Archive for the ‘Maldives’ Category

Taj Exotica Maldives Focuses on Environmental Sustainability

Posted on March 14th, 2010 by Andrea M. Rotondo

Just about every­one is con­cerned about envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­ity these days and nowhere is the push toward eco-friendly hotel prac­tices more appar­ent than in the Mal­dives. This chain of breath­tak­ingly beau­ti­ful atolls in the Indian Ocean is dot­ted with world-class resorts like Taj Exot­ica Resort & Spa on Emboodhu Finolhu island.
In recent years, Taj Exot­ica has chal­lenged itself to reduce its car­bon foot­print while main­tain­ing the high­est level of com­fort for guests. The resort started the process by access­ing its energy effi­ciency, water man­age­ment, air qual­ity, and han­dling of chem­i­cals. Then, the hard work of improv­ing infra­struc­ture began.
New high­lights include
a hot water sys­tem that reduces the use of both elec­tric­ity and diesel fuel. In fact, Taj Exot­ica reports that it expects to save 109,500 litres of diesel every year
a rain water har­vest­ing sys­tem that col­lects 896,000 litres per year
the plant­ing of only endemic tree species like Jade Tree, Sea Hibis­cus, and Maliku­ruva Rose so no addi­tional water­ing is needed (this saves 10,000 litres of water per day)
increased recy­cling of metal and other materials
Many trav­el­ers are drawn to Taj Exot­ica for its gor­geous beach and the fact that the resort sits on one of the largest lagoons in the Mal­dives. It’s a short 15-minute speed­boat ride from Male Inter­na­tional Air­port and the resort, with just 62 lux­ury vil­las, never feels crowded. Its world-class Jiva Grande Spa is a pri­vate island sanc­tu­ary that spe­cial­izes in Indian well­ness treatments.
For more infor­ma­tion, talk with your travel agent or visit Taj Exotica’s website.
—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com

Just about every­one is con­cerned about envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­ity these days and nowhere is the push toward eco-friendly hotel prac­tices more appar­ent than in the Mal­dives. This chain of breath­tak­ingly beau­ti­ful atolls in the Indian Ocean is dot­ted with world-class resorts like Taj Exot­ica Resort & Spa on Emboodhu Finolhu island.

In recent years, Taj Exot­ica has chal­lenged itself to reduce its car­bon foot­print while main­tain­ing the high­est level of com­fort for guests. The resort started the process by access­ing its energy effi­ciency, water man­age­ment, air qual­ity, and han­dling of chem­i­cals. Then, the hard work of improv­ing infra­struc­ture began.

New high­lights include…

  • a hot water sys­tem that reduces the use of both elec­tric­ity and diesel fuel. In fact, Taj Exot­ica reports that it expects to save 109,500 litres of diesel every year
  • a rain water har­vest­ing sys­tem that col­lects 896,000 litres per year
  • the plant­ing of only endemic tree species like Jade Tree, Sea Hibis­cus, and Maliku­ruva Rose so no addi­tional water­ing is needed (this saves 10,000 litres of water per day)
  • increased recy­cling of metal and other materials

Many trav­el­ers are drawn to Taj Exot­ica for its gor­geous beach and the fact that the resort sits on one of the largest lagoons in the Mal­dives. It’s a short 15-minute speed­boat ride from Male Inter­na­tional Air­port and the resort, with just 62 lux­ury vil­las, never feels crowded. Its world-class Jiva Grande Spa is a pri­vate island sanc­tu­ary that spe­cial­izes in Indian well­ness treatments.

For more infor­ma­tion, talk with your travel agent or visit Taj Exotica’s web­site.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com

Photo cour­tesy of Taj Exotica

Maldives Gets Its First Holiday Inn Resort

Posted on December 16th, 2009 by Andrea M. Rotondo

Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives

Mal­dives Gets its First Hol­i­day Inn Resort

Head­ing to the Mal­dives soon? The island chain just wel­comed its first Hol­i­day Inn Resort on Kan­dooma Island on the South Malé atoll. For those of you who aren’t crazy about trans­fer­ring from Male Inter­na­tional Air­port to your resort via sea­plane (I’m rais­ing my hand right now), you won’t have to when vis­it­ing this Hol­i­day Inn. It’s just a 40-minute/22 mile speed­boat ride from MLE.
There are 160 vil­las here in eight cat­e­gories offer­ing every­thing from gar­den views to those entic­ing over-the-water bun­ga­lows. Each villa offers pic­ture win­dows, out­door show­ers, iPod dock­ing sta­tions, flat-screen TVs, and wire­less Internet.
The resort is hop­ing to lure busi­ness trav­els as well as vaca­tion­ers inter­ested in surf­ing and div­ing; the Hol­i­day Inn is nearby the Kan­dooma Chan­nel, Kan­dooma Caves, and Kan­dooma ‘Thila” (under­sea mountain).
You’ll be able to relax as much as you want or take part in a range of activ­i­ties. There’s a Dive Cen­tre and the Kan­dooma Spa as well as cata­ma­ran, wind­surf­ing, kayak­ing, and snor­kel­ing out­ings. Oh, and don’t for­get surf­ing lessons!
If you’ve got kids in tow, you’ll want to check out the resort’s Kids’ Club that offers babysit­ting ser­vices and age-specific activities.
Bren­dan Cor­co­ran is the gen­eral man­ager of the Hol­i­day Inn Resort Kan­dooma Mal­dives, which opened on Decem­ber 15, 2009.
Spe­cial intro­duc­tory rates start­ing at $290 per night are avail­able through March 31, 2010. Air­port trans­fers are an addi­tional $140 one-way for adults and $85 for children.
For more infor­ma­tion, speak with your travel agent or visit the web­site of the Hol­i­day Inn Resort Kan­dooma Maldives.
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/rs/1/en/hotel/mlekf?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/6c/1/en/hotelsearchresults

