REVIEW: Soneva Jani

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Intro

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Being something of a Maldive specialist and having had the opportunity to stay at more than 20 different luxury hotels in this country, it was only a matter of time before I inevitably ended up staying at Soneva Jani.

I must admit, however, that I was rather hesitant initially because of this hotel’s very heavy use of influencers, even in the context of the Maldives – a country whose entire tourism industry seems to exist almost entirely as a result of social media.

I had heard mixed reviews about the service immediately after the property opened and this only further served to cement the idea in my mind that this hotel was going to be all about style over substance.

I was also very much aware of the fact that the Soneva brand leans very heavily into marketing itself around sustainability, which tends to be a thinly veiled way of cost cutting and delivering substandard products, within a pre-established excuse framework.

However, after beginning to hear numerous reports of positive feedback about the property from trusted colleagues and clients, I figured it was best to form an opinion based on personal experience rather than preconceived notions.

Given the lack of detailed reviews for this property I actually wasn’t sure what to expect beyond gigantic villas with slides and an island philosophy that includes not having to wear shoes at any time.

It’s not too often that I arrive at a hotel without having meticulous notes already prepared about every room type and every dining venue but I actually quite enjoyed the fact that I was heading into this experience with a lot of potential surprises ahead of me…

 

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Booking Soneva Jani

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Our clients are able to book all Soneva hotels with a selection of value added extras, thanks to our agency’s Virtuoso accreditation.

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Arrival at Soneva Jani

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The seaplane lands at the exact place where our boat transfer from Joali dropped this off and it is here that you will rejoin our journey!

As we pulled up to the arrival jetty, it was hard to contain our excitement. The colours of the ocean here are absolutely incredible and the streaks of dark blue running through like turquoise are impossible to replicate on a man-made island (at this stage, this includes over 70% of the luxury hotels within speedboat distance of the airport).

We were warmly greeted at the arrival jetty by a selection of managerial staff as as well as our Butler, a young and very friendly Maldivian by the name of Shimmi. Every resort in the Maldives has its own special terminology for butlers and at Soneva Jani they are referred to as: Barefoot Guardians.  

Shimmi first offered us cold scented towels and a coconut  before escorting us to the buggy which he would be driving us to our villa in.

Our first quick stop en-route to the villa was at The Gathering, an incredibly impressive and immense wooden building which must be close to rivalling to Todaiji temple in Nara as the largest wooden building on earth!

Aside from making me think of the pioneering Dutch gothic metal band of the same name, The Gathering is the central nexus of Soneva Jani and contains numerous venues of note:

• Down to Earth restaurant
• The Chef’s table restaurant
• Overseas restaurant
• Asian Kitchen restaurant
• The Wine Cellar
• The Gathering Bar
• A Gym
• A scaled down Kids Club
• An Art Gallery
• A Library 
• Boutiques

As we pulled away from The Gathering and continued to make our way towards our villa, we passed this very whimsical looking sign post.

At this stage, you’ll probably be beginning to get the same impression that I was: one – the architecture and general design of this property is like none other in the Maldives; two – this resort feels absolutely massive … “where’s the map?”

Their Arrival Jetty is marked with the letter ‘A’ on the map and is located on the North Jetty.

When the resort was first built, the North Jetty was all that existed.

Over time, the enormous Central Island was developed to add a number of dining venues as well as the Island Villas.

The final part of Soneva Jani’s development came with the addition of the South Jetty, where our villa was to be located.

As we made our way over the rattling boards of the snaking jetty, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. When you’ve stayed in 20+ resorts in the Maldives, you kind of feel like you’ve seen it all but clearly the design here is a radical departure from every other hotel in the Maldives.

Looking back and seeing the Disney-like turrets of the Water Retreats, each with slides poking out of them, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of childlike wonder. Clearly the cost of building something like this is absolutely astronomical but rather than going for sleek minimalism, or some type of pastiche notion of traditional fishing huts, the budget here was just spent on making the place look like a fairytale kingdom. 

It’s like Rufio and the Lost Boys won the lottery and conquered Waterworld.

As we continued on our journey, we briefly stopped to Marvel at the beauty of North Beach, a postcard perfect sway of white sand against an array of neon blue hues.

