Best of the Maldives: Beds – W Retreat

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W Retreat lunch bed

There’s biggest, and there’s best. And at the W Retreat, beds are as much of a pervasive obsession as their service and music.

Beds are everywhere. Their pool-side restaurant/bar serves you lunch on a bed (see photo above). Later in the day, you can go to their over-water bar, ‘Sip’, for a sundowner on an array of king sized mattresses with pillows to stretch out on. Even after dinner, a night cap at the night club 15 Below offers seats that are more bed than chair in design (see photo below). Beds are on the beach and in reception. The upstairs decks of the villas have swinging beds.

And to cater for all of this lounging, the W have created these little serving tables (see in both photos) which handily hold your drink, food, etc. what ever way you want to make yourself comfortable.

Of course, they also have them in the bedrooms. Lovely ones. Top of the line ‘super kings’ with down mattress covers and down pillows (the softest we have come upon) a luxuriously high thread count (400 TC) bed linen.

For a destination where most of the landscape is horizontal, the W does more than just about anywhere to get you horizontal.

 

W Retreat 15 Degrees bed

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Best of the Maldives: Widest Beds – Jumeirah Dhevanafushi

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Jumeirah Dhevanafushi beds

 

Of course, another way for the whole family to relax is a bit of cuddle therapy. But, as my wife and I learned when we had young kids, as sweet as it is when the little ones jump onto the bed in the morning for a start-the-day hug, it does call for a bigger bed. And in the Maldives, there are no bigger beds than Jumeirah Dhevanafushi’s Ocean Revive and Island Revive beds. At 3 metres wide (2 metres long) they are the biggest I have come across anywhere. A UK ‘super-King’ is only 2 metres wide (and 1.83 metres long). In fact, the biggest commercially sold bed in the world is the ‘California King’ which is only 2.13 metres wide.

Thanks again Adrian.

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Best of the Maldives: Family Spa – Jumeirah Vittaveli

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Jumeirah Vittaveli spa

Congratulations to Jumeirah Vittaveli who officially opens today with a gala ceremony. Their announcement described…

“Receiving its first guests on the 10th December, the ultra luxury resort catering for couples, families and small groups is the second Jumeirah property to open in the Maldives this year.”

Pleased to hear about their Michelin-starred Executive Chef Kai Boeddinghaus. I think for any resort aspiring to ‘ultra luxury’ status, Michelin distinction is a pre-requisite. But what stood out for me as I explored their revamp of the place was their embrace of families. This emphasis warmed my nostalgia recollection of the island which I visited over a decade ago on my first trip to the Maldives and my family discovered ‘house reefs’ there (where we were staying at Laguna Beach now Velassaru didn’t have much of one)

Half of the text in the Vittaveli opening announcement talked about special offerings and features designed for children of all ages and families holidaying together. And my favourite was their ‘Aila Time’ concept at their Talise Spa…

“Even Talise spa has introduced special treatment programmes for families. ‘Aaila’ is the Maldivian word for family, ‘Aila Time’ invites families to enjoy an awakening of a personal reconnection, whilst the ila ‘beyond’ journey educates young adults aged between 12 and 16 about the joy of spa, preparing them for a lifetime of wellbeing.”

A few other resorts, like Conrad Rangali’s ‘Ice Cream Spa’, have special kids offerings at their spas, but this is the first ‘family’ treatment concept I have come across. There have certainly been plenty of times in our family’s history when we could use some family therapy. And our periodic adventures at the Maldives definitely go down in our collective memories as one of our times for ‘reconnection’ walking, snorkelling, discovering, star-gazing, and game-playing together.

Though it does bug me that Jumeirah has no proper pictures of the spa on their web site. Big pet peeve of mine when resorts use useless generic, close-up, still-life, arty-farty photos on their website instead of showing us the product.

Welcome to the neighbourhood Jumeirah family!

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Best of the Maldives: Dining Times – Palm Beach

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Palm Beach sushi

Also considering dubbing this distinction ‘Best for Grazing’.

Lots of top resorts offer all sorts of custom services, but even there the meals are most often confined to specific serving times. When we are plotting our holiday days, we do often pivot around meal times. Getting up early enough for breakfast before an excursion, fitting in a bite for lunch, leaving the bar before the buffet closes.

If such dining schedule constraints weigh on you, then Palm Beach is the resort to consider. They have the longest standard serving times of any resort I have come across.

  • Breakfast 8:00 – 1:00 (!)
  • Lunch 1:00 – 2:30
  • Tea 4:30 – 7:00 (crepes, cookies, cakes)
  • Appetizers 7:45 – 8:40 (Italian antipasti, sushi – see photo above at sushi station)
  • Dinner 8:30 – 10:00

Only 2 hours and 45 minutes when food not available during the day. Inclusive that is. You can always order a la carte from a number of places throughout the day. The generosity of serving times reminded me of cruise boats who have mastered this approach for year offering food pretty much non-stop throughout the day.

Fancy a bite? No problem.

