Happy Father’s Day!
A day for Dad to sit back in his favourite chair all day. One of my favourite chairs in the Maldives is Ayada’s ‘Dhoni Seats’. A creative touch of maritime Maldivian tradition.
Best of the Maldives: Indoor Overwater Lounge – Club Med Kani
Sometimes a ‘Best Of’ involves no particularly unique ingredient, just assembling the pieces in a distinctive way. That is how I felt about another lounge on the water, Club Med Kani’s ‘Manta Lounge’. It is part of their ‘5 Trident’ luxury water villas area.
On face value, there is not much there that you wouldn’t see in one form or another especially at the higher end resorts. But something about the execution impressed me so much that I imagined if I was staying at Kani (I was only there one day), then I would probably spend a fair amount of time at Manta.
Despite being enclosed, it has a nice, airy and open feel to it. But the enclosure has lots to appreciate…
- Shielding from the rays when you’ve had lots of sun.
- Air conditioning when you had lots of heat.
- Wide variety of seating when you’ve had lots of beach loungers.
- Wifi when you’ve had lots of time away from web surfing.
- Easy access to refreshments on offer when you have lots pangs of hunger and thirst.
Many resorts have enclosed lounges and libraries, but most of the time they are sequestered by reception with little view and buried in the main complex. Lots of resorts have sitting areas out on jetties, but most of the time, they are uncomfortable wooden bench with a modest palm canopy. The Manta Lounge was the best of the jetty rest areas combined with the best of the reception lounges.
As a bonus, they had the overwater hammocks which are lots of fun and comfy, but mostly I have seen them as features on private water villas and not available to the general guest population.
Best of the Maldives: Remote Massage – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru / Kuda Huraa
I’m loving this beach relaxation run this week. And just when you thought you couldn’t get more relaxed on a stretch of sand, up steps the Four Seasons with their Sandbank Massage.
The excursion is limited to guests their of Four Seasons Explorer yacht.
“Guests can have their treatment on board Four Seasons Explorer or on a sandbank nearby where the boat anchors. The sandbank location really depends on the route the boat is taking hence it is not always the same one. The guest will be dropped off with the therapist on the sandbank to enjoy the treatment in privacy.”
Full range of treatments from the signature ‘Kuda Huraa Massage’ (“A blend of specialised techniques from all over Asia – Thai pressure point, Filipino hilot, Malaysian urut”) to the ‘Sun Soother’ (“Hydrating and cooling fresh aloe vera gel, toning lavender mist, and lavender lotion are featured in this tropical wrap”). Prices range from $140 for 60 minutes to $225 for 120.
Best of the Maldives: Beach Cabana – Kuredu
You can carry on sleeping on the beach during the day with Kuredu’s beach hut cabana. If the Fatboy is not enough comfort for your shore-side lounging. You can book if for half a day for $50. A number of resorts have four-posted awnings and even mattressed loungers on the beach, but Kuredu’s cabana is just a bit more protected against beeezes or sun for those who have sensitive skin and really need to stay out of it. I also thought that it would be a great place to settle into with a very small child whose sensitive skin you would want to protect and the sheltered shade might help them nap too.
Decadent daytime dozing…
Best of the Maldives: Beach Sleep – Kanuhura
Sometimes it’s taken me so long to get out of a sand trap that I might as well as have checked-in for a proper stay. Well, at Kanuhura I can stay in the sand all night long…
“Enjoy a Dinner, a Night and breakfast like Robinson Crusoe. A romantic night under the stars on Kanuhura’s very own secluded desert island. Indulge in a sumptuous dinner of the freshest grilled seafood and meat dishes, prepared specially for you in an intimate candle-lit beach setting on neighbouring Jehunuhura Island. Then sleep peacefully under the stars in a private petal strewn canopy bed arranged on the powder-fine sand. You’ll be star struck with distant views across the ocean of twinkling constellations and glimmering light of the moon, while the gentle lapping of the waves will lull you blissfully to sleep. In the morning you’ll awake refreshed, with the uninterrupted vistas of the brilliant turquoise lagoon and swaying palm leaves around you, and a delicious Champagne Breakfast prepared for you on a totally secluded beach on your own little paradise.”
A number of times, my family have gone to the beach in the evening and just lied down on the sand to gaze up at the sky awash with stars while listening to the calm surf gently ticking the beach edge. After a busy day, we’d just as easily just drift off right then and there. Kanuhura’s offering provides just a touch more elegance and creature comfort for such dozing al fresco.
Starlit slumber.
Best of the Maldives: Spa Design – Six Senses Laamu
The spa ‘vista’ doesn’t have to be the glorious Maldivian seaside when you have such dazzling design for the spa itself. Six Senses Laamu’s spa stands out not only in the Maldives, but worldwide having recently been nominated for ‘Spa Design of the Year’. Its look is inspired by nature resembling a woven bird’s nest.
Best of the Maldives: Spa Vista – Adaaran Vadoo
The vogue thing in the Maldives is the underwater features, but I am an unabashed fan of the over water views as well. Waaaay over water. The sea plane rides and any place that provides a broader perspective on the distinctive aquatic landscape.
You can drink with a view, dine with a view, and workout with a view. And you can even relax with a view at Adaaran Vadoo Prestige’s spa right at the window looking out over the ocean from a rare (in the Maldives) 3rd story.
Best of the Maldives: Low Bed – Adaaran Vadoo
Time to get down.
The latest bed instalment is not the biggest, nor the best, but the ‘lowest’. In keeping with its Japanese heritage and ambience, the Vadoo beds rest on the ground. Not like your typical ‘Beds-R-Us’ foldable futons though, these beds are as plush and thick.
I had my bed on the floor growing up. It was especially convenient for collapsing into (perhaps a very serious concern for some people). Also, great for subclinophobics (fear of things under the bed).
Vadoo is not unique with this bed style, but Vadoo is best quality I have come across with its quality of mattress, bedding and stylishly design black lacquer frame.
Best of the Maldives: Beds – W Retreat
There’s biggest, and there’s best. And at the W Retreat, beds are as much of a pervasive obsession as their service and music.
Beds are everywhere. Their pool-side restaurant/bar serves you lunch on a bed (see photo above). Later in the day, you can go to their over-water bar, ‘Sip’, for a sundowner on an array of king sized mattresses with pillows to stretch out on. Even after dinner, a night cap at the night club 15 Below offers seats that are more bed than chair in design (see photo below). Beds are on the beach and in reception. The upstairs decks of the villas have swinging beds.
And to cater for all of this lounging, the W have created these little serving tables (see in both photos) which handily hold your drink, food, etc. what ever way you want to make yourself comfortable.
Of course, they also have them in the bedrooms. Lovely ones. Top of the line ‘super kings’ with down mattress covers and down pillows (the softest we have come upon) a luxuriously high thread count (400 TC) bed linen.
For a destination where most of the landscape is horizontal, the W does more than just about anywhere to get you horizontal.
Best of the Maldives: Widest Beds – Jumeirah Dhevanafushi
Of course, another way for the whole family to relax is a bit of cuddle therapy. But, as my wife and I learned when we had young kids, as sweet as it is when the little ones jump onto the bed in the morning for a start-the-day hug, it does call for a bigger bed. And in the Maldives, there are no bigger beds than Jumeirah Dhevanafushi’s Ocean Revive and Island Revive beds. At 3 metres wide (2 metres long) they are the biggest I have come across anywhere. A UK ‘super-King’ is only 2 metres wide (and 1.83 metres long). In fact, the biggest commercially sold bed in the world is the ‘California King’ which is only 2.13 metres wide.