News
Maldives Travel Awards celebrates best of Maldives travel and hospitality
Maldives.net.mv – Maldives Travel Awards 2016 celebrated the very best of Maldives travel and hospitality at the gala event award night held on Sunday, 20th November at the beautiful Olhuveli Beach & Spa.
The event began with welcome speech and word of thanks by Mr. Abdulla Ghiyas, President of Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) followed by awarding of appreciation plaques to panel of expert judges who evaluated the nominations.
This year’s awards received over 300 nominations for 35 categories from 105 resorts, hotels, guest houses and airlines.
The winners of this year’s awards was decided by a judging process which included presentations and onsite visits, along with the SMS and online voting scores. The results were verified by independent audit firm, KPMG.

The chief guest for the Gala Event was the Minister of Tourism, Moosa Zameer. The “Lifetime Achievement Award” was awarded to Hon. FDr Ahmed Siyam Mohamed for his contribution to the Tourism Industry and the country as a whole.
The event included entertainment items popular band Eqauatic Vibe.
Maldives Travel Awards 2016 is the fifth edition of the awards and longest running travel awards label in the Maldives. MATATO is the exclusive organizer of Maldives Travel Awards, and this year’s event was managed by Think Advertising.

Winners
- Leading Private Island : Velaa Private Island
- Leading Luxury Resort : Conrad Maldives Rangali
- Most Romantic Resort : Adaaran Prestige Vadoo
- Leading Beach Resort : Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas
- Leading Designer Resort : Velaa Private Island
- Leading All Inclusive Resort : Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa
- Leading Family Resort : Bandos Maldives
- Leading F&B Resort : Conrad Maldives Rangali
- Leading Eco Resort : Sun Island Resort & Spa
- Leading Dive Resort : Bandos Maldives
- Leading Surf Resort : Anantara Dhigu
- Leading Wellness & Spa Resort : The Sun Siyam Irufushi
- Leading Meeting & Conference Resort : Bandos Maldives
- Leading Local Hotel/Resort Brand : Bandos Maldives
- Leading International Hotel/Resort Brand : Conrad Maldives Rangali
- Leading Wellness & Spa Brand/Chain : Araamu Spa
- Leading Human Resource Management : Adaaran Prestige Vadoo
- Leading CSR Program : Soneva Fushi Resort
- Leading Airport/City Hotel : Hulhule Island Hotel
- Leading Guest House : Reveries Diving Village
- Leading Business Hotel : Hotel Jen by Shangri-La
- Leading Liveaboard : Voyages Gurahali
- Leading Liveaboard Brand : Carpe Diem Maldives
- Leading Dive School/Centre : Dive Oceanus
- Leading Activity/Water Sports Centre : Active Water Sports Maafushi
- Leading Innovation in Guest House Design : Reveries Diving Village
- Leading Travel Website : ICOM Tours
- Leading Domestic Transport Provider : ICOM Tours
- Leading Airport Lounge : Leeli Lounge
- Leading Domestic Airline : Villa Air, Flyme
- Leading Low Cost Carrier : Fly Dubai
- Leading International Airline : Srilankan Airlines
- Leading Guest House Island : Maafushi Council
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Photos by Asad Photography
News
Four Seasons Maldives combines celebrations with conservation, wellness and private dining
Four Seasons has highlighted its Maldives properties as destinations for personalised celebrations and private gatherings, offering experiences ranging from exclusive island buyouts and weddings to family reunions, corporate retreats and conservation-led activities.
The Maldives features prominently in a new collection of group and celebration experiences unveiled by Four Seasons Resorts of Asia, with Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru and Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa offering distinct options for couples, families and small groups.
At Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru in Baa Atoll, couples can take part in Tales from a Treetop Table, a private dining experience set within the island’s canopy. The resort also offers multi-day celebrations combining private dining, marine encounters, wellbeing and conservation activities.
Its Overwater Wedding Pavilion, accessible only by boat, features a glass-bottomed aisle surrounded by the waters and marine life of the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
For larger gatherings, the resort’s four-bedroom Landaa Estate extends across 80 metres of private beach and includes a 20-metre swimming pool. Four Seasons said the estate can be used for family reunions, corporate retreats, micro-wedding receptions and milestone celebrations.

