Best of the Maldives: Innovation – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Queens Award for Innovation

Happy Birthday Your Majesty! And thank you for the very kind mention on your special day of ‘Piero’ (the company I manage) as an exemplar of British innovation. My day job is stewardship of a small software developer that provides sport broadcast graphical tools called Piero and today Her Majesty The Queen announced that we had been awarded The 2011 Queen’s Award for Innovation.

On a far less majestic scale, if I had to give out an award for Innovation in general to Maldive resorts, it would go to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. They not only innovate with a range of creative touches (many of which I haven’t had the opportunity to post yet), but they also must be the most technology rich resort. They have embraced ‘reefscaping’ more extensively than any other. Their Marine Discovery Center sponsors and conducts research in innovation for marine bio-sustainability.

A brilliant example of both service innovation and using technology is their ‘Manta On-Call’ service. One of the givens to nature is it unpredictability and that is especially true with many of its most beguiling and intriguing creatures. While it is part of the territory that there is no guarantee what you might see when you venture into the wild (as we learned on our Hammerhead excursion while visiting Kuramathi’s not-so-eponymous Hammerhead Point that day), it is nonetheless frustrating when you have so little time during your visit. While the lovely water and general aquatic flora and fauna always provide excellent consolation, it can be a bit disappointing heading out on a number of excursions hoping to see something as dramatic as manta rays but come back unsuccessful. To help increase the chances of seeing mantas, Landaa has a service called ‘Manta On-Call’. The reception gives you your own mobile phone and keeps in touch with the dive trips and snorkel excursions throughout the day. If a group of mantas is spotted, they telephone you wherever you are on the island and arrange an excursion to take you out so you can see them as soon as feasible.

Hat’s off to Landaa, congratulations to Piero, and Happy Birthday to Her Majesty the Queen.

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Best of the Maldives: Sore Feet Dining – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Blu pool dining

Ooohhh…sore feet. Whether it yesterday’s marathon or tenderness from overly hot sand, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru has the pedi-treatment for you.

Their Blu restaurant is a lovely place with a rustic, understated elegance fashioned from unpolished concrete and distressed wood. To extend the soothing comfort of its Italian delicacies, it also offers diner in the pool. Many resorts have ‘pool-side’ bars, but Landaa is the first ‘pool-in’ dining. I thought that the sensation of warm sand between my toes during dinner was distinctive, but warm water soaking my feet while a crisp Sauvignon soaks my palette is sublime.

Landaa’s piscinary gourmet uniqueness may be somewhat short-lived, however, as the upcoming Ayada resort has a published designs which show even more extensive catering to this no-shoes style of dining.

A final note to add an inspiring follow up to my post-script of the last post. Mark Deakin not only completed the London Marathon, but started a new life marathon at the same time as he stopped at the Tower Bridge to propose to his girlfriend, Ilona. So Landaa’s pool dining can not only soothe Mark’s weary feet, but also provide the perfectly romantic celebration to their new life together. Maybe this post should be ‘Best Post-Marathon Marriage Proposal Romantic Dinner’.

Mark and Ilona proposal 1  Mark and Ilona proposal 2  Mark and Ilona proposal 3

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Best of the Maldives: Running – Shangri-La

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running on beach

The epic London Marathon takes place tomorrow so which resort is the best place for entrants to get their training in. Once you have carbo-loaded at Kuramathi, head to Shangri-La Vilingili for your training runs. Most Maldive islands would have you running laps being little larger than your typical running track in circumference anyway. Vilingili has 3 jogging trails for a total of a four kilometre route. A luxuriously long patch of ground in the terrain challenged Maldives.

Soneva Fushi also offers ‘hidden’ jogging trails and is a much larger island, but Villingili offers an eight-minute speedboat ride away ‘a 17-kilometre road, which is the longest in the Maldives’ which connects 5 neighbouring islands.

Good luck to my friend Mark Deakin who will be one of the 6000+ runners and he is raising money for the Oxford John Radcliffe Hospital if you want to lend support.

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Best of the Maldives: Dining Choices – Kurumba

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Kurumba pool side dining

The Lynn family enjoying one of Kurumba’s many dining delights.

Perhaps this post could also be called ‘Best for Americans’. Americans love choice and Americans love food. Living the UK for two decades, people ask what I miss from the States. There is not much at this point, both because I have grown fond of the UK’s own offerings and because the UK has more and more stuff from America. The one answer I always respond with is ‘choice’. USA is the land where places like Starbucks pioneered the triple-shot, skinny, extra-hot latte with a hazelnut and cinnamon as a form of a ‘cup of coffee’. In our local Waitrose store, they offer 3 types of cake mix…in America, there is a cake mix aisle. As it happens, this week I in the apotheosis of dining choice…Las Vegas. I woke up the other night from jet lag at 3:00 am and felt a bit peckish and I had 3 restaurants that were open to choose from…without leaving my hotel.

If you want that kind of decadent dining variety, then the unsurprising winner is the resort I found to have the ‘Most Choices’ overall – Kurumba. When it comes to dining, they have 10 options

which is the most culinary variety you will find in the Maldives…

  1. Al Qasr – Arabic/Lebanese
  2. La Cucina– Italian
  3. Hamakaze – Japanese
  4. Kurumba Mahal – Indian
  5. Ming Court – Chinese
  6. Ocean Grill – seafood
  7. Kurumba Cafe – variety
  8. Pizza Piazza – poolside pizza (brick oven baked)
  9. Vihamana – buffet restaurant for breakfast and meal plan meals
  10. Beach Bar – lunches served a la carte and buffet

Also, the resort offers room service which offers an impressive selection of dishes from each of the restaurants. See my blog post on ‘Meal Plan’.

