Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sheer perfection in the Maldives!

I feel so bad that it's taken me this long to get around to writing this post! I've been so crazy busy with my business Principessa and building our fifth and final dream house! I have a new found respect for bloggers as sometimes it's just so difficult to find the time to do it? I obviously suck at it but I'm okay with that!

Our trip to Jumeirah Dhevanafushi http://www.jumeirah.com/en/Hotels-and-Resorts/Destinations/Maldives/Jumeirah-Dhevanafushi1/  last year was probably the most incredible vacation we will ever have the pleasure of going on! Whoever said that money can't buy happiness has obviously not been here... :)

There are simply no words or pictures that can do justice to this resort. It's luxury to the power of ten!! This was our 3rd trip to the Maldives and we have loved every single resort we have been to which are Shangri La, One & Only, Alila, Huvafen Fushi & Six Senses Lamuu. I'm always astonished when I find people able to find anything wrong with any of these places. They are all perfect and some are just more perfect than others.

My hubby and I are always in search of the perfect resort/destination and I have to say we found it at Dhevanafushi. This place has it all! Best location, service, food, spa, villas. They didn't miss a thing here. Like all resorts in the Maldives they pick you up at the airport to transport you to the resort. The yacht was the nicest one we have been on yet and you get fresh towels and water for the voyage.
We weren't sure what to expect as we knew we had been upgraded to their brand new ocean pearls water villas. The main Island is beautiful and quite small and then the ocean pearls are 5 minute speed boat away with their own restaurant, infinity pool etc. It's not an Island; it's are just a cluster of ridiculously amazing villas and amenities suspended above the Indian Ocean.
Here is our welcome when we go to the main Island where we dropped off some guests...


This is some of the team that treated us literally like kings and queens. In fact, one of the only other guests at the Ocean Pearls while we were there was a Royal Family, I think from the Kingdom of Bahrain? However, when we first got there we had the whole place to ourselves it seemed? We were the only ones at the restaurant and infinity pool and after Roger & Ajung spoiled us rotten we moved the party to the infinity pool. Roger made us the most amazing Margaritas I have ever had, they plugged in our ipod and we had our own private pool party. Completely amazing!! They were so awesome and accommodating!
Lounge chairs on the tanning shelf of the infinity pool
lounger sunken into pool
The food was absolutely incredible. When we first arrived the menu was a little confusing and limited but they had just opened so I'm sure they have perfected it by now. They allowed us to order from the room menu that was much more expansive and it was absolutely perfect. No request was denied and all the food was some of the best we have ever had and we are huge foodies! One time over on the main Island we went for dinner at the restaurant there and had amazing seafood ravioli & incredible risotto. We asked the Chef at the Ocean Pearls restaurant if he could do it because it wasn't on the menu. He didn't have the ingredients but said he would do it for us the next day. The next day at lunch they couldn't wait to show us what they had done and it was out of the world. Even better than the other restaurant and custom made just for us. Thank you Chef!! xoxo



We did yoga every morning, sometimes the yoga instructor would take the speed boat over and we would do it by the infinity pool. One morning there was a beautiful rainbow over the Indian Ocean in front of us and it was hard to believe we weren't in heaven! Most mornings we took the speed boat over to the main island and did it in the yoga pavilion which was completely surreal!! Check it out below!! If this isn't the best way to start out your day in paradise I don't know what is?


We are also spa junkies :) The spa at Dhevanafushi was one of the most surreal, zen, beautiful spas I have seen anywhere in the world. To top it off my masseuse Ari had the most magic hands on the planet. I truly thought I'd died and gone to heaven! It had huge vaulted ceilings and tons of floor to ceiling windows. They slide open and you can listen to the sounds of the Ocean during your treatment. I simply can't imagine anything better...

Individual spa villas

The gym was equally amazing! It's a beautiful white building on stilts suspended above the ocean with high ceilings lots of glass and top notch equipment.


I was on the treadmill and my hubby was on the elliptical and he spotted a turtle right out front! I never would have seen it and it was the 3rd turtle he spotted on the trip (the other two we swam with!!!) so I started calling him the turtle whisperer. Below is the view from the treadmill.


Speaking of swimming with turtles we were lucky enough to get to do so twice on this trip! It's always been a huge dream of mine and has always eluded us. I was so happy as they are incredibly beautiful and so cool. They were so close we could touch them and we got to swim with them for quite a while.