Marine conservation is also incorporated into group itineraries at Landaa Giraavaru through manta ray research, coral restoration and turtle rehabilitation programmes. Guests can participate in conservation activities together, while the resort’s Manta-on-Call programme alerts participants when manta rays are sighted nearby and arranges speedboat excursions for snorkelling encounters.
Nearby, Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah offers a different model centred on exclusivity. Located within the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the five-acre private island has seven rooms and can accommodate up to 30 guests.
The property hosts only one group at a time, allowing guests to create their own programme without having to work around other resort schedules. A team of 30 staff supports full-island buyouts, with experiences including personalised wellness programmes at the Ocean of Consciousness Spa, yacht excursions and private dining.
Culinary experiences can also be tailored for groups, including a Maldivian Fisherman’s Feast built around the day’s catch.
In North Malé Atoll, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa is being positioned for multigenerational gatherings and smaller groups, with the resort located around 25 minutes by speedboat from Malé.
The property brings together beaches, private villas, suites and tropical gardens within a compact island setting, while its ŪRJĀ Naturopathy Island offers wellness programmes and treatments designed around rest and restoration.
Across its Asian portfolio, Four Seasons said it is increasingly designing celebrations around personalised itineraries rather than conventional event formats. In the Maldives, this approach combines private accommodation, dining, wellbeing, marine conservation and access to the country’s natural environment.
The group said the aim is to create gatherings that allow guests to spend more time together while shaping activities around the interests and preferences of each group.
News
Patina Maldives welcomes Sean Wotherspoon for ‘Respect the Reef’ collaboration
Patina Maldives, Fari Islands is set to welcome globally acclaimed designer, artist and vintage collector Sean Wotherspoon for an exclusive collaboration that brings together fashion, art, creativity and the marine environment of the Maldives.
Running from 12 August to 12 September 2026, the collaboration will transform the Fari Artist Atelier at Patina Maldives into a space shaped by Sean’s distinctive visual language, featuring an exclusive capsule collection of original artworks, vintage finds and reworked pieces. The collaboration centers around Respect the Reef, a large-scale ceramic fish sculpture created collectively with guests and designed to eventually become part of the marine environment.

A Collaboration Rooted in the Reef
The collaboration began with a simple idea: everything comes back to respecting the reef.
During his time at Patina Maldives, Sean spent time with resident marine biologist Nihaan, exploring the reefs surrounding the Fari Islands and the conservation work already taking place at the resort. Their conversations became the starting point for a project that would bring Sean’s creative practice into conversation with Patina’s existing approach to coral restoration.

Two practices came together. Patina’s ceramic coral workshops invite guests to create ceramic pieces that are later planted underwater, while coral frames provide structures where coral can attach and grow. For the collaboration, these practices were brought together in a new form and as a part of the 3-day Fari Islands Festival. Instead of a conventional geometric frame, the structure became a large sculptural fish, covered in individually made ceramic scales which has now been submerged in the lagoon surrounding Patina Maldives, where it begins its next life as part of the reef ecosystem.
The scales also introduced something new to Patina’s ceramic coral process: colour.

While the ceramic pieces created through the resort’s regular workshops are traditionally left unglazed, Sean’s work is deeply rooted in colour. Guests were therefore invited to glaze the individual scales themselves, bringing their own combinations of colour and pattern into the sculpture.
A Creative Language of Colour
The Respect the Reef sculpture forms part of a wider collaboration that sees Sean bring his characteristic use of colour, texture and vintage-inspired storytelling to Patina Maldives. Created exclusively for the resort, the capsule collection includes apparel, accessories and a selection of one-of-one vintage.

Inspired by the colours, textures and energy of the Maldives, the collection reflects Sean’s approach to design, where familiar objects, materials and references are given a new perspective.
“I work in colour, I work in texture, I work in materials. I always say that I want people to close their eyes, feel my projects, and still be able to gain a love for them. It’s the same with vintage shopping, you should be able to do it with your eyes closed. Designs should activate multiple different senses,” he said.
Sean’s creative language also finds its way into the Fari Artist Atelier, where guests can discover the exclusive capsule alongside original artworks, vintage ephemera and curated objects from his world.

The Fari Artist Atelier, Reimagined
From 12 August to 12 September, the Fari Artist Atelier becomes a space for guests to explore Sean’s work and the ideas behind the collaboration.
The Atelier brings together fashion, art and objects, while the Respect the Reef experience extends that creative exchange beyond the gallery and into the natural environment of the Fari Islands. For Sean, the project offered an opportunity to work within a creative framework that was already part of Patina’s identity, while giving it a new form.

“I have this thing I do really well. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time. Even if it’s my same art direction, based on whatever the vehicle is, the designs are always going to be fresh,” he said.
At Patina Maldives, that vehicle became a fish, made from many individual pieces, painted by many different hands and ultimately returned to the reef that inspired it.
Everything Comes Back to the Reef
Lexie Rodriguez, Vice President of Lifestyle, Capella Hotel Group, says: “Transformative luxury is about creating experiences that leave something behind — in us, between us and in the places we inhabit. What I love about this collaboration is how that idea lives at every level: through Respect the Reef, Sean’s creativity became a canvas for our guests and community to contribute their own hands, colour and imagination before the work was ultimately given back to the ocean; while the collection creates a tangible memory to take home, carrying a piece of Patina and the Maldives with you. It is creativity that extends beyond the moment — continuing to evolve, create connection and leave an imprint long after you have gone.”