A few minutes later we made another brief stop at Turtle Beach, a far more wild and rugged proposition, but absolutely beautiful nonetheless. In both cases it’s worth noting that there is no service at these beaches. The vibe at Soneva is that you bring your own water and take care of yourself when you come to these beaches.

Indeed, it’s worth noting from the get go that if you’re looking for serviced beaches or a main pool with a bar and live music, then Soneva Jani is not the place for you.

At 150 acres, Soneva Jani is one of the largest resort islands in the Maldives and the diversity of wildlife on show here is incredible. Again, if you’re scared of crabs, lizards or birds then this is not the island for you (the man-made islands created from dredged sand, close to the airport have far less visible wildlife). However, if you’re a nature lover, then this place is incredible. We spotted several different types of crab species just on the drive to the Villa, including this enormous hermit crab…

…. And loads of these ghost crabs.

Once you’ve experienced dense jungle foliage on a Maldivian island, it’s very hard to go back to the man-made resorts with their perfectly manicured trees, struggling to meet above the pathways, providing almost no shade and no natural habitat for animals.

 At the time of our visit, we were provided with E-bikes, which were parked up outside of our Villa up upon arrival. These were a lot of fun to ride around on but honestly broke down at least twice a day. These have since been replaced with regular bikes, which will obviously require less maintenance. However, this does mean that getting from one end of the island to the other will mean working up a serious sweat under the scorching Maldivian sun!

Soneva Jani Water Retreat Living Room

Upon entering our villa we first encountered a reception area, complete with a small sofa and a large hallway cupboard, which not only offered an expansive surface upon which to place hats, sunglasses and other necessities but also offered a multitude of internal storage options. 

Shimmi also pointed out to us the Bose sound system’s volume control, a series of light switches and the doorbell, which was attached to a pull rope outside.

Taking pride of place in the centre of the living room was a small circular table, complete with four chairs… 

….Upon which a welcome amenity of fruit had been placed.

Great though the fruit was, we were rather more interested in the immense glass cut out beneath it, which revealed a view of the lagoon below.

Over on the far end of the living room was a daybed-style sofa, which featured another glass cut out. The sofa looked like it could easily be turned into a bed for an additional guest.

This sofa also had a guest bathroom located conveniently next to it.

This bathroom also offered a cupboard under the stairs which would be a perfect place to hide birthday gifts for any Harry Potter-mad kids. Our villa was so massive that it took me until the final morning to discover another secret cubbyhole attached to our bedroom, which was even larger than the ‘Harry Potter cupboard’!

Back in the living room you can see that there are three options: the study on the left (behind the glass sliding doors); the bedroom behind the closed door and the kitchen on the right, with a horizontal feature window.

Water Reserve Kitchen

You know you’re in the upper echelon of Maldivian results when, rather than a mini bar, you have an entire kitchen at your disposal, in a one-bedroom Water Villa!

Moments after we entered the villa, we heard the doorbell ring and were greeted by staff from in-room dining, who had come to deliver our welcome amenity. In addition to the selection of Maldivian tapas, we were also told that the bottle of Drappier champagne in the fridge was complimentary.

Personally, I think that Drappier is a little bit of a pedestrian champagne for a hotel at this price point. On this same trip we received a bottle of Louis Roederer at Gili Lankanfushi and a bottle of Ruinart at Joali and to be honest, we didn’t end up touching the Drappier at all. Still, a bottle of Drappier is better than no champagne at all.

One excellent touch is that we were provided with a variety of drinks, bottled on the island, free of charge: Kombucha, Cordial, Cold Brew and Oat Milk. These were replenished daily.

We were also provided with a complimentary selection of locally made chocolate bars, which we were free to top up at any point during a visit to one of the complimentary chocolate rooms! (more on this later).

Finally, although we were provided with a standard entry-level Nespresso machine, this came with coffee capsules filled with Meraki coffee – undoubtedly the best coffee in the Maldives, roasted daily in Malé.

Soneva Jani Water Retreat Study

I imagine that I’m one of the few people that works full-time whilst visiting hotels in the Maldives, so you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I found a dedicated study in our villa! The study has one door which leads directly to the living room and the other which opens onto the master bedroom. 

For families, this study can easily be converted into an additional children’s bedroom with the table being removed if necessary.

One thing to note is that this room and the kitchen were the two that were consistently the most air-conditioned areas within the villa.

