Best of the Maldives: Tech Bracelets – Kandima

Kandima - key

Friday the 13th! Day of bad luck. According to List 25, keys and amulets have been good luck charms for centuries. At the soon to open resort Kandima, you room key is also an amulet…with a bit of its own magic charm (according to Clarke’s Third Law at least)…

  • “RFID wrist bands that allow guests full freedom to roam the island without needing to worry about a key… A key concept at Kandima is being tree friendly. That means that we have chosen to use digital signature capture technology where ever possible. Guests can sign with a stylus and see their signature captured at the same time. Our systems will have the ability to retrieve the captured signature at any time a guest would like to review a transaction… Some of the other initiatives that are driving the Kandima experience include the ability to have a range of services at all times of the day, technology enables this via APPS, in-room ordering, vending machines which will react to you at the wave of your arm band… We will have kiosk and app drive “build your own burger/pizza/omelets’ options… Our technology alignments will provide on demand video streaming which can also be ‘flicked’ to your mobile device, allowing you to continue watching a movie or TV program from the comfort of your porch, while your significant other lazes in bed surfing the net or updating their social media wall.”

We keep all our stuff in your room when we good for a walk, swim, etc. But you have to take your room key. Our swimsuits don’t have pockets so keeping up with the key is always a bit of an aggro. A stylish and fun bracelet is a great solution. Or is can wrap around anything like a beach bag or snorkel bag handle.  Or you can just keep them on your “handily” (yes, I intended that) on your wrist as you swim or snorkel as they are water resistant.

Kandima also provides slap bracelet USB stick with resort information and material. For those who didn’t enjoy the slap bracelets of the eighties, see mini-video below for a demonstration below.

Best of the Maldives: Heart Plaques – Anantara Veli

Anantara Veli - heart plaques

Instead of remembering the flowers there on your special, how about flowers to be a memento of your day. In sort sort of “Locks of Love” riff, Anantara Veli, provides commemorative plaques hung in their orchid nursey…

  • “Every Thursday evening on Veli there is a honeymooner’s cocktail party for Veli guests, at which they receive a heart engraved with their name and date of stay…or in some cases, ceremonial wedding date. This is then hung on the wall of the orchid garden. Most guests leave the hearts there, some guests take them away when they leave.”

At Veli, there is always flowers by your wedding date.

Best of the Maldives: Water Villa Wedding Pavilion – Gili Lankanfushi

Gili Lankanfushi - lagoon wedding pavilio

Gili Lankanfushi’s wedding pavilion is its very own ‘best of the Maldives’ collection all rolled into one stunning Maldives medley – an over water traditionally styled villa with glass floors looking down to aquamarine lagoons to celebrate one’s nuptials in paradise.

Gili Lankanfushi - wedding pavillion

Best of the Maldives: Most Bedrooms – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi residences 2

Festival of Sleep is possibly the true and appropriate end of the holiday festivities. Established to “some shut-eye and relaxation after the holidays”, possibly the chronological and spiritual antithesis to “Black Friday” which kicks off the mayhem of the season.

The resort, in fact villa, that could open the door to its own sleep gala is Soneva Fushi’s Private Residence with 9 bedrooms (though one is described as staff quarters)…

  • “The residence is a two storey collection of villas with an expansive wraparound swimming pool spread over a large area with generous outdoor living space. The master bedroom boasts its own private swimming pool measuring 111.3 m2 and an outdoor bathroom but there are five additional guest bedrooms, a children’s bedroom, a smaller nanny’s bedroom and of course one for the Mr./Miss Friday butler.”

Rental prices will range from $11,300 – $30,000/night depending on the season.

Wishing everyone a restful recovery from the holiday season!

Best of the Maldives: Door Closer – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi door opener

You know what they say about adversity and opportunity – when one door closes, another one opens. And when this door at Soneva Fushi opens, it also closes on its own. With one of the most eco-friendly mechanisms ever devised straight from Gilligan’s Island – the coconut counterweight. No worries about closing the door behind you (that goes especially for you 2016!).

Best of the Maldives: Round Door – Noovilu Suites

Anantara Dhigu - New Year bed decorating

Happy New Year 2017!

Lots of fun traditions to celebrate this annual milestone – Hogmanay ‘First Footing’, fireworks and noisemakers (supposedly to scare away the devil), Southern cooking collard greens for wealth and black-eyed peas for fortune.

I don’t really cover guest houses, but I couldn’t resist Noovilu Suites’ portal which has one of the most all-aRound delightful ways to let out the old year (see photo above).

An number of resorts are also marking the occasion with special bed decorations like Anantara Dhigu’s (above) and Amari Havodda (below).

May your 2017 be prosperous to afford many visits to the Maldives (even if you do have to mind you budget in a guest house, at least you might find a door ….)

Noovilu Suites - round door

Amari Havodda - New Years bed decoration

Best of the Maldives: Couples Scrub – Ayada

Ayada - couples scrub

After all that beach posing, every power couple will want to power wash in style before tonight’s big New Year’s Eve celebrations. Fortunately, Ayada offers a special couples scrub spa treatment. Couples massages are pretty commonplace, but a couples scrub I haven’t seen as elaborately done as at Ayada. Complete with Esta brand cleansers. 

Best of the Maldives: Facebook Live – LUX South Ari Atoll

LUX South Ari Atoll - live event

If you want to get that much closer to “being there” in the Maldives with their holiday spectacles, then check out LUX South Ari Atoll’s Facebook Live events. This week they featured their fire show by Totem Entertainment as well as Santa’s arrival by seaplane.

Facebook Live is just the latest in LUX’s social media pioneering. Led by marketing manager Dolores Semeraro, LUX was one of the first resorts to embrace Twitter with active and creative uses (like her Twitter chats).

LUX south Ari Atoll - santa seaplane visit

Best of the Maldives: Pageant – Paradise Island

Paradise Island - pageant

The holidays are filled with treats and at Paradise Island this week one fashion feast is the annual holiday pageant where one lucky sun-kissed guest will be crowned “Miss Paradise”….

  • “’Miss Paradise’ is one of the evening events included in our Christmas and New Year program. The participants/pageants are from the in-house guests and panel of judges are also selected from the house. It is a short event conducted at the Main Bar floor with a small runway selecting and announcing the winners.”

Most Christmas pageants I’ve ever been to involve toddlers dressed up as shepherds and sheep falling over each other while they mumble out contrived verses.

Paradise Island - pageant 2