Luxury resort Kanuhura Maldives rolls out its festive program, which includes bespoke festive options for luxury travellers. Highlights of the Christmas and New Year high season include gourmet dining across its eight restaurants and bars culminating in a stunning poolside Christmas Eve gala dinner and a Great Gatsby-themed New Year’s Eve party on the beach complete with live band, DJ and fireworks at midnight. The New Year’s Eve party dress code is white tie, ball gown and bare feet for better dancing the night away in the sand. A champagne bar in the sand will be in full flow, as will the team of 35 kitchen chefs who’ll be cooking up a range of gourmet temptations from locally caught lobster and seafood to the finest foods from around the world.
In keeping with the five-star resort’s gypset concept [a combination of gypsy and jet-set which describes a lifestyle that blends the vibrant free-spirited life of the world-traveller and the sophistication of jetsetters], celebrations will be both luxurious and unpretentious with the many beautiful locations on the island being showcased at their very best. For many guests, it’s the range of tailor-made events in unique locations where Kanuhura stands out from the herd. For example, guests can choose to arrange breakfast at a table in the water in the lagoon; or they may prefer a dégustation dinner inside the Chef’s Herb Garden in the glow of twinkling lights and the stars above. The resort’s wine cellar can be booked for private festive dinners for up 12 while the free-spirited travellers may prefer celebrating on one of the two deserted islands off the tip of Kanuhura which can be booked exclusively for their own use.
Kanuhura Maldives has two- and three-bedroomed villas making it the perfect choice for a festive family getaway in the sun. Better yet, children under 12 can stay and eat for free when staying in the same villa as the parents. Families can expect a full program of daily activities including a visit from Santa Claus on 25th December delivering gifts to children and teens. Parents can enjoy a truly relaxing break while the kids’ club for children aged four to eleven keeps younger guests occupied with daily events that include pirate cruises, water sports, nature walks and cooking classes. Room rates start at US $866 per night for a Beach Bungalow on bed and breakfast basis in December.
Set across three islands – two deserted islands and Kanuhura itself – the celebrated resort reopened in December 2016 after an 18-month full renovation, winning recognition from Conde Nast Traveller as one of the world’s top hotel renovations. Inge Moore of the London-based luxury hospitality studio Muza Lab in collaboration with Hirsch Bedner Associates redesigned the private island resort as a paradise for the world’s free-spirited jet-setters. One of the largest islands in the Maldives at 1.4km in length, Kanuhura has only 80 thatched-roof villas scattered throughout its untamed tropical interior and on stilts over the requisite turquoise lagoon. Kilometres of unspoilt beaches slope gently into the warm ocean while the two deserted islands are reached by a picturesque 5-minute boat trip. Eight restaurants and bars offer a world of dining, including the not-to-be-missed Chef’s Herb Garden where candlelit dégustation dinners are served in the heart of the herb garden. Kokaa Spa has one of the largest treatment menus in the country and has won two awards: ‘Best Spa in the World 2017’ by National Geographic Traveller and ‘Luxury Island Resort Spa’ by the Luxury Spa Awards 2017. Kanuhura Maldives is a member of Leading Hotels of the World.
Kanuhura Maldives is operated by Sun Resorts, a part of the Sun Limited ‘Hotel Management’ Cluster. The company owns and manages 4 hotels in Mauritius (La Pirogue Resort & Spa, Sugar Beach Resort & Spa, Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort, Ambre Resort & Spa) and the iconic Ile aux Cerfs a leisure island on which is nestled a championship golf course designed by Bernhard Langer.
