Maldives of amazing lagoons and top-of-the-line resorts

I’m trying to remember when I first went to the Maldives. I think it was 1994 or thereabouts. My trip came about almost by accident. I had gone to Trivandrum for an assignment and somebody asked if I had ever been to the Maldives. I said I had never been and was not sure I wanted to go.

You are crazy, I was told. It has the most beautiful, clearest sea in the world. You can look into the water and see right to the bottom of the ocean. Intrigued, I did some checking and discovered that a) the Maldives were a short hop away from Trivandrum by Indian Airlines, b) Indians did not need visas and c) that the Taj Group ran two resorts which offered reasonable all-inclusive (i.e. room plus all meals) rates.

So, I took the flight to Malé from Trivandrum. And I was blown away. As you probably know, the Maldives comprise thousands of tiny coral islands, only some of which are inhabited. The capital Malé is on a largish island. The airport is on another island. And each resort is on an island of its own.

The Taj resort where I was staying was kind of basic, but it was comfortable and well-run. And I soon discovered that the resort did not matter as long as it had water bungalows.

These are rooms, constructed on stilts directly above the water. They have stairs leading to what I thought was the Indian Ocean and because the water is not deep (around four feet or so usually) you can walk around. And yes, I had not been misinformed; the sea was so clear that you could look right to the bottom.

Deep blue sea: Water bungalows are typical of all resorts in the Maldives.

Later, somebody explained to me that this wasn’t really the Indian Ocean or the sea. Each island was surrounded by a shallow lagoon of relatively still water. And it was this water that was so clear that you could see every shell at the very bottom.

I was told not to feed the fish. But I did anyway. Each morning, I would throw pieces of my breakfast toast into the lagoon and hundreds of brilliantly coloured fish would swim up to my water bungalow to grab the bread.

Later in that trip, they took me out in a glass-bottomed boat from which you could look at the floor of the lagoon and then, the clearer parts of the Indian Ocean. It was mind-blowing: the greatest aquarium on Earth.

For years, I treated the Maldives as my own little paradise. I went back three or four times, stuck to the two Taj resorts and had the holidays of my life. It was not luxurious. Many of the guests appeared to be package tourists from Eastern Europe.

The food consisted of rubbish buffets and I usually asked if I could eat the staff canteen dal-chawal. But it didn’t matter. As long as I had a water bungalow and the lagoon, I was happy.

Then, early in this century, the world discovered the Maldives. One&Only, the Four Seasons, and other luxury chains arrived. The Taj upgraded one property (it is now a Vivanta) and opened the spectacular Taj Exotica (where I shot an episode of Custom Made two years ago).

I tried many of the other resorts. One&Only Reethi Rah, Sonu Shivadasani’s trendsetting Soneva Fushi and others. And very soon the Maldives became such an expensive destination that I could no longer afford to go there as often as I used to.

Pretty soon, all the islands near the capital Malé and the airport became resorts. But because demand would not let up, the government started leasing out islands that there were too far to get to by boat and were best accessed by helicopter or sea-plane.

I tried some of the faraway islands and soon came to the conclusion that they were no prettier than the islands near Malé. They all had the same lagoons, the same clear water and the same natural beauty. Only the resorts seemed to get more and more upmarket.

Around a year ago, I heard of two new resorts, both aiming for the very top echelon of travellers. One of them, Cheval Blanc, was on an island leased to a Bulgarian (I think) who had cleverly got LVMH involved in the management, knowing that the moment wealthy Chinese hear the words ‘Louis Vuitton’ they reach for their wallets.

Cast away: Velaa Private Island – the most expensively constructed hotel in the world – is a small, 45 keys, all-villa hotel where each of the villas is designed for long stays.

But it was the other one – Velaa Private Island – which is room-for-room the most expensively constructed hotel in the world (between $4 to $5 million a room to build, depending on which figure you believe about the project cost) that intrigued me. Why would anyone spend nearly $250 million dollars to build a 45-room hotel in the Maldives?

