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Mohamed Yamany: Bringing local touch to butler training in Maldives

Published

3 years ago

July 25, 2022

By Shamman Zahir

Meet the president and the principal trainer at the Maldives Butler Academy, Mohamed Yamany. The first-ever local academy of this nature aims to build better infrastructure to mold top-class butlers and offer avenues to develop their careers. Maldives Insider team explores how a career with over 19 years of experience behind him has led to the start of this up-and-coming company in the Maldives.

Maldives Insider: Tell us briefly how you got started in your career.

Mohamed Yamany: 20 years ago, I finished my diploma at FHTS. I saw an ad in the newspaper for Mr. Friday at Soneva Fushi. A gentleman by the name of Hussain Shahid whom I was in contact with for field research for assignments of FHTS was kind enough to recommend me despite having no prior experience. I was interviewed by my trainer, Mr Frederick Broodryk, who was at one point the personal butler of Nelson Mandela. I quite clearly remember him saying to me in the interview, “you have no prior job experience in the industry, what is something that you can offer to the company than the other candidates who have applied for the same role?”. I told him the positive attitude is the only thing I can give apart from what I have learned from my time at FHTS. He was happy with the answer I gave and thought I would make a good Mr. Friday. After finishing my butler training and serving 2 years in Soneva Fushi, I was transferred to Soneva Gili. While I was at Soneva Gili, Six Senses was opening their new property in Vietnam, Six senses Ninh Van Bay. I was sent as part of the task force to train the first butlers of this new property in Vietnam. It was a very good experience professionally. This is something I would recommend for future Maldivians to do as well. Find an opportunity to get some international exposure before settling down to work in the Maldives. While I was in Vietnam, the Tsunami of 2004 hit Soneva Gili and the property was damaged badly. The GM at the time TJ said “there is nothing for you to go back to, since it will be a construction site at this point. Why don’t you stay back and help to open up?” A few months later the Front office manager resigned and I inherited the department of 43 hosts. Managing a diverse team became a crash course in leadership for me. Before that, I had no prior leadership experience or training, everything was learned on the go and I was lucky to receive a lot of mentoring from the GM and other Directors at the resort. After that chapter, I came back to the Maldives to get married. At that time, Four Seasons was reopening their Kuda Huraa property and had an opening at the time. The opportunity in HR was a great exposure for me. So far in my career at this point, I had the experience of working in front of the house, and this was my foray into working at the heart of the house of a resort. After spending a year working there, I won a Villa Foundation scholarship to do my degree in Malaysia at Taylors University. While I was doing my degree, I did my internship in Malaysia and then in UAE. After finishing up my degree, I got the opportunity to work in a Singapore based company that did open a couple more resorts in Vietnam. Some of them like Ana Mandara Hue and An Lam Ninh Van Bay won some awards. I then came back again to the Maldives and with my wife being pregnant I wanted to stay close to home. I have always wanted to give back to the community, and this came true with getting the opportunity to work at FHTS as a lecturer. After working in the public sector, I came back to the hospitality field doing resort openings such as Vakkaru Maldives and Crossroads Maldives. Now, I am on this current journey of having started my own training company with two other gentlemen Dr Sunny and Mr Badhuru.

MI: What interested you to start Maldives Butler Academy?

MY: There were many reasons we started this. One of the reasons was before we started there were perhaps 2 or 3 companies that was conducting Butler training so resorts didn’t have much of a choice. These companies were able to charge a premium due to the lack of Butler training schools both in the Maldives and abroad. With Maldives Butler Academy coming into the game, it sort of have levelled the playing field.

Just because you are late to the game, doesn’t mean you can’t make an impact. Take Google for instance. It was the 13th search engine but it has the biggest market share today.

We launched the Academy in December 2020 and after we received many inquiries, the second wave of Covid-19 forced us to push back the many trainings that was to be held.

MI: What do you think of the opportunities available for Maldivians in the Maldives?

MY: I think there is a lot of opportunities available for the Maldivians but we should grasp these opportunities and also keep at the back of their head that when it comes to talent that they are competing with the rest of the world who are vying for the same opportunities.

MI: What services/programmes does the academy provide?

