Best of the Maldives: Dessert Menu – W Retreat

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W Retreat desserts

Shocking as it may seem, not everyone wants chocolate for dessert. If you want as much variety in your flavours (and then even more variety in how those flavours are presented), then the restaurant Fish (which has a clever double pier design so twice as many tables are water side) at the W Retreat is the place to go. The pastry chef Sanjit Gupta (see above) has concocted a broad array of taste collections…

  • Strawberry – marinated strawberries, lavender ice cream, vanilla crumble
  • Mango – Swedish toast, grilled mango, mango sabayon, mango sorbet
  • Passion Fruit – passion fruit parfait, passion fruit toast, passion fruit syrup
  • Chocolate – bitter chocolate sorbet, white chocolate coulis, bitter chocolate mud cake
  • Coconut – coconut cheese cake, candied coconut, coconut sorbet, coconut milk jelly
  • Rum – classic rum baba, rum raisin ice cream, lime rum syrup
  • Caramel – walnut nougat, banana parfait, molasses ice cream, toasted brioche
  • Carrot – orange carrot soup, carrot spaghetti, apple dumpling, orange zested yogurt sorbet

Even with the portfolio option to hedge your bets, still choosing is a challenge. They are priced at $18. Sanjit is adding new items regularly and was experimenting with White and Black sesame when we were there.  My personal favourite flavours are cherry and cinnamon so I would love to see what he would do with those.

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Best of the Maldives: Ocean Swim – W Retreat

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W Retreat ocean swim

Sometimes you want the local island to be just that bit further away…especially if you are an open water swimmer.

Swimming in a lagoon is like have your own, gigantic, tropical fish stocked super-Olympic sized pool. In the morning, it is common to see a guest or two having an early swim to work off the pina coladas from the night before. But of course, you have the entire ocean at your disposal and some ocean-faring swimmers quite savour a broad expanse of open water. A good friend of mine travels across the world for ocean swims with a London group, Swim Trek.

The place to go in the Maldives for an open water swim holiday would the W Retreat. They have already sponsored several ocean swim events including one to ring in the New Year most recently (see poster below). The distance from the resort island to the neighboring deserted island is a marked mile (see photo above). And the route has relatively little current being within the atoll. After the swim, a boat picks them up for a more leisurely return segment.

Peter Foreman of the W describes…

“The swim is about 1.3KM (one way).  I don’t know what that is in miles – sorry.  When we do the swim, it is always one way, we stop on the island and return by speed boat. We do not do this swim regularly for guests – we have always done it just for hotel staff.  On 30th December 2011, we did an event with guests – however, this was a pre-arranged fund raiser event [see flyer below].  So, we would not do this for a one on one swimmer – due to the number of our staff that would be required (doctor, support, etc).  If you had a group staying with us and they were keen on doing the swim, I am sure that we could put it together for them.”

 

W Retreat ocean swim flyer

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Best of the Maldives: Spontaneous Sweets – W Retreat

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W Retreat sweet spot

Talk about ‘hitting the spot’.

For those who don’t want to go far at all for their refreshment, then the W Retreat’s ‘Sweet Spots’ are the place for you. Dotted around the tiny resort are small unmanned stations where you can help yourself to a fresh towel, sun lotion, and drinks like iced coffee. But best of all…free ice creams – Magnums, Soleros, Cornettos, vanilla and strawberry ice cream tubs.

It’s not like there is far to go anywhere in the island. If you were on the complete opposite side of the island, the apex of the further point away from the restaurant, then it might take you 5 minutes to get there. But such is the extremes of indolence inspired by the soporific Maldives, that the W has astutely catered for. Completely in keeping with their ‘Whatever/Whenever’ service ethos.

Speaking of ‘Sweet Spots’ and ‘resort strengths’, I have to share a piece from my friend Mike Pegg, who is one of the UK’s top executive coaches who has written a number of books on exploiting one’s strengths, Mike Pegg – “3 Tips for Hitting the Sweet Spot.”

