Best of the Maldives: Garden Islands – Sun Siyam Iru Veli / Vilu Reef

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Sun Siyam Iru Veli - garden islands 3

Chef’s gardens have become fairly commonplace at Maldives resorts, but how many properties have “garden islands” of their very own? Not just one but two islands. Serving the chefs at the two nearby (within in sight) sister resort islands Sun Siyam Iru Veli and Sun Siyam Vilu Reef. The expansive scale means that Sun Siyam not only can reduce the carbon footprint of even more of their ingredients, but they can cultivate a wider range and larger quantity of food for the kitchens than the typical herb collection in chef’s gardens.

Sun Siyam Iru Veli - garden islands 2

Sun Siyam Iru Veli - garden islands 1

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Best of the Maldives: Swimming “Pool” Channel – Ailafushi

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Kuda Villingili - long pool 1

Some people ask why people want pools in the Maldives when there is some much delightful water surrounding the entire property. One advantage is that a pool provides a swimming area more protected from currents. Well, Ailafushi’s island is sculpted with a channel dissecting it with a circular “pool” right in the centre. It not only offers a natural bathing spot for the aquatically minded, but also an alluring water feature for the landlubbers.  More and more new islands have been built with terrforming, but this shows that you can craft the water-scape as well.

Ailiafushi - swimming pool channel 2

  

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Best of the Maldives: Longest Continuous Pool – Kuda Villingili

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Kuda Villingili - long pool 2

In the arena of numerical bragging rights, sometime you have to be quite explicit about your category. Kuda Villingili boasts the “longest pool” in the Maldives.

  • “Take a dive in the cool waters of the resort’s swimming pool, one of the longest in the Maldives that stretches 150-metres, surrounded by lush nature.”

But at 150 metres, it didn’t seem to meet Sirru Fen Fushi’s 200 metre (!) long one. BUT, SFF’s is divided into two equal pools adjacent to each other, so KV is correct that they have the longest continuous pool in the destination (compared to SFF’s two 100m long pools).

Ideal for triathletes and swimmers who don’t like tumble turns.

Kuda Villingili - long pool 1

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Best of the Maldives: Average Revenue Per Room – Soneva Jani

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Soneva Jani - overview

Soneva Jani’s “completely by the numbers” is especially impressive even by Maldivian standards as shared in the article “New Chapter Opens for Asia’s Soneva Hotels With a More Than $200 Million Investment”. The piece shared the Average Revenue Per room for the property:

  • “According to Shivdasani, Soneva’s top 100 clients account for 40 to 50 percent of revenues. They arrive in private jets and spend between $100,000 and $1 million. Soneva Jani rakes in an eye-watering average rate of $3,500 and an average occupancy of 70 percent, making it the RevPAR (revenue per available room) leader in Asia.”

Just wow!

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Best of the Maldives: Islamic Resort – Fiyavalhu

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Fiyavalhu - islamic resort

Perhaps the most Maldivian cultural fusion is Islam and the Maldives. A longstanding and tightly integral part of its heritage, and yet none of its resorts focused on this connection to cater for the special preferences of Muslim guests. Noting this omission was one of my second ever “What I Haven’t Seen” pieces. There were plans for an Islamic resort, Gaakoshibee, in Shaviyani Atoll but it never came to light. The newly launched Fiyavalhu finally has come to the destination with a keen Islamic sensitivity. Some examples include:

  • All plunge pool segregated in enclosed back areas for privacy
  • No alcohol served (but an extensive range of mocktails) – “Our creative Mixologists will prepare drinks of your preference from the seasonal fruits and vegetables… Fresh coconuts and other non-alcoholic drinks, snacks or special bites will be available.”
  • On site mosque open to guests.

The resort is open to all and it hardly makes mention of its special features which could likely appeal to a wide range of customers.

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Best of the Maldives: Italian-Maldivian Fusion – Sun Siyam Iru Veli

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Sun Siyam Iru Veli - italian maldivian fusion

Probably the two most popular cuisines in the Maldives – Italian and Maldivian – have been fused by head chef Victor Zanitto of Sun Siyam Iru Veli. Victor has spent 6 years in the Maldives and has explored the local cooking extensively. He says that the fusion is a natural marriage of tastes and flavours. He says that Maldivians love thin pizza with tandoori chicken, and Italians are crazy about raw fish. He has worked how to make the most of limited ingredients, ie reef fish and coconut, and he noted that even ingredients like Sri Lankan tomatoes better than those from Italy.  We enjoyed the Piedmont delicacy of panna cotta made with tropical mango.

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Best of the Maldives: Kids Restaurant – Ailafushi

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Ailafushi - kids restaurant

Plenty of reasons to treat your children to a break from Mom and Dad, and Mom and Dad can benefit too with some time together. One of those times is a romantic meal together, but how do the children get fed. Well, Ailafushi’s kids club features its own kids restaurant serving up pizza and pasta as well as sweets like cakes and cookies.

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Best of the Maldives: Teen Hangout – Soneva Jani

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Soneva Jani - waterfall bar

The most natural and aquatic “walls” to any Maldives resort space is Soneva Jani’s “Cave Bar” in its Den kids club. The pool bar especially designed for teens is secluded behind one of the two pool waterfalls. The other leads to the Cave Bar, an evening hangout for teens, complete with a DJ booth, and dance floor.

This feature has prompted me to add two new site Tags: “Teenager” (activities for which are in increasing demand with the rise in family holidayers at the destination) and “Waterfall” (I do appreciate water features).

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Best of the Maldives: Teletubbies – Ritz-Carlton Maldives

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Ritz-Carlton Maldives - teletubbies

The most natural roof in the Maldives has to be the Ritz Carlton Maldives teletubbyesque “Ritz Kids” kids club. Its living turf dome provides a rare hill-like impression for its youngster haven. Its circular portal opens to an extensive playground of activities and features (see below) all protectively coddled in this knoll-y corral.

Ritz-Carlton Maldives - teletubbies 2

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Best of the Maldives: Artificial Thatch – Dhawa Ihuru

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Dhawa Ihuru - thatch 1

One of the classic tick-boxes for a Maldivian resort are the archetypal thatched roof villas. While styling contemporary designs have proliferated across the destination with dramatic aesthetic allure, many still want that ‘authentic’ vibe of a Robinson Crusoe hut on a tropical island. A major challenge to catering for this preference is that palm thatch roofs are very expensive to build and maintain. Dhawa Ihuru has outfitted its buildings with Palmex artificial thatch which not only keeps costs down (do the property can be more affordable), but is also itself an eco-friendly solution being produced in a sustainable way and reducing the demand on harvesting palm trees as Palmex describes:

  • Product waste in all our plants is diverted from final disposal and sent to be recycled in other plastic manufacturing processes. Our packaging is kept to an absolute minimum for shipping and is made of Palmex production waste. We have also undergone a third-party verification process with Vertima Inc. and Athena Sustainable Materials Institute where Palmex International Inc. products and our entire supply chain were assessed. We received the Validated Eco-Declaration® Certification summarizing verified environmental claim.

Frankly, we didn’t even notice that they are artificial until it was pointed out to us and we had a look very close

Dhawa Ihuru - thatch 2

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