My friend Sanjay Menon, the wine expert, supplies wine to Velaa and a few months ago he called with a proposal. Would I accept an invitation to a food and wine pairing weekend at Velaa? Would I? Of course, I would!

Which is how I ended up again in the Maldives in what must be the most unusual resort in the country. The resort manager, Mohamed Nihaj, told me the story of how Velaa came to be built. Nihaj was a butler at Huvafen Fushi, one of the top resorts in the Maldives, when a Czech billionaire called Jiri Smejc came to stay. Of the 14 days he was in the Maldives, it rained for 11.

“You’ve come at the wrong time of year,” Nihaj told him. “Come back again”.  So Smejc did and he fell in love with the Maldives, just as nearly everyone who goes there does. He told Nihaj, “Find me an island. I want to buy one here”. Butlers are used to big talk so Nihaj thought nothing of the conversation. But within months, Smejc was back. “So have you found me an island?” he demanded.

Of course, Nihaj had not.
“Ok, find me one by the next time I come!” he commanded.

So Nihaj went looking and when a suitable island was put on the market by the Maldivian government, he called Smejc. The billionaire flew in, looked at the island, liked it and began the process of leasing it from the government. Once he had the island, he resolved to build a villa for himself. But what would he do with the rest?


That’s when the idea of a small all-villa hotel was born. Smejc knew that he could not compete with the standard resort hotels in the Maldives. So he gave his resort an exclusive, residential ambience with only 45 villas (something like One&Only that has around 130 rooms), each of them huge in size and designed for long-stay guests (with large cupboards, pantries etc.)

But because that would not be enough, he also turned it into a food and wine destination. Unusual for a resort with 45 keys, it has three restaurants and a room service menu that stretches on and on. The cellar has over 10,000 wines and apart from Romanée-Conti and Château Margaux, it also has real gems from boutique wineries that only collectors know about. 

Master of spices: Sri Lankan chef Gaushan de Silva is the real star in the kitchens of the Velaa and is potentially one of Asia’s great chefs.

The consulting chef is Adeline Grattard of Paris’s highly-regarded Yam ‘Tcha but the real star in the kitchen is the young Sri Lankan chef Gaushan de Silva. Smejc hired Gaushan from Huvafen by telling him, “You can spend a year travelling the world and training where you like at my expense.”

So Gaushan spent three months at Noma and other great restaurants to supplement his previous experiences as personal chef to Queen Rania of Jordan (“a very discerning but demanding boss”).

As tends to happen at resorts which are partly vanity projects for billionaires, Gaushan can order whatever ingredients he wants: one evening, he did an eight course menu alternating white and black truffles with each dish.

But what I liked most about his food was the attention to detail: a Peking duck consomme was better than Matt Moran’s famous version; he cooked the best OHMI and Kobe beef till the outside was crisp and the fat had melted inside; his clams were a triumph of taste and presentation; and he slow-cooked a freshly caught Maldivian lobster so that it paired perfectly with white truffles. He is potentially one of Asia’s great chefs.

So far, at least, Velaa has been lucky. There are lots of Russians and other millionaires prepared to pay these prices. The average spend on food and beverage per villa is in excess of $1,000 a day.

But the management is looking further. It knows that Indians have money and there’s no shortage of millionaires looking for something more than the standard Four Seasons-One&Only experience. And Velaa’s air of exclusivity makes it attractive to the very rich.

For the rest of us, of course, there’s still the rest of the Maldives. It’s not cheap any longer. But it is still one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

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Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives captures 2014 Traveler’s Choice Award for top all-inclusive resort

Surrounded by a glorious white sandy beach, Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa is the only resort in Maldives designed in a colonial style with whitewashed timber buildings and meandering boardwalks.

BANGKOK - Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa in Maldives was recently recognized as the top all inclusive resort at the Traveler’s Choice Awards.