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Best of the Maldives: Custom Breakfast – W Retreat

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W Retreat breakfast 2

The ultra-5-stars will do anything for you at the drop of a hat and W Retreat is certainly right up there with obsessive service. But usually, breakfast is a fairly self-service situation at most resorts with a smorgasbord of morning delights on offer to provide more than enough choice for most people to craft their own well suited breakfast. Some things are prepared to order especially the ubiquitous ‘Egg Station’ and often a ‘Pancake Station’ (which will do waffles too).

But the W Retreat has taken the preparation stations to a whole new level at their breakfasts where everything is made to order custom to your requirements. I certainly pushed the Egg Station to limits I hadn’t yet experienced at a resort getting myself fresh Egg Benedict (with freshly made, not pre-prepared, Hollandaise Sauce). For beverages, I had a custom made Fruit Smoothie with fruits I hand picked from their literal cornucopia. For the Japanese visitors, the popular breakfast item of Miso soup was custom prepared (not sitting simmering in a big vat) and you can choose your own spices and added ingredients to include (see photo above).

But the quintessence of personalisation is their coffee mugs. They offer a vast assortment of unique, colourful mugs (see below). When you choose one, that mug becomes YOUR mug for the entire stay. They keep track of whose mugs is whose and serve you in your OWN personal mug.

W Retreat mugs

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Best of the Maldives: Traditional Floating Breakfast: Kanuhura

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Kanuhura traditional floating breakfast

The iconic Maldivian dhoni inspires many features at Maldive resorts beyond the arrival lounge. In fact, you can even go to the eponymous Dhoni Island (well, used to be able to…now it is shut down). If you want to start your day with such a maritime cultural inspiration, then go to Kanuhura for their ‘Dhoni Breakfast’. The elegant morning meal is served by a personal waiter on a Kuda Dhoni (a small Maldivian traditional boat) while you enjoy the sun rise over the water.

When we visited Conrad Rangali with my parents, we took the Goma (which was still in active service) for a breakfast cruise and found it a refreshing experience which evokes one of his favourite blessings is from Winslow Homer…

“The sun will not rise or set without my notice and thanks.”

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Best of the Maldives: Therapeutic Arrival – Anantara Dhigu

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Anantara Dhigu welcome massage

“I don’t even know half these people!”– 12 pains of Christmas, Twisted Christmas

As delightful as holiday greetings are to receive, sending them can be an exhausting tasks. If hours hunched over the kitchen table scrawling out notes can brings on sore shoulders and writers cramp, then the greeting you need is Anantara’s. After a traditional Thai greeting of a discrete bow with clasped hands, an Anantara spa therapist offers a 5 minute head and neck massage while you are sitting in reception and registering. Not only one of the best first impressions ever, but also smart marketing of free samples to promote the spa (it didn’t take my wife much thinking or delay to sign up for the full treatment at Anantara Spa).

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Best of the Maldives: Personalised Greeting – W Retreat

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W Retreat gift

Happy Advent!

The official T-minus countdown to the big Christmas celebration. Typically marked by the daily ritual of opening an Advent Calendar window which builds the anticipation and exercises the ‘opening’ muscles so you don’t hurt yourself from over exertion on Christmas morning.

The other big Advent tradition is Christmas greetings. The mail will start to swell with colourful messages from friends and family near and far. In the USA, there is a prominent school of yuletide greetings, which my wife Lori prescribe, which provides a personal touch by making their own cards, typically including a family photo as well as a brief update of the year gone by. Our 2011 creation (see photo below of inside at bottom) features a snapshot of our July trip to the Maldives as well as a reference to my Dad’s seaside-centric book, Shorelines, that I mentioned last week.

As it happens, ‘Greetings’ are a big part of the Maldives resort experience. With every resort on its own island, there is always a build of anticipation as you cross the ocean by speedboat or by seaplane and suddenly ‘your island’ emerges in the distance. Most resorts cap this grand arrival with their own special touches. The cooling, scented cloth and refreshing tropical drink are de rigeur. But on top of those, they add even more special welcomes. I’ve already written Komandoo’s A Cappella Greeting.

In honour of this resort ‘Greeting’ tradition in this very Season of Greetings, this entire week I will be featuring various distinctive greetings from the Maldives resorts. I’ve also broken out a special ‘Greeting’ tag/category on the Best of Maldives page. The first to feature is one that speaks to the personal touch and photographic approach of American Xmas cards – W Retreat.

W Retreat starts its greeting at the seaplane terminal with its own, top flight (pun intended) transfer lounge. As you approach the lounge, a staff member comes out to greet you and takes your picture next to the hotel crest. Its ‘Welcome Mat’ at the entrance says ‘Good Morning’ (and changes 3 times a day to ‘Good Afternoon’ and ‘Good Evening’). Instead of starting your stay with paperwork, that is an underwhelming formality at most resorts, the W welcomes you by sitting down with you to take your details and get to know you. Below I have a picture of my welcome by Mohamed Nirumal.

But the real treat, so simple yet so effective, is that when you take your seaplane ride and get ushered to your room, on your table is a frame photo of you taken back at the lounge (see above). Not only is it one of the most personal welcome gifts you will ever get at a resort, but all the staff at the resort use the photo on file to know who you are so they can give completely individualised service including calling you by name (one of the questions they ask in the personal interview is how you liked to be addressed).

WoW!

W Retreat registration

Lynn-holiday-greeting-small

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