16 Glass Floors in the Maldives

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W Retreat glass floor

 

GlassFest started yesterday featuring every imaginable translucent creation. But for the bottom line (or should I say ‘bottom plane’?) on glass, then the heartland of glass flooring is the resorts of the Maldives featuring portals to the aquatic wonderland below. When you come to the islands, so enchanting is its beauty above and beneath the water, you just don’t want to take your eyes off it. And the resorts there do everything possible do that you don’t have to. Here are a collection of the best in every imaginable nook and cranny of an over water stay…

1. ENTRYWAY – Lily Beach: Clearly welcome matt (Deluxe Water Villa)

Lily Beach - entry glass floor

2. SITTING ROOM – Velassaru: Set yourself down, put your feet up, and enjoy the scenery (Water Suite).

Velassaru glass gloor

3.  LIVING ROOM – LUX Maldives: Scotch and water anyone? (LUX Villa)

LUX Maldives glass floor

4.  DINING ROOM – Conrad Rangali Maldives: Up there you be on da plate… (Sunset Water Villa)

Conrad Rangali dining room glass floor

5.  STUDY – Conrad Rangali Maldives: And glass desktop to boot so nothing stands in the way of oceanic inspiration to your writing… (Retreat Water Villa)

Conrad Rangali desk glass floor

6.  BEDROOM – Iru Fushi: G’nite Anchor, g’nite Chum. G’nite John-boy. (Water Villa)

Iru Fushi bedroom glass floor

7. BATHROOM – Vadoo: What’s taking you so long in there (are you watching the fish instead of getting ready)? (Sunrise Water Villa)

Vadoo bathroom 2

8. BATHTUB – Anantara Kihavah: Great view of fish for bathers (maybe the view for the fish is not so great). (Over Water Pool Villa)

Anantara Kihavah glass bottom bath tub

9.  TOILET – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru: WATER Closet. Beats a newspaper. (Sunrise Water Villa with Pool)

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru glass floor toilet

10. OUTDOOR SHOWER– Anantara Kihavah:  Note to fish – don’t look up. (Over Water Pool Villa)

11.  MASSAGE ROOM – Conrad Rangali Maldives: Feel like floating away. (Overwater Spa)

Conrad Rangali Maldives spa glass floor

12. INDOOR DECK – Gili Lankanfushi: Right this way to see the marine life…(Private Reserve)

Gili Lankanfushi Private Reserve glass floor

13.  OUTOOR DECK – Jumeirah Vittaveli: For those people who don’t live on the edge… (Lagoon Suite)

Jumeirah Vittaveli deck glass floor

14.   POOL – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu: Pool with a 360 degree view. (Lagoon Villa)

Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu glass floor pool Sakis Papadopolous

15. MEZZANINE – Huvafenfushi: You don’t need an ocean under you to provide a glass floor view of the water (Two Bedroom Beach Pavilion)

Huvafenfushi two bedroom beach pavillion with pool glass floor 1

16. BOAT – Paradise Island: And even a mobile glass floor for those guests on the move (Glass Bottomed Boat)

Paradise Island - glass bottom boat

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Best of the Maldives: Ceiling Fan – Jumeirah Vittaveli

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Jumeirah Vittaveli ceiling fan

We are big fan fans. Especially big ceiling fans. No distinguished Southern room in the USA would be without them turning languidly to stir the thick summer air. Every bedroom in our house has these not-so-turbo-props. For our UK house, I shopped and shopped, but didn’t find much exceptional in the designs though. And most Maldives resorts, even, have fairly pedestrian models. I would have loved to have this model from Jumeirah Vittaveli in my house. The elegantly carved wooden versions here bring as much cool style as cool breezes to the villa.

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Best of the Maldives: Round Bed – Constance Halaveli

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Constance Halaveli round bed

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.

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Best of the Maldives: Artistic Bed – Baros

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Baros bed in Lennon Ono

 

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!

 

Baros artistic bed

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Best of the Maldives: Jacuzzi Cabana – Nika

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Nika jacuzzi cabana

 

 

Most outdoor Jacuzzis are set out in the open air I guess to provide the most expansive view, but in keeping with Nika’s distinction in the area of privacy, it offers charming Jacuzzi cabanas in the private beach area of each villa. It uses temperature controlled water like drawing a bath so you can get it nice a piping hot unlike many rather tepid Jacuzzis.

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Best of the Maldives: Private Dining Jetty – Velaa

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Velaa - private dining jetty

One of the finest delights of the Maldives is dining over the ocean. Forget dining by the ocean (though there is that too), but dining right on top of it is standard fare there. If you want your own private setting atop the water, then the famous Maldives water villas provide an exquisite platform. But typically, you are limited to dining off a tray from room service. Some fancier villas do have dining tables on their decks, but Velaa has a special deck for its dining table. Complete with curtained shelter (to provide either added privacy or to shield ocean breezes if they kick up a bit too much for your liking) and canopy top (to shield from too much sun glare or even a passing rain shower).

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Best of the Maldives: Tinted Windows – Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo

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Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo tinted glass villa windows

 

From seeing through floors to not seeing through windows, Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo beach villas feature tinted glass windows. Not only do these help to keep the interior cool in an eco-friendly way, but they also allow you to keep the shades open while maintaining privacy (though you need to keep the lights off in the room to maintain maximum privacy effect).

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Best of the Maldives: Elevated Glass Floor – Huvafenfushi

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Huvafenfushi two bedroom beach pavilion with pool glass floor 1

Perhaps the best villa for a cat would be Huvafenfushi’s Two Bedroom Beach Pavilion with Pool villa which features a second story glass floor (given the feline predilection for surveying surrounding from an elevated perch). All glass floors I know of are water villa features providing a vista to the aquatic life below, but Huvafenfushi’s villa is a beach property. You still get a water view as they have situated the pool directly underneath (though the water creatures are a bit more limited).

Huvafenfushi two bedroom beach pavilion with pool glass floor 2

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