One morning we were walking along the dock to breaky our friend spotted an octopus in the water. I have no idea how he spotted it because it had camouflaged itself. Had to share this video!


The villas were among the most beautiful we have ever experienced. I think they are approximately 3,000 square feet and luxuriously appointed. Perched above the Indian Ocean with your own private infinity pool, living room, dining room, two bathrooms, outdoor soaking tub and massive bedroom with huge vaulted ceilings and the largest bed I have ever seen in my life! I even got out my pink measuring tape (building a house I'm never without it) and measured the bed. It was 10 feet wide!! At night they close the curtains around the canopy and it's so romantic and the ultimate sleeping experience ever. There is a view of the ocean and infinity pool from the bed as well!


View from Bed
Villa entrance
Outdoor tub at night glowing with rose petals in it.

The resort is stunningly beautiful it's hard to fathom such a beautiful place exists on earth but it does! Here are a few photos from around the Island...



amazing bar on the beach

Infinity pool on main island

infinity pool at ocean pearls with main island in background

entrance to restaurant on main island

As I previously mentioned words and pictures really don't do this spectacular place justice (especially mine) but I did just find this link that has much better pictures than I took. So gorgeous you have to check it out!! http://www.jumeirah.com/en/Hotels-and-Resorts/Destinations/Maldives/Jumeirah-Dhevanafushi1/

This place was over the top amazing and the people were so incredible they just made the experience that much more perfect. This is one of the few places that I have actually shed tears when I had to leave. :)

Well done Jumeirah!

P.S. I would be totally remiss not to mention quite possibly the best travel agent ever! Lindsey from Linara travel is amazing! We have booked the Maldives through him the last three trips. He is an expert in the area and has won many awards such as top travel specialist by Conde Nast etc. We don't usually use a travel agent but I wouldn't dream of going there without Lindsey's assistance. In fact we are starting to use him for other trips now too and he just helped me with a hotel in Delhi and is booking our upcoming Bali trip too! http://linaratravel.com/home.php 



















8 comments:

  1. How does the house reef at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi compare to the other islands you have stayed at in the Maldives? Debating between this resort and Park Hyatt (used to be called Alila Villas), and the most important factor for us is the house reef.

    Thanks for your help.

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    Replies
    1. honestly nothing compares to the house reef at Alila. It was the most beautiful we have seen anywhere. very colorful and lots of fish. the fish from finding nemo were everywhere! you felt like you were in an aquarium. if the reef is the most important i would say alila but my only concern might be we went over a year and a half ago when it was still quite new so i hope no damage has been done to the coral etc. also at the others we saw turtles and dolphins but not alila but the reef was spectactular!!! if you have any other questions please feel free to email me at trish@principessabeauty.com

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  2. Thank you for responding so quickly. When you say it was very colorful and most beautiful, are you referring to the coral on the reef or the types of fish you saw?

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  3. How were the Water Villas Privacy wise in dhevanafushi? I.E when you were in the pool, could any people from the other villas see you if they are on their deck/pool? Also along with that, how far apart are the villas? as some resorts i been to in maldives the villas are pretty close so that when you swim/snorkel in the sea your neighbors can see you. Privacy for my wife is very important for religious reasons.

    Also, is the water depth high? and are there many coral and fish outside the water villas? I went to anantara Kihavah last october and the depth of water was only up to my stomach and max my chest. and no coral at all out of the water villas there. W Retreat however, the water depth was enough that you could jump out from your deck into the ocean and there were a lot of coral and fish. Wanted to know how jumeirah is.

    Sorry for the long questions, and thanks in advance :)

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    Replies
    1. for the water villas they are mostly private and i think it might depend on which one you get? the villas have an outdoor deck in the middle surrounded by walls so it's quite private but there are a few spots that aren't 100%. on the sunrise side the water isn't very deep at all. it's a bit deeper on the sunset side but the snorkling there isn't great? the snorkling and reef is better over on the main island. there is some coral and fish on the sunset side but not a lot. hope this helps? jumeirah is stunningly beautiful!!

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    2. Thanks a lot was very helpful, the place looks great was thinking of going in march. Shame the water level isnt deep and not much coral, in W i got to jump of the deck into the water which was a lot of fun. There was quite a bit of coral there also.

      Thanks again

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