Best of the Maldives: Largest Water Villa – Soneva Gili

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Gili Lankanfushi - Private Reserve aerial

 

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.

 

Gili Lankanfushi - Private Reserve glass floor

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Best of the Maldives: Glass Floor Pool – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu

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Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu glass floor pool Sakis Papadopolous

When I added the ‘Room Type’ database and profiles, two of the first characteristics that I catalogued were whether the room had (a) a Jacuzzi/pool, and (b) a glass floor (for water villas). Well, Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu features a ‘two-for’…a water villa pool WITH a glass floor. Kind of an aqueous parfait. Look through water to see…water.

I was alerted to it by eagle-eyed Sakis Papadopoloous of Dreaming of Maldives in his post this week titled ‘Your TOP 10 Maldives Dreamy Resorts in 2012’ where his dazzling photo (see above) graced their runner-up entry.

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Best of the Maldives: Bog View – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru bog view

The Maldives are sort of pioneers in the ‘Windows’ department. Underwater windows, but also Overwater windows. Also, known as ‘glass floors’. These features have become so common and popular, that I added a field for them in the ‘Room Type’ database.

Resorts feature glass floors in many of the top water villa rooms as well as spas and restaurants. But perhaps the most unusual place is the bathroom. Maybe not so surprising. With the prevailing ‘no shoes, no news’ ethos, there’s no daily newspaper for your morning constitutional. So a front row seat to watch the aquatic wonders below is a decadent alternative.

When I first saw this feature in a toilet, I thought it would be unique, but my research has uncovered several like the one from Six Senses Laamu below. But I’ve given the wipe of the squeegee to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru whose footside window is larger and the largest I have found.

Six Senses Laamu toilet glass floor

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Best of the Maldives: Spa Glass Floor – Coco Bodu Hithi

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Coco Palm Bodu Hithi spa glass floor

You don’t have to be under the ocean to enjoy aquarium views of a tapestry of marine life with the increasingly popular glass floors. Coco Bodu Hithi has added them to their spa rooms to ensure that even face down, the view is as stimulating as their treatments. I’m impressed when spas are attentive enough to such details to provide a bit of a flower arrangement under the treatment table head support. I have even seen spas with glass floors under their tables, but they were just small portals. CBH not only has quite an expansive glass floor (the big spa treatment glass floor that I have come across), but also has etched an enchanting design and added a flowers as well.

Sights, scents and soothing.

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Best of the Maldives: Indoor Bathroom – Adaaran Vadoo

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Vadoo bathroom

 

 

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.

 

Vadoo bathroom 2

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Best of the Maldives: Shower – Anantara Kihava

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Anantara Kihavah shower

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.

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru drench shower

[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...

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Best of the Maldives: Biggest Glass Floor – Velassaru

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Velassaru glass gloor

For those with weaker sea legs, you don’t have to go on the high seas or undersea to have a window to Maldivian marine life.

In fact, just this week the topic of glass floors came up on the Trip Advisor Forum. A couple of posters dismissed them as just gimmicks. But I actually applaud them. They are fun in their own right to see sea life from your very room. The whole allure of the Maldives is the gorgeous ocean and it seems a shame to ‘leave it’ when you close your villa door coming inside for the night or some other reason during the day.

Many times, water villas are built in shallow, sandy lagoons and so there is not the most fish life to see. I always wish that if a resort is going to invest in a glass floor feature, that they make sure it is over some coral cropping that will attract some colourful fish to actually look at. And if there is not a coral cropping handy, then invest in a SeaMarc regeneration frame to start some.

But even where there are few fish, the simple window over the water can have a dramatic feng shui effect over the villa. The light comes into the villa with the characteristically aquatic dappling which brings a bit of the playful spirit of the sea inside.

Sometimes these glass floors are rather modest little portals which nonetheless provide that stylish design touch. But, the most dramatic glass floor I have found in the Maldives is Velassaru’s Water Suite which measures an expansive 138 square feet. I used to live in a room that was smaller than that.

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