Best of the Maldives: Outdoor Staff Meeting – Grand Park Kodhipparu

Grand Park Kodhipparu - staff meeting

Possibly the most off site management off-site in the world. Team leaders have been long taking their teams away from the hubbub of the office to escape distractions and reset the mind sets. But what do you do when your workplace is a remote island in a remote part of the world. Well, get even more remote. Like a sand bank in the middle of the ocean. Or the rooftop of a dhoni sailing along that ocean. This how General Manager Raffaele Solferino of Grand Park Kodhipparu gets his resort team’s focused:

  • “Among the activities we do at Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives to motivate colleagues and enhance our living together, once per week we do what we call out of the office briefing and we tour departments, facilities and live guest’s experience ourselves to better engage with all what we do and what we want deliver. In today sharing era we do not share only the figures, tools and techniques, but we aim to share our free time on the Island, our living together develops a lifestyle we want share with our guests with dedicated team functioning as best advisor on how to fully enjoy the potential of the Island and the Maldives. The impact is straight on guest and employees satisfaction producing better level of guest’s loyalty and staff retention. The Maldives offer a huge amount of opportunities and inspiring experiences development where the creativity and passion plays a role, putting on offer to customers unique experiences where ‘Making Moments in Time’ is our motto. It’s not always about figures, but the way you want deliver the excellence, a notable fashion house founder once he said: the profit is a consequence of a well done job with passion, quality and creativity. I am still following his vision as inspiration and try my best to influence the team I am leading to deliver a ‘Loving Hospitality’ in line with the company I represent on the market place. Soon we are entering the Environmental Management System where I will be involve directly together with our Marine and Land Biologist, as this is part of my engagement with Maldives and the global Environmental concerns, Therefore we will enter officially the Sustainable tourism practice as a way to look ahead and to the future.”

They say some of the bet ideas come hanging out at the bar.  With Kodhipparu, that bar happens to be a sand bar.  When I was a senior manager at Microsoft, I had a bit of a reputation for pushing the envelope of adventurous off-sites, but nothing I ever did there compares with Kodhipparu’s retreats. Inspired inspiration.

Grand Park Kodhipparu - staff meeting 3

Grand Park Kodhipparu - staff meeting 2

Best of the Maldives: Biggest Pirate Ship – Kandima

Kandima - pirate kids play ship

Talk Like A Pirate Day! Maybe one of the best celebrations on the calendar of esoteric days. The remote tropical patches of sand that are the Maldives are something out of a Robert Lewis Stevenson novel. And there is no bigger pirate treasure for active apprentice pirates than Kandima’s towering galleon at its “Kandiland” kids club.  The clipper ship complex comes complete with sun-screen netting, water cannons as well as a rabbit warren of climbing walls and slides.

Shiver me timbers!

Kandima - pirate kids play ship 2

Maxis in the Maldives

Kristina Krayt (Russia) – Cocoon 2

While the tropical sun-soaked sea-immersed Maldives is more renowned for its skimpier swimsuits, the luxuries resort properties do inspire quite a collection of longer dresses of a more elegant cut.

  1. Kristina Krayt (Russia) – Cocoon [ABOVE]
      
  2. Amelia Thripura Henderson (Malaysia) – Club Med Kani
    Amelia Thripura Henderson (Malaysia) - Club Med Kani
        
  3. Diana Zubiri-Smith (Philippines) – Anantara Dhigu
    Diana Zubiri-Smith (Philippines) - Anantara Dhigu
       
  4. Ashna Khan (India) – Vilu Reef
    Ashna Khan (India) - Vilu Reef

       
  5. Julia Matvienko (Russia) – Amilla Fushi
    Julia Matvienko (Russia) - Amilla Fushi
  6. Anna Trestain (OAE) – Angsana Velavaru
    Anna Trestain (OAE) - Angsana Velavaru
       