The AC really struggled in the living room and somewhat struggled in the bedroom, given the height of the ceilings. However, the study would become icy cold quickly even on the hottest of days. It’s actually became something of a refuge for us at times when we were in real need of the cold air.

When I was sat here working, the views from the desk were pretty fantastic too – it’s not often that you get views like this at work!

A couple of points to note here though:

1. The power sockets are arranged in a way which prevents you from using a MacBook charger, unless you have an extension cable.
2. Even when sitting right next to the router, I found the internet at Soneva Jani to be a lot more intermittent and slow than other hotels even within the same atoll (such as Cheval Blanc and Velaa).

Water Reserve Master Bedroom

Nothing can quite pay for the moment you first set foot in the primary bedroom of one of the Water Reserves at Soneva Jani. The scale of our bedroom was absolutely immense and having the panoramic view of the lagoon through the sliding glass doors was absolutely breathtaking.

I really enjoyed the whimsical detail of placing the television inside a steamer trunk too, the perfect solution for quickly hiding the TV in order to better enjoy the view from the bed!

Arguably, one of the most famous features of this hotel is the fact that all of the water villas feature retractable ceilings, which allow guests to stargaze from their beds at night. 

Obviously, this is a very fun concept but in practice, this did mean instantly jettisoning all the cold air from the bedroom and replacing it with hot air (and mosquitoes). Given that the AC really couldn’t handle getting this room far below 21 C / 70 F, we tried the stargazing once and left it at that.

The bed itself was extremely comfortable, as were the pillows provided. We actually pre-ordered our pillows in advance although initially the bed was made with only a sheet and no duvet. In retrospect, this was obviously because the hotel that is aware that the AC cannot really get the room to a temperature where anything thicker than a bedsheet is advisable.

I was very impressed with the level of customisation available to us though and the fact that further customisation was not only possible but encouraged, via use of the forms supplied in the room by housekeeping.

One thing I did find rather strange was the fact that there was clearly a ‘good side’ of the bed and a ‘bad side’ of the bed. I generally look out for this in hotels because honestly, who wants to have an argument about getting the good side of the bed when they are away on a romantic trip? Ideally, the two sides of the bed should mirror each other exactly.

In this case, one side of the bed featured three universal power sockets and a USB port:

Whereas the other side of the bed featured a light control and a control for the overhead fan. I’m not sure who came up with this design idea, but I suspect they’ve never shared a bed with anyone before….

Tucked away in a little nook was a cozy sofa which looked out onto our outdoor bathroom.

Dotted through throughout the bedroom (and indeed the villa as a whole) were a series of labelled dimmer switches and fan controls.  We eventually got the hang of them, but some of them were a bit too basic to immediately understand (i.e. how do we distinguish between purple OUT and Silver OUT?).

Behind the bed was another desk, which I actually ended up preferring to the one in the study, since this one actually had a proper chair with a back to it, rather than foam daybed cushions. 

Ultimately, it became a choice between less AC and more comfortable chair versus more AC whilst sitting upright on a daybed. The more comfortable chair won in the end and I just sat and did emails in my swimming shorts!

Much like the good side of the bed, there was no lack of charging options here and a MacBook charger could be used in two out of the three universal sockets without any issues. There was also an HDMI cable for direct connection to the TV as well as a wired Internet connection (for those whose laptops still have LAN ports).

Elsewhere within the drawers of this desk was a selection of Soneva Jani as well as a pair of binoculars. Given the sight lines that we had to other peoples villas, I did find this a bit of an odd choice of amenity.

I also found a very detailed letter, the likes of which you would usually find in a folder when checking into an Airbnb, detailing all of the various features of the villa. Given the immense size of our Water Reserve, I think this makes a lot of sense. There’s no way that you could possibly absorb all of this information when first being shown around by your Butler – especially if you’re jet lagged after coming off a long-haul flight, followed immediately by another flight on a seaplane.

Although an iPad has provided in the room, I found the interface to be extremely cumbersome and honestly, I think we would’ve been better off with a simpler direct Bluetooth connection to the Bose sound system as as well as as a simple, scannable QR code to connect to the TV.

 

Indeed, the interface for connecting to the TV was so complicated that we watched a single episode of Netflix via the HDMI cable and then just gave up and shut the lid of the steamer trunk for the rest of our time on the island. 

