National Dessert Day today. And as soon as you step off the seaplane to Dhigufaru, you feel like you have landed in dessert country. Some resorts greet you with some tropical juice, others with tasty cocktail, but Dhigufaru greets you with an entire sweet shop. Ice cream, cakes, muffins, coffees, drinks all at your disposal. And the arrival jetty is also the best entry point to the resort house reef so you can have a snack when you come in from your snorkelling safari.
Finolhu puts the “Soleil” into the “Cirque de Soleil”. Today is International Sight day and some of the things you will see at Finolhu will make you not believe your eyes (including the occasional mermaid known to visit the island).
Finolhu has a bit of a retro Las Vegas nightlife vibe with its own resident entertainment acts high on showmanship and flair. They’ve featured hoops, silk banners, large hoops, fire dancing by a group called Area 51 which resident for three months. Then they circulate in a fresh set of artistes. When we visited a group from Mexico was there performing every night.
The resort explained that part of their contact is that during the day, the performers must work on new tricks and material. The idea is that the “artists-in-residence” have sort of a bootcamp for developing and refining their craft and act all the while sharing the fresh new work with the resort guests. Finolhu targets young groups early in their career so the booking can be a boost to their careers.
Sometimes resort (and cruise) entertainment can be a bit jaded. Circuit acts going through the motions with their gigs of tired material. But the Finolhu acts had a fresh vitality about them. All the buzz of someone pursuing their dreams and living them every day in paradise. And when they finally do hit the big time and get that headline act in Vegas, you can say you saw them in the original Circles of Sun in the Indian Ocean.
One resort with its own collection of Instagram luminaries is W Maldives:
Already a top 10 resort for attracting Insgrammer fashionistas, this esteemed group of snappers add another 7.7 million followers to their tally. Rest assured that Maldives Complete will be featuring many of the snaps shared on their popular Instagram feeds in upcoming photoshoot collections, but if you can’t wait, here is the list of Instagrammer stars and their feeds…
Nine years ago today, Instagram was unleashed on the world. Maldives Complete had already been on the web for nearly a year at the time. Instagram has come a bit further since ;-). It has emerged as the social media of choice for the celebrity and fashionista class. The photo-based platform suits the beautiful people crowd quite well.
Instagram has changed our world and even Maldives Complete. The “Celebrity Visited” field in the resort profile has been a part of the site from the get-go and was gleaned mostly from press reports and celeb sponsored visits travel pieces. But Instagram has turned both the information and photo op spigot full on. I introduced the “Fashion” section of the blog two years ago this month and it has rapidly grown to be one of the most popular features.
So who is the “Best of the Maldives” at attracting Instagram followers through its guests? Velaa – they have the largest total number of aggregate celeb guest followers (117,790,176), as well top (tied) position for most Top 20 guests (3, along with Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru).
Here are few other fun figures about the sun-kissed figures…
|
RESORT |
FOLLOWERS |
|
| 1 |
Velaa |
130,684,342 |
| 2 |
NIYAMA |
108,835,373 |
| 3 |
Finolhu |
|
| 4 |
Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru |
57,100,000 |
| 5 |
Cheval Blanc Randheli |
44,084,145 |
| 6 |
One & Only Reethi Rah |
43,016,283 |
| 7 |
Huvafenf |
35,564,912 |
| 8 |
Six Senses Laamu |
34,504,716 |
| 9 |
Four Seasons Kuda Huraa |
23,093,022 |
