JUST over a year since its opening Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort & Spa on Addu Atoll in the Maldives is both building occupancies and having a positive effect on the local environment.
The property, on the southernmost tip of the atoll, is a 70-minute domestic flight from Male and an eight-minute boat ride from Gan International Airport.
Its 142 luxurious villas are made up of pool, beach, water and unique treehouse villas, perched on stilts with views through the island’s lush tropical foliage, as well as two presidential villas measuring 957 sq m each.
On-shore villas have their own infinity pools and all are equipped with daybeds and lounge spaces, 40-inch LCD TVs, Bose DVD players, iPods and docking stations and Wi Fi internet.
The 3-km-long island features 12 hectares of lush vegetation, towering banyan trees, 17,000 coconut trees, 45 species of plants, three natural lagoons and nature trails for guests to explore.
General manager Jens Moesker said: “Here, every day is like waking up in paradise.
“Things went well pretty much as soon as we opened. Our occupancies last August were 45 per cent when we had expected 25 and for our first festive season we were in the high 60s.
“Visitors can see that we offer an authentic experience, from here you can reach the other islands where it is possible to cycle through the local villages, this is the only place you can do that.
“The location is also brilliant for diving with some of the top dive sites in the world.
“We are already seeing good numbers of repeat visitors and I’m very optimistic for the rest of the year.”
As well as the villas the resort boasts several restaurants including Javvu, providing café dining by day and refined Western cuisine in the evenings, Dr Ali’s, which has three ‘living rooms’ with three distinct dining concepts – Indian Ocean, South China Sea and Arabian Gulf – and the Endheri Pool Bar.
There is also Shangri-La’s world renowned Chi, The Spa, a fully-equipped gym and fitness centre, a kids’ adventure zone and a water sports and dive centre complete with decompression chamber.
And, in keeping with the group’s green credentials, the resort also has an environment eco centre with a resident marine biologist offering the first underwater nature trail in the Maldives, evening talks on the island’s nature trails and underwater beauty, coral farming, manta ray tracking and turtle tagging and guest participation in conservation practices.
Moesker said: “Our main focus with the turtles is on protecting the hatching sites, looking at issues such as lighting and with the manta rays, which are identified by their belly markings, we photograph them and upload them onto a database so we can see which ones are returning.”
Shangri-La Villingili is also very involved with the local community. Though the staff is made up of 32 nationalities, 60 per cent are Maldivian coming from the surrounding islands by shuttle each day and there is a comprehensive programme of training and career development.
“There’s a desire from the government to encourage development and grow the local economy,” said Moesker. “It’s amazing to see the effect a project like this can have on the local population, if you employ one person in a family that has a knock-on effect for all the others and that’s something we’re very keen to develop.”