 

“I'm happy the Travelers' Choice Awards have recognized the unique qualities of our resort because we've worked very hard to make Grand Island Resort & Spa live up to visitor's expectations when they are in the Maldives,” said Voytek Klasicki, Centara's area general manager. "The awards, one of the travel and tourism industry's most prestigious, are based on millions of reviews created by savvy and experienced Trip Advisor travelers and accurately reflect the appeal the Grand Island Resort & Spa has for its guests.”
 

The Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa is located in the South Ari Atoll and was conceived by Thailand’s Centara Hotels & Resorts as a priority when it came to opening the group's first overseas property. In a relatively short time, it has gained considerable market share  The location, South Ari Atoll, is a haven for marine life and offers resort guests an unmatched chance to get close and personal with manta rays, reef sharks and colorful fish. The resort is also in close proximity to famous dive sites, such as Broken Rock, Kudarah Thila and 5 Rocks.
 

Surrounded by a glorious white sandy beach, Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa is the only resort in Maldives designed in a colonial style with whitewashed timber buildings and meandering boardwalks. The resort offers both stunning beachside and over-water accommodations.
 

“I am not surprised that reviews and opinions from Trip Advisor have been so positive, given that the resort represents the ultimate in all-inclusive experiences and is truly unique in its totally immersive appeal,” added Klasicki. “One of the truly innovative ways in which the resort manages to be so relaxing is its cash-free policy in which guests, enjoying the Ultimate All Inclusive program, find everything they desire already paid for – including champagne breakfasts, a choice of three lunch and dinner venues with themed international buffets and an open bar service, which provides a scintillating array of cocktails, beers, wines and spirits.”
 

Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa offers both non-motorized and motorized water sports as well as five excursions including whale shark snorkeling, sunset cruises, local island visits, night fishing and boats for snorkeling on other reefs. Every guest can also enjoy a daily spa treatment in SPA Cenvaree, another amenity no other resort in Maldives can boast. For those seeking other daytime activities, the resort offers recreation options, sports and fitness facilities and a professionally-managed Kids’ Club.
 

The Grand Island Resort & Spa has a choice of 112 suites and villas suitable for individual travelers, honeymoon couples and family groups. All guest suites have a bedroom and living room, a generous private terrace, and all of the amenities travelers expect from a premier beach resort including satellite TV and high-speed internet access. One truly distinctive feature of the resort is each guest has access to the Club - a "resort within a resort" accommodation experience.
 

Guests opting for the Club level of accommodation also have access to the exclusive Club Lounge with private pool area and complimentary breakfasts, snacks, cocktails and dinner. The Club also serves premium wines and beverages and an upgraded mini bar and guest laundry.
 

The resort also is unusual in that it features a variety of dining options, including the all-day venue Reef, authentic Suan Bua and Azzuri Mare Italian & Seafood restaurant, plus the Aqua and Coral Bars for nightly entertainment.

The Maldives: best island resorts to rekindle your sex life, take the family or just chill out

The Maldives aren't just for young honeymooners: there's shark-spotting, diving, spas and activities for kids and teens. Lucy Handley visits Kuramathi, Kandolhu and Velassaru

It only takes seven minutes to walk around tiny Kandolhu island in the Maldives

A manta ray sped away as I snorkelled carefully towards a sand bar, a bright white strip in the middle of the Indian Ocean, trying to keep my body flat as I floated across the shallow waters so I didn’t to touch the coral below.

We’d jumped off a speedboat from the island of Velassaru in the Maldives into dark turquoise waters, with the sand bar – our own private island for the day – almost within touching distance.

But we weren’t allowed to just swim across to it for fear of damaging the reef below, so we headed around a longer way and then swam through a safe ‘channel’, spotting a couple of turtles as well as huge shoals of tropical fish just hanging out a couple of metres below the surface.

Arriving on the sand, we literally jumped for joy at discovering a perfect, footprint-free paradise, before our hosts set up a white tent stretched across wooden posts for a sushi and champagne lunch.

Setting up a champagne lunch on a sand bar off Velassaru, Maldives

Never having been to the Maldives, I’d expected the islands to be everything you see in the brochures: snow-like sand, swaying palm trees and snorkel-wearing couples emerging from shallow waters hand in hand, with which part of the beach to lie on being the biggest decision you have to make all day.

