Best of the Maldives: Press Kit – LUX* Maldives / Gangehi

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LUX Maldives press kit

Bumf, swag and paraphernalia. That is the burden of conventional marketing. The most popular give-away (often sponsored) at trade-shows is a carrier bag to haul all of the brochures, pamphlets, flyers, fact sheets and other assorted promo material. After a tour, I have to watch my baggage weight with piles of paper I bring back. LUX* Maldives has remedied all that with their credit card USB press kit. After my island tour, PR Manager Dolores Semeraro handed me all the material I needed on the handy little device shown here.

As it happens, when I met with Raffaela Colleoni of Gangehi at WTM and they had the same gizmo. But they had a picture of the island on it. In fact, several of the business cards I collected featured aerial resort shots. I think this is a smart idea. The romantically diminutive dot nestled in swathes of turquoise IS the ‘product’.

Like the Maldives islands themselves, good things do come in small packages.

 

LUX Maldives press kit close up

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Best of the Maldives: Pool Number – Beach House Iruveli

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Beach House at Iruveli pool

One of the dividends to my WTM visit is coming away with a notebook full of new ‘Best of Maldives’ candidates through my discussions with the various resorts and the Tourism Ministry folks. One of my revelations was meeting with Haydee Cruz of The Beach House at Iruveli and learning about their ‘all pool villas’ concept.

Iruveli are neither the only nor the first ‘all pool villa’ resort (eg. Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru has the same concept), but they are the biggest. With their 83 rooms (versus 48 are Vabbinfaru) plus their 2 (!) main pools AND a special kids pool at the kids club, they coming to a splashing 86 pools in total (hat tip to Liz Panchang who pointed out the distinction). And these are substantial pools, eg. Length: 3.2m, Width: 2.3m, Depth: 1.1m.

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Best of the Maldives: Boulevard – Kanuhura

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Kanuhura boulevard

 

Turn on those lights! The starting pistol to American Christmas season might be ‘Black Friday’, but in the UK it is tonight’s ceremonial lighting of Oxford Street, the biggest shopping street in London.

The closest equivalent to Oxford Street in the Maldives is the Manhattan-inspired ’Fifth Avenue’ straight through the middle of Kanuhura island. Extended by jetties to the water villas and the welcome jetty on either side, the boulevard stretches for over 400 metres. It makes for a dramatic vista. But perhaps even more enticing for the plastic-toting visitors are the posh shops that line it in the centre that inspire its name. They even have their very own private label fashion. If you can’t get there before Christmas, at least you can take a 360 degree virtual tour here to get in the shopping spirit.

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Best of the Maldives: Junior Hoopsters – Lily Beach

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Lily Beach - junior hoops

Let the hoops commence. The NBA starts today with Celtics vs. Heat and Lakers vs. Mavericks. For aspiring hoopsters or young fans, the resort of the day is Lily Beach. An increasing number of resorts have basketball courts (perhaps as the sport grows increasingly international), but only Lily Beach has a junior hoop at its kids activity centre.

Swish!

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Best of the Maldives: Turkish – Ayada

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Turkey flag
Happy Turkey Day!

No not American Thanksgiving. But the National Holiday of Turkey, ‘Republic Day’. And the resort of the day is Ayada.

Ayada is owned and managed by a Turkish company and it reflects its Ottoman roots throughout the resort. From the Turkish Hammam baths to the Ottoman lounge…

“From the serenity and tranquility of the Maldives to the vibrancy of a café in Turkey, Ayada Maldives showcases the beauty and unique experience of sipping authentically brewed Turkish coffee and specialty teas with a wide array of traditional shisha at the Ottoman Lounge. The lounge is reminiscent of a traditional café in Turkey with the Ottoman style furnishings complete with intricate light fixtures and low seating.”

?erefe!

Post Script – For a Turkish language website on the Maldives, check out www.maldivler.com.tr .

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Best of the Maldives: Private Ocean Swimming – Gili Lankanfushi

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Gili Lankanfushi - private swimming area water villa

 

Like glass floors, private back areas are another prominently requested feature for Maldive villas. Especially for modest Middle Eastern women who prefer not to wear skimpy beach clothes in public view. Also, the numerous honeymooners that flock here like a little privacy to take the ‘P’ out of ‘PDA’.

Most villas in the Maldives have some sort of private back area, but they differ widely. From just enough space for an outdoor shower to expansive, walled gardens with private pools and other amenities. That is why I include a picture of the back areas in the Room Type Profiles.

Now water villas have the entire ocean for their ‘back area’. Great for sunsets, marine life watching, handy snorkelling, and lovely ocean views. Regardless of the screens, walls and configuration, not super for privacy (at least from the ocean side). But Gili Lankanfushi has private ocean swimming areas on its water villas. Areas of the sea walled off 360 degrees that you can swim or whatever in. Sort of its own version of private ‘water closet’ altogether where you don’t just see the lagoon, but you are in it.

Don’t get too bold in the ostensibly private setting. The water is eztremely clear and people could probably see a bit of what is going on from the adjacent walkway at least some of whatever is under water.

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Best of the Maldives: Bog View – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru bog view

The Maldives are sort of pioneers in the ‘Windows’ department. Underwater windows, but also Overwater windows. Also, known as ‘glass floors’. These features have become so common and popular, that I added a field for them in the ‘Room Type’ database.

Resorts feature glass floors in many of the top water villa rooms as well as spas and restaurants. But perhaps the most unusual place is the bathroom. Maybe not so surprising. With the prevailing ‘no shoes, no news’ ethos, there’s no daily newspaper for your morning constitutional. So a front row seat to watch the aquatic wonders below is a decadent alternative.

When I first saw this feature in a toilet, I thought it would be unique, but my research has uncovered several like the one from Six Senses Laamu below. But I’ve given the wipe of the squeegee to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru whose footside window is larger and the largest I have found.

Six Senses Laamu toilet glass floor

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Best of the Maldives: Villa Windows – Kuda Huraa

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Kuda Huraa villa windows inside

 

 

The World is Ready!

For Windows! That’s the tag line (one of them) for Windows 8 launching today around the world. My Facebook page and Twitter feeds are packed with former Microsoft colleagues whooping with delight at their new release (launch times are are always a bit frothy in Redmond, especially for the franchise product).

In honour of Windows 8 (and in the interest of balanced coverage), I thought I would showcase some superlative Windows in the Maldives. Particularly those of Four Seasons Kuda Huraa villas. Maybe it is my Microsoft heritage, but one of my pet peeves in any building, especially resorts and hotels, is not enough windows. Especially in a picturesque destination like the Maldives. Yes, we do spend as much time as possible outside on our visits, but sometimes you just have to or want to be inside. Maybe for a dose of refreshing air conditioning. Maybe because you have to or want to get on the computer (a la photo above). It is a shame that in such cases you have to abandon the beauty you came to experience.

The most striking design he have some across in our worldwide travels is the Phinda Forest Lodges in the Kruger, South Africa. They are constructed of 3 walls of floor-to-ceiling glass. Yes, you can lower blinds for complete privacy, but the fun part is just opening them completely and still feeling immersed in the lush surrounding jungle. We were resting in our room one mid-day after a crack-of-dawn safari and just watched all the gazelles and monkeys playing a few feet away outside.

The closest we have found to this design are the Kanuhura villas which have a very similar design (see photos). You do more often find floor-to-ceiling glass on one wall of the new water villas around the Maldives, thank goodness. But wrap-around transparency is still a novelty.

Windows everywhere. Just like Microsoft would like it.

 

Kuda Huraa villa windows

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