Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 6: Maafushivaru

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Maafushivaru tour

Great things come in small packages.

That is certainly part of the charm of the Maldives. When I try to describe the magic of the place, I often refer to the iconic tropical picture of a plop of sand and a solitary palm tree. That is the Maldives. And the islands that come closest to that romanticised ideal are the small ones. And as a result, they are pretty popular…and pricey.

Maafushivaru breaks from the overbooked and premium priced herd of mini-isles. It is in the top 10 of smallest resort islands in the Maldives, but it is only positioned as a 4.5 rating despite a very high standard throughout. Also, it has mostly sold its limited inventory to the Swiss market (Kuoni headquarters) and Italy (where people there know it from its previous incarnation as ‘T Club Maafushivaru’). As a result, it isn’t as widely known in other parts of Europe or Asia. But it is opening up inventory to those markets so it is an opportunity to snare a tiny island experience without a millionaire salary or booking a year in advance.

And if that’s not small enough for you, then there’s the neighbouring deserted island of Lonobu. It is an intriguing gem in its own right which will be my first ‘Best of the Maldives’ for Maafushivaru next week. It has two villas that you can rent (two to accommodate a family, but only one guest group at a time can have the island for a dinner plus overnight stay). It’s the desert island experience…with air conditioning, plumbing, mini-bar and TV at hand. Stay tuned for more.

The rooms are not small though. They have a spacious feel to them with towering cathedral ceilings. Extensive use of polished concrete is an elegantly simple design. Also, the black and white prints are very classy.

I came away with 9 Best of the Maldives pieces for Maafushivaru which will break their duck for Best Ofs.

Small resort with a big impression.

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Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 5: Vilamendhoo

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Vilamendhoo tour

Best in class.

Any fighter (weight class), racing driver (engine class) or school athlete (age class) will tell you that the key is being best in class. Vilamendhoo makes a serious bid for the best 4 star in the Maldives. Leading contenders before for me were Kuramathi and Komandoo, but both of those have joined the inexorably rising premium tide and have re-positioned themselves in the increasingly crowded 5-star category. Despite a sparkling, top-to-bottom revamp, ‘Vila’ has stuck to its 4-star designation.  The value extends beyond the room prices as all of the resort prices are reasonable. For example, their lobster dinner on the beach is only $60 (£37).

While Vilamendhoo has joined the herd stampeding to ever higher standards in the Maldives, it has broken away from the pack, part of a rare breed of superb 4-star properties there. The 4-star move is a smart one for customer delight. Rather than be yet another 5-star, it stands out as a 4-star. The key to customer satisfaction is exceeding expectations. And anyone coming to Vila expecting a 4-star resort is going to have their expectations exceeded. Everything is at least 4-star quality or better. And they have splurged on some typically 5-star touches like drench showers and an overwater spa. Lori and I have stayed in the poshest of posh hotels and are pretty fussy with our dining and sleeping, and we would be very comfortable and happy spending a long visit at Vila.  I identified a further 6 Best of the Maldives candidates during our stay to be posted over the next few months.

Quality and value aren’t the only areas where Vila straddles having your cake and eating it. It also deftly hedges the raging ‘children’ debate (some love Maldives as a great destination for the family, while others prize the tranquillity that they fear children disrupt) by offering two areas – one welcoming children and the other exclusive to adults only. This solution is as effective as it is diplomatic. Visiting both pools, both bars, and both restaurants, they did each have a different vibe. And that is great…different strokes for different folks.

The thing that you have to keep in mind about the Maldives (and this is the root cause some perceived ratings inflation) is that the destination itself is a 6-star destination. You could put a cardboard box on the beach and it would still be close to a 5-star experience compared to many places in the world. In this context, Vila is a bit like Hagen Daz vanilla ice cream. It’s not particularly fancy with all sorts of elaborate gourmet mix-ins. Just sumptuous, delicious ice cream. Again, the Maldives – the waters, the reefs, the sunset, the palm trees – are like the best pie you have ever eaten. The resort is just the scoop of ice cream on top. And Vilamendhoo is a simply superb complement to such a tasty dish of paradise.

Post Script – The little tan blob in the right hand corner of the picture above (for the eagle eyed) was a sting ray passing by during our photo. Below Lori says a closer hello.

Vlamendhoo sting ray

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Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 4: Lily Beach

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Lily Beach tour 3

Just right.

That was the best compliment a family friend, Elmer Rising, had for a meal or anything he enjoyed. As an artist, he had a deep appreciation for getting things ‘just right’. For a meal, it was not over the top (like some Thanksgiving feasts), nor conversely lacking in anything. That is the phrase that came to mind visiting Lily Beach.

One of the great attractions to Lily Beach is its Luxury All Inclusive offer – the Platinnum Plan. The plan includes everything you can imagine outside of special excursions (eg. motorised sports, diving) and special meals (eg. lobster dinners in the Wave restaurant). The plan even provides cigarettes which I’d not come across before.