The islands are just like that, but the resorts (each island is made up of an entire resort) are pretty competitive with each other and the three I stayed on were quite different: Velassaru, Kuramathi and Kandolhu. More than 100 islands of 1,190 are developed for tourism, and the Maldivian people live on 200 more.

OK, many offer wedding vow renewal (popular with fifty-somethings), and all are full of lush vegetation surrounded by Tiffany-box blue waters but they’re also the kind of place you can take your teenagers, de-stress or let’s face it, with not much else to do, rekindle your sex life.

Best Maldivian island to spice up your sex life: Velassaru

Velassaru is one of the closest islands to the Maldivian capital Male; only 20 minutes away by speedboat. I stayed in an over water villa, with a huge bedroom, blonde wood floors, a large deck with plunge pool and steps directly into the sea below.

Padding back into the bedroom after a dip, I noticed a discreet silver box next to the wardrobe, which turned out to be a ‘shy bunny love kit’, yours for only $68 (£44). But the tickle feather, desire dice, condoms and intimacy oils inside would spice up any honeymoon (70 per cent of the island’s visitors are honeymooners) or rekindle an age-old marriage.

An over water bungalow on Velassaru, Maldives

With or without props, the huge bed alone is enough to make you want to roll around, and of course the outdoor deck, loungers and pool are pretty private, and beautifully-lit at night so some alfresco fun is perfectly possible (disclaimer: nude or topless sunbathing or activity is frowned upon, the Maldives being a Muslim nation!). My room faced the lights of Male across the sea, but otherwise felt pretty secluded.

The bathroom might also get the juices flowing, with its floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the water, freestanding bath and rain-head shower. You can close the blinds of course, but what’s the point with little likelihood of being seen (unless the couple next door is taking a night-time dip)?

If it’s romance you’re after, you can go on a sunset cruise on a traditional dhoni boat, chill out on turquoise bean bags, sip Taittinger champagne and nibble fresh tuna canapés. We ate at Velassaru’s intimate Teppanyaki restaurant, sharing sashimi, Wagyu beef and a green tea cake, and the island also offers candle-lit romantic ‘dug out dinners’ in the sand, as well as private dining in your room.

Best Maldivian resort for families with children: Kuramathi

If you’ve got teenagers, Kuramathi offers plenty of ways to let them escape from you. It’s one of the larger islands, with 300 rooms, an eco centre, tennis court and gym. Golf buggies zoom guests around, along paths lined with coconut palms, purple bougainvillea and red hibiscus.

You could easily drop your offspring at the water sports centre for the day, where they can sail, windsurf, wakeboard or paddleboard. Guests are also welcome to join staff football matches, and there’s a volleyball league too.

I opted for something more relaxing: having taken an overnight flight and seaplane transfer to the island, I just wanted to chill out. There’s an infinity pool at the island’s northern tip where I snoozed, before heading for Kuramathi’s best beach, a sand bar stretching into the Indian Ocean that looked silvery in the sunset. 

The 300 year-old banyan tree on Kuramathi, Maldives

Jumping on a golf buggy back to my room, we passed Hector, a Brit in his sixties who holidays on the island around four times a year, sometimes with his children in their twenties, spending much of his time diving.

The island has two dive centres and you can take your PADI open water course there in four days. Kids can try it too, going to a maximum depth of 2m.

I didn’t dive, but the snorkelling is wonderful, and resident marine biologist Angie took me on a trip to two reefs, a 20-minute boat ride away at Rashdoo Atoll. I saw reef sharks and turtles, bright yellow longnose butterfish, black and white stripy ‘humbug’ fish and white clark’s anemonefish – made famous by Finding Nemo.

If you’ve younger children, the island also has a lovely kids’ club, Bageecha, set in a replica upturned ship’s hull, with different activities daily, including a barbecue day where three to 12 year-olds can play musical chairs in the morning and toast marshmallows in the afternoon.

