Apr-17 through 31-Oct-17 (Full Board) – $50,000

And if this deal wasn’t inviting enough, AaaVeee has a Special Offer on its website – “7 nights on a Private island with All-inclusive Meals, accommodation & with your your invitees ONLY.  (Max 50pax)  Entire Island in nature’s paradise for your Private event JUST $100,000.”

Your very own plot of paradise that easy on the pocketbook (relatively).