MY: We have three levels, basic advanced, and professional. The details are available on our website (https://maldivesbutleracademy.com/) The basic course generally covers what it is like to be a butler in the Maldives and brings you up to standards. The advanced level is focused on certain modules such as Valet skills, Event management, Mixology for advanced training, etc. The professional level includes modules such as cigar service, silver service, Barista coffee, hot beverages, etc. It also includes certain items requested by the brands.

We get a lot of interest from locals to do the training but we lack the infrastructure ourselves to give public courses. So we currently do partnerships with resorts to do Butler training. Every course is made customized and tailored to the resort and its needs. It’s simply easier to be done in resorts where you can play out real-world scenarios. Assimilation would be tough if we did public courses at this point. That is a limitation we have.

MI: What makes a good butler?

MY: In my opinion, a person who can put others’ interests ahead of your own will make a great butler. Quite a lot have the notion that a lot of butlers make a lot of money with tips and you intend to become a butler on that basis and being money-oriented is your primary focus, being a butler is not for you. Being an entrepreneur is a better option with that kind of focus.

As a Butler, your primary focus should be to give a once-in-a-lifetime experience to guests with no strings attached. There are age-old stereotypes that certain nationalities will tip better, that should not be in the mindset of a butler. It should be the same level of service of every guest regardless of their nationality, gender etc. A guest is a guest no matter where they come from.”

What I believe and advocate is to being very customer focused. Just as Jeff Bezos says, “Competitors will not give us any money”. If you are competitor-focused, you have to wait until a competitor does something and you are playing a catchup game. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.

It’s also good to have experience in other departments of the resort before becoming a butler. It certainly helps to have an understanding of operations to do your job better. It’s important to see that in the resort, things work as a team with everyone doing their part. If a butler has a notion that the guests are happy simply because him or her doing a great job, that is not very true as it is a joint effort from the airport team, room boys, stewards, to the waiters. A butler should play a diplomatic role where he or she is able to utilise the others to wow their guests.

MI: What are some of the challenges you face in your line of work?

MY: Right now, the biggest challenge is scheduling. Some resorts are very busy during the low seasons as well. There are expectations sometimes to finish one training and go to the next one back to back. That is not the most efficient way to go, as most of our content is very much customised to the location. Currently, it is just me doing the trainings, so manpower is a limitation but how we have designed the academy is that any butler can take the mantle of trainer and contribute to creating more butlers. I believe the Maldives Butler Academy is bigger than one person.

MI: What is a memorable moment from your career?

MY: I was offered to become the General Manager of a company but I felt I wasn’t ready at the time. In Vietnam as well before coming back to the Maldives, they offered me to be the Resident Manager. So, in terms of career goals, being offered those positions assured me I had made it to that level. At the same time, having a wife and a daughter now changes things where you have to factor them in when making career decision. When your decisions can affect more than just you, you will have to make sacrifices and put their needs ahead of your own as well. At this point in life, working with work-life-harmony is more important for me than going up the career ladder.

MI: What is your vision for the academy?

MY: One facet of the vision is that we intend to conduct the trainings offered by the Academy in hospitality establishment outside of the Maldives. Another facet is to make our courses be approved by Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) so that it becomes a bridging course for our participants to use it to continue their studies to pursue a degree so that it is not just another certificate and that there is more value to it. There are a lot of criteria set by MQA, we are working towards fulfilling them.

MI: What advice would you give to those starting in the industry?

MY: Don’t just get into hospitality because you want a job. Get into hospitality if you can put others before you. It’s not a factor to be ashamed of. There are alternative career choices if you cannot put serving others before yourself. So only get into hospitality if you can follow that rule of serving others before yourself.

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From wellness to culture: Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts embodies new era of Maldivian travel

Published

6 days ago

October 23, 2025

m@ldives

The Maldives continues to strengthen its position as one of the world’s premier island destinations, achieving global acclaim while maintaining steady growth in visitor arrivals. The country was recently named Best Beach Destination at the World Tourism Awards 2025 in Brussels and ranked among the Top Ten Countries for Food in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2025.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the Maldives recorded over 1.7 million tourist arrivals as of 21 October 2025 — a 10% year-on-year increase. The destination is on course to meet its ambitious target of 2.3 million arrivals by year-end, with the final quarter expected to bring the highest influx of visitors as the nation enters its peak travel season.