At the back of the bedroom just behind the desk was the ensuite toilet as well as a half bedroom perfect for toddlers or babies. This is especially true when you see how much storage is provided in here, ideal for all of their additional items that parents with young children need to bring along with them.

Water Reserve Dressing Room

 

As if our villa wasn’t massive enough already, we also had an enormous dressing room attached to the bedroom, with a further door leading to the indoor bathroom and another to the outdoor bathroom. There was more than enough space to open multiple checked bags easily and unpack everything into the 40+ drawers and shelves provided.

This was in every way the diametric opposite experienced to what we had in Patina Maldives, where there wasn’t even enough space to open and unpack a single checked bag inside the dressing area.

Whilst I understand the desire to lean into the rustic aesthetic, I do wish that they had at least one or two hangers that were shaped properly to accommodate a linen jacket without distorting their shoulders. The overall amount of hanging space was actually rather limited too, since the majority of the hanging racks were either blocked by countertops or placed in front of a mirror which needed to be kept clear.

Located within the dressing area was a plush dolphin which guest can take home with them, automatically triggering a charitable donation. SPF 50+, aloe vera, insect repellent and after sun were also provided on a complimentary basis. Rather than the usual chic and slimline beach bags offered at other Maldives properties, here we were given a wicker basket which was completely unwieldy, lacking any pockets or zips and ill-suited to being carried on a bike. 

Suffice to say: the basket stayed in the Villa.

Water Reserve Bathroom

Unlike this resort’s spiritual predecessor, Gili Lankanfushi, the indoor bathrooms here at Soneva Jani are air-conditioned. There is also ample counter space and storage capacity around each of the two sinks.

I also really liked the addition of the silver trays at each sink, where our toiletries would be neatly laid out by housekeeping. Another small detail which I quite like was the fact that each sink had its own tissue box. I can honestly count on one hand the number of times this has been the case at luxury hotels around the world. For whatever reason, usually only one tissue box is provided per bathroom.

I found the gigantic marshmallow like chaise longue to be a bit of an odd design choice but I guess that when you’re faced with such an enormous space to fill, sooner or later you’re gonna start putting random things in there that serve no real purpose other than to make the space look less empty.

One area where the chaise longue budget could’ve been put to better use would have been in the shower. To be honest, the fixtures looked like they had come straight from an airport Radisson in Cleveland.

I understand that they want to go for a barefoot aesthetic here but I’m not sure how this particular shower head fits the bill and furthermore, I don’t see how fitting a proper rainfall shower head would diminish the overall experience of staying here.

In addition to the indoor bathroom, there was also a very large outdoor bathroom containing both a sunken bath and this time, a shower with a rainfall head! I must admit I love an outdoor shower and love being in the Maldives because it’s one of a few places where you don’t have to worry about monkeys coming and stealing the shampoo or indeed, interrupting you mid shower! (something that you definitely have to be mindful of that places like Matetsi.)

 

For those who enjoy skinny-dipping but don’t want to brave the open expanse of the lagoon in front of numerous neighbours armed with binoculars, the outdoor bathroom has a shielded set of steps into the water.

 

Water Reserve Outdoor Deck

Speaking of the lagoon, opening the door from our outdoor bathroom led us to the overwater deck. Here, there was yet another rainfall shower, as well as another set of steps into the water.

The gargantuan scale of our Water Reserve came into sharp focus when standing out on the deck. In the shaded section alone there were four different daybeds as well as a sofa swing. 

In addition to this, we had three wheeled sun loungers, featuring thickly padded toppers as well as pull out drawers and side tables.

There was also a semi-circular sunken lounge area located next to the waterslide…

…As well as an over water cargo net.

Being able to step back and see the villa as a whole from here was honestly a remarkable experience. The shape of the roof, the way that almost no nails were visible, so many incredible details that speak to a meticulous design vision, far removed from the straight lines and sharp corners of standard mass construction methods.

As if two sets of stairs and the lagoon weren’t enough, there was an additional set of stairs leading into the water next to the sunken lounge, giving easy access to the deck for anybody making their way down the slide.

Water Reserve Upstairs Lounge

Speaking of the slide, this other iconic feature of the villas at Soneva Jani is accessed via an internal staircase leading to the upstairs lounge. I really liked the juxtaposition between the cozy feel up here and the vast expanse of the downstairs deck. 