The collaboration forms part of Patina Maldives’ ongoing creative programme, bringing together voices from art, design, music, fashion and culture while creating opportunities for guests to engage with the island in unexpected ways.
Respect the Reef captures that approach in its simplest form. It takes a practice already embedded in life at Patina, gives it a new creative expression through Sean Wotherspoon’s world of colour, and invites guests to become part of it. As the sculpture is now in the water, the process continues without them. Coral will grow, the surface will change, and the artwork will become increasingly intertwined with the reef around it.

What starts in the hands of guests eventually belongs to the ocean.
News
JOALI BEING celebrates festive season with ‘Tides of Tradition’
This festive season, JOALI BEING invites guests to embrace the warmth of togetherness with Tides of Tradition, a joyful celebration inspired by the rhythm of the ocean and the timeless traditions that bring people together. From 22 December 2026 to 8 January 2027, the well-living island will reimagine the festive season through the Joy of Well-Living, bringing together cherished celebrations, transformative wellbeing, exceptional dining, island adventures and meaningful experiences for families.

From moments of stillness to joyful celebration, Tides of Tradition unfolds through experiences that inspire connection — with oneself, loved ones and nature — bringing together festive traditions, transformative wellbeing, culinary journeys and island celebrations.

Festive highlights include:
- Island of Light: Festive Tree Illumination – The season begins as JOALI BEING’s festive tree comes to life beneath swaying palms, marking a radiant moment of togetherness and the start of the island’s celebrations.
- Feast of Christmas Wonders: Christmas Eve Dinner – Loved ones gather for an elegant Christmas Eve dinner, bringing together festive favourites, JOALI BEING signatures and thoughtfully sourced ingredients in the spirit of sharing and togetherness.
- Island Splash Pool Party – Celebrate island style at MOJO Pool with live music, refreshing cocktails, festive bites and playful poolside experiences, all set against a vibrant island atmosphere.
- Season’s Bells: Santa’s Arrival – Santa brings a touch of festive magic to the island with a special arrival and surprises for younger guests and families.
- A World of Magic: New Year’s Celebrations – The island welcomes 2027 with an evening of glamour, culinary artistry and live entertainment, beginning with sunset cocktails before a celebratory gala dinner, midnight countdown, fireworks and dancing beneath the stars.

As part of the festive season, JOALI BEING will welcome Visiting Practitioners offering experiences designed to support balance, vitality and renewal:
- Breath of Life with Javier de Prado – Combining breathwork, Craniosacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation and OsteoTha with mindful movement and meditation, Javier de Prado’s integrative sessions support nervous-system regulation, inner balance and deeper presence.
- Holistic Longevity & Facial Rejuvenation with Dr Igor Roganin – Blending Traditional Chinese Medicine with advanced diagnostics, Dr Igor Roganin offers personalised therapies to support vitality, graceful ageing, long-term wellbeing and facial rejuvenation.

Throughout the season, the Joy of Well-Living unfolds through movement, mindfulness and transformative wellbeing, from meditation and hydrotherapy rituals to energising sessions and expert-led experiences. As evening falls, the rhythm shifts to music and movement with signature experiences including the Island Splash Pool Party, DJ Fit Night and Rhythm at the Gate at the iconic Gate of Zero.
Culinary experiences bring guests together through flavour, craftsmanship and connection, from intimate chef-led journeys and the five-course Chef’s Table Collection to Spirit of the Orient, Italian Essence and Japanese specialities at Yutori. Toes-in-the-sand seafood dinners at MOJO and hands-on pasta, sushi and artisan pizza masterclasses add to the season’s culinary celebrations.

The ocean and surrounding nature become part of the journey, with dolphin cruises, guided snorkelling, sunset fishing, coral planting, scuba diving and water sports offering opportunities for discovery, adventure and a deeper connection with the natural world.
At B’Kidult, younger guests and families can share experiences designed around curiosity, wellbeing and connection, from Christmas crafts, nature treasure hunts and culinary workshops to teen fitness, virtual reality and marine adventures. Families can also discover the island’s conservation work through coral planting, visits to the Sea Turtle Care Centre and experiences with the Marine Biology team.

A stay at JOALI BEING is a transformative journey where guests return home feeling lighter, happier and more energised. Villas start from USD 5,392 per night for two guests sharing an Ocean Pool Villa on a B&B basis.
For full details on the festive programme, please visit the resort’s website and discover its Festive Season Offer. For bookings and further information, please contact reservations.being@joali.com.
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