CnTraveller features One & Only Reethi Rah


IN BRIEF 
A private-island health hotspot that keeps evolving

THE LOWDOWN
The hotel that set the bar in the Maldives turned the grand old age of 10 last year, but despite some rumblings,One&Only Reethi Rah is certainly not resting on its laurels. A new GM, Jean-Luc Naret, recently arrived with a raft of plans, and Jean-Michel Gathy, who designed the much-imitated villas and over-water pavilions, has been back to spruce up the rooms. A new pool is in the pipeline for the beach club, as well as a sunbathing deck set on stilts above the turquoise sea; and a water-park extension to the already high-voltage KidsOnly and OneTribe clubs is imminent. This is a hotel that is changing just enough to keep the repeat guests happy but still intrigued. And it is full throttle, getting jam-packed at New Year.

The children here tend to jet-ski better than they bicycle, and their parents think nothing of whacking a methuselah of Dom PĂ©rignon on the bill at lunchtime. And yet with all that going on, you can easily duck out of the action. There is enough space (a dozen beaches, six kilometres of sandy pathways to bicycle along) to find your own pocket of peace.


The spa lobby, it has to be said, is not necessarily the spot for that, humming as it is with chatter from the Bastien Gonzalez nail studio, teens browsing the jewellery and scented candles at the spa boutique, and new arrivals climbing over themselves to book a jet-lag-busting massage or watsu session. But once you close the carved double doors behind you, and pad through the lush tropical gardens, past hammocks strung up between the leaning palms and down to one of the thatched hut treatment rooms, quiet descends. Water trickles and tea lights flicker.

The focus is traditional, ethnic, with an Ayurvedic bent and all-natural products. There is a roll call of reliable and well-executed ESPA facials and body rituals (exfoliation, masks and gentle full-body pummelling) but as you're in the middle of the Indian Ocean, try the deeply restorative purva karma four-hand massage, or the abhyanga and shirodhara sessions, based on your specific dosha type. There are excellent visiting therapists including yoga guru Dr Gopal Govindasamy and Dr Buathon Thienarrom, who specialises in traditional Chinese medicine and Tibetan sound therapy.


Source: CnTraveller

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