Head­ing to the Mal­dives soon? The island chain just wel­comed its first Hol­i­day Inn Resort on Kan­dooma Island on the South Malé atoll. For those of you who aren’t crazy about trans­fer­ring from Male Inter­na­tional Air­port to your resort via sea­plane (I’m rais­ing my hand right now), you won’t have to when vis­it­ing this Hol­i­day Inn. It’s just a 40-minute/22 mile speed­boat ride from MLE.

There are 160 vil­las here in eight cat­e­gories offer­ing every­thing from gar­den views to those entic­ing over-the-water bun­ga­lows. Each villa offers pic­ture win­dows, out­door show­ers, iPod dock­ing sta­tions, flat-screen TVs, and wire­less Internet.

The resort is hop­ing to lure busi­ness trav­els as well as vaca­tion­ers inter­ested in surf­ing and div­ing; the Hol­i­day Inn is nearby the Kan­dooma Chan­nel, Kan­dooma Caves, and Kan­dooma ‘Thila” (under­sea mountain).

You’ll be able to relax as much as you want or take part in a range of activ­i­ties. There’s a Dive Cen­tre and the Kan­dooma Spa as well as cata­ma­ran, wind­surf­ing, kayak­ing, and snor­kel­ing out­ings. Oh, and don’t for­get surf­ing lessons!

If you’ve got kids in tow, you’ll want to check out the resort’s Kids’ Club that offers babysit­ting ser­vices and age-specific activities.

Bren­dan Cor­co­ran is the gen­eral man­ager of the Hol­i­day Inn Resort Kan­dooma Mal­dives, which opened on Decem­ber 15, 2009.

Spe­cial intro­duc­tory rates start­ing at $290 per night are avail­able through March 31, 2010. Air­port trans­fers are an addi­tional $140 one-way for adults and $85 for children.

For more infor­ma­tion, speak with your travel agent or visit the web­site of the Hol­i­day Inn Resort Kan­dooma Mal­dives.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com

Photo cour­tesy of Hol­i­day Inn

Four Seasons Explorer Catamaran Sails the Maldives

Posted on November 15th, 2009 by Andrea M. Rotondo

This past Sep­tem­ber, the 128-foot Four Sea­sons Explorer 11-cabin, three-deck cata­ma­ran was refur­bished for three-, four-, and seven-night excur­sions around the Mal­dives in the Indian Ocean. While the ves­sel usu­ally draws those inter­ested in div­ing and snor­kel­ing, even those who aren’t nat­ural water babies enjoy see­ing the Mal­dives from this inti­mate ship that caters to just 22 passengers.
Accom­mo­da­tions are what you’d expect at any land-based Four Sea­son resort and fea­ture 10 state­rooms and one Explorer Suite. The suite includes a king bed, a daybed, an indoor din­ing area, couch, writ­ing desk, bar, DVD/CD player, tele­phone, and in-cabin safe. The bath­room fea­tures a full bath tub, and sep­a­rate shower. Reg­u­lar state­rooms can be out­fit­ted with either a king bed or two twins. State­rooms also fea­ture a sofa, desk, DVD/CD player, bar, phone, and safe. These bath­rooms have a tub/shower combo.
The cata­ma­ran pro­motes a casual atmos­phere and shorts and sun­dresses are accept­able attire, even dur­ing din­ner. The casual vibe doesn’t skimp on ser­vice though…the entire boat is air-conditioned and you’ll find an onboard masseuse and a PADI dive cen­ter with Nitrox. Laun­dry ser­vice is also available.
As of the first of Octo­ber 2009, Four Sea­sons Explorer began weekly itin­er­aries. The first part explores the north­ern atolls of Baa and Raa and includes a stopover at the Four Sea­sons Lan­daa Giraavaru. The sec­ond part of the cruise expolores the south­ern regions, which may include Ras­d­hoo, North Ari, South and North Male atolls.
Dur­ing the cruise, you’ll enjoy water activ­i­ties like div­ing, snor­kel­ing, wind­surf­ing, kayak­ing, water­ski­ing, and fish­ing. Other activ­i­ties include vis­its to local vil­lages and other island excursions.
Four Sea­sons Explorer video footage:
Four Sea­sons Explorer sails until Decem­ber 20, 2009 and then she goes into dry-dock. She’ll be back on the water as of June 8, 2010.
For more infor­ma­tion, talk with your travel agent or con­tact Four Sea­sons Resort Mal­dives at Kuda Huraa or Four Sea­sons Resort Mal­dives at Lan­daa Giraavaru.
—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com
Photo cour­tesy of Four Seasons
Four Seasons Explorer

