Maldives Complete Blog : nationality

Best of the Maldives: Turkish – Ayada

Maldives Complete — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:59:00 GMT

Happy Turkey Day!

No not American Thanksgiving. But the National Holiday of Turkey, ‘Republic Day’. And the resort of the day is Ayada.

Ayada is owned and managed by a Turkish company and it reflects its Ottoman roots throughout the resort. From the Turkish Hammam baths to the Ottoman lounge…

“From the serenity and tranquility of the Maldives to the vibrancy of a café in Turkey, Ayada Maldives showcases the beauty and unique experience of sipping authentically brewed Turkish coffee and specialty teas with a wide array of traditional shisha at the Ottoman Lounge. The lounge is reminiscent of a traditional café in Turkey with the Ottoman style furnishings complete with intricate light fixtures and low seating.”

Şerefe!

Best of the Maldives: Thai – Anantara Veli

Maldives Complete — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:33:20 GMT

Happy Loy Krathong!

“On the eve of the 12th lunar month, Anantara Resorts Maldives is proud to present a traditional evening of Thai cuisine and Krathong – flower-shaped candlelit rafts – in celebration of Loy Krathong, The Festival of Lights, under a full moon at Baan Huraa restaurant. As a resort company steeped in heartfelt Thai hospitality it gives us great pleasure to introduce and celebrate one of the most beautiful Thai festivals with our story-collecting travellers from around the globe. Our resorts encapsulate the excitement of discovery and exploration that comes with entering new territory and, though we are celebrating the Festival of Lights outside the Kingdom, I cannot think of a more perfect setting than the greatest paradise on earth to express good wishes to our guests and team members and to look to the future as we float our floral offerings on the night.”

With its romantic trappings (full moon, flowers, candles), as well as its aquatic and even ecological origins, the Maldives has to be one of the best places on the planet to celebrate this endearing Thai holiday…

“Popular legend holds that the celebration is an expression of gratitude to the goddess of water 'Phra Mae Kongka' for having extensively used, and sometimes polluted, the water from the rivers and canals. It is also in part a thanksgiving for her bounty in providing water for the livelihood of the people.”

And in the Maldives, there is no better place to celebrate anything Thai than Anantara’s three conjoined properties: Dhigu, Veli and Naladu. Anantara is itself a Thai company which explains its exceptional catering to all things Thai. Their spa is heavily Thai themed with Thai treatments and therapists. In fact, Anatara has one of the most relaxing greetings in the Maldives as its therapists come out to reception and give all arrivals a brief, complementary head and neck message in reception. They obviously have a Thai restaurant, Baan Huraa, which is certainly one of the best if not at least the most authentic in the Maldives. It even features a vintage Thai wine ‘Dranmonte’ (vintage) according to Bala, the resort sommelier.

Best of the Maldives: German – Reethi Beach

Maldives Complete — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:56:00 GMT

Happy ‘Tag der Deutschen Einheit’ to my German friends.

Reethi Beach the favourite among not just Germans, but anyone speaking German. Swiss, Austrians. Still, it has an international feel with the remaining nationalities being quite a United Nations of diversity. Even Americans. As highlighted in my piece on Trip Advisor recommendations, it came just behind Villamendoo in the number of mentions on the Maldives TripAdvisor Forum. This Saxon-centric, but eclectic feel stems a lot from its Swiss background (its Sales and Marketing contacts phone through to a Swiss number). German hits you as soon as you arrive from hearing it at the desk to seeing the prevalence of German language collateral in the information racks. For English speakers, this linguistic bias is a bit irrelevant because just about every German I have met has had a pretty fine command of the English language and certainly all the staff speak English.

So here’s a glass of cold pilsner raised to all of the unified Germans celebrating in paradise today. May you not have to spend so much money bailing out the world from economic chaos that you have to cut back on trips to Reethi Beach.

Best of the Maldives – Italians: Palm Beach

Maldives Complete — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 05:23:00 GMT

Italy has one of the strongest heritages in the Maldives along with the British and the Germans. At least half a dozen resorts are primarily Italian in clientele and background. But the ‘nonno’ of them all has to be Palm Beach.

Over 85% of Palm Beach’s guests are Italian and nearly 100% during the peak holiday season of this month. They attract the glitterati of Italian society from Italian movies stars and footballers to prominent politicians and business leaders. This dominance is evident in the prevalent Italian fare on offer down to the San Pelligrino water as well as a very Mediterranean family vibe throughout.

So how would one determine the ‘Best’ for Italians? Well, for starters, it might be the place where the Italian experts on the Maldives so on their vacation. And by total coincidence, the single day that we stopped at Palm Beach was the final day for Roberta Migliarini and Paolo Bellici, founders and operators of not just one of the top Italian sites on the Maldives, but one of the top sites worldwide – MondoMaldive.

As if their own presence wasn’t testimony enough, I did ask them what they thought the best islands for Italians would be in the Maldives. They wouldn’t be drawn into declaring Palm Beach the best, but it was very clear that they thought extremely highly of the place. They tried to make a case for some of the others, but just didn’t convince me that the others were superior (unless you wanted something different in atmosphere or offerings.., my saying ’there is no best island, only the best for you island’).

We spent the evening chatting about all thing Maldives. By further coincidence, I had just bought their guide book MondoMaldives at the airport gift store on arrival. Like their site, surely the most comprehensive resource on the details of the various resorts. They inscribed my copy “Per le vostre stresse nostre passione per le Maldive.” And to top it off, they presented me with an official MondoMaldive t-shirt (see below). Note to resorts and entrepreneurs – the MondoMaldive t-shirt features the words ‘I love the Maldives’ in the native language of Dhiveli which attracted constant remark and attention from all the Maldivian staff who saw it throughout my stay. Someone should ask MondoMaldives about selling their t-shirt as well as their book. They are a great couple as friendly and warm as their website is comprehensive and useful. I can see why their Forum is such a hit (unfortunately, it is only in Italian).

Because the resort is so popular with Italians, it is a bit unsung in other countries, but Palm Beach welcomes all nationalities enthusiastically and noted that a steadily growing number of British have discovered its charms.

Ciao bellissima Palm Beach!

Best of the Maldives: Francophile – Rihiveli Beach

Maldives Complete — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 09:43:31 GMT

Concernant des aspects tout à fait français des Maldives, si vous préférez la vie gaulloise, il vous faut cherchez Rihiveli Beach.

The staff and the largest part of the guests are French. This cultural colour spills into many aspects of the resort such a visiting French DJs, newsletter and obviously ‘la cuisine’. If you want a soupcon of French style with your paradis.