This was also a perfect spot from which to enjoy 360° views. This is the first resort I’ve ever been to where all villas can see out to both the lagoon and the open ocean, and all villas can also enjoy sunset views!

In addition to the on-off switches for the slide’s water jets (one located upstairs and one located downstairs), there was also an additional manual hose which could be used to give us a turbo boost before heading down the slide.

Honestly, I wrote this whole slide thing off as a complete gimmick before coming here but after my first go, I was absolutely hooked and spent an inordinate amount of time running up the stairs and sliding down into the lagoon, like a hyperactive kid.

It isn’t just the ocean and sunset views that are great from the upstairs lounges of the Water Reserves. I also gained a new found appreciation for our beautiful swimming pool, as it peeked out from under the curve of the villa’s roof.

I also loved being able to see far across the lagoon, appreciating the incredible natural environment in which we found ourselves.

 

Soneva Jani Housekeeping

Housekeeping came to our villa a couple of times a day, with the more substantial service taking place in the evening when we were away at dinner.

Our bicycles were always neatly placed outside of our front door, signalling to us that housekeeping had been inside to perform the turndown service.

Here, I have to say that the service fell a little short of other properties at this price point. At Cheval Blanc, they place memory foam mats out next to the bed and place slippers on top of them. We got no mats of any kind and no slippers! 

Where other hotels provide branded lens cloths and placed them alongside glasses and lenses, here our sunglasses were just placed on top of a towel.

Conversely, where other Maldivian hotels charge inordinate sums for laundry, Soneva Jani readily admits to what we all know: washing guests’ clothes comes at almost no cost at all to the hotel.

Here, guests are charged a token amount of $10 per bag of laundry for a full wash, dry and press service. This $10 charge is donated directly to Soneva’s charitable foundation.

Overall, I’m not surprised that the housekeeping service was rather basic. Ultimately, the villas here are far larger than anywhere else that I’ve ever been to and just keeping them clean is a huge undertaking. It’s far easier to do all the extras like giving guests lens cloth and cable tidies when the villas are a quarter of the size!

 

Night time at Soneva Jani

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of coming home to your water villa at night. The cool temperatures, the incredible canopy of stars overhead, the beautiful lighting around the deck of the villa as well as the illuminated swimming pool. 

All of it combines to produce an absolutely magical effect.

The air is still and silent, and the temperature is perfect for swimming with no fear of getting sunburnt!

Personally, it’s at night time that I feel that water villas is really shine. If you’re staying in a beach villa, you just don’t connect with the water at all in the evenings. Whereas whenever I’m in a water villa, I feel that this is when I connect the most with the ocean.

Below is a collection of some of my favourite nighttime shots that I took throughout our stay.

Soneva Jani Water Reserve: Issues to note

Of course no hotel is perfect and with prices regularly heading north of $3000 a night at this property, it’s worth knowing specifically about any potential annoyances or issues with the product.

I’ve already touched on issues with the Wi-Fi and the air-conditioning but it’s really the latter of the two that will be the most problematic, for the majority of guests.

Basically, we discovered that whenever it’s windy (which is often, in the Maldives) the warm wind blows into the AC units and stops them from working properly. I’ve stayed at 26 different resorts in the Maldives and Soneva Jani is the first where I’ve encountered this problem. Clearly, the AC units are under powered for the size of the villas and further investment is required.

We were offered Dyson air blades in order to further cool the room at night. Engineering suggested placing them in the baby room and the kitchen, to try and blow their cold AC air into the bedroom. Ultimately, we were able to sleep with this set up but at this price point it really feels like the AC should just work.

The AC in the living room never really worked though and this is due in large part to the way that the villa is built. There are large gaps all throughout the sliding doors, both between overlapping panels as well as gaps above and beneath the panels and their frames.

Again, I understand that the Soneva aesthetic is ‘rustic’ but surely energy efficiency has to take priority given that this is also a foundational ethos of the brand. The amount of energy that would be saved by properly sealing the villa doors must be enormous.

Another thing to note is that blinds are also not fully blacked out and all of them are manually operated. This means that when you first wake up in the morning, you have to go around and lift 20 or so different blinds, one by one.

