Adaaran Resorts Maldives have achieved the Travelife Gold certification for the second consecutive year.

The certification was awarded to Adaaran Prestige Vadoo, Adaaran Select Meedhupparu, Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi and Adaaran Club Rannalhi.

Travelife is an international sustainability certification scheme that helps its more than 1,300 hotel members around the world improve their environmental, social and economic impacts cost effectively. Hotels that meet the Travelife standard are formally recognised with a Travelife award to promote their achievements.

To achieve a Travelife award and become certified, hotels must become a Travelife member and prove they meet the Travelife assessment criteria. They will then receive a Travelife Gold award, an award plaque and the right to use the Travelife certification mark to showcase their sustainability achievements to their customers.

Embracing an eco-friendly approach as a business is nothing new for Adaaran; it is simply the conventional way of operating their resorts. Adaaran honours the ‘Adaaran Sustainability Policy’ where they endeavour to maintain a high level of environmental consciousness through strategising and executing suitable eco-sustainability practices. Sustainability awareness efforts involve educating employees and guests on the sustainable policy, Travelife training programmes for staff, display of sustainability related messages on notice boards and awareness via social media.

Amongst many sustainable initiatives, installation of bottling plants has helped terminate the use of single-use plastic water bottles altogether. At Adaaran’s resorts, guests are offered only paper straws on request, thus alleviating the use of plastic straws as well.

Good hygiene is practiced at Adaaran’s resorts at all times. No harmful chemicals are utilised other than biodegradable ones. Such practices have been derived from Adaaran’s compliance with their company-wide 7R practice: Reject, Reduce, Reuse, Reclaim, Repair, Replace and Recycle.

Adaaran’s resorts have implemented several measures to keep up with industry best practices and global sustainability trends. One of the measures taken is to operate an energy saving system in all rooms, by the use of a key card to activate the electricity in the room. Guest rooms are installed with inverter type air conditioners. A programme is currently underway to replace light bulbs with energy-efficient LED lamps in all rooms, public areas and gardens.

The group’s resorts also organise projects on island cleaning, tree planting, environmental awareness and coral transplanting.

Adaaran is also unswerving in its vision of creating an environment for the staff to achieve their career aspirations whilst cultivating a team of knowledgeable and inspiring professionals.

The group first embarked on its sustainability journey by pledging to strive and practice their promise of preserving the environment. Standing firmly with this vision, Adaaran’s management team marked this iconic moment by diving and placing their signatures underwater! This endorsement process was called the Adaaran Green Dive 2016.

Adaaran Green Dive was initiated with the hope of shedding light on climate change and its impact on the islands of Maldives. As the Maldives constitutes of one per cent land and 99 per cent water, it only seemed fitting to mark the occasion in this manner.

Adaaran, a subsidiary of Sri Lankan conglomerate Aitken Spence, runs five resorts in the Maldives: Adaaran Club Rannalhi, Adaaran Select Meedhupparu, Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi and Adaaran Prestige Vadoo. Aitken Spence has also recently opened a new property in the Maldives under its Heritance brand, Heritance Aarah.

Accessible by a short 15-minute speedboat ride from the main Velana International Airport, Adaaran Prestige Vadoo offers 56 water villas with private spas, plunge pools and a glass-bottomed bathroom lounge with a view of marine life. Guests can take a dip in the outdoor pool or spa pool or go for an in-room spa treatment.

Adaaran Select Meedhupparu resort is a fabulous five-star property located in the northern Raa atoll. Surrounded by powder soft beaches and sublime turquoise lagoons, Adaaran Select Meedhupparu invites you to surrender to your senses and bask in the majesty of your tropical island surroundings. Guests can relax in the sumptuous Mandara Spa and try their hand at a number of exciting water sport activities, including scuba diving, windsurfing and water-skiing.

Set in the South Male Atoll, Adaaran Club Rannalhi includes 96 standard rooms, which are tastefully adorned with tropically themed furnishings and bedding, and 34 water bungalows that offer a luxurious experience comprising of a private sun deck overlooking the stunning aquamarine ocean. The resort features three spectacular dining venues and a host of recreational activities, including diving, snorkelling and water-skiing.

Located in North Male Atoll, Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi is blessed with thriving vegetation and pristine waters, and offers 165 villas, including 37 Ocean Villas. Set in 83 acres of lush tropical beach property near Kani Beach on Lhohifushi island, the resort’s design enables it to blend into its surroundings being one of the best resort in Maldives.