Kurumba reminds us why the Maldives is so chock full of creative and distinctive touches. The destination has turned the simple ritual of decorating a bed (with today’s post I have added the tag “Bed Decorating”) with a few petals into a work of art. Their homage to World Tourism Day is crafting the palm fronds into striking creations evoking the Victorian art of silhouette cutting (thanks Mo).
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this recognition, but I knew I need to call out Kuramathi’s exceptional touches to old fashioned relaxation. Kuramathi was the first resort that I ever posted for its distinctive bed-art marking. They have clearly made it a resort trademark, in fact taking it up a notch with the latest generation of bedroom artistes.
All of the creations shown here are the work of 24 year old room attendant Adam Naseer. Kuramathi shared these details about his work…
My favourite is his birthday greeting complete with towel birthday cake (see photo at top).
For a gallery of Maldives bed decorating masterpieces, check out the Maldives Complete “Bed Art” Pinterest board.
Today is the International Day of Failure. Which happens to be, along with Maldives resorts, my other specialist subject. I’ve written about as much about embracing failure as I have about quirky features at Maldivian resorts. And today I get to combine the two. Enjoy!
Art can be anything that inspires the senses. We are most familiar with visual art, but gastronomic delights can be truly artistic in the depiction of creative flavours. One medium of art we are especially familiar with is “sound art”. Not music, but actually composing artistic creations out of sounds that may or may not have any music or rhythm whatsoever. Our son, Chase (himself a veteran of a dozen visits to the Maldives with our family) is a sound artist. He recently released a work “Four Points” based on recordings around the UK shoreline. Our playlists are filled with his pieces and others he has recommended.
Most people will have enjoyed sound art in a spa where ambient pieces are often featured to paint a soothing acoustic environment. A common theme in such pieces is the sound of water. Be it gently curling seaside lapping the shore or a trickling brook or even a rainfall, something about flowing water is viscerally calming. Some resorts feature ambient recordings on their in-room sound systems. But JA Manafaru produces a live performance soundscape in their beach suites with a waterfall situated right behind the bed.
The feature reminded me of our recent stay at Shangri-La Villingili. On the second day we had quite an extensive rain shower for a few hours. But, Lori and I just flung open the French doors to the room and took a dreamy nap lying in bed with the sound of warm rain falling a few feet from us.
The Maldives mattress medium just gets more and more sophisticated. The latest artistic talent to showcase is Anantara Kihavah Villas’ mixed medium artistry (thanks Paola). I’m particularly fond of their use of the pink bougainvillea, the underwater scene is especially a propos, and their towel palm tree is the first I have seen using towels in a pictorial rendition.
These bed decorations are ultimately a form of performance art. As evanescent as the blossoms which compose them.
Winner and new champion of the hotly contested bed decorating. Custom room greeting décor has become such an extreme art form in the Maldives, I started a Pinterest page a while back to showcase the best I came across.
Room décor falls into two basic categories…
Zitahli Kudafunfaru has set the new bar with its “Happy Anniversary” extravaganza which elegantly combined both. Mind you it was a particularly special one (30th). The only downside is that is was so beautiful that we were tempted to sleep on the sofa so as not to disturb it. Gorgeous.
“Goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and other things that go bump in the night.” Like my toe or knee clamouring around in an unfamiliar pitch black room on holiday.
Maybe most guests don’t wake up in a different resort every night, but the accommodation will nonetheless be unfamiliar and for a while that is always a bit disorienting in the fog of a night time call of nature.
But Jumeirah Dhevanafushi provides a motion-sensitive night light. A small light under the bed stand comes on (on the side of the bed of the person who gets up…one for each side) to gently illuminate a small bit of the floor (and to provide a beacon back to the bed on your return).
Definitely a treat of a trick. Happy Halloween!
No heart-shaped beds yet (jacuzzi, yes), but a round one. Conrad Rangali has one centered in its sunset water villa master bedroom like a giant bulls-eye. But the circular crib at Constance Halaveli tipped the feature today with the swoosh of a bedside stand and the round villa that lends a curvy Corbusier feel to villa.
Bed piece today. 45 years ago today John Lennon and Yoko One turned their honeymoon into a piece of performance art. Embracing the paparazzi instead of shunning them, they exploited the celebration of love for a performance art piece with a message of love called a “Bed-In” (take off of the popular sixties protest of a “sit-in”).
With the Maldives as the world center for honeymooners and celebrities, I’m sure that a resort here would have been an appealing venue for them in the modern age. And the resort they might have chosen could have been Baros. Know for its romance, its villa beds are works of art in their own right.
Distinctive vienetta canopy, lighted glass décor behind the head board. And of course the hide-away TV.
Bed Peace!
I have wondered who might have a water bed, but One and Only Reeth Rah’s pool bed is not what I meant. Still, a bit more elegant than a seventies-style pleasure pit and probably just as seductive.
