Concernant des aspects tout à fait français des Maldives, si vous préférez la vie gaulloise, il vous faut cherchez Rihiveli Beach.
The staff and the largest part of the guests are French. This cultural colour spills into many aspects of the resort such a visiting French DJs, newsletter and obviously ‘la cuisine’. If you want a soupcon of French style with your paradis.
Speaking of French beauty and fashion lately, if you are looking for a different sort of ‘natural beauty’ or ‘stunning scenery’, then Coco Palm Bodu Hithi and Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu is the place to go from 11-18th November when they are hosting the Miss France 2011 contestants for a range of activities and photo shoots.
PS. I think it is intriguing that the Soneva resorts (Fushi and Gili) and the Coco Palm resorts (Bodu Hithi and Dhuni Kolhu) seem to be vying for the title of most cool events (check out the ‘Events’ section of the ‘Best Of’ page).
Speaking of fashion, Kanuhura has set the bar for a resort boutique. Going far beyond the cotton batiks and printed t-shirts so commonly found in the resort gift shops, Kanuhura has commissioned its own private label fashion…
“Kanuhura, a hotel in the Maldives, has tapped women’s wear brand Issa by Daniella Helayel and beauty brand Miller Harris to create a range of unique products for its eponymous shop.”
One more reason to pack next to nothing on your trip to the Maldives.
When I arrive at the Maldives, I take my shoes off in my room at the resort, set them aside…and don’t touch them again until it’s time to catch our departure transfer. I love spending the entire week shoeless. For some bizarre reason, on the last several trips I brought sandals thinking that I might slip those on, but they languished at the bottom of the suitcase untouched. I particularly love the resorts that have lots of lounges and restaurants set on sand instead of concreted over floors. That said, sometimes some resorts will have places where they have a shoes required dress code (typically for safety reasons around dining and drinking areas in case a glass gets broken).
But for others, a trip to the Maldives is a decadent luxury and for the Carrie Bradshaw types, luxury means great shoes. Appropriately enough, the resort that sort of wreaks ‘Sex in the City’ opulence – Reethi Rah – has set out its stall for the footwear of the atolls…
“Christian Louboutin has partnered with One&Only Resorts to create a capsule collection of espadrilles exclusively for the group’s myriad lush havens and hideaways. In designing his first-ever resort collaboration, Louboutin took his popular espadrille and re-imagined it in three styles: The Cataribbon, The Tiburon, and The Isabelle. Priced at $375.”
In honour of Soneva Fushi’s hosted Eco Conference taking place this week (if you go to their micro-site, you can find a number of press releases about some of the content), I thought that I would call out yet another distinctive for Soneva on the same eco theme.
Maldives have long been the poster child for environmental awareness and initiatives. The latest tactic in battling global warming that has gotten a big profile is solar with the President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed donned hard hat and tools and personally helped installed solar panels for his official residence.
But no one in the Maldives is going bigger on solar than Soneva …
“Soneva Fushi, Six Senses’ flagship resort, has installed a 70kW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant system that has achieved eight months of successful operation. It is the largest renewable energy plant currently operating in the Maldives, a country that has brought international attention to the issue of global warming and rising sea levels.”
On the other end of the spectrum from <child-free Dhoni Island is child-embracing Diva resort. While places like Sheraton Full Moon have a great kids club, or a special feature like Conrad Rangali’s ‘Kid’s Spa’, I have not come across any resort that has thought through the ‘Family Experience’ from welcome to nite-nite time the way that Diva has.
As I have mentioned before, my original inspiration for Maldives Complete was going to be a web site called ‘Maldives for Families’. So Diva’s inspired touches warmed my heart. The Diva enhancements are not just special touches catering for the younger crowd, but actually well-thought out touches just as welcome to Mom and Dad…interconnecting rooms extra nappies, bottle sterilizers.
Using the new ‘Children Welcome’ filter to the ‘Resort Finder’ page allows people to dial up their child friendliness from ‘kids play free’ right down to ‘kid free’. As it turns out, the Maldives resorts vary in their embrace of children as widely as public sentiment. Some have invested in elaborate ‘kids clubs’ like Sheraton Full Moon and Conrad Maldives Rangali, both of which I have post on. Others like Baros, Meeru, Komandoo and W Retreat also have restrictions. But the most restrictive child policy is Dhoni Island which does not allow anyone under 16. So if you are one of those put off by peals of laughter and splashing about, then Dhoni Island is the best of the Maldives for you.
While the focus of the Hay Festival Maldives event being sponsored by Soneva Fushi features a range of ecological issues, Soneva Fushi has gone one further by hosting an Eco Symposium ‘climate change debate’ featuring a range of premier environmental keynote speakers. One of the speakers is none other than the high profile Maldive President Mohamed Nasheed. It also includes Solar Century Founder Jeremy Leggett (with whom I shared the speaking stage a few years ago at the 2007 Tech Track Awards), and Mark Lynas author of ‘Six Degrees: Our Future on A Hotter Planet’ (which coincidentally I just read last week…scary stuff). Quite a first class line-up.
(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.”
While Olhuveli and Fun Island might be a football pitch apart, if you want a little neighbourhood of tiny companion islands, then the Anantara resorts – Dhigu, Veli – and Naladhu. Each resort is just under 300 yards apart. So if you are apprehensive about being too remote and isolated, then maybe this little cluster in the Lakshadweep Sea is for you.