Anantara Kihavah Villas expands the toiletries selection with its special “Soap Menu” which offers a range of frangances four your cleansing including…
- Ginger Flower
- Patchouli
- Vetiver
- Cedar Wood
Waiter, I’ll have the soap du jour.
Best of the Maldives: Suite Toilet – Constance Halaveli
Not only can you find a “Best of…” for just about anything in the Maldives these days, you can also find a declared “Day of…” just about anything as well. And today is “World Toilet Day”. Declared by the UN no less (with the very credible objective of raising awareness of sanitation issues in less developed areas of the world).
Constance Halaveli celebrates the pinnacle of hygiene convenience and technology with the latest Toto Neorest model featured in its Presidential Beach Villa. No spouse arguments over leaving the seat up as it automatically raises and lowers the seat for you. And I guess you can get a more aptly labelled gadget button than “Rear Cleaning” (see below).
Best of the Maldives: Adventure Sinks – Six Senses Laamu
Avast me Hearties…swab ye necks of scurvy scum…
Just warming up for tomorrow’s ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’. And the mirror to practice in front of is at Six Senses Laamu where the bathrooms feature treasure chest basins for their sinks. The fixtures, specially made by a Thailand company for Laamu, have a gorgeous old world cachet. The five-star style trend is all contemporary styling, so Laamu’s funky pirate chic motif really stands out.
Shiver me timbers!
Best of the Maldives: Largest Water Villa – Soneva Gili
The Summer Solstice brings us the sweet longest day of the year today. And in the Maldives, if not the world, the longest suite of all is the Gili Lankanfushi Private Reserve at a whopping 76 metres.
The Private Reserve is also long on its own distinctions.
- Largest – Not just the longest, but the largest water villa in all of the Maldives (1,400 square metres)
- Long Stays
- Longest Glass Floor (see below)
- Largest Bathroom – the 100 square meter bathroom is larger than over a quarter of the entire villas in the Maldives
A water suite of Stonehenge proportions.
Best of the Maldives: Shower – Naladhu
Given their prominent in escalating arms race of luxury at Maldives resorts perhaps ‘bathrooms’ should be called ‘showerrooms’. In the beginning there was the en suite shower. Standard and effective. Then, a resort got a bit adventurous and decided to locate the shower outdoors so one could go au naturel al fresco (to mix my languages a bit there). Then, more recently, a simple shower head was not sumptuous enough and ‘drench showers’ became de rigueur for the super premium properties. Now, actually, drench showers are yesterday’s fashion and the latest are waterfall showers for the leading edge.
Several of the top resorts splash out for the waterfall showers, but none quite so extravagantly as Naladhu. They have placed their marble (again, pretty standard for super-luxe class) shower in the middle of its own reflecting pool.
A little showering island on your island of paradise.
Best of the Maldives: Indoor Bathroom – Adaaran Vadoo
As I’ve added a whole category for ‘Bathroom’ Best-Ofs, seems appropriate to call out Adaaran Vadoo which from my research is simply one of the best Indoor Bathrooms in the Maldives.
Indoor, at least. I limit it to ‘Indoor’, because ‘Outdoor’ ones are so popular and distinctive that they have a whole different set of possibilities and considerations. That said, the Vadoo bathroom does open up to an outdoor area as well.
The luxury bathroom includes the always eye-catching glass floor (see pictures). Most water villas who have these feature them in the main room which makes sense providing a prominent visual feature in the most prominent part of the villa. Actually, a number of water villas do have small glass portals in the bathrooms…but by the toilet. When I first saw this at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, I thought that it would be a unique feature, but on investigation, I have found several toilets so equipped (sure beats a newspaper). Vadoo is the only villa I know of that has a prominent glass floor (8 feet by 2 feet) in the main area of the bathroom.
The bathroom includes the obligatory drench shower and the not so standard Jacuzzi. More distinctively, it has a television you can watch from the Jacuzzi. Now normally, I don’t see much need for a TV in the Maldives. Part of the ‘get away from it all’ charm is to avoid turning on the TV or even having one around. But when it comes to the Jacuzzi, it’s actually a nice complement. It can get a little boring just sitting in the Jacuzzi for an age. You can’t really bring magazines or books or iPads into the tub with you especially as the bubbling means lots of little splashes which get all over any reading material you try to bring.
One of the most curious aspects to the Vadoo bathroom is that it doesn’t feel like a ‘bathroom’. It is one of the larger ones I have seen even in the Maldives super-luxe resorts. The TV I mentioned contributes to the feel, but also there is a sizeable comfy sofa! The whole ensemble makes it seem more like a mini-personal spa than a bathroom. A place where you enjoy hanging out, not just visiting for necessary hygiene and primping.
Best of the Maldives: Make-Up Table – Velassaru
The award for “Best Make Up” might have gone to ‘The Iron Lady’ last night, but the Best of the Maldives Award for ‘Best Make-up Table’ goes to Velassaru. All too often the ‘make up table’ is stuck away in some alcove or hallway typically between the bathroom and bedroom. Sometimes it is in the bathroom itself, but often facing the wall in order to face the mirror. Velassaru’s waterv villas positioned the make up table front and centre by one of the prominent windows in the room. Now getting ready for the day or evening is not a chore relegated some corner of the room, but a truly delightful setting. Velassaru makes becoming breathtaking a breathtaking task itself.
Best of the Maldives: Biggest Beach Towels – Kandooma
A big shower calls for a big towel. And the biggest towel I have ever seen, in the Maldives or elsewhere, are the Kandooma beach towels. They are longer than a king sized bed (more than 2 metres) and nearly 5 feet long (see above). That’s me holding it up and I’m an not a small guy (I stand 6’ 4”). They were also soft and fluffy (I hate stiff, thin hotel towels) and quite a fetching shade of Maldivian blue.
Also, especially good for claiming large swathes of beach loungers.
Best of the Maldives: Shower – Anantara Kihava
Some prefer the bath, some prefer the shower. If you prefer a drenching standing up rather than lounging in a gargantuan pool amidst the sprawling expanse of water, than Anantara Kihavah is the place for you.
Their water villas showers feature the latest trend in the super luxury bathing fixtures – waterfall shower. It was just a few years ago that Rain/Drench showers were introduced for a more sumptuous showering experience (the previous innovation to that was the variable, pulsating shower Massage fixture). In the ever escalating arms race of 5-star-plus decadence, waterfall showers are the new 6-star thing. I first experienced one of these at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru (see below). To cap off the experience, Anatara have added a glass floor so you get the whole water surround experience.
Just don’t scare the fish away with your singing.
[UPDATE NOV-14] As the waterfall drench showers grow in popularity among the super deluxe properties, Kihavah maintains its distinction with the widest of all drenchings...
Best of the Maldives – Tub-Pool Combo: Naladhu
Forget your underwater spas, restaurants, bedrooms and night clubs. I’m on my honeymoon and I don’t want to be looking at a bunch of Brown Spotted Groupers. I want to look at my gorgeous bride. And that includes my underwater viewing fun. Here in one of Naladhu’s private villas, they have combined the outdoor pool with the outdoor bathtub. Relaxing in a soothing tub while watching my gorgeous bride taking a dip in her ‘skimpiest’ of suits. Now that’s a treat.