What you really want to find their way home when they lag behind are your bags. Another gift that Kurumba offers a delightfully made rubber luggage tags. They are much classier than the paper tags the airlines hand out and they are also sturdier than the typical credit card plastic tags
Colourful banded creatures aren’t just found on the reefs, but can be found across the beaches of Kurumba. They also frequent the beaches and bars in aqua blue and pastel pink thanks to the resorts complimentary citronella bands to repel biting insects. I’ve never really seen a mosquito in the Maldives, but people say they are there and even one can be a nuisance especially to those sensitive to their bites. Even if they don’t both you, the bands make for colourful soft bracelets.
The biggest foot irritant has to be the “cost per square foot” (the gift and visitor can be greeted with is a low one). With the Room Type database getting quite “complete” now (73% complete on profile information and 46% complete on pictures), I can start doing some broader comparisons and analyses. I thought it would be interesting to see who had the best “cost per square foot” (or metre). Some resorts charge some expensive prices, but then they provide some extensive real estate to sprawl out in. Others are more value priced, but much more limited in space.
I had to break it out by star category to reflect the differences in services, amenities and often build quality that would simply make the lowest cost per square foot the cheapest overall resort (or close to it). Here’s how they panned out…
All of these villas represent the “Garden Villa” category. Garden Villas are found off the beach front. Of course, the big ticket is the Water Villas completely over the water, and people typically want to at least be “by” the water for their holiday in tropical paradise. But, we’ve never been put off by the Garden Villa room type and have stayed in them on a number of occasions. If you are having trouble making ends meet on your budget, giving up how close your room is to the water always seemed like a good trade off to us. For starters, given the diminutive size of the islands, even the garden rooms are not that far from the shore. In any other country, they would probably be labelled beach front. Typically, they are a few dozen extra metres inland or simply have their ocean view impeded. Secondly, you simply don’t spend that much time in your room. You are there to enjoy the beauty and fun the place has to offer. You mostly retire to your room for a nap or sleep at night. And you don’t need great views when your eyes are closed anyways.
What does a professional tennis player coming off the court have in common with a guest arriving at a resort? They both can’t wait to get a refreshing towel and satisfying beverage.
The cold scented towels handed out on arrival is one of our favourite parts of visiting the Maldives. One dividend to our island hopping touring is that we get one of these fragrant face refreshers every day.
But on Kurumba, you can have it with every tide. Twice a day a staff member takes around scented, cool towels to guests on the beach. Also, you can request them at the restaurants and bars.
A most refreshing holiday!
Another enclosure of vibrant colour is the orchid nursery at Kurumba. Except to hard-core horticulturalists, nurseries are often about as interesting as a pair of old wellies and a dirty spade. Usually, they are an example of the whole being less than the sum of the parts. In this case, the parts being hundreds of fragrant blossoms. But all packed into a tedious and cramped barracks.
Kurumba has turned this explosion of hue and scent into a feature itself. Not just by welcoming guests into it, but by investing in make the nursery itself a real attraction. The centrepiece is the water feature which is a dramatic fountain adorned will all manner of vegetation.
Horticulturist and Garden Manager, Upul Kumara, commented that the Orchid Nursery ‘is completely natural and uses coir rope, bamboo and a pond with a waterfall has been used a centre piece of the garden. This will definitely be a new attraction to all our guests and not only that, the space will be suitable for a romantic dinner, a private yoga session or a relaxing stroll.’ He added that in nature, orchids have humid environments with near-constant air circulation. The water pond not only adds beauty, but also helps take care of the orchids. For those who have enjoyed the nursery in the past, we are sure the renovation will be greatly welcomed. With the following addition we hope it imprints to guest a lasting impression on the varied experiences while seeing the Maldives in Full Colour at Kurumba.
Soon, the resort is going to start offering guest dinners in there. A delightful blend of culinary and floral aroma.
Kurumba is not alone in featuring bounteous blossoms and this post has convinced me to add a new category tag for “Flowers”.
Lori and Jason Kruse, Kurumba GM, with ground glass
With my emphasis on discovery it took some big stuff to lure back to Kurumba for the third time when there were so many unseen resorts to hit. But I must say that the detour was worth it with quite possibly the most inspiring “Best of the Maldives” discovery of the entire trip.
To date, most resort eco-initiatives have fallen into the following categories…
But as anyone who has ridden by Thilafushi will attest, the sheer volume of waste and rubbish is a massive challenge for the country. Most resorts are looking at packaging and waste reduction initiatives. But Kurumba is leading the way with a strikingly comprehensive recycling programme.
And investments they are. First, Kurumba has shelled out some serious capital to get some advanced machinery to process the waste. But more so than that, Kurumba is experimenting with these gadgets and tuning them and the processes around them to get the most out of them.
Kurumba is sharing its expertise with other resorts now and hopes to pioneer a drive to zero waste in the Maldives. If successful, Thilafushi could itself be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Plastic and Styrofoam recycling
Green waste mulching
Green waste accelerated composting
Shredded coconut husks
If you are looking for a snorkel floatation aid that is a bit sportier, consider Kurumba’s “Vu Board”. Available from their sports centre for $20/day. Kurumba is quickly becoming one of my favourite house reefs to snorkel (I’m more of a fish guy than a coral guy and Kurumba’s is more of a fish reef than a coral one), and Vu Board brings it to life to even more people.