If the villa was smaller, this would be less of a concern. However, I still think it’s a real miss to make guests get up out of bed and manually lift the blinds when instead they could be opened at the touch of the button, revealing an incredible lagoon view, right from the bed. 

It seems strange that the hotel went to all of the effort of making the retractable electronic roofs but not investing into the much simpler technology to lift the blinds…

One final issue to note, which is specific to the South Jetty location, is the fact that the tides here are extremely pronounced. 

One morning, I woke up to the sound of a father and child frolicking around in a beach that had formed directly in front of our living room.

This is what the lagoon looks like during the low tide.

And here is a view of our water villa.

It’s great that they excavated additional depth at the foot of the slide, but clearly you can see that it wouldn’t be very safe to use when the tide is low! 

Personally, I didn’t massively mind this. I’ve been to the Maldives enough times that I quite enjoyed this massively changed landscape. The novelty was quite fun and it also drew a huge number of herons, who clearly enjoyed catching all of the fish that had been caught in small pools dotted around the landscape.

 

As we approached the neighbourhood where all of the Island Retreats are located, I couldn’t help but marvel at how completely different the ambiance was here when compared to the South Jetty. For anybody considering island-hopping between different resorts, I would honestly first consider just moving villas and spending a few nights on the island, plus a few nights overwater. 

The two experiences would be absolutely different.

As we pulled up to the Island Retreat, it became immediately apparent that this villa was significantly larger than our already gigantic Water Reserve. There was even an entire shaded gazebo just for bicycle parking. I noticed that there were external stairs leading to the upper floor, making this villa type ideal for multigenerational families where perhaps teenagers or grandparents may require direct access to their bedroom without passing through the main living area.

Island Retreat Living Room

The oversized ‘U’ shaped sofa in the living room is very similar to those found in the beach villas at Soneva Fushi. The idea here is that the living room is something of a liminal space, which kind of serves as overflow for the swimming pool, hence the pool furniture vibes and the big pile of towels.

Opposite this is a kitchen, which actually felt a little smaller than the one in our Water Reserve. 

The main thing I really noticed here was the cavernous scale of the room, given that the upstairs floor opens out onto the living room from above. The double-height doors that lead between the living room and the swimming pool are seriously impressive.

 

Island Retreat Primary Bedroom

The primary bedroom felt a little more simple and cozy compared to the one in our Water Reserve. I can imagine that they are absolutely no issues with the AC here though, given that the ceilings are half the height, there’s no retractable roof and there isn’t a wall of glass with sun shining through it for most of the day.

In addition to better functioning AC it’s hard to deny the appeal of being able to walk straight out of bed and sink your toes into milky white sand.

Tucked behind the bedroom was a hybrid dressing and bathroom. I was surprised to see how compact all of this felt when compared to our Water Reserve. You generally expect real estate to be at far more of a premium over water than on land, yet here the dressing area and bathroom were both substantially smaller than what we had over water.

Island Retreat Outdoor Bathroom

This notion was rapidly disavowed the moment that I stepped into the outdoor bathroom.

Funnily enough, this is where the connecting door is located should a family wish to connect two Islands Retreats to one another.

The centrepiece is clearly the sunken bath placed within a reflecting pool. I can imagine this would actually be super relaxing on a rainy day as rain drips off the curved roof into the reflecting pool.

Island Retreat Upstairs Bedroom

I actually preferred the upstairs bedroom to the one downstairs since it felt much more private, given the fact that it doesn’t open straight into the living room. There’s also considerably more natural light up here and the view is of greenery rather than surrounding walls.

The same goes for the dressing area – the added light and greenery outside really make a space feel quite different.

Here, you can get a clear view of how the dressing area blends into the bathroom area. Unlike our Water Reserve, counter space around the sink is at a distinct premium here.

Although the upstairs bathroom features the same indoor outdoor shower together with a slightly smaller seating area, there is obviously no bathtub or reflecting pool up here.

However, the upstairs bedroom is able to access its own unique feature via the outer walkway.

Firstly, there is a sunken lounge… 

….and this leads on to the villa’s slide.

Island Retreat Swimming Pool

The Island Retreats feature ovular lagoon style pools with decking running along one of the sides and a jungle pathway at the end, leading to the beach. The privacy here really is absolute, with zero chance of anybody walking along the beach being able to see what’s going on here.

