Best of the Maldives: Parties – Rihiveli Beach

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Rihiveli Beach Party

 

If there is one night to party, it is New Year’s Eve. And if there is one resort to party at, it is Rihiveli Beach.

There is always a party on there. The next one is their ‘White Beach Party’ on 22nd May (see below). They are advertised on their resort Facebook page and they also send out a newsletter to keep posted. These events are not just some slap on affair to fill out the social calendar for the punters. But rather anticipated events that are part of their ebullient ‘Vive la paradis’ ethos. In fact, they mostly draw local ex-pats and others, but all are welcome. And given their French proclivities, a bottle of champagne shouldn’t be hard to come by.

Bonne Année 2011!

 

Rihiveli Beach White Party

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Best of the Maldives: Artist Workshops – Shangri-La Villingili

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Gregory Burn Shangri-La Villingili

The best Christmas presents are the ones you make yourself. And perhaps consummate eye for artistry in the Maldives, Sakis Papadopoulos, has spotted Shangri-La Villingili’s artist programme this month featuring Gregory Burns that will inspire any artist to colourful creations…

“Shangri-La’s Villingili Maldives will fulfil all Artists wishes from December 10th until December 28th. The resort will host the famous American Painter Gregory Burns. Worldwide acclaimed, Gregory Burns is also known to be a multi-medal-winning athlete at the Paralympic Games. Painter since he was 6 years old, his work is exposed in UK, Europe, Asia, Australia and USA. During his stay at Shangri-La’s Villingili, he will conduct many Painting Workshops as well as an exhibition of his paintings from Villingili on Christmas Day.”

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Best of the Maldives: Inflatables – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru water sports inflatables

Pulling an inner tube behind a speed boat. Pretty basic fun and the staple of our annual coastal visits to my wife’s family’s home in Wilmington, North Carolina. Kind of lazy, easy, laugh-out-loud water fun.

Then they put handles on the inner tubes…made them a bit bigger…added a few other tweaks. Now the inflatable innovation is rampant. Just walk by a Redix and you can witness the colourful variety of water fun you can now have in the wake of a motor boat.

But I have never seen so many varieties of inflatable contraptions as the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru water centre stocks. The manager Hussain Zahid (pictured above) showed me no less than 18 different varieties. Gyro (it spins around). Granstand (you stand up) and something called ‘Ray Boat’ that I have never seen in all my years of water adventure. All shapes, size and colours for all sorts of rides.

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Best of the Maldives: Storytelling – Naladhu

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Naladhu Storytelling

One of my friends at Microsoft (and former teammate), Steve Clayton, has the jobs title of ‘Story Teller’. He has made a career out of telling stories for richly illustrating the intricate tapestry of Microsoft technology. The Naladhu resort brings stories to its own guest offering a storytelling evening. Not just reading Dr. Suess, but executed with so much style and panache I suspect the adults would want to go along as well (I know that I would). They host it in a coconut grove (I love it when the resorts do more activities out in the natural surroundings) and they explore the folklore of Maldives. The trips to local village islands are always popular excursions and I know that many visitors are keen to seek out a bit ‘culture’ on their trip. If so, Naladhu offers a colourful portrayal…

  • “Did you know that the Maldives has an oral literary tradition that extends back almost 1,000 years? A rich history of sailors, pirates, seafaring princes, sultans and British colonial governors? A language unlike any on Earth? A must on the itinerary of any guest to Naladhu is a storytelling evening in our island’s coconut grove with Ahmed Didi, the Island Chief. A native to our very island for – well, longer than anyone really knows! – Ahmed is a lively character with a richly detailed memory filled with island tales from his own lifetime and generations beyond. He shares his love of this island nation and its rich folkloric tradition in casual (yet dramatic!) stories. Naladhu is proud preserve Maldivian culture and share it with our guests during this unique evening back in time.”
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Best of the Maldives: Theatre – Adaaran Club Rannalhi

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Club Rannalhi theatre

 

You just never know what you are going to stumble upon in the Maldives. The stereotype is that there is nothing to do there but lie in the sun and swim in the sea. But every time I visit there I’m always taken aback by some undiscovered curiosity. Most of the time the resorts themselves don’t even realise the unique assets they possess. Probably the most ‘surprising’ of my recent tour was the outdoor theatre at Adaaran Club Rannalhi. Our tour was finished and we were wrapping up when we rounded the corner and lo and behold we came upon an outdoor amphitheatre. Definitely up there with a glowing hatch and a polar bear for things you would not expect to see on a tiny deserted island…it was definitely ‘Lost’ moment.

In this case, the ‘Others’ are an Italian tour operater called Azemar who book many ‘club’ style holiday packages to ‘Club’ Rannalhi. In inimitable Italian style, the tour operators stage all sorts of spectacles from drama to singing to presentations. The stage is sheltered (probably more against the sun than rain), has lighting, screens and a range of theatrical and AV support.

I wrote about the innovative work Sheraton Full Moon was doing in the corporate space, but if you wanted to bring a really large crowd down and have a facility for big group presentations, Club Rannalhi could actually fit the bill. I think that the idyllic beauty of the Maldives might even make a Powerpoint deck palatable.