Four Sea­sons Explorer

This past Sep­tem­ber, the 128-foot Four Sea­sons Explorer 11-cabin, three-deck cata­ma­ran was refur­bished for three-, four-, and seven-night excur­sions around the Mal­dives in the Indian Ocean. While the ves­sel usu­ally draws those inter­ested in div­ing and snor­kel­ing, even those who aren’t nat­ural water babies enjoy see­ing the Mal­dives from this inti­mate ship that caters to just 22 passengers.

Accom­mo­da­tions are what you’d expect at any land-based Four Sea­son resort and fea­ture 10 state­rooms and one Explorer Suite. The suite includes a king bed, a daybed, an indoor din­ing area, couch, writ­ing desk, bar, DVD/CD player, tele­phone, and in-cabin safe. The bath­room fea­tures a full bath tub, and sep­a­rate shower. Reg­u­lar state­rooms can be out­fit­ted with either a king bed or two twins. State­rooms also fea­ture a sofa, desk, DVD/CD player, bar, phone, and safe. These bath­rooms have a tub/shower combo.

The cata­ma­ran pro­motes a casual atmos­phere and shorts and sun­dresses are accept­able attire, even dur­ing din­ner. The casual vibe doesn’t skimp on ser­vice though…the entire boat is air-conditioned and you’ll find an onboard masseuse and a PADI dive cen­ter with Nitrox. Laun­dry ser­vice is also available.

As of the first of Octo­ber 2009, Four Sea­sons Explorer began weekly itin­er­aries. The first part explores the north­ern atolls of Baa and Raa and includes a stopover at the Four Sea­sons Lan­daa Giraavaru. The sec­ond part of the cruise expolores the south­ern regions, which may include Ras­d­hoo, North Ari, South and North Male atolls.

Dur­ing the cruise, you’ll enjoy water activ­i­ties like div­ing, snor­kel­ing, wind­surf­ing, kayak­ing, water­ski­ing, and fish­ing. Other activ­i­ties include vis­its to local vil­lages and other island excursions.

Four Sea­sons Explorer video footage:

Four Sea­sons Explorer sails until Decem­ber 20, 2009 and then she goes into dry-dock. She’ll be back on the water as of June 8, 2010.

For more infor­ma­tion, talk with your travel agent or con­tact Four Sea­sons Resort Mal­dives at Kuda Huraa or Four Sea­sons Resort Mal­dives at Lan­daa Giraavaru.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com

Photo cour­tesy of Four Seasons

Luxe Resort Shangri-La Villingili Opens in Southern Maldives Archipelago

Posted on September 20th, 2009 by Andrea M. Rotondo

On July 26, 2009, Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa on the Mal­dives greeted its first guest. This is not only Shangri-La Hotels first resort in the Mal­dives, it’s also the first inter­na­tional lux­ury resort on the southern-most tip of Addu Atoll in the South­ern Mal­dives Archipelago.

The 142 stand­alone vil­las range from ocean­front to tree top, with tree house vil­las perched 10 feet off the ground—a first for accom­mo­da­tions in this region. Enjoy the dra­matic ele­vated infin­ity pool offer­ing panoramic views of the Indian Ocean or lounge on the white sand beach.

Spa enthu­si­asts will spend plenty of time at CHI, The Spa. Chi­nese, Himalayan, and Asian treat­ments are offered along with Kandu Boli expe­ri­ences and unusual indige­nous treat­ments incor­po­rat­ing the tiger cowrie shell and other native elements.

Divers come here to explore the British Loy­alty ship­wreck and to dive with giant manta rays with wingspans of more than 13 feet. Surf­ing, scuba, and snor­kel­ing are also pop­u­lar in the area.

The three-dining-room Khaz­a­anaage Restau­rant serves eclec­tic menus based on the regional cuisines of the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and Ara­bian Gulf.

From now until Octo­ber 31, 2009, the hotel is offer­ing a “stay seven nights and pay for five” pack­age. Ben­e­fits include trans­fer flights from Male to Gan, daily half-board, and a CHI spa expe­ri­ence for two.

For more infor­ma­tion, visit Shangri-La’s web­site or call the resort at (960) 689‑7888.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxurySafariExperts.com

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