Robinson Crusoe Never Had It This Good.
By Jeff Hardy
At Soneva Gili, shoes are not optional. They are prohibited.
This exclusive “no news, no shoes” resort operated by Six Senses Resorts and Spas, built on and around a small tropical island in the Maldives, is known for castaway chic, intelligent luxury swathed in total comfort.
The oversized suites and residences are situated over water. Features include superbly furnished villas, stunning bathrooms and outdoor showers, a holistic over-water spa, and organically grown vegetables and herbs that are grown in the resort’s garden.
Guests have accommodation choices ranging from 2,260-square-foot villa suites to the 15,000-square-foot Private Reserve, with its own spa, a 36-foot speedboat and 24-hour butler service. The resort is the epitome of understated luxury in the middle – and on top – of the Indian Ocean.
“Soneva Gili by Six Senses caters to all types of travelers, offering experiences to suit each individual’s interest,” says Jean-Christophe Nager, General Manager of the resort. Six Senses Resorts and Spas operates properties in places including the Maldives, Oman, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain, Fiji and Jordan, under the brand names Soneva, Six Senses Hideaway, Six Senses Latitude and Evasion. The company also owns Six Senses Spas and Six Senses Destination Spas.
The Republic of Maldives is an island nation consisting of 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean, about 435 miles southwest of Sri Lanka. About 200 of the 1,192 islets are inhabited.
Spacious Stilted Accommodations
Soneva Gili is located on the tiny coral island of Lankanfushi, in the north Malé atoll. Travelers from North America can fly into Dubai for a connecting flight to Malé, the nation’s capital. Soneva Gili staff members greet visitors at Malé International Airport, where they are escorted to a dock at the airport for the 20-minute boat ride to the resort, nestled in a sparkling lagoon, with jetties threading across the water out to spacious stilted villas and residences, all crafted from natural materials.
From the boat, none of the structures are visible on first view of Lankanfushi. It appears to be a deserted island full of palm trees. No other resorts are visible from the atoll and the property is set up so that each structure has its own scenic line of sight, out of view of all the other guest accommodations. Even the jetties are not visible to guests in other areas.
“You can see no one and no one can see you. That’s part of the experience,” says Peter Lloyd, co-owner of Century Travel in Atlanta. Lloyd and his business partner, Gene Lashley, visited Soneva Gili recently. Avid divers and travel enthusiasts, they have been looking for the best travel experiences for the better part of 25 years. Each says Soneva Gili is among their favorite destinations – after just one visit – and Century Travel has already sent several satisfied clients there.
“It’s the most secluded, private, incredible kind of water experience I have had in my life,” Lloyd said. “It’s elegantly casual, a casual version of luxury that you don’t see well executed that often.”
There are just 45 two-story villa suites and residences at the resort, which was built in 2001 and refurbished after the 2005 tsunami. Twenty-nine of them are 2,260-square-foot villa suites, situated about 20 yards apart, each featuring a private roof-top sun deck with a daybed and an over-water sundeck just above the water level with steps leading down to the lagoon. There are separate dining areas on both levels and each has luxury amenities such as satellite television, DVD players and espresso machines.
Like the villa suites, the eight Soneva Gili residences, also about 20 yards apart, feature private water gardens. The design of the 2,690 square-foot residences is very similar to the villa suites.
The resort also has seven 2,690-square-foot “Crusoe Residences,” strategically placed about 30 yards apart in the lagoon, looking out beyond the coral reef to the open sea. The Crusoe Residences are not linked to the island, so each has its own private rowboat or electric pontoon boat for traveling to a jetty. Each has the same accoutrements as the Soneva Gili residences and each has bicycles.
Private Over-Water Compound
The ultimate retreat in the resort is the Private Reserve, situated more than 1,600 feet from Soneva Gili and nearly 1,000 feet from the nearest villa. The Reserve consists of five buildings, including two master suites, each with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. It also has guest accommodations, a private spa with a steam room, sauna, massage pavilion, gymnasium and extensive lounging areas, Bose sound systems, plasma screens, uninterrupted views of the coral reef and the Indian Ocean, and a resident Mr. and Mrs. Friday for 24-hour butler service.
Dining experiences at the resort are among the best in the region. Visitors can choose from private in-villa dinners and barbecues, fusion cuisine at the restaurant featuring fish caught daily, the organic vegetable garden or the over-water bar, sunset champagne cruises on a traditional dhoni sailboat, deserted island picnics and the underground Gourmet Cellar.
“The food was amazing,” says Lashley. “For example, morning breakfast: there is a coffee bar that has about 20 different kinds of coffee beans. They grind the coffee of your choice and put it in a fresh press for you. They have thought of so many of the little things that make staying there not only unique, but very special.”
The Gourmet Cellar is initially visible only by the wood-shingled roof. Entering through a doorway sculpted from copper sheeting with carved wood, a glass staircase goes down to the cavernous cellar. The main room features a 20-foot driftwood tree trunk slotted with eight glass table tops and personal wine glass shelves. There are two smaller vaults off the main room. One has smoked meats and gourmet sausage hanging from the ceiling and the other is a cheese vault.
Visitors who choose to experience a meal at the vegetable garden watch while their private chef prepares the food, using herbs, spices and vegetables of their choosing.
Crusoe Without the “Drama”
Scuba diving is practically a national pastime in this part of the world. The Water Sports Centre has a fully equipped Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Dive Centre which offers trips to more than 20 dive sites on nearby reefs, along with full-day day safaris to long-range dive sites in North and South Malé Atoll.
“Naturally, as the Maldives’ first completely over-water resort, we offer a variety of water activities, with some of the most renowned dive sites, such as world famous Manta Point within minutes of the property,” explains Nager. “We have fully equipped dive instructors and allow guests to become PADI certified within a week.”
Other activities include deep-sea fishing, snorkeling, boating and excursions to nearby islands, water skiing, wake boarding, catamaran sailing, canoeing, windsurfing and tennis.
The Six Senses Spa offers a wide range of holistic, ancient Hindu ayurvedic and homeopathic treatments and programs with internationally trained therapists and wellness instructors. Glass floor panels beneath the massage tables heighten the experience. The signature treatment is a four-handed massage, given in an over-water massage sala. The spa also features meditation, tai chi, yoga and massage classes. Among the other facilities are steam rooms, chill rooms, a sauna and a fully equipped gymnasium, also over water.
There are very few places where guests can watch the squid float under them while they’re taking a shower in their ultra-elegant hideaway, or walk down the stairs from their first floor deck into five feet of pristine water for a quick swim before a rooftop deck sunset dinner prepared by the chef.
Soneva Gili offers this and more in an environment that can’t be matched in many other parts of the world. This is a Robinson Crusoe experience without the “drama,” a long way from home, but well worth the trip.
“No detail is overlooked,” says Lloyd, “yet it’s not any one thing necessarily that makes the resort unique. It’s the sum total of everything that makes this place phenomenal.”
