AN EASE OF LIVING
Cheval Blanc Randheli has perfected what the French call the art de recevoir – the art of hospitality. What is the ultimate luxury, after all, than to emphasise detail, originality, exclusivity and quality?
Cheval Blanc Randheli evokes an ease of living that comes from its innate sense of luxury
The author Pico Iyer once said that, “In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.” In Cheval Blanc Randheli, that ne plus ultra of resorts in the Maldives, frequented by the famous and a firm favourite of celebrities, paying attention to the experience they give their guests is their reason for being.
The experience starts at the airport, where friendly staff whisked us off in a chauffered car to the resort’s private lounge, to be refreshed with welcome drinks or food, as the case may be, and wait for the resort’s de Havilland Twin Otter seaplane to be ready, while they saw to our luggage. The resort is one of the very few in the Maldives with its own seaplane; the rest of the atoll-hoppers will have to make do with the Maldivian Airlines’ sea planes that will call on several resorts on their route.
It’s a 40-minute flight from the capital, Male, to the unspoilt Noonu Atoll in Northwest Maldives, where the resort is spread out over several islands. As the plane banked and touched down on the water, we could see what seemed like the entire of the resort gathered around the dock, ready to greet us. Check-in was a breeze before we were each whisked off in buggies to our villas by our respective majordomos. Each villa gets one majordomo or butler who will make sure you have everything you need – from unpacking your suitcase, replenishing snacks in the villa daily, to arranging activities for the day or reservations at the resort’s five restaurants – even drawing up your evening bath, complete with frangipani flowers. Nothing is too great or small. During my stay, I forgot my key once and I only had to call Vladimir, my majordomo, to locate it for me.