The pool deck also features a fully covered sofa style dining table as well as a swinging sofa.

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Soneva Jani Water Retreat

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Water Retreat Living Room

The first major difference that I noticed when I entered the Water Retreat was that in place of the glass floor and dining table, this villa featured a small sunken lounge area. It’s a cute idea but really doesn’t appear very ergonomic at all. Firstly, there’s no obvious access point and secondly, there isn’t any space for peoples knees to go.

I guess that you could kind of fit two people in here directly facing off from one another, but it really doesn’t seem like the best use of the space and I can see why this feature was removed in the Water Reserves.

Overall, the aesthetic of the sunken lounge just kind of makes the whole room feel empty, especially since it’s completely white-washed without a single pop of colour anywhere.

Harry Potter fans will be pleased to note that there is still a toilet with a cupboard under the stairs.

One thing that I particularly noticed is how absolutely shocking the room controls are in these villas. Given the amount of different lights and fans that you may potentially want to control, the fact that there is no labelling at all is absolutely diabolical. I can imagine it takes a good 30 minutes of pressing absolutely everything multiple times before you can figure out what’s going on.

Water Retreat Kitchen

The kitchen here was pretty much a carbon copy of the one in our Water Reserve. It does the job perfectly – nothing further to report!

 

Water Retreat Study

The same goes for the study, more or less identical to our one, albeit with shelving that is devoid of books and extends slightly further down. 

 

Water Retreat Bedroom

Funnily enough, I actually felt like this bedroom had a bit more of a premium feel than the one in our villa, with better finishes on the walls and ceiling.

This bedroom also featured the all important retractable roof, although it was interesting to note that here, rather than having a panoramic vista of the water, the privacy screens around the bathroom encroached materially on the view.

The kids room was basically identical to the one in our Water Reserve…

… as was the ensuite bathroom, for all intents and purposes.

Water Retreat Dressing Room

The dressing rooms in the Water Retreats are significantly smaller than those in the Water Reserves, which explains why the view from the bedroom was obstructed here and not in our villa.

Water Retreat Bathroom

The bathroom also felt a little bit smaller here too, not massively so but perhaps just a foot shorter than our one.

The indoor shower was identical to ours though, with the same airport Radisson shower head.

 

Water Retreat Outdoor Bathroom

The key difference with the outdoor bathroom here was that the bathtub felt like it was right in the middle and in the way of everything. In the Water Retreat, the bathtubs are tucked into their own cozy little corner over to one side of the deck. Here, it actively felt like you were kind of tripping over the bathtub wherever you went and it was directly in the path between the bathroom and the stairs down to the water.

 

Water Retreat Outdoor Deck

As I mentioned at the beginning of this section of the review, to me the outdoor space presents the most clear and obvious difference between the older Water Retreats and the newer Water Reserves. In the Water retreats, the pool is completely in the shade and rather than having a net over the water which allows you to get closer to marine life, there are three individual nets hovering over the pool, which honestly seems like a case of style over substance.

When Jean Michel Gathy first placed nets on the water villas at One & Only Reethi Rah, the idea was to provide guests with an opportunity to be closer to the ocean, giving them the sensation that they were floating above the fish. The effect is completely lost when the net is barely a meter and a half long and it’s suspended over a swimming pool. 

Similarly, I can’t quite get my head around the concept of putting these two sun lounges in the shade outside the bathroom with a view of a privacy screen.

It’s interesting to see the first iteration of the sunken lounge on the deck and the new circular design in the water reserves is definitely a material improvement in terms of both form and function. The use of white plastic screens here also looks very cheap when compared to the solid wooden screens used in the Water Reserves.

The fact that there’s nowhere to lie down with solid shade and a view of the ocean is definitely a failure of the design here. It’s amazing when you consider what a huge step up the water reserves are, with multiple daybeds and even a swinging sofa all in the shade and all directly facing the ocean. 

Here, the best you have is a pair of sun loungers with a small umbrella to protect them.

 

Water Retreat Upstairs Lounge

Heading to the upstairs lounge, the main thing I noticed is that it felt quite crowded and claustrophobic compared to the one in our villa. Again, there are probably only a couple of feet of difference but here it felt like the main table was pressed right up against the seats in the cubbyhole. In our villa there was a lot more space to move around upstairs.