The newest old resort in the Maldives.
You’d think after 2 week long visits I would have finally all there is to see of a resort. Especially one you can walk from one side to the other in 7 minutes. But my final stop on the 2013 tour at Kurumba revealed as many new and exciting aspects as I had seen most of the week on my maiden visits.
I was hesistant to add Kurumba to the itinerary at first trying as I always want to gather as much new information as possible. I won’t say it’s a whole new resort, but it is a lot new – room refurbishments, restaurant overhaul, style upgrades. And simply the most ambitious and exciting recycling initiative in the country at the moment. Anyone bothered by the unpleasantness of Thilafushi would be well served to consider Kurumba’s pioneering work here (stay tuned for a big post on this work).
What wasn’t hard to convince me was to have another round of the lively house reef. I’ve been touting it as the most active house reef in terms of marine life that I have come across (but, hey, I’ve only snorkelled about 40 house reefs). Some skeptics were curious to see if this year I hit the same success. Well, actually not. Even more success! Not only is it the absolute shark bonanza of house reefs (we spotted 7), but we saw more of the ‘Big 5’ snorkelling. As logged on Snorkel Spotter, Lori and I also saw 2 lovely turtles and a huge sting ray. Not to mention the big schools of Sergent Major, Parrotfish, Bleu Striped Snappers, and a group of fluorescent squid passing by. There is no such thing as a sure thing (to see special marine life) in house reef snorkelling, but Kurumba is the closest thing there is to one. And finally, there were lots of signs of the corals coming back strongly with bits of blue, green and yellow tips scattered everywhere.
Kurumba is possibly the ‘Unsung Hero’ of resorts in the Maldives. Existing in the shadow the Maldives and of its own history produce mistaken preconceptions that it is too close to the built-up Male and it must be past it prime. But, Kurumba has been a trail blazer since it first pioneered the concept of a Maldiviain resort and remains in tune with the modern Maldives. The ancient Buddhist saying is that you can never step in the same river twice. That is certainly the case for the Maldives and even more so for the moving and shaking Kurumba. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking it when considering an exceptional Maldives resort.
You won’t find anything near ‘free’ and even ‘budget’ options are limited in the prestigious Maldives, but if you want to dive down to the deepest value for the most dazzling quality, then you want to filter on the ‘Cost Per Star’ field in the Resort Finder. In these challenging economic times, people who need to mind their budgets but don’t want to compromise their trip of a lifetime have a great balance in Kurumba.
Ratings are one thing, but enough money will buy lots of sizzle and quality anywhere in the world. A big question is value-for-money. Who gives you the most star-value for your day rate?
The winner for 5-star value is Kurumba. Not only does it price itself very aggressively, but it is a good sized island which means there are often some excess inventory deals with operators who will discount the resort even further close to departure date. I find that the ideal timing for ‘last minute’ deals is about 6 weeks before intended departure – much earlier and the operators haven’t resorted to discounting yet, and much later the deals are mostly gone.
Kurumba is a proper 5 star in every respect. A number of Maldives resorts do sometimes advertise ‘5 stars’, but some are being a bit ambitious in their assertion. But Kurumba constantly looks for new touches and enhancements keeping it solidly in class. It’s not trying to be a super-premium with crazy luxury like butlers and underwater cinemas, but it has enough to satisfy most any fussy traveller.
The price for a 7 night stay Room and Breakfast (for a couple sharing) in mid-February 2013 from London is £1460 on Kuoni. That’s a £292 per star. The next best 5-star value is Robinson Club at £426 per star.
Happy Paryusana!
Paryusana is the “most important Jain festival”. It is a feast after 10 days of fasting. Mind you the ‘Jain vegetarians’ aren’t exactly gorging themselves in food in the normal times so I imagine that Paryusana must be particularly enthusiastic for them.
‘Jain’ vegetarians follow a very strict regimen based on their philosophy of “ahimsa” literally translated as "non-injuring". The notion of ‘karma’ is central with their belief that every act by which a person directly or indirectly supports killing or injury is seen as act of violence (‘himsa’). As a result, even root vegetables (eg. potato, onion, garlic) are excluded because the ‘uprooting’ of them is seen as a violent act. The food they do include is referred to in Sanskrit as 'sattvic' food which means that it is “based on the qualities of goodness, lightness and happiness.”
A very common question on TripAdvisor Forum is the availability of vegetarian food. Not just from the surging growth in guests from India and the sub-continent, but also around the world where vegetarianism continues to grow in popularity as a part of a healthy and eco-friendly lifestyle.
With vegetarian dishes being quite prominent in the region, a vegetarian always has a broad range of choices at the Maldives resorts. But Kurumba went a step further to create a special range of Jain vegetarian dishes. The Jain menu was implemented by prior Food and Beverage Manager Dave Minten and includes such delicacies as…
Wishing you all goodness, lightness and happiness on Paryusana.