  7. Irina Cerutti (Switzerland) – Soneva Jani
    Irina Cerutti (Switzerland) - Soneva Jani
       
  8. Isabella Cirnski (Sweden) – One & Only Reethi Rah
    Isabella Cirnski (Sweden) - One & Only Reethi Rah
       
  9. Rebeca Labara (Spain) – Velassaru
    Rebeca Labara (Spain) - Velassaru
       
  10. Rianna Gabriel (Russia) – Sheraton Full Moon
    Rianna Gabriel (Russia) - Sheraton Full Moon
      
  11. Alisa Sarosiek (Russia) – Sun Island
    Alisa Sarosiek (Russia) - Sun Island
       
  12. Katerina Kaka (Russia) – Anantara Dhigu
    Katerina Kaka (Russia) - Anantara Dhigu
      
  13. Lista Khu (Indonesia) – Conrad Rangali
    Lista Khu (Indonesia) - Conrad Rangali
      
  14. Viki Odintcova (Russia) – One & Only Reethi Rah
    Viki Odintcova (Russia) – One & Only Reethi Rah
      
  15. Bettinah Tianah (Uganda) – Olhuveli
    Bettinah Tianah (Uganda) – Olhuveli
      
  16. Kanika Kapoor (India) – Taj Exotica
    Kanika Kapoor (India) - Taj Exotica
       
  17. Taya Rogers (USA) – Anantara Dhigu
    Taya Rogers (USA) - Anantara Dhigu
      
  18. Elizaveta Vladimirova (Russia)
    Elizaveta Vladimirova (Russia)
      
  19. Drea Vergara (Columbia) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
    Drea Vergara (Columbia) - Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
      
  20. Julia Dybowska (Poland) – JA Manafaru
    Julia Dybowska (Poland) – JA Manafaru
       
  21. Olesya Malinskaya (Russia) – One & Only Reethi Rah
    Olesya Malinskaya (Russia) – One & Only Reethi Rah
       
  22. Katya Danilova (Russia) – Finolhu
    Katya Danilova (Russia) - Finolhu
      
  23. Lynn Ban (USA) Maalifushi
    Lynn Ban (USA) Maalifushi
      
  24. Katrina Kaif (India) – Shangri-La Vilingili
    Katrina Kaif (India) - Shangri-La Vilingili
      
  25. Diana Penty (India) – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa
    Diana Penty (India) – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa
      
  26. Jenny Phm (Vietnam) – Conrad Rangali
    Jenny Phm (Vietnam) - Conrad Rangali
       
  27. Oxana K (Russia) – NIYAMA
    Oxana K (Russia) – NIYAMA
      
  28. Alessandra Ambrosio (Brazil) – ShangriLa Vilingili
    Alessandra Ambrosio (Brazil) - Shangri-La Vilingili
      
  29. Esther Heesch (Germany) – Amilla Fushi
    Esther Heesch (Germany) - Amilla Fushi
       
  30. Kira Eagle (Russia) – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu
    Kira Eagle (Russia) - Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu
      
  31. Scarlett De La Torre (Hong Kong) – LUX Maldives
    Scarlett De La Torre (Hong Kong) - LUX Maldives
       
  32. Paria Arabzadeh (Iran) – Dusit Thani
    Paria Arabzadeh (Iran) - Dusit Thani
      
  33. Amanda Lynn (USA) – Six Senses Laamu
    Amanda Lynn (USA) – Six Senses Laamu
      
  34. Yana Flori (United Kingdom) – Amari Havodda
    Yana Flori (United Kingdom) - Amari Havodda
      
  35. Evelyn Virag (Italy) – Kuramathi
    Evelyn Virag (Italy) - Kuramathi
      
  36. Jordan Craig (USA) – Club Med Finolhu Villas
    Jordan Craig (USA) – Club Med Finolhu Villas
      
  37. Vlada Lachimova (Russia) – Jumeirah Vittaveli
    Vlada Lachimova (Russia) – Jumeirah Vittaveli
      
  38. Renee Somerfield (Australia) – Shangri-La Villingili
    Renee Somerfield (Australia) – Six Senses Laamu
     
  39. Bridget Bahl (USA) – Coco Palm Bodu Hithi
    Bridget Bahl (USA) – Coco Palm Bodu Hithi
      
  40. Raica Oliveira (Brazil) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
    Raica Oliveira (Brazil) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
      
  41. Twinkle Mukherjee (India) – Sun Siyam Irufushi
    Twinkle Mukherjee (India) - Sun Siyam Irufushi
      
  42. Beverly Chin (Singapore) – The Residence
    Beverly Chin (Singapore) - The Residence
      
  43. Sabrina Chakici (Ireland) – Conrad Rangali
    Sabrina Chakici (Ireland) – Conrad Rangali
     
  44. Sonakshi Sinha (India) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
    Sonakshi Sinha (India) – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
      
  45. Julia Adasheva (Russia) – Taj Exotica
    Julia Adasheva (Russia) – Taj Exotica
      

Best of the Maldives: 3D Printed Reefs – Summer Island

Summer Island - 3D printed 2

Summer Island expanded its own tasting menu of artificial reefs with the world’s largest and Maldives first 3D printed reef. Maldives Independent reported:

  • The world’s largest and the Maldives first 3D-printed reef was installed by a resort at the weekend, with the technology being used to help protect coral reefs. The artificial reef, assembled with hundreds of ceramic and concrete modules, was submerged in seven metres of water in a part of the lagoon where Summer Island Maldives is building a new coral reef ecosystem…The project started in Australia, where industrial designer Alex Goad of Reef Design Lab used computing modelling to design reef structures similar to those found naturally in the Maldives. A 3D printer took 24 hours to print moulds which were then cast in ceramic, an inert substance similar to limestone rock, and shipped to the Maldives. They were filled with marine concrete on the resort’s beach before being taken into the lagoon and assembled. Like a giant aquatic LEGO set the 220 ceramic, concrete-filled moulds were slotted together underwater to create the new reef. Coral fragments, grown on the resort’s existing and extensive coral nursery, were transplanted onto the 3D reef. In a few years, when the corals have colonised the reef, the resort wants a new reef teeming with fish and other marine life. If the 3D printing technology proves successful, it could be a new way of helping coral reefs adapt to a warming climate.”

 

Summer Island - 3D printed

Best of the Maldives: Wine Coral Pairing – Nika

Nika - coral pairing 1

Wine complements the finest treats especially when matched expertly to complement the spirit and essence of the sensory banquet. The Nika resort has extended this concept to new extents (or depths) with their innovative “Coral Pairing” (thanks Paola):

  • “Nika Island Resort and Spa has hosted an original experiment, pairing an array of native corals with wine. Titled “Metafore” and held with the technical support of leading winer supplier Grape Expectations, the event witnessed white, red and black corals being paired with a special selection of wines according to their colour, pattern and biological peculiarities. The experiment allowed Nika not only to offer its guests a curious selection of wines, but also to bridge the art of wine making with coral, a typical Maldivian thing of beauty. Edoardo Caccin, External Director at Nika explains: ‘a metaphor is a literary figure of speech used to describe a subject by comparing it to something else. The comparison gives the qualities of one thing to another that is usually unrelated. We asked ourselves: if coral could be wine, which wine would it be?’ Dora Dzurjak, Grape Expectations’ sommelier and wine educator, guided Nika’s guests through witty and ambitious associations. The beautiful and sophisticated pattern of Brain Coral was paired with the white wine Weinhaus Ress Rheingau Riesling Trocken. As far as red wine was involved, Dora made a match between Sileni estates The Plateau Pinot Noir and the Organ Pipe Coral. The sommelier’s inspiration came from its unique hard skeleton of calcium carbonate containing many organ pipe-like tubes.”

Zymology and Zooxanthellae!

Nika - coral pairing 2

Best of the Maldives: Michelin Stars – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi - Michellin meals

A meal by a Michelin-starred chef is a thing of beauty. A number of Michelin honorees have visited as guest chefs before, but no resort has assembled quite the Menu Gourmand of variety as Soneva Fushi’s banquet of culinary talent:

“Soneva and the Michelin Guide will be jointly promoting the following chef events, most of which feature chefs from restaurants worldwide with two or three Michelin stars:

  • August 26-31, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Kiko Moya, from two-starred Spanish restaurant L’Escaletta
  • October 7-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Gert de Mangeleer, from three-starred Belgium restaurant Hertog Jan
  • October 15-21, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Bruno Oger, from two-starred French restaurant La Villa Archange
  • November 5-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Yoann Conte, from two-starred French restaurant Bord du Lac
  • November 25-December 2, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Pere Planaguma, from two-starred Spanish restaurant Les Col
  • December 5-14, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Tim Raue, from two-starred German Restaurant Tim Raue
  • December 22, 2018-January 4, 2019 at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani: Ronan Kervarrec, from two-starred French restaurant La Table de Plaisance
  • February 14-17, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Tom Aikens, from two-starred UK restaurant Toms Kitchen
  • March 4-9, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Guillaume Bracaval, from two-starred French restaurant Michel Troisgros
  • October 6-11, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Maxime Meilleur, from three-starred French restaurant La Bouitte

Starry starry delight!

Best of the Maldives: Tomato Festival – Kandima

Kandima - tomato festival 1

Kandima has hosted a festival of another sort this summer. A first blush (yes, intended), it might seem like one of those foodie festivals that are spreading across middle-class England, but really is far more traditional (and raucous) than that…

  • “Kandima Maldives hosts the first ever Tomato Festival ‘La Tomatina’ in the island nation. The event took place last week on Friday, 31st August 2018 on the resort grounds. In total over 300 people attended the event, which lasted for almost four hours. ‘La Tomatina’ was home to the famous tomato fight, tug of war, mini football, water bucket relay, climb the coconut tree and many other fun-packed beach games. During the event the house DJ entertained the crowd with his party mixes while the barmen were offering free Latino-themed snacks and drinks to everybody. The resort chefs had to lay the tomatoes in the sun for three days prior to the event, which made them ripe and safe to fight with. Fire brigade was also on site and willing to offer their hoses with running water to remove the squashed tomatoes from the participants’ bodies…The festival of tomatoes was held for the first time in 1945 in the Valencian town of Buñol, in the East of Spain 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Mediterranean, in which participants would throw tomatoes and get involved in a tomato fight purely for entertainment purposes.”