Kuramathi also has 10 restaurants, but they don’t have the diversity of styles and menus as a couple of the restaurants are just different areas serving the same fare.

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Best of the Maldives: No Shoes Games – Reethi Beach

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Reethi Beach games room

 

Games rooms are plentiful enough and ‘no shoes’ experience is plentiful enough, but the two together is a real treat that Reethi Beach has done best.

Games rooms are usually they are housed in an air conditioned building in the main area. Another very practical reason why games rooms tend to be solid floors is the matter of levelling the pool/snooker table. But I played on it and they seemed to a figured out how to get it all level.

Also, the ‘no shoes’ experience of the basic Maldives, for a while, seemed like a bit of a declining treasure as more upscale venues developed more conventional dining restaurants with solid floors. I think now the resorts are starting to realise that their is a certain priceless allure to soft, warm sand between your toes no matter where you go including diner or post-prandial play-time (that said, there is a balancing act of catering to a jet-setting posh segment that want to wear their Manolo Blahniks around the island).

Reethi Beach is certainly one of the ‘old school’ resorts with the feel of traditional Maldives with friendly, collegial atmosphere, simple and natural landscaping, and of course the ‘no shoes’ experience throughout. The games room also includes a Foosball table and Ping Pong table. A final bonus point for Reethi Beeth was the blue felt on the pool table. It really captured that aquatic Maldivian aesthetic.

Games on!

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Best of the Maldives: Sweet Tooth – Six Senses Laamu

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Six Senses Laamu Ice

 

Anantara Kihava’s crown as the new kid on the block didn’t last long as Six Senses Laamu opened last weekend. SSLL has a lounge called ‘Ice’ which specialises in the sins of the sweet tooth.

“Ice is for all those with a sweet tooth. From the crepe bar and cocoa kitchen to the 40 flavored ice creams, the choices are endless. With daily cooking clinics, just leave room for the tasting.”

Even the ice cream icon Baskin and Robbins only had 31 flavours. And a ‘Cocoa Kitchen’. Yum.

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Best of the Maldives: Lowest Price AI – Club Faru

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Club Faru

While the absolute lowest price for the Maldives seems to be Asdu Sun, if you want a refreshing brew, pool-side pina colada or glass of wine with dinner, those refreshments can add a tidy amount to an tight budget. As a result, many prefer the ‘All Inclusive’ scheme which minimises those mounting extras and can provide the lowest total cost of a holiday.

Equator Village has an All-Inclusive (AI) for $167 for 2 people sharing making it $84 per person per day which would seem nearly as low as Asdu Sun’s FB offer. Unfortunately, it does take an extra plane transfer to get there which adds $337 per person or $48/day for a 7 day stay.

But, Club Faru quoted $184.00 on All Inclusive for two people sharing for $92 per person per day. That not only covers an extra meals, but drinks (including spirits), soft drinks, coffees and even an city tour excursion to Male. That could be an even a better deal than Biyadhoo’s FB offer overall.

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Best of the Maldives: Lowest Price – Asdu Sun

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Asdu Sun resort

 

This week the UK budget was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a pretty stark theme of austerity. So what is a Maldives aficionado to do in such times of austerity?

Naturally, all sorts of pre-booking, pre-opening, last-minute and other quirky deals can be found. But all things being equal, the rack-rate lowest starting point is Asdu Sun. They quoted a penny-preserving rate for mid-July of $70 per person per day on full board (flights not included).

But you do get less…unless you truly think less is more. Speaking with Reservations, Asdu Sun takes pride in being back to basics island. No mini-bars. No spa. No fitness centre. No underwater golf range. Not even hot water! The reservations assisted boasted (perhaps another superlative for them) of being the ‘simplest island’. Old school nostalgic simplicity. A plot of sand and a palm tree.

If you are looking for something a little less spartan, Biyadhoo is often cited as one of the best economy-priced resorts. They have hot water and a spa as well as a one of the best house reefs. They quoted $191 for two people per day (for 2 people sharing) Full Board in July which works out to $95 per person per day.

Hopefully, in the future the Maldives government will pave the way for even more economical options according to recent reports on their concerns about catering to the mid-market.

Maybe Asdu Sun’s nickname should be ‘ASDA Sun’.  The tag line fits, “Saving you money every day.”

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Best of the Maldives: Kite Surfing – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Sakis Dreaming of Maldives kite surfing

March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. As such it is classic kite flying season. The seasons are a bit different in equatorial Maldives, but we are heading into the half of the year with a bit more precipitation and breezes from the southwest trade winds. Not much too much to fret about since most of this time is still sunny, tropical paradise. But if you want to embrace the breezes when they blow, then Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru is the place for you. They have 9 boards and kites varying from 2 to 17 metres. And if you needed any further inspiration, Sakis just posted the dazzling masterpiece on his site last week. If you want to find other resorts with kite surfing, it is one of the activities noted in the Maldives Complete profiles.

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Best of the Maldives: Produce Garden – Adaaran Hudhuranfushi

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Hudhuranfushi garden

 

Happy Vernal Equinox!

The official arrival of spring is a milestone to start working on that garden. And if you are into gardening, then the resort with the ‘biggest’ appeal would be Adaaran Hudhuranfushi.

Hudhuranfushi has the largest produce garden of any resort in the Maldives. So you are guaranteed a massive selection of fresh produce at the buffet. Such diverse produce as squash-like ‘snake goat’ (see picture below). Gardening is big thing in terms of scale and heritage at Hudhuranfushi. Before it was a resort island, it was an agricultural island.

Guests are welcome to tour the massive complex, but a guide is recommended to highlight all the distinctive things growing there (and to help keep from getting lost).

 

Hudhuranfushi Snake Goat

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