Best of the Maldives: Job Title – W Retreat

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W Retreat Insider Mijung Kim

Best job ever. Well, at least the best job title. “W Insider” is the title for W Retreat’s service special agent whose mission is to target the very best experiences tailored to each guest. To some extent, it is a fancy name for a ‘Concierge’, but W positions the role as a bit more…

  • “You are the soul behind the brand and you bring it to life. We don’t call W employees ‘Talent’ for nothing. Creative. Exciting. Innovative. W Talent are naturally attracted to the Brand and they ‘get it’. W Talent are as unique as the Brand itself, and cultivate the witty, whimsical, cool W environment.”

The title is a standard position at W Hotels around the world, but Mijung Kim (see above) is the first appointee in the Maldives.

I put Mijung to the test to find me some real hidden gems about the W Retreat. I sort of fancy Maldives Complete as a ‘Maldives Insider’ for all the resorts. W Retreat is one of the resorts that I have been fortunate enough to stay so I have already ferreted out a league-leading 21 ‘Best of the Maldives’ pieces about the W. So I was curious to see what she came up with. Her first stab was a collection of fine recommendations that would have been ideal for a Maldives neophyte, but as a veteran I wanted something a bit deeper. So she shared some more hidden (and fun) tidbits of the island including [bird] security, pro snapper, natural medicine and ‘Angelina & Marilyn’.

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Best of the Maldives: Bocce Ball – Club Med Kani

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Club Med Kani bocce ball

 

 

This weekend featured the World Championship of Bocce Ball in Del Mar, California, but the champion bocca ball pitch in the Maldives has to be Club Med Kani’s. Anyone can throw a few balls in the sand and call it ‘bocce’. Kanu has chosen a select place under a sprawling palm canopy by the ocean’s edge. They have levelled out the sand pitch and marked it off with boarding on all sides. Finally, just for that added touch of official-ness, they have a special bocca ball stand in native palm-frond style.

 

Club Med Kani bocce ball stand

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Best of the Maldives: All Suite – Jumeirah Dhevanafushi

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Jumeirah Dhevanafushi suite

 

 

 

 

While many islands are diversifying their room types, others are focusing on certain categories. When I first started Maldives Complete, there were essentially 4 types of room categories – apartments, beach villas, water villas, and suites. Jumeirah Dhevanafushi this year launched the Maldives first ever ‘All Suite’ resort…

“The all-suite residences at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi recognise the individuality of luxury travellers and the significance of personal experiences in their lives. The uniqueness of each guest is reflected in the originality and amplitude of the interior design of the 38 spaciously apportioned suites. At the resort, there are two principle residence types, Revive and Sanctuary, each giving you a choice of breathtaking views of the Island or the Ocean accompanied by the liberating freedom that such space affords.”

(Thanks Adrian)

How suite it is.

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Best of the Maldives: Adults Only – Komandoo

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Komandoo - adults only

For some, the appeal of the Maldives is its idyllic tranquillity and the idea of squealing kids running around cuts right through the heart of their paradise fantasy. For those, Komandoo now offers the Maldives’ first ‘adults only’ resort ith the highest minimum age of any resort…

Their website specifies…

“Children below 18 years not allowed on the island. Children above 18 years staying at the resort will be charged as an adult.”

Some might say that limiting your customers is bad business, but ‘Seth-urday’ marketing maven Seth Godin argues the contrary. One of his great insights is about being ‘remarkable’ with ‘Purple Cows’ which make your product stand out. He argues that people need to be bold an brave to establish these distinctions even if it means alienating potential customers. This differentiation is a big challenge for Maldives resorts which number over 100 and yet all share the same turquoise waters and resplendent sunsets. A big motivation for my work on the ‘Best of the Maldives’ was to help prospective visitors identify differentiators that mattered to them in order to help winnow down this overwhelming selection of paradise. And if avoiding kids is one of those priorities, then Komandoo is the place for you.

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Best of the Maldives: Viral Cameo – Conrad Rangali

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Conrad Rangali Where the Hell is Matt

 

 

A real international and cultural treat perfectly timed to ring in the London 2012 Olympics with the Maldives featured with bodu beru dancing on a white sand beach by a tranquil lagoon next to a horizontal palm tree. Classic.

Conrad Maldives Rangali gets the honours of hosting the cameo here. I haven’t provided the time mark of the Maldives appearance in the video because everyone should watch the entire thing.

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Best of the Maldives: Seahorses – Kuredu

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Kuredu sea grass

The Queen has been such a supporter of of all of the June Jubilee activities including rocking out at the Buckingham Palace Concert which is probably not her dream Saturday night out. Rather, one’s favourite day in June is most definitely Ladies Day at Ascot today such is her love of all things horses. And ‘horses’ in the Maldives are a bit fabled and mystical creatures themselves…sea horses that is.

It indeed exciting to see the big game of snorkel safaris (and diving). But sometimes it is just as exciting and curious to uncover the tiny creatures. A baby manta, nudibranches, leaf fish. Perhaps the most enchanting and illusive is the Sea Horse.

Sea Horses are indigenous around the world including the Indian Ocean, mostly prominently Hippocampus borboniensis, dubbed ‘Réunion seahorse’ for its prevalence in this Maldive neighbour. I have asked many a dive master and no one has ever recalled seeing one or hearing reports of any. In fact, the TripAdvisor Forum on the Maldives posed this question last year and none of the Maldives veterans and experts had ever heard of a sea horse sighting.

Part of the issue is that sea horses live in sea grass which is not that common in the sand-bottomed lagoons and reefs prevalent in the Maldives. One resort which does feature sea grass is Kuredu (see photo above) and, lo and behold, they have reported sighting sea horses a few years ago. So if you want to start a holy grail hunt for these unicorns of the shallows, then start at Kuredu. Still, a bit of a long shot…or ‘dark horse’ if you will.

 

Seahorse

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