I’m not sure what it’s like t

 

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Exploring the island of Soneva Jani

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Before coming to Soneva Jani, I honestly had no idea at all that this was such an absolutely gigantic island. Every image I’d ever seen of the property just showed the uniquely wavy overwater piers with just a small handful of villas dotted around them.

I honestly feel like the marketing team does itself a disservice by not focusing more on how massive the island is and how much there is to explore.

The most frequent pushback that I get from clients when suggesting that they give the Maldives a try is that they feel that they’ll get very bored since the islands are so small; if this sounds like you, then I think it’s well worth considering what Soneva Jani has to offer. I honestly think you could spend two weeks here easily and never begin to get bored!

I genuinely tapped into a sense of unbridled child-like wonder as I headed out on my e-bike to explore the island each day, never quite knowing what I was going to discover and what secrets lay in store.

I’ll start with the obvious hotel facilities and then get into the proper exploration as this section goes on…

 

North Jetty Gym

Starting off at The Gathering on the North Jetty, I headed upstairs and discovered this gigantic Peter Pan-like orange lounging space next to which is the North Jetty gym. Things didn’t start off great when I spotted one of those absolutely terrible Technogym machines that have the cables orientated in such a way as to basically render them completely unusable.

They are chrome and shiny though, so I guess the Technogym sales people are able to get nice commissions from hotels who view gym equipment more as sculptures than actual functional apparatus. 

Although I was happy to see a Smith Machine, since these are so versatile, I was disappointed to see dumbbells only going up to 20Kg – i.e. weights geared primarily towards remedial and injury prevention purposes.

Another of the more egregious pieces of low quality equipment produced by Technogym is this 3-in-1 nonsense machine. The effective ROM on the leg extension equates to less than a half rep, once all of the excess slack is taken out of the cable.

One positive surprise was the fact that there’s a proper Concept2 rower, rather than the distinctly sub optimal rowers also offered by Technogym.

A plentiful supply of sugar was available in the form of dried fruits. It would’ve been great to see a larger selection of nuts – macadamia and cashews, for example. I was also surprised that coconut water wasn’t provided, given our location and its known hydration benefits when exercising.

As you can probably tell, I was not particularly impressed with the gym in the North Jetty. To perfectly honest, it would be at the low end of expectations for a city hotel gym, where space is extremely limited. Given the size of this island, I was hoping for something much better.

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru is less than a third of the size of Soneva Jani and its gym absolutely blows this out of the water (I still dream about how amazing all of their old-school Cybex equipment is).

 

South Jetty Gym

Still, I was curious to see how the much newer South Jetty gym would compare. The access to this facility couldn’t be more different, an elevated treetop walkway leading ever higher from the interior jungle right up to the water’s edge.

Once again, the fairytale roof designs were on full display.

As I reached the end of the walkway, I reached a reception area which served as the Nexus for the spa, gift shop and gym.

Given that this is the highest point on the island, the views from here were quite something!

As soon as I walked into the gym, a very broad smile broke up across my face. I had not been expecting a proper Olympic lifting platform, as well as a selection of incredible bars.

Other than at BVLGARI Tokyo I can’t think of a time where I’ve seen trap bars, multi-grip bars and even a safety squat bar!

The central frame provided multiple additional power rack stations, albeit without the Olympic platform underneath. 

The leather-clad dumbbells were by far the most premium feeling weights that I’ve ever handled in any gym, ever. The kettlebells were almost too beautiful to touch.

I would’ve loved to see heavier dumbbells but 30Kg is considerably more useful than a 20Kg limit!

It was also cool to see a number of different options for training push-ups, as well as a full complement of bands and medicine balls.

I preferred the variety of snacks on offer here but still wish that they had also included coconut water in the offering.

The number one spot for best gym catering on Earth still goes to Four Seasons Geneva.

South Jetty Spa

On our first evening at the property, I decided to book a spa treatment immediately after using the gym. I was invited to try a home-made herbal tea, which is presented together with a cold scented towel.

Although the spa has a couple of cozy little lounges dotted around, I couldn’t help but feel that the design blocked the best aspect of the location…

… the incredible views!

The South Jetty Spa is actually designed as a series of standalone treatment pods, dotted along a jungle pathway. 

Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the design. The windowless treatment room was too hot, even