A fully restored and renovated Soneva Gili Resort & Spa has
reopened in the Maldives, marking the island tourism industry's
continuing recovery from the deadly tsunami last year.
The four-year-old Six Senses Resorts & Spas property had
been closed since December but now has reopened with new luxury
elements that include a “Private Reserve”a 15,000-square-foot
over-water presidential suite that features multiple levels,
private boats, butlers, a water garden, wine cellar and spa
suite.
Soneva Gili, a 15-minute speedboat ride from the Maldivian
capital Malé, has restored all of its 45 over-water villas as well
as an over-water Six Senses Spa, which includes glass floor-panels
beneath massage tables to allow visitors a view of the water and
fish below. Among the spa's treatments is the Maldivian Sand
Massage, which takes guests onto the beach for a massage followed
by exfoliation with island sand.
Soneva Gili's dining options have also been restored, offering
an over-water restaurant and lounge and an onshore dining room that
uses much of its produce from the island’s own organic vegetable
garden. The resort features a fully-equipped PADI diving school, as
well as watersports from swimming and snorkeling to scuba
diving.
The Soneva Gili is the latest resort to return to operation in
the Maldives after the tsunami, with several more scheduled to open
this month, including the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket and the Sea
View Patong Hotel.
By the fall, most will have returned to operation as officials
also seek to boost tourism safety. Earlier this month officials,
noted that the first two disaster warning towers in a planned
network of 50 such structures along the Andaman coast will be
completed in the island province of Phuket by the end of the month
as part of a Beach Guard campaign to help revive the tourism
industry.
www.sixsenses.com/soneva-gili/index.php