 

W Retreat swet spot frig

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Best of the Maldives: Chocolate Dessert – W Retreat

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W Retreat 7 Layer Chocolate

Happy Birthday Lori!

Today my companion in all my adventures celebrates the major milestone of her 50th birthday. Lori was the one who was initially responsible for my immersion into all things Maldives. After living in the United Kingdom for nearly a year, we hit the dreary, grey winter months. After many weeks without seeing the sun, Lori confronted me with the ultimatum, “Bruce, either you pay for a tropical holiday or you pay for psychotherapy. Either way you are going to pay, but might I suggest that you might enjoy the tropical holiday more.” My friend Andy Lees insisted that the only place to take her was the Maldives. And the rest was history.

On this day, the thing to celebrate is cake. There are a plethora of spectacular chefs in the Maldives so I am typically very hesitant to ascribe any ‘Best of Maldives’ for specific foods. Most of the ‘Best of Dining’ accolades go to distinctive experiences or venues. If I am going to accord a kudos, it needs to be quite a narrow area (like Sheraton Full Moon’s Gazpacho).

While I couldn’t whisk her away to the Maldives, I do have special gourmet treats planned for her tonight, including a special chocolate cake which evoked one of the most memorable desserts we ever enjoyed in the Maldives – the W Retreat’s ‘7 Layer Chocolate Cake’. Like Lori’s birthday surprise, the cake was two months in development by Pastry Chef Sanjit Gupta. It mastered that paradox of rich flavours with exceedingly light feel to it.

The 7 layers were…

  • Sacher sponge
  • Chocolate marquis
  • Chocolate Brule
  • Hazelnut custard mousse
  • Chocolate jelly
  • Milk chocolate mousse
  • Cocoa powder

Exquisite…like Lori.

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Best of the Maldives: Vodka – W Retreat

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W Retreat vodka

 

Today is the Red Bull Air Race over Hulhumale capping off yesterday’s Red Bull Air Show (see photo below)

The classic, near iconic, Red Bull cocktail is the ‘Vodka Red Bull’. And if you are looking for the best place for vodka, the barn storming winner is without doubt the W Retreat. Specifically, it’s night club ’15 Below’ which prides itself on its dozens of varieties of vodka on offer in its vodka wall (see photo above).

Their most unusual vodka is Roberto Cavalli from Italy. Their most popular vodka cocktail is ‘Kiwi Spring’.

Right up there with the Ice Bar at the Ice Hotel as one of the best vodka bars in the world.

Check out series of videos from the event on YouTube.

 

Red Bull Air Show

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Best of the Maldives: Beds – W Retreat

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W Retreat lunch bed

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.

 

W Retreat 15 Degrees bed

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Best of the Maldives: Custom Breakfast – W Retreat

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W Retreat breakfast 2

The ultra-5-stars will do anything for you at the drop of a hat and W Retreat is certainly right up there with obsessive service. But usually, breakfast is a fairly self-service situation at most resorts with a smorgasbord of morning delights on offer to provide more than enough choice for most people to craft their own well suited breakfast. Some things are prepared to order especially the ubiquitous ‘Egg Station’ and often a ‘Pancake Station’ (which will do waffles too).

But the W Retreat has taken the preparation stations to a whole new level at their breakfasts where everything is made to order custom to your requirements. I certainly pushed the Egg Station to limits I hadn’t yet experienced at a resort getting myself fresh Egg Benedict (with freshly made, not pre-prepared, Hollandaise Sauce). For beverages, I had a custom made Fruit Smoothie with fruits I hand picked from their literal cornucopia. For the Japanese visitors, the popular breakfast item of Miso soup was custom prepared (not sitting simmering in a big vat) and you can choose your own spices and added ingredients to include (see photo above).

But the quintessence of personalisation is their coffee mugs. They offer a vast assortment of unique, colourful mugs (see below). When you choose one, that mug becomes YOUR mug for the entire stay. They keep track of whose mugs is whose and serve you in your OWN personal mug.

