LUX* South Ari Atoll helps you dive in head first to the ultimate Maldives experience, with 40-plus comped activities per week, parasailing, a sprawling spa, limitless ice cream, and messages in bottles that might just earn you a free trip back. Come along with our writer as he luxuriates in this Indian Ocean archipelago for the very first time.
MY EXPERIENCE OF LUX* SOUTH ARI ATOLL started as soon as I stepped into Velana International Airport. A waiting host whisked my bag away and checked me through to my connecting seaplane flight. After a short car ride, I was sitting in the light and airy LUX* Lounge, which sports a nice selection of snacks – try the homemade energy bars – and commanding views over the dedicated seaplane harbour from the balcony.
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The plane pulled up to jetty
After a half-hour flight, the plane pulled up to LUX*’s jetty where waving staff greet every landing. As my check-in details were confirmed in the lounge, I was in mere moments escorted to my villa, a Romantic Overwater Pool Villa, to be specific; at the western tip, there are more overwater villas that include features like stunning glass cut-outs in the floor (but sadly no pools).
The interior of my villa was bright and white, a signature of the LUX* brand, with fun design details like knobby water taps and towel racks that look like colorful pebbles. All of the Romantic villas have decks with dreamy azure infinity pools that are ideal for taking in the sunrise. (For unobstructed sunsets, ask about the other overwater villas or beach villas with quick access to the shore.) You can wade right into the sea from your room from all the water villas but hold the bannister. They warn you that the last slippery step is a doozy.
Because of my work, I’m lucky enough to be no stranger to pool villas, idyllic islands and tropical paradises. But despite that, I was a Maldives virgin before this trip, and LUX* seemed like a good place to lose my innocence: uncrowded and unpretentious, with lots of space to do loads of things or to laze about and do nothing at all.
When I got there what I found spread across nearly two kilometers was more villas (a total of 193), five bars and eight restaurants, a kids’ play area with a pirate ship, a cozy stand-alone library packed with travel and design books, a space for making recycled art, a gorgeous spa, and ice cream (about which more later). You can roast coffee, do yoga on a raft, or partake of any of the 40-some free activities on offer every week.
Like the rest of the resort, the LUX* Me Spa is indulgent but not pretentious. If you upgrade to an overwater treatment room, you might catch a glimpse of a baby shark under your massage table face rest. After my vigorous massage, I opted for steam and sauna, and ended with a DIY facial, where I was walked through cleansing, toning, and rejuvenating with serums and moisturizers, all with own-brand cruelty-free products. I don’t usually give much thought to skincare, but after all the time I’d spent in the sun, my parched skin was grateful for the pampering.
Some of the best experiences on offer focus on food. You want to book a dinner at Amaa’s Kitchen. Our amaa – mother in Maldivian – Maryam sat down with us before dinner and through her interpreter engaging Maysha told us about the food she’d prepared, as well as about her own personal stories, about being the fifth-generation descendant of a shipwrecked Frenchman and about being about to walk here from a neighboring island in her childhood. (Rising waters and global warming are a real threat to the whole of the Maldives.)
We followed Amaa into her outdoor kitchen where she grated coconut to be added to stews, rolled into flatbreads or squeezed into coconut milk. She sliced, diced and rolled as she gamely answered our questions. When it came time for dinner, the table was laden with treats like short eats (tuna and veg stuffed samosas and spring rolls) and bambukeyo (breadfruit).
For more regional food, join a Master chef class or Maldivian theme nights, complete with live music and dancing. Maldivian food gets its kick from scotch bonnet chillis with plenty of burn. Executive chef Mark Anthony Perera, who oversees the resort’s different food and beverage outlets, says that they may burn your tongue, “but they don’t burn you inside.” Good to know!
LUX* is big on unique encounters both with invited celebs and resident staff. The resort invites artists and DJs to spend time with guests, while in-house the geeky enthusiasm of dashing marine biologist Oscar Ignetik is infectious, whether he’s talking about coral regeneration or his anachronistic love of 70s pop rock.
Of course, lots of activities are on the water. I went whale shark sighting with chatty Oscar and his oldies playlist, but perhaps my most memorable experience of the trip was one of the shortest. I was strapped into a harness and attached to a parachute to parasail above the crystal-clear water. At 75 meters in the air, it’s surprisingly quiet, and for me more meditative than any yogi saluting the sun. The flight lasted 15 minutes but I never wanted it to end.
Back on land the surprises keep coming: Each villa gets a 45-minute session with a private photographer — all your social media needs, sorted! Every morning about 6 a.m., the gardeners start hiding messages in bottles around the property; find one and win a prize like room service pizza or sunset cocktails. (I hear that the gardeners are happy to give hints if asked politely.) Don’t forget to make a wish at the Tree of Wishes because a lucky winner among the wishers will win a trip to come back to the resort at a lucky draw held on Christmas Eve.
Oh, and the ice cream. ICI serves a variety of flavors that changes every day. Dark, dark chocolate lovers want to order the vegan chocolate. (No. Really. Trust me.) You can go back as often as you want, but if you’re feeling too lazy even for that then look for the pedal cart every afternoon that brings free ice cream to you. I don’t know about you, but for me there are worse things than being chased by the ice cream man.
Nearly all international flights to the Maldives arrive at Velana International Airport in Malé. The transfer to the LUX* Lounge in the brand new Noovilu Seaplane Terminal takes less than five minutes. Flights on Trans Maldivian Airways to LUX* South Ari Atoll take approximately 30 minutes. Breakfast, half-board and full-board options exist, with an all-inclusive package in a Romantic Pool Water Villa starting at USD 724 per night and one free ice cream per day from the cart for all.
Images courtesy of LUX* South Ari Atoll unless otherwise noted.
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