| 10 |
W Ret |
13,266,346 |
|
OCCUPATION |
FOLLOWERS |
|
| 1 |
Singer |
215,354,798 |
| 2 |
Model |
201,904,735 |
| 3 |
Actress |
125,240,233 |
| 4 | Blogger / Designer |
99,388,622 |
| 5 |
Athlete |
6,912,456 |
| 6 |
Dancer / Yoga |
6,323,516 |
|
COUNTRY |
FOLLOWERS |
|
| 1 |
|
130,684,342 |
| 2 |
|
108,835,373 |
| 3 |
|
|
| 4 |
Barbados |
57,100,000 |
| 5 |
|
44,084,145 |
| 6 |
|
43,016,283 |
| 7 |
|
35,564,912 |
| 8 |
|
34,504,716 |
| 9 |
|
23,093,022 |
| 10 |
|
13,266,346 |
| INSTRAGRAMMER |
COUNTRY |
RESORT | OCCUPATION |
FOLLOWERS |
|
| 1 | Jennifer Lopez |
USA |
Velaa | Singer | |
| 2 | Rhianna |
Barbados |
NIYAMA | Singer | |
| 3 | Shakira |
Columbia |
Velaa | Singer | |
| 4 | Cara Delevingne |
United Kingdom |
Finolhu | Model | |
| 5 | Bruna Marquezine | Brazil | Cheval Blanc | Actress | 22,600,000 |
| 6 | Huda Kattan | USA | Huvafenfushi | Blogger | 15,200,000 |
| 7 | Jacqueline Fernandez |
India |
Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru | Actress | 13,800,000 |
| 8 | Rita Ora | United Kingdom | Palm Beach | Singer | 11,400,000 |
| 9 | Victoria Beckham | United Kingdom | One & Only Reethi Rah | Singer | 8,900,000 |
| 10 | Aum Patchrana | Thailand | Coco Palm Bodu Hithi | Actress | 7,400,000 |
| 11 | Roe Huntington-Whiteley |
United Kingdom |
Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru | Model | 7,400,000 |
| 12 | Zoe Sugg | United Kingdom | Ranveli | Blogger | 6,800,000 |
| 13 | Park Shin-hye | South Korea | Soneva Jani | Model | 6,600,000 |
| 14 | Davika |
Thailand |
Club Med Finolhu Villas | Designer | 6,400,000 |
| 15 | Kimberley Anne Tiamsiri | Thailand | Kanuhura | Actress | 5,700,000 |
| 16 | Belén Rodríguez |
Argentin |
One & Only Reethi Rah | Model | 5,600,000 |
| 17 | Paris Hilton | USA | Velaa | Model | 5,600,000 |
| 18 | Eva Gutowski | USA | Six Senses Laamu | Blogger | 5,400,000 |
| 19 | Aliaa Bhaat | India | Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru | Actress | 5,200,000 |
| 20 | Sveta Bilyalova | Russia | LUX South Ari Atoll | Model | 4,900,000 |
For a traditional twist on military-grade training, Kanuhura offers Maldivian Warrior training…
If you need a bit of help waistline effects of sumptuous holiday treats, then Amilla Fushi can firm up both your body and your discipline…
Sir, yes sir! TRX, a treat!
Just before the coffee, is the dessert course and the W Maldives is taking those to treats to an equally artistic level. Star chef Julien Alvarex visited the resort to share his ganache guidance and coulis coaching to not just staff, but guests as well…
Béatrice Peltre once said, “Dessert is to a meal what a dress is to a woman,” if that’s the case, then W Retreat is the must-have haute couture this season.
International Coffee Day today. I remember when we first started going to the Maldives in the nineties, as much as we loved it one of the biggest (if not *the* biggest) negative and thing we missed from home was a good cup of coffee. Eventually, the espresso machines made it over and the resorts figured out how to brew some enjoyable cups. For the 5-star luxury resorts, the Gaggia machine is table stakes and most have pretty fine personal coffee makers in room.
Kuramathi continues the trend to ever finer roasted blend concoctions putting its entire F&B staff through coffee guru training…
Amongst the few additions to the hot drinks menu are…
If you want a high perch on which to relax over a more natural body of water, check out Thulusdhoo’s swinging lounger over the lagoon (thanks Eka). Complete with rope ladder to give it that extra bit of Swiss Family Robinson chic aesthetic.
Double header for the double deckers at Finolhu this week. This one is a bit more dramatic and as stunning underneath as it is on top as a waterfall cascades into the pool enveloping the in-pool bar. More “Ballers” than “Baywatch” (with more than a hint of Starship Enterprise).
