Soneva Jani has celebrated its first anniversary with another global recognition, this time the award for the Favourite New Overseas Hotel by Conde Nast Traveller India.

On Monday night, in a gala ceremony held in Indian capital New Delhi, the best in travel were honoured at the Readers’ Travel Awards 2017.

At the ceremony, Soneva Jani was announced as the winner of the Favourite New Overseas Hotel award, beating another new resort in the Maldives, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort — a new hotspot amongst luxury travellers from the world over.

Opened in November 2016, Soneva Jani is leading luxury resort operator Soneva’s newest property and its second resort in the Maldives.

Soneva Jani encompasses a collection of 24 overwater villas and one island villa set in a 5.6 kilometre private lagoon located in the northern Noonu atoll. The resort spans five islands surrounded by pure white beaches, covered in rich tropical vegetation, offering the ultimate in privacy and luxury.

Each of the resort’s multilevel water villas has its own private pool and a retractable roof that allows guests to sleep beneath the stars. Many villas also have slides that transport guests directly from the top level into the lagoon below. Other hotel highlights include a spa, an observatory — home to the largest telescope in the Indian Ocean — and an outdoor cinema.

Since its opening, Soneva Jani has created a lot of buzz amongst luxury travellers with its exciting features such as the retractable roofs and the water slides. It has been named the Best Over-the-Top Luxury hotel of the year by Jetsetter.com, the best new resort in the world by CNN, the Leading Luxury Hotel/Resort in South Asia and Leading Luxury Hotel/Resort in Maldives at the South Asian Travel Awards (SATA), and most recently the Leading Designer Resort at the Maldives Travel Awards.

Condé Nast Traveller India is the leading luxury travel magazines in India, with a following of some one million. Its Reader’s Travel Awards, voted for by the magazine’s readers, are amongst the most widely respected recognitions in the travel industry.