Not only is the plan an attractive value, it also changes the whole ambience of the property. That is because it is the only plan they offer and everyone is on it. As a result, staying at Lily is more like staying at some rich friend’s paradise estate than it is like consuming a holiday package. No signing for things constantly. No class/category dividing arm bands. Never hearing the question ‘What room, sir?’

A few years ago Lily underwent a refurb to take it from 4 to 5 star status. It ticks all the boxes to the Maldives Complete special ‘5 Star’ checklist. Smart food, rooms, service throughout. One of the key qualities I look for in resorts attesting to 5-star status is shortfalls. If you are going to be a true ‘5 star’, then you really shouldn’t have any ‘holes in your game’. And Lily Beach was solid throughout with a few special touches of distinction thrown in.

The house reef is more like 6 stars. A mere 3 metres from the shoreline it is closely accessible to the beach from one entire side of the island. It has a quite deep drop-off (about 20 metres), but the drama comes with the coral. All sorts of shapes, sizes and colours of vibrant and healthy coral are packed onto the reef. Sprinkled with endless colourful schools of fish. Lily would definitely be a candidate for ‘Best House Reef Coral’. An amibitious distinction, but Lily is worthy of candidacy.

Tip 1: Family Beach Villa – Lily offers several Family Bech Villas with interconnected rooms. Not unique in itelf in the Maldives, but still rare enough to be appreciated by family visitors. Lily have been extra smart to kit out the two rooms with one having double bed and the other having twin (so siblings don’t have to share a bed that might cause friction not welcome on a holiday).

Tip 2: ‘Beach Suite’ – One of their Beach Villas (#300) is actually a ‘Beach Suite’ with a living room added. There is no extra charge and can be requested on an availability basis.

In addition to the ‘Luxury All Inclusive’ distinction, I have now identified a further 11 Best of the Maldives candidates to research and share in the coming months.

Just right.

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Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 3: Paradise Island / The Haven

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Paradise Island - tour post

Just a literal (or should I saw ‘littoral’) stone’s throw away, we proceed onto Paradise Island / The Haven.

We’ve have been very close to visiting Paradise (the resort, not the notion) several other times before. A few years back when the family was seeking out a more value-for-money place, it made the short-list. And subsequent North Male visits took us to Manta Point for diving which is just off Paradise’s house reef.

Paradise pioneered the concept of the split personality island. Where a newer part of the island, typically water villas, are developed to a significantly higher standard than the rest of the resort. Often an entire ‘star’ difference (eg. 4-star and 5-star). Now over half a dozen resorts have this sort of ‘split’ set up. Often the adjacent properties have completely distinct branding, logistics, service, etc. This trend was just one reason the contributed to the development of Room Type database to provide people with more granular information on possible destinations. Just a profile on a resort as a whole doesn’t really tell the whole story of what’s on offer.

One of my discoveries was that The Haven water villas allow children of any age. Pretty much all of the water bungalows that I know of have restrictions against children staying there for safety reasons of them falling into the water. The policy at the Haven is to firmly warn the guests of the risks and if they do want to still stay there with children, then they are allowed to do so. This flexibility will be very welcome to families looking for the water villa experience but often restricted from doing so.

Another aspect of a big island is that it often sits on a big lagoon table making the house reef hard to reach and the snorkelling less exciting. But, as duly logged in Snorkel Spotter, we had a delightful snorkel seeing a shark, sting ray and more lion fish in one little rocky overhang (about a dozen) than we had ever seen.

I uncovered a further 6 Best of the Maldives candidates during my stay to add to the 2 already done. Great to finally make it all the way to Paradise after so many close callings.

 

Paradise Island - lion fish

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Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 2: Gili Lankanfushi

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Maldives Tour 3 - Gili Lankanfushi

Gili Lankanfushi is probably the most anticipated stop of the Tour. And it is our very first stop. When we were first planning our earliest trips to the Maldives, and compiling a massive spreadsheet of research data that would eventually evolve into Maldives Complete, our friends Andy and Linnet forwarded me a picture pulled from a travel magazine of the new extravagant water villas the likes of which none of us had ever seen. With Huvanfenfushi, it really kicked off the move by the Maldives to super-premium resorts that were built from the ground up with ‘wow’ factors such a distinctive designs, creative touches and remarkable features. I vowed that one day I would visit this magical resort.

Visiting Gili was also especially timely as it just changed ownership and branding last week The Soneva chain has sold the island to HPL Hotels and Resorts and renamed it ‘Gili Lankanfushi.’ There has been no refurbishment and pretty much all the staff hae remained the same. It’s clear that they want to preserve the distinctive concept and reputation of Gili and so no major changes are expected. They do have a new web site with all of the latest up-to-date detais.

