the secrets of Soneva
Close your eyes and picture the ultimate castaway island. Do you see powder-white beaches? Gin-clear water? The balmy sea breeze rustling the coconut trees overhead? And that shack, made from reclaimed wood with a mop of thatch for a roof, hiding in the jungle fringe?
It's quite likely that the image you've conjured up closely resembles one of the tropical hideaways by the Soneva group, a pioneer in barefoot-luxe resorts with three outposts sprinkled across the Maldives.
When hotelier Sonu Shivdasani and his wife Eva Malmström opened the brand's first resort, Soneva Fushi, in 1995, they were ahead of their time, going back to the basics. Out with the gilded pomp and marble-clad bathrooms that were all the rage, in with the breezy villas, all driftwood clobber and doors that slide wide open, and toes-in-the-sand restaurants serving food without haute-cuisine fuss.
Over the decades that followed, Soneva perfected the castaway-chic formula across its resorts, bringing in the oft-copied 'no news, no shoes' policy and furnishing their villas with outdoor bathrooms and swirling water slides. They introduced chocolate rooms and ice cream parlours for round-the-clock snacking and private observatories for star-gazing after dark. All this came with an admirable eco-ethos, which, through meticulous recycling practices, marine life conservation initiatives and a dedication to sourcing everything (from food to building materials and toiletries) as locally as, possible ensured that the resort's island perches were well taken care of.
Today, Soneva's three resorts—Fushi, Jani and Secret—are among the most beloved in the Maldives, which makes picking one (or two!) for your next beach retreat or honeymoon a challenge. Below, gloobles insider Chris Schalkx dishes out first-hand takes on each Maldivian Soneva resort to help you decide which to set your eyes on.
Soneva Fushi: foodies, freedom and family fun
With its jungle-covered heart, a stellar restaurant lineup and the choice of beachfront retreats and overwater villas, Soneva's first resort remains the perfect all-rounder. Marooned on a beach-hemmed island in the Baa Atoll, Fushi's 63 villas channel the Cruso-esque fantasy with private, palm-tufted gardens (or wooden overwater decks), breezy interiors and hammocks strung between coconut trees.
Sandy pathways snaking through the jungle connect to a sprawling spa, a recycled glass-art atelier and nine different bars and restaurants: among the many highlights is the treehouse-like Flying Sauces, where you zip-line to dinners made from ingredients grown in the resort's organic gardens. There's also Out of The Blue, a seafood-centric Asian diner taking over a stilted construction just offshore, and Shades of Green, the plant-based playground of Danish chef Carsten Kyster.
Bring the kids: Fushi is home to the largest kids’ club (called The Den) in the Indian Ocean. It takes over a string of wooden buildings at the heart of the resort. A team of dedicated caretakers is on hand to support toddlers and teens with educational workshops, dress-up games and creative classes—or to keep an eye out when they totter around in the swimming pool with a jungle-gym pirate ship and a swirling water slide.
Soneva Jani: soul-soothing wellness and villa mania
Opened in a turquoise lagoon in the Noonu atoll in 2016, Soneva Jani is Fushi's flashier sibling. The overwater villas, connected by swirling stilted walkways that jut out from either side of the resort's Medhufaru island, deliver a whitewashed take on Soneva's signature aesthetic. They swap the most rustic elements for a slightly glossier look, with sun-bleached driftwood, glass-bottomed floors and colour-pops of seafoam green. Each one comes with a private pool large enough for laps, a retractable roof above the bed for star-gazing and water slides that let you zip into the bathwater-warm lagoon. You'll want to book one of the newer villas on the southern boardwalk; the older ones on the resort's northern end look slightly dated.
While families are certainly welcome (there are kid-friendly menus in every restaurant and an outpost of The Den to boot), Jani's vibe is more grown-up. Your butler can arrange private picnics on desert islets or romantic beachfront dinners in the soft glow of a bonfire, while the group's largest spa, Soneva Soul, offers everything from quick herbal scrubs to week-long wellness immersions with detox menus, high-tech IV infusions, chakra-balancing massages and consultations by visiting therapists.
Soneva Secret: the full castaway fantasy
If it's pure privacy you're after, Soneva Secret, the latest addition to the Soneva family, will answer the call. Opened in the westernmost Makunudhoo atoll at the end of 2023, Secret has just 14 villas and not a single other island visible on its blue horizon. Each of the open-plan, two-story dwellings are designed as mini-resorts, with private spa rooms and pools, gyms with all the bells and whistles and a roster of international chefs on call to prepare everything from Indonesian rijsttafel lunches to Italian feasts. Two of the villas are completely untethered from and only accessible by e-boat, while the ultimate showpiece, the floating Castaway Villa (launching in early 2025), can be moved between different mooring points around the lagoon.
Secret's ultra-remote location, in an atoll still untainted by tourism, means that the marine life around the resort is some of the Maldives' best. During sunset cruises or dive expeditions with the resident marine biologist, lucky visitors can spot giant pods of spinner dolphins, whales, sharks, turtles or manta rays. And even if you're uninclined to leave your villa (with all those perks at your fingertips, there's no shame in that), you'll glimpse plenty of sea critters flitting in the azure-hued waves below your feet.
Chris Schalkx
With words and images in Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest and Bloomberg Pursuits, our friend Chris is undeniably in the know. From luxe camping in Antarctica to two unforgettable weeks in Bhutan with a toddler in tow, he’s done it all. When he’s planning trips, Chris starts with a killer hotel and lets things unfold from there. It’s about the journey rather than the plan for him. With his nearly indestructible Rimowa carry-on and camera in tow, this culture fiend is perfectly suited for discovering the undiscovered.