Sustained demand from key markets including India, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, alongside rising interest from the Middle East and Europe, continues to fuel this growth. The trend reflects a broader global shift towards experience-led travel, where visitors seek meaningful, immersive stays rather than conventional leisure holidays.

As arrival numbers climb, the focus within the Maldives tourism industry is evolving from volume to value. Hospitality brands are responding by offering experiences that highlight authenticity, sustainability, and cultural engagement. Among them, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts — which operates four properties across the Maldives — is redefining the concept of island travel through wellness, cuisine, and culture.

The brand’s approach extends beyond accommodation, curating distinctive experiences that deepen the guest journey. From spa rituals rooted in Asian wellness traditions at Mandara Spa and Chavana Spa to private beachfront dinners celebrating the region’s rich culinary heritage, each stay is designed to be both restorative and enriching. Guests who book directly also receive exclusive credits and tailored experiences, reinforcing the Maldives’ growing appeal as a destination for conscious and immersive travel.

This direction mirrors the Maldives’ evolving tourism strategy, which prioritises authenticity and quality over volume. As the nation edges closer to another record-breaking year, its success lies not only in the number of arrivals but in its ability to offer enduring, high-calibre experiences — a vision shared by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts as it continues to shape the future of island hospitality across the region.

Featured

Centara Maldives unveils bespoke National Day escapes for UAE holidaymakers

Published

6 days ago

October 23, 2025

m@ldives

As one of the most notable occasions in the GCC calendar, UAE National Day presents the perfect opportunity to plan a dream island getaway at one of Centara Hotels & Resorts’ Maldivian destinations. Travellers can discover their own piece of paradise across four distinctive properties: Centara Grand Lagoon Maldives, Centara Mirage Lagoon Maldives, Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives, and Machchafushi Island Resort & Spa Maldives, The Centara Collection. Each resort offers a seamless blend of elegance, comfort, island activities, and rejuvenating spa experiences — the ideal way to celebrate the spirit of the occasion with a tropical touch.

Centara Grand Lagoon Maldives

Located a short speedboat ride from Malé International Airport, Centara Grand Lagoon Maldives provides an elegant island retreat ideal for celebrating special moments with family and friends. The resort features a range of overwater villas and beachfront residences, each complete with a private pool, jacuzzi, or both — offering guests an opportunity to truly unwind and disconnect from the outside world.

Set within The Atollia by Centara Hotels & Resorts, the resort offers an array of experiences, from exciting water sports and excursions to restorative wellness treatments at the tranquil SPA Cenvaree Retreat. Dining choices include international buffets at The Gallery, modern Mediterranean flavours at Bluefin, and light bites at Coco Drift’s swim-up bar. Guests can also toast to the occasion with a refreshing drink at Sunset Social.

In celebration of UAE National Day, Centara Grand Lagoon Maldives invites guests to reconnect with loved ones through an exclusive stay package. Guests booking before 15 December for stays until 20 December can enjoy four nights for the price of three or seven nights for the price of five, with complimentary round-trip transfers included.

Additional benefits include:

Upgrade to the Half Board Plus meal plan when booking a Room with Breakfast
Club access
Complimentary sparkling beverage at Sunset Social on the first evening
One complimentary couples’ treatment at SPA Cenvaree Retreat
A 15% discount and triple points for CentaraThe1 members

Centara Mirage Lagoon Maldives

Nestled in the scenic North Malé Atoll, Centara Mirage Lagoon Maldives offers a vibrant, underwater world-themed escape perfect for families. The resort combines play and relaxation through its lazy river, splash zones, and water playgrounds, alongside the acclaimed SPA Cenvaree, a Candy Spa for children, and a lively kids’ club. Accommodation includes oceanfront and overwater villas, complemented by diverse dining experiences.

Families can enjoy the ultimate island holiday where children stay, play, and dine for free on all stays before 15 December. Perfect for the UAE National Day long weekend, the offer includes:

Special room rates
Complimentary round-trip speedboat transfers
Free stays and meals for up to two children aged 11 and under
A 15% discount and triple points for CentaraThe1 members

Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives

For couples and solo travellers seeking tranquillity, Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives offers an adults-only sanctuary designed for relaxation and connection. Guests can wake to panoramic sea views from oceanfront or overwater villas with direct lagoon access. The resort features world-class dining, a yoga pavilion, award-winning SPA Cenvaree, and water sports including windsurfing, parasailing, and snorkelling.