You say “tomato…I say ‘incoming!’.”

Kandima - tomato festival 2

Best of the Maldives: Artistic CSR – Kandima

Kandima - artistic CSR

Kandima supports the arts beyond their resort and in the community itself with their KUL Initiative:

  • “The KULA art initiative was launched on the 5th of October 2017, with a vision to promote and nurture local artistic talent and creativity and essentially open up new horizons for the local art community in the Maldives…The KULA Initiative will also support local schools and artists with equipment, grants and master/classes… With its key component, The KULA Art Festival is the first of its kind annual event to be ever hosted in any resort in the island nation at such a large scale, turning the entire resort into the trendiest, most happening art centre in the Indian Ocean. Every year Kandima Maldives invites over 20 local artists specializing in various mediums including digital, coffee, acrylic, henna, spray paint and local crafts, to unleash their inner Picasso! KULA means ‘colours’ in Dhivehi, the Maldivian language.”

And Kandima is setting out to break the Bohemian “starving artist” caricature by putting money where its mouth is to support these artists with tangible benefits:

  • “Kandima will give $1 per occupied room night to the KULA Fund and guests can also make their own donations. The KULA fund will also prosper and increase from the artists themselves. When a piece of art is sold, the artist will contribute a small percentage of the sale to the KULA fund to help it grow. The remainder goes personally to the artist, with no profit to Kandima. “

The artistic community in the Maldives has blossomed in recent years. Far beyond the Bob Ross-style painted coconut husks and tarted up imports from China, Maldives art has become gallery quality with a generation on the vanguard of the Maldivian art scene creating stunning depictions and interpretations of the paradise in which they live and in which the rest of the world is enthralled.

And the showcase for these works is the “Unveiling Visions” exhibits sponsored by Kandima which is taking place right now in the capital Male:

  • Kandima Maldives is hosting host regular exhibitions and exciting art performances by local artists in the in-house Aroma Art Studio, which is set on the edge of a natural lake inside the island. The venue gives both guests and artists the inspiration and calm space they need to create their masterpieces. The exhibition will feature works by 50 Maldivian artists of ages 18-35; under 6 main categories – painting, drawing, calligraphy art, 3d installation, digital installation and sculpture. Launched in 2017, ‘Unveiling Visions’ will offer live art sessions, workshops, artist talks and fun-filled events for children. Unveiling Visions’ will offer live art sessions, workshops, artist talks and fun-filled events for children. Kandima Maldives will invite the top 15 artists to participate in its annual KULA Art Festival to be held on 28th December 2018. The festival is a perfect marketing platform for showcasing the Maldivian talent to the international audience and will be held for the second time since the resort opening in 2017. All of the inspiring art pieces created during the event will be available for purchase at the in-house KULA Art Studio at Kandima Maldives.”

Kandima - artistic CSR 2

Kandima - artistic CSR 3

Best of the Maldives: Urban Gallery – Hotel Jen

Hotel Jen - art exhibition 1

While the Maldives are known for their low-rise terrain and thatched villas, some gems are indeed to be found in the high-rise buildings. Hotel Jen may be sequestered in the hubbub of Male, but it too is featuring some aquatic artistry at “An art exhibition renaissance for the Maldives”:

  • “MAC curates and showcases three exhibitions on a monthly basis under an agreement it has with Le Cute and Hotel Jen… Avahteri has curated six exhibitions since its creation last year and the team wants to introduce Maldivian artists to a wider audience. ‘Even we have been pleasantly surprised by the number of Maldivian artists out there and by the diversity of their work,” says Aishath. The favoured mediums are changing. ‘Oil and acrylic paintings used to dominate the Maldivian art scene,’ she says. ‘Now we see a trend towards digital, mixed media artwork. Watercolour, charcoal and even cement and coffee are becoming popular.’ Social media has transformed the scene, helping local artists overcome the barrier of the country’s geographical dispersion. Around 85 percent of MAC’s discoveries have been through social media. Avahteri says it has revolutionised the way art is promoted and connected them to new local and foreign audiences.”

Hotel Jen - art exhibition 2