MALDIVES, 25 April 2004 — Bulldozers and construction teams moved into the luxury Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa on April 2, as it began its $20 million renovation, which will continue until December 2004.
The renovation involves the closure of one of the twin islands that the hotel operates in the South Ari Atoll where the existing beach villas, pool, gym, lobby and restaurants are demolished and rebuilt.
The sister island, Rangali, which is half a kilometer away and linked by a wooden bridge to Rangalifinolhu, will continue to operate as usual during the renovation program.
Promising to offer the most luxurious accommodation in the Maldives, the hotel will introduce three distinct resort experiences across the two islands when fully open again later this year - water villas on Rangali Island, beach villas on Rangalifinolhu Island and a SpaVillage.
"We already have the finest over-water villas in the Maldives," says hotel general manager Carsten Schieck. The management wants to match that by introducing beach villas that will take people's breath away. "This is why we're building the largest, most luxurious beach villas in the country," he said.
The management is also creating an over-water spa village, which is aimed to be a destination of its own offering holistic signature treatments designed for mind, body and soul. The SpaVillage, described as the first of its kind in the Maldives, will offer a complete range of holistic, pampering and therapeutic treatments and comprises the spa, a restaurant and a juice corner, plus 20 over-water spa villas, each with a private treatment room. On the same island, the hotel is also constructing 80 luxurious beach villas, with up to 300 sq. m. of living space, an outdoor bathing pavilion, a courtyard garden, a teach-facing terrace and a private pool. Guests are expected to spend their holiday at the complexes on both islands, exploring the different villas and experiences.
Rangalifinolhu Island is to see the greatest changes when the construction of 80 beach villas (32 deluxe and 38 standard), a 30 m. outdoor infinity-edge pool, a two-storied gym pavilion, a shopping arcade and restaurants including one over the lagoon and one underwater are completed. The beach villas are a bright and airy contemporary Maldivian design with floor-to ceiling windows, thatched roof, beach front and a private outdoor area which includes open air showers and a bathing pavilion. They will be the largest and most luxurious of their kind in the country.
Dining options on Rangalifinolhu island will include the Atoll marketplace a spacious indoor/outdoor restaurant near the beach with live cooking stations offering cuisine from around the world including a sushi corner, a pizza parlor, Indian food and a fresh salad corner. The Sunset Restaurant & Grill, specializing in seafood, will reopen in December in its existing location 50 m. over the lagoon. It is complemented by the country's first underwater restaurant which will enthrall diners with exciting glimpses of the nearby coral reefs and marine life. There will also be two bars, including the Atoll bar.
A two-storied gym pavilion with inspiring seaviews will be among the other attractions that include state-of-the-art machines and a relaxation area designed by international life-coach Peter Crone. Bathers will love the huge, new infinity-edge pool that blends seamlessly into the blue waters of the Indian Ocean.
The SpaVillage is a destination in itself and the hotel anticipates that a number of visitors will stay there simply to experience it without exploring the rest of the island. Guests there will have the option of indulging in a huge range of treatments in one of the spa's many luxurious treatment rooms or in the comfort of their own villa. The spa is open as a day spa for all other guests at the hotel.
Twenty spa villas, also on stilts above the ocean, surround the SpaVillage and provide a welcome refuge from the outside world, enabling guests to relax and revitalize in splendor.
Rangali Island, which currently houses 50 water villas in their beautiful setting on stilts above the lagoon, is an exclusive island with its own over-water spa as well as restaurants and bars, and will remain unaffected by the renovations on sister-island Rangalifinolhu.