 

Club Rannalhi theatre seating

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Best of the Maldives: Team Building – Sheraton Full Moon

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Sheraton Full Moon corporate team building

 

When I first started working for the big corporation of Microsoft many years ago, one of my sales guys proposed that we do some corporate hospitality with some of our customers. When I asked him what he proposed, he suggested the classic big sporting event packages that many hospitality companies provide – Wimbledon, rugby, Henley. Sounded interesting, so I asked the price. The answer came back of ‘£800’ per person. My response exclaimed in shock, “I could take these guys to the Maldives for week for that kind of money!! [I had just priced my latest trip there.] I think they would have a bit more memorable time than a catered chicken lunch and some strawberries and cream.” That incident led to me becoming a bit of a pioneer with innovative and inspired hospitality and team building. I was always looking for truly unique activities and venues.

Now it looks like taking your team or customers to the Maldives is not that far fetched an idea. In fact, a number of resorts have geared up a bit for the corporate segment. But Sheraton Full Moon’s programme really stands out for the degree of forethought and attention they have given this area. They have crafted a range of offering that offers a wide assortment of classic activities for a team building session…

  • Introductory Games – name games, ice breakers
  • Fun Olympics – water bucket relay, obstacle course, ball games, canoe, tug-of-war
  • Trust Games – blind obstacles
  • Tournaments – tennis, ping pong, billards, beach volleyball
  • Karaoke

Talking with their Senior Sales Manager Mohamed Nuaas, Sheraton has really developed a sophisticated understanding of what makes these events productive and successful. Combined with an extensive 5-star infrastructure Sheraton Full Moon appears ready to cater to any corporate quirk or whim which is critical to get such an important (and costly) event just right.

Sheraton has run a number of these programmes now and their experience is valuable. It means that not only do they have the concepts and infrastructure (meeting rooms, audio-visual), but they also have staff knowledgeable in this facilitation. Sometimes team building companies in the UK will charge so much for the organisation and facilitation of a team building event that the cost does become comparable to sending everyone to the Maldives.

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Best of the Maldives: Literary Event – Soneva Gili

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Wye River
(The Wye River in Gloucestershire…like the Maldives an idyllic spot for some outdoor water activity as well as a literary festival)

Also winner of the small world connection is Soneva Gili’s sponsorship of the ‘Hay Festival Maldives’. The Hay Festival started as a small literary event in the English idyllic village of Hay-on-Wye. The ‘on-Wye’ bit of course being the Wye River which happens to be our family’s annual canoeing destination courtesy of friend, former colleague and master canoeist Gareth Hall. I was at first surprised to read a connection between this rather esoteric and remote Gloucestershire event and the Maldivian top flight resort, but I guess the Hay Festival has grown into a truly international phenomenon with satellite events around the world…

“Soneva Gili is delighted to announce its sponsorship of the inaugural Maldivian offshoot of the internationally renowned Hay-on-Wye literary festival which is taking place in the Maldives from the 14th to 17th October 2010. The Hay Festival Maldives will celebrate 2,000 years of Maldivian island culture and provide a platform for focusing international attention on the challenges faced by the archipelago due to climate change, bringing together international and local artists from the fields of literature, art, science, music, poetry and comedy.”

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Best of the Maldives: Yachting – The Rania Experience

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The Rania Experience yacht

A number of the most upscale resorts offer some nice boats for day excursions or more. When we stayed at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island several years ago, we had a delightful sunrise cruise on the wooden ship Goma that they kept there. Several have dhonis including obviously Dhoni Island where water villas are inspired by dhonis.

But if you are keen on your very own flash motor yacht, then The Rania Experience is the place for you. It’s very tag line is “One island, one yacht, one million possibilities.”

The web site describes…

“The RANIA yacht, a majesty 86-foot Gulf Craft luxury speed cruiser is at the guest’s disposal daily for 3 hours and any additional hour rental is at a minimal rental fee of US$ 2,000 per hour.”

Methinks that Rania also might just score the ‘Best Of’ superlative of the Maldives’ ‘Most Expensive Excursion.’

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Best of the Maldives: Japanese – Vadoo

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Vadoo Japanese Experience

 

If Zen is your thing, then Vadoo might just be another resort to consider. Vadoo has developed an entire Japanese experience including Ryokan style water villas designed and services by Japanese, Japanese Tea ceremony, and a traditional Japanese ‘Kaiseki’ dinner served at the restaurant or in room.

“The tea ceremony is a very special event in Japanese culture. The host spends days going over every detail to make sure that the ceremony will be perfect. There are various styles of tea ceremonies and it is recognized that every human encounter is a singular occasion, and so every aspect of the tea ceremony is savored. The ceremony takes place in a room called the chashitsu.”

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Best of the Maldives: Library – Kandooma

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Kandooma Library 1

Most resorts have a library somewhere with a collection of paperbacks for the beach and perhaps a few magazines and board games. Increasingly, resorts are adding Internet access around the resorts and in places like business centres and these libraries. Frankly, I’ve never been tempted to spend any time in these libraries because they were always unassuming rooms and unimpressive places. Sort of a tick in the box to provide that capability. But my recent trip to Kurumba that got hit with a bit of unlucky weather underscored how handy this resort resource can be at times. The newly revamped Kandooma resort has shunned the library as tucked away after thought making its library quite a stunning place that might even tempt me away from the beach even on sunny days.

Kandooma Library 2     Kandooma Library 3

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