Best of the Maldives: Over Water Bathrooms – Kandolhu

Kandolhu - over water villa bathroom

Kandolhu puts the water in the “water closet”.

During the past couple of decades that we have been visiting the Maldives, the tubs have gotten larger and the showers more decadent. The bathrooms have emerged from being tucked away to standing out with al fresco opulence.  These days villa bathrooms have become almost mini private spas with their lavish design, bountiful space, and luxury fittings. Kandolhu resort exemplifies this trend with their over water villas whose bathrooms exemplify the flair of the resort’s contemporary design with its soaring airy motif, clean lines and crisp styling.

Kandolhu - over water villa bathroom 2

Best of the Maldives: Drench Sink – Shangri-La Villingili

Shangri-La Villingili - drench sink

What I get to uncover on my Maldives tours are the smaller details that really give a resort distinction. While the resort PR departments are all keen to promote their latest Michelin star chef or butler concierge service, these smaller touches are just as likely to impress the guest with a bit of “wow” factor. As any designer will appreciate, it’s the fixtures and fittings which set a property apart.

If imitation is the best form of flattery, then Shangri-La Villingili’s drench sinks get that highest praise. Lori and I have just sold our house and we are about to embark on building our next dream home. Of all the creative and extravagant features we have found in the luxurious world of the Maldives resorts, the one I am going to steal for our next house is Villingili’s sinks.

Drench showers are starting to make their way to the top resorts. They are the latest in the evolution of a sybaritic soaking that started with the introduction of power massage showers and then moved onto rain showers. I’ve seen several of the drench showers, but Villingili was the first drench sink I’ve come across. There is something deliciously sensual about a wafer thin sheet of water cascading silkily over your hands. An unsung water feature in the land of exceptional water spectacles.

Best of the Maldives: Glass Tub – Six Senses Laamu

Six Senses Laamu - glass tub

The ‘Complete’ opposite of an ancient bath is a state of the art glass bath as featured by Six Senses Laamu. Not just a glass portal to the aquatic wonders below, but an entire 360 degree wrap-around of transparency. And if the simple concept of it wasn’t alluring enough, Kirsty Streater posted a modelling shot of the tub.

Clear?…Crystal!

Six Senses Laamu - glass tub 2

Best of the Maldives: Tub Rain Showers – Hideaway Beach

Hideaway Beach - rain shower

Rain descending from above is not typically a welcome feature of a Maldives stay, except when the rain shower is actually, literally, a “rain SHOWER”.

When we first started coming to the Maldives, massage and power showers were the luxury soakers. Shortly thereafter, “rain showers” became the table stakes default for a self-respecting super-premium resort.

Hideaway Beach resort goes even further with their rain shower offering a trifecta of distinction…

  1. Double shower – A double rain shower. No more getting chilly with having to swap in and out of who gets to be under the water. The resort’s Ocean Villas also have two person rain showers in their bathrooms.
  2. Likely the “tallest shower” in the Maldives (with it reaching several metres up to the bathroom ceiling),
  3. Tub/Shower combo – Another “finally seen” ticked off.

Hideaway Beach - tub rain shower

Best of the Maldives: Largest Round Tub – Zitahli Kudafunafaru

Zitahli Kudafunafaru - tub

If size does matter to you, then the Zitahli Kudafunafaru tub is the soak for you. Not just wide, but deep. At nearly 2 metres, I am not a small guy and I could barely keep my head above water. It was like a little indoor swimming pool (small children could do laps in this pool).

It’s all part of the Kudafunafaru expansiveness. The villas a quite substantial for their relatively modest 4.5 rack rates (the resort is in the top 5 for lowest cost per square metre in the 4.5 star category). Like a giant ceramic caldron to simmer away whatever the stresses remain after a day of lounging in the Maldivian sun.

15 Romantic Suds

Atmosphere Kanifushi - tub

Happy Valentines Day sweethearts everywhere.  But especially in that global hotbed of romantic paradise, the Maldives

Get your clothes off for a hot and steamy, sensual delight, with a touch of perfume, bubbly, and flower petals. Yes, a romantic bubble bath. Here’s a not-so-dirty dozen of the best in the Maldives…

I’ve also added a “Maldives Tub Art” board to the Maldives Complete Pinterest so I can add more sexy suds as I find them.

I©Maldives
 

1. Atmosphere Kanifushi [above]

2. Cheval Blanc Randheli
Cheval Blanc Randeli tub

3. Vakarufalhi
Vakarufalhi - tub

4. Coco Bodu Hithi (thanks Paola)
Coco Bodu Hithi - tub

5. One & Only Reethi Rah
One & Only Reethi Rah - tub

6. Centara Ras Fushi
Centara Ras Fushi - tub

7. Kuramathi
Kuramathi - tub

8. Anantara Kihavah
Anantara Kihavah Villas - tub

9. Amilla Fushi
Amilla Fushi - tub

10.  Centara Grand
Centara Grand - tub

11. Loama Maamagili
Loama Maamagili - tub

12. Sun Siyam Irufushi
Sun Siyam Irufushi - tub

13. Hideaway Beach
Hideaway Beach - tub

14. Zitahli Kudafunafaru
Zitahli Kudafunafaru - tub decor

15. Four Seasons Kuda Huraa
image

Best of the Maldives: Largest Bathrooms – Nika

Nika bathroom 

If more is better in the bathroom department, then you don’t get any more bathroom than Nika’s cavernous powder room. More of a “water warehouse” than a “water closet”. The side room with room with toilet is bigger than many resort’s bathrooms. And the bathroom itself is bigger than most villas! It incorporates 3 showers (one rain inside and 2 outside front and back). Even sink is big enough to bath a small child in. It even has its own indoor garden (see photo above) included in the acreage.

Best of the Maldives: Massage Rain Shower– Ayada

  Ayada - massage shower

  

 

I’m always intrigued by the ever-moving goal posts of scoring luxury. They seem to move the farthest on the playing fields of opulence that is the resorts of the Maldives.

Years ago, a massage shower was the height of bathroom cleansing sophistication. Then, added nozzles and jets provided an extra degree of soaking sumptuousness. Today, the current gold standard for super-premium bathrooms is the ceiling mounted rain shower.

Ayada has taken all of these hedonistic innovations and amalgamated them into the uber-shower. A multi-nozzle rain-drench massage shower! Featured in its select water villas, one can start to understand how Ayada snared the award for “Leading Water Villa Resort” at the World Travel Market this week.