For the simplest stand-up view of the underwater delights, Grand Park Koddhipparu has a “glass-bottomed” SUP (stand-up paddleboard). I remember when the first glass bottom canoe (at W Maldives) was a big deal and now they are everywhere. I suspect this one be the last one of these that we see.
Environment Day today to celebrate appreciating, respecting and care for the environment around us. Sometimes the smallest of things can have big impacts over enough people and time. On example is sunscreen which we slather on to protect us from the tropical sun. But when we take a dip in the ocean to cool off, the salty water washes a lot of its chemicals off our body and onto the coral reefs we swim amongst.
Gili Lankanfushi is now only selling reef-friendly sunscreen in its boutique for its guests to remove this extra burden on our coral friends:
Also, Grand Park Koddhipparu have made a similar announcement, but I was unable to get additional details.
When I worked at Microsoft, it’s quite expansive canteen always seemed to be the busiest at its noodle station. I’ve seen noodle dishes prepared to order at Maldives buffets, but none quite so extravagantly as Grand Park Kodhipparu’s The Edge restaurant. Kassandra noodles are prepared freshly in multiple pots with an extensive array of ingredients and spice to choose from to customise them to your own liking.
Possibly the most off site management off-site in the world. Team leaders have been long taking their teams away from the hubbub of the office to escape distractions and reset the mind sets. But what do you do when your workplace is a remote island in a remote part of the world. Well, get even more remote. Like a sand bank in the middle of the ocean. Or the rooftop of a dhoni sailing along that ocean. This how General Manager Raffaele Solferino of Grand Park Kodhipparu gets his resort team’s focused:
They say some of the bet ideas come hanging out at the bar. With Kodhipparu, that bar happens to be a sand bar. When I was a senior manager at Microsoft, I had a bit of a reputation for pushing the envelope of adventurous off-sites, but nothing I ever did there compares with Kodhipparu’s retreats. Inspired inspiration.
The best buffets are the ones who turn use the format not for laying out food en mass, but instead for providing a bit of flash and sizzle in the food prep itself with special stations. Sort of a Chef’s Table brought out to the dining area. Grand Park Kodhipparu main restaurant, The Edge, features a number of distinctive stations (stay tuned), but my favourite was their Shaved Ice Dessert. An exotica concoction of nuts, ice cream, shaved ice and tapioca. I am a bit of a tapioca connoisseur (it was my favourite dessert when I lived in Togo, West Africa and still enjoy the American Royal Tapioca Pudding) so I especially appreciated this lively twist on a beloved ingredient. And the taste was sublime.
Breezy and easy. Grand Park Kodhipparu simply struck us as an easy resort. Easy transfer, easy access to everything on the diminutive island. Easy access to one of the several house reefs from the water villa (just a few dozen feet from the back deck).
The resort was a particularly welcome respite after the frenzy of several days of island hopping. I‘m sure it would be one for someone wanting more of an escape holiday. It’s also a bit easy on the wallet as it is value priced in the 5-star segment while offering a thoroughly 5-star experience in build, service and amenities. I came away with a number of candidates for future Best Of the Maldives pieces and the GM Raffaele shared some intriguing plans for further enhancements they are working on.
We also extended our string of serendipitous meetings. This time with a longstanding connection on the web-side: Ibrahim Mahudhee, Managing Director at Maldives Promotion House which does the website Maldives Insider. MI is often the first to scoop breaking news on the resorts and is the source of many additions of planned resorts to the Maldives Complete database as well as leads for Best of Maldives innovations. I’ve been considering doing a piece for MI for a while and Mahudhee encouraged me to do so as we exchanged a few ideas on topics.
If you are stressed by all the choices in the crowded luxury sector of Maldives resorts, Grand Park Kodhipparu is an easy choice.