W Retreat mugs

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Best of the Maldives: Personalised Greeting – W Retreat

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W Retreat gift

Happy Advent!

The official T-minus countdown to the big Christmas celebration. Typically marked by the daily ritual of opening an Advent Calendar window which builds the anticipation and exercises the ‘opening’ muscles so you don’t hurt yourself from over exertion on Christmas morning.

The other big Advent tradition is Christmas greetings. The mail will start to swell with colourful messages from friends and family near and far. In the USA, there is a prominent school of yuletide greetings, which my wife Lori prescribe, which provides a personal touch by making their own cards, typically including a family photo as well as a brief update of the year gone by. Our 2011 creation (see photo below of inside at bottom) features a snapshot of our July trip to the Maldives as well as a reference to my Dad’s seaside-centric book, Shorelines, that I mentioned last week.

As it happens, ‘Greetings’ are a big part of the Maldives resort experience. With every resort on its own island, there is always a build of anticipation as you cross the ocean by speedboat or by seaplane and suddenly ‘your island’ emerges in the distance. Most resorts cap this grand arrival with their own special touches. The cooling, scented cloth and refreshing tropical drink are de rigeur. But on top of those, they add even more special welcomes. I’ve already written Komandoo’s A Cappella Greeting.

In honour of this resort ‘Greeting’ tradition in this very Season of Greetings, this entire week I will be featuring various distinctive greetings from the Maldives resorts. I’ve also broken out a special ‘Greeting’ tag/category on the Best of Maldives page. The first to feature is one that speaks to the personal touch and photographic approach of American Xmas cards – W Retreat.

W Retreat starts its greeting at the seaplane terminal with its own, top flight (pun intended) transfer lounge. As you approach the lounge, a staff member comes out to greet you and takes your picture next to the hotel crest. Its ‘Welcome Mat’ at the entrance says ‘Good Morning’ (and changes 3 times a day to ‘Good Afternoon’ and ‘Good Evening’). Instead of starting your stay with paperwork, that is an underwhelming formality at most resorts, the W welcomes you by sitting down with you to take your details and get to know you. Below I have a picture of my welcome by Mohamed Nirumal.

But the real treat, so simple yet so effective, is that when you take your seaplane ride and get ushered to your room, on your table is a frame photo of you taken back at the lounge (see above). Not only is it one of the most personal welcome gifts you will ever get at a resort, but all the staff at the resort use the photo on file to know who you are so they can give completely individualised service including calling you by name (one of the questions they ask in the personal interview is how you liked to be addressed).

WoW!

W Retreat registration

Lynn-holiday-greeting-small

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Volleyball – W Retreat

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W Retreat beach volleyball

If you like your beach time a bit more active, then probably the most popular beach activity is Beach Volleyball. Not just in the Maldives, where it is definitely the sport you will see most often set up at resorts by the waterside with often a keen staffer stirring up some play among the guests. But worldwide in this Olympic year. In my day job with Red Bee Piero, we are starting to prepare special functionality for covering the London 2012 Games and Beach Volleyball is right at the top of the list of events that major market broadcasters cover in detail.

A number of resorts have the nets and line markers laid out quite well. But only a few have the soft sand for those diving saves. W Retreat not only offers both of these, but a number of other uniques in its world-class standard Beach Volleyball court. First, it has padded net stands for further protection from ambitious play. Secondly, the W provides ‘antennae’ for out of bound marking on net (the photo doesn’t show them).

Spike!

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Best of the Maldives: Midnight Dip – W Retreat

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W Retreat pool stars

If stars are more your thing than the moon, then follow them over to W Retreat for a midnight dip in their constellation pools. Both their main pool and their individual villa pools feature star lights along the bottom creating their own little galaxies. The main pool is one of the larger ones in the Maldives at 50 square meters. And the villa pools are also combined with Jacuzzis.

It is legend that when Dom Perignon discovered champagne, he remarked ‘I am drinking stars!’ (In fact, there is even a book on the history of champagne with this quote as its title). With a glass of champagne, you are surrounded by stars below, above and inside.

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