Soneva Secret For Ultimate Private Island Experience
Soneva Group currently operates 3 resorts of which the latest Soneva Secret was launched in January 2024. Other resorts include Soneva Jani in Noonu Atoll and the first investment in Baa Atoll known as Soneva Fushi. All are luxury resorts and the latest island is even more expensive with limited villas. There are only 12 private villas in the entire property of which 5 are located in the lagoon and others at the beach. The island is very narrow long in shape, villas located on the island faces the beach. Beach from the opposite is not far as well due to the shape of island but the beach dedicated infront of the villa is perfect to sun bathe and relax in privacy. Every villa comes with its own private pool as it is the norm in ultraluxury tourism in Maldives.
Far off the island there is 1 villa in the lagoon that is floating above the water surface. Regular water villas are built on fixed structures with jetty and they cannot move. The floating villa can move it is designed to stay anchored at the designated location for safety and satisfaction of its guests. Soneva official website states that they have used a technology to keep the villa unaffected by waves. They did not reveal details of the specific technology used. It is likely that the hull may have heavy weights loaded at the bottom to make it heavier. Having weights at the base of hull also improves resistance against tilts. The main structure is a single storey building except a tiny pavilion that stands in the 1st floor. Only a few guests can fit into this pavilion, this means the villa will not gain too much weight to cause tilts of even capsize. Engineering aspects of the design plays a vital safety role while it remains seaworthy.
On Maldives Resorts we have covered many interesting islands with dreamy holiday villas. But, this is the first time we are writing about a floating villa in any Maldives resort. See our extensive list of resorts if you want to choose one for your up coming holiday.
Soneva Secret has unveiled the first sophisticated floating villa in the Maldives. But, previous there was a floating villa in Hulhumale’ lagoon that had 1 room, dining facilities and lounges. I was lucky to have been aboard to enjoy that masterpiece. But, that was simple and built for mass tourism. Guests staying in hotel of Hulhumale’ would normally visit this floating villa in the evening for dinner and come back right after. Since it had 1 room, the owners would sometimes sell it for couples to experience floating villa overnight package. I went for dinner and made my way back the same evening. They used a small generator and some solar panels to provide power. It was anchored, so there were no movements except slight effect of waves. It has build on top of 2 hulls joined together. From outside it resembled an attractive villa even though some parts of the hull were visible.
Sonu Shivdasani, owner of the hotel chain, is a pioneer in tourism development. Many people believe that it was his first resort that introduced luxury tourism to the Maldives. In early 2000s the name Soneva Fushi was known as the top luxury available in the Maldives. Even now it certainly is among the top luxury resorts, but that is after several resorts as industry kept growing. Success of Soneva Fushi opened up the Maldives in international market and several international brands invested in the Maldives. Some of the brands operating in Maldives today includes;
- Waldorf Astoria
- Hilton
- Conrad
- Westing
- HolidayInn
- One&Only
- Four Seasons Resorts & Spa
- Centara
- Pullman
- Cheval Blanc
- Robinson Club
- Parkhyat
- Ritz Carlton
- Marriot
- Mercure
It has been few years for private island concept trending in the Maldives hotel industry. More and more investors are building private islands. For the most part the resort owners build a small private island while developing a resort. Keeping 2 properties near, mostly in same lagoon, helps with the operations. Otherwise there would be lot of overhead costs such as electricity, laundry facilities, manpower etc. In ultraluxury level the rooms may not be always sold out. So, keeping private island attached to main resort in terms of operation saves a lot of costs. Even the staff assigned to private island could do other jobs in main resort when it is not occupied. I have known that some private island operators currently doing this.
Operating a fully independent resort or island is costly and complex in nature. Just purchasing aspect alone is huge task. Think of every single ingredient that is used for cooking has to be ordered weeks in advance for suppliers to import the goods in the first place. Once items arrive to the country the resort would have to use a cargo ship to transport items, frozen and chilled items have to kept in right temperature to avoid spoilage. Even if a single ingredient is missed you cant cook the dish and some times are not available in local shops in Male’. Even if it is available the logistics is there and some items cannot be sent by airfreight. For example in Maldives there is strict rules for transportation of alcohol, the shipments are transported by vessels with tracking device.
Just cleaning the entire island on daily basis requires lot of manpower. In Maldives best practice the staff of resort are accommodated on the same resort, free meals are provided. So, every single staff that comes to work adds up to accommodation and meal requirements. Maintaining accommodation and providing staff meals again consumes manpower. So, operating very few villa is something that costs high amounts in expenditure. But, in Soneva Secret it may not be a problem because the room rates are extremely high.
Some of the private islands are rented on exclusive basis while others come with multiple villas to rent out seperately. Under both models there would be very few guests on the island at given time. One of the top exclusive private island is Ithaafushi, located near Waldorf Astoria Maldives. There are also tiny resorts that run with focus on private services. For example the Nautilus Maldives greatly emphasis on individual experiences in dining services and activities. There, a couple can watch a movie in Beach Cinema, they give wireless headsets, so that it couple be fully enjoyed by couple without affecting other guests.
VIP service is an important element in luxury resorts. Priority Maldives offers VIP airport service that enable guests to quickly proceed from flight to lounge, skip the arrival hall and queues. At a premium charge, the service is fantastic and it is in high demand as large portion of Maldives resorts are now catering to luxury market. Being a five star resort in Maldives does not indicate it is ultraluxry, it is the way it operates along with high quality facilities.