To mark UAE National Day, guests can take advantage of 30% off all villas (and 45% off for CentaraThe1 members), along with 50% off transfers for stays of two to four nights. The package also includes:

Sparkling beverage and fresh fruit upon arrival in overwater villas
A three-course poolside dinner under the stars for Half Board Plus guests and above
Buy-one-get-one-free spa treatments
20% discount on food and beverages
10% off water sports and excursions
Complimentary snorkelling and kayaking equipment

Bookings and stays are valid until 10 January 2026.

Machchafushi Island Resort & Spa Maldives, The Centara Collection

Set amidst breathtaking ocean views and a UNESCO-protected marine reserve, Machchafushi Island Resort & Spa Maldives, The Centara Collection caters to adventure seekers and nature enthusiasts alike. Home to an award-winning house reef and several renowned dive sites, guests can spend their days exploring coral reefs or discovering a historic shipwreck, followed by spa treatments and gourmet dining.

Guests can enjoy 45% off flexible rates for CentaraThe1 members and 30% off for non-members, along with 30% off seaplane transfers for stays of two to six nights until 10 January 2026.

The offer includes:

Handmade chocolates and tropical fruit upon arrival in overwater or pool villas
A complimentary picnic lunch for families or a private beach dinner for couples (Half Board Plus and above)
Buy-one-get-one-free spa treatments
Complimentary stays and meals for children aged six and under
20% discount on à la carte dining and floating breakfasts (Club Pool Villas only)
10% discount on water sports and excursions
Complimentary snorkelling gear and kayak use

For more information or reservations, guests can visit Centara Hotels & Resorts and explore exclusive UAE National Day offers available across all Maldivian properties.

Featured

Holistic journeys at One&Only Reethi Rah: Year of global wellness expertise

Published

1 week ago

October 22, 2025

m@ldives

One&Only Reethi Rah invites guests to continue their wellness journey at the renowned One&Only Spa, which has recently received a prestigious five-star rating from the Forbes Travel Guide — the first and only spa in the Maldives to earn this recognition. Surrounded by tropical greenery, the spa offers a tranquil retreat where ancient healing practices meet modern techniques, providing tailored treatments that promote lasting wellbeing.

Throughout the year, One&Only Reethi Rah has hosted leading international wellness practitioners, and the remainder of 2025 will feature an inspiring series of experiences guided by acclaimed experts. From holistic therapies and Ayurveda to Pilates, yoga, Barre, and CrossFit, each visiting specialist brings unique expertise and methodology to the island, delivering highly personalised sessions designed around each guest’s individual needs.

Beginning in October, Ayurveda specialist Dr Shreejit Ghadigaonkar will offer personalised consultations and treatments based on one of the world’s oldest healing systems, using herbal remedies, massage, and holistic therapies to restore balance. During the same period, Shannon Fenton, a Pilates and yoga instructor, will lead mindful movement sessions to enhance posture, body awareness, and overall wellbeing.

In November, bespoke fitness coach Nicky Holender will introduce tailored programmes focused on strength, endurance, and motivation, while holistic therapist Darya Gudkova will offer deeply restorative treatments combining Eastern traditions with a contemporary understanding of anatomy and psychology.

The season will continue into December and January with Sanam Heravi, a STOTT-certified Barre specialist, whose sessions use intelligent movement to support rehabilitation and life transitions. Guests seeking high-intensity training will be able to train with Zubaid Toefy, a CrossFit coach with a background in Muay Thai and Olympic weightlifting, known for his dynamic and disciplined approach.

Each visiting practitioner contributes distinct expertise to the spa’s offerings, enabling guests to explore individual paths towards vitality, clarity, and inner balance

Whether guests are beginning a new wellness journey or deepening established rituals, the One&Only Spa provides a setting for intentional transformation. From sunrise yoga sessions to deeply restorative treatments, every moment is designed to strengthen the connection between mind, body, and nature within the serene environment of the Maldives.

For guests seeking advanced skincare, the spa also presents a curated selection of facial treatments that combine cutting-edge technology with high-performance formulations. Through partnerships with globally renowned brands such as Augustinus Bader, the spa offers rejuvenating therapies that leave the skin feeling nourished, firm, and radiant.