Gili is a ‘plateau’ island (largish island sitting on a broad, raised underwater tableau) and such islands are not typically renowned for great snorkelling. But Soneva Gili is a great illustration of the power of Snorkel Spotter. The local marine biologist Vaidas Kirsys, who is used to fish surveying for his current research project, has logged a Maldives topping 21 sighting of everything on the Spotter list (lobster, ray, octopus, shark, turtle, manta). When we were there we were greeted by one of the larget reef sharks we have seen in a lagoon (well over a metre), duly logged in Snorkel Spotter. We decided to aim for Three Palm Island which was both near to our villa and where there was a sighting of an octopus logged. He didn’t find one but saw a large school of yellow snappers.

So renowned are many of Gili’s distinctions that I have already published 9 pieces about (the former) Soneva Gili. I uncovered a further 16 distinctions during my 24 hour stay. Combined with the 9 previous that takes Gili to 25 ‘distinctions’ which is the same as the ‘league leaders’ W Retreat and Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. Without doubt, one of the top 10 resorts in the Maldives.

Great to finally see this first of it’s type first class property first hand.

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10 for 10

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Tour 3 arrival

 

 

Back at our home away from home. It’s great to see our old friends. The trigger fish, the reef sharks, the parrot fish. They all came out to greet us for our return to the Maldives. As well as a pretty beefy black tip reef shark who swam by the arrival jetty (dutifully logged in the Snorkel Spotter). Fortunately, the friendly type, not like the one in this video (which happens to be taken where Lori and I have our other seaside vacations on the Intercoastal Waterway of North Carolina where Lori’s sister lives).

Lots of settling in and getting ready for the big week coming up with 10 resorts in 10 days. My itinerary for the rest of the week is listed below and per usual I will be posting daily overviews of each resort to be followed with the first ‘Best of Maldives’ I dig up about each respectively when I return. I will also be posting shorter notes about each stay on TripAdvisor Maldives Forum where I have alerted my various Forum friends of my trip and promised updates.

Tour 3 itinerary

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Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 1: South Ari or Bust

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Maldives Complete visit tally

 

 

Friday 13th is my lucky day. I’m on my way to the Maldives for ‘Tour’ #3 and trip #10.

South Ari is the atoll with the 2nd highest number of resorts, but I have never visited there. This week’s trip will take me to 8 further ones there (as well as 2 new ones in North Male atoll). South Ari is renowned for its whale sharks and we are hoping to spot one of these stunning creatures. At least, we have a whale shark lecture booked at LUX Maldives.

Perhaps a bit of my father’s son. My Dad has been to 48 states and has decided in his seventies to complete the set. He only recently visited North and South Dakota, and in the autumn my parents have a trip to Mississippi and Alabama to tick off the final two. I’ve decided that I will take it as my life’s mission to visit every one of the Maldives resorts. There are 99 active ones (with 27 more offline or coming online) and I will have made it to 36 after this trip.

Off we go into the very blue yonder.

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Best of the Maldives: Job Title – W Retreat

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W Retreat Insider Mijung Kim

Best job ever. Well, at least the best job title. “W Insider” is the title for W Retreat’s service special agent whose mission is to target the very best experiences tailored to each guest. To some extent, it is a fancy name for a ‘Concierge’, but W positions the role as a bit more…

“You are the soul behind the brand and you bring it to life. We don’t call W employees ‘Talent’ for nothing. Creative. Exciting. Innovative. W Talent are naturally attracted to the Brand and they ‘get it’. W Talent are as unique as the Brand itself, and cultivate the witty, whimsical, cool W environment.”

The title is a standard position at W Hotels around the world, but Mijung Kim (see above) is the first appointee in the Maldives.

I put Mijung to the test to find me some real hidden gems about the W Retreat. I sort of fancy Maldives Complete as a ‘Maldives Insider’ for all the resorts. W Retreat is one of the resorts that I have been fortunate enough to stay so I have already ferreted out a league-leading 21 ‘Best of the Maldives’ pieces about the W. So I was curious to see what she came up with. Her first stab was a collection of fine recommendations that would have been ideal for a Maldives neophyte, but as a veteran I wanted something a bit deeper. So she shared some more hidden (and fun) tidbitsof the island including [bird] security, pro snapper, natural medicine and ‘Angelina & Marilyn’.

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Best of the Maldives: Bocce Ball – Club Med Kani

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Club Med Kani bocce ball

 

 

This weekend featured the World Championship of Bocce Ball in Del Mar, California, but the champion bocca ball pitch in the Maldives has to be Club Med Kani’s. Anyone can throw a few balls in the sand and call it ‘bocce’. Kanu has chosen a select place under a sprawling palm canopy by the ocean’s edge. They have levelled out the sand pitch and marked it off with boarding on all sides. Finally, just for that added touch of official-ness, they have a special bocca ball stand in native palm-frond style.

 

Club Med Kani bocce ball stand

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