Kids will also love Kuramathi’s giant, 300 year-old banyan tree in the middle of the island, and it’s an amazing site, with 300 feet of endless, Jack and the Beanstalk-style creepers and trunk.

Best Maldivian island for total relaxation: Kandolhu

It’s a 25-minute seaplane flight from Male to tiny Kandolhu, and the island is so small you can walk around it in seven minutes, with pristine beaches perfect for lazing. It also manages to pack in four restaurants, a bar, water sports centre, spa and gym, which is plenty to serve the 30 rooms.

If you want somewhere non sand-based to chill out, there’s a lovely library above reception looking out to sea, where Dickens and Brontë rub spines with The Hunger Games trilogy, and there’s a telescope for stargazing. There’s also a sunset pavilion, great for a rest after snorkelling, and there are plans to put in a kitchen there for people who fancy dinner surrounded by the ocean.

But the star of the show on Kandolhu is the house reef that you can reach directly from a short jetty. Within minutes, I’d seen a shark lurking deep below, and two turtles followed soon after. I picked an unusually cloudy day to snorkel (the weather is hot and dry from December to March, and wetter from April to November) and the water was chilly, so I headed back to my room to laze in the giant free-standing bath in my outdoor bathroom.

The private pool outside Lucy’s villa room on Kandolhu, Maldives

My room also had three showers (an outdoor one set on sand and surrounded by pebbles and lush greenery, plus two inside), a downstairs lounge area, which was generous in size but felt a little ‘executive’, and a huge bed upstairs with a balcony overlooking a private plunge pool. It was the perfect place to snooze as the sun set, before a facial at the spa.

The island imports seaweed-based Voya products, made by an Irish family firm, and the facial was thoroughly relaxing with some sore but necessary extraction halfway through. Afterwards, a pre-sleep treat had already arrived in my room: dainty pots of coconut panna cotta with some sticky and delicious banana spring rolls. Of course I ate them before heading to Olive, the resort’s Italian restaurant, for dinner.

While undeniably beautiful and remote, Kandolhu hasn’t yet the character of the other islands, having only opened in February 2014, but manager Marc is working on that, showing off the reclaimed coral-walled restaurant Sea Grill and he is commissioning photography for the bedrooms, so there’s more to come.

Getting to the Maldives

Kuoni and Universal Resorts offer seven nights at Velassaru Maldives in a deluxe bungalow with breakfast, including return economy flights from London Heathrow and transfers from £1,275 per person, based on two sharing.

Seven nights at Kuramathi Island resort in a garden villa on full board meal basis, including return economy flights from London Heathrow and transfers cost from £1,235 per person, based on two sharing.   

Seven nights at Kandolhu Island in a jacuzzi villa with breakfast, including return economy flights from London Heathrow and transfers cost from £2,272 per person, based on two sharing.

Selena Gomez and Kendall Jenner Kick Off Their New Year's Eve Celebration Together in Dubai

It looks like that beef between Selena Gomez and Kendall Jenner is officially done-zo. The darling duo were both seen jetting off from Los Angeles to Dubai to celebrate New Year's Eve together.

According to E! News, Sel, Kendall and their pal Gigi Hadid boarded planes on Saturday heading to the same city. It isn't simply a girls night out either. Gigi's boyfriend Cody Simpson tagged along for the trip, too.

"Dubai bound tomorrow with some mates," he tweeted on Friday. "New Years will be mental. Then a little Maldives surf action."

Selena has already shared pictures of the groups time together. "Pashminas and candles under the stars," she shared on Instagram while hugging Kendall and Gigi.

We can't help but wonder if Sel's ex Justin Bieber will pop up at this gathering. You know, he IS really good friends with Cody. We doubt it though, he has recently been seen everywhere with Hailey Baldwin, and we don't think Sel would be down with her being there.

But anywho...are you surprised Selena and Kendall are celebrating 2015 together? Think Justin is jealous?

Source: 
http://www.cambio.com/2014/12/29/selena-gomez-and-kendall-jenner-kick-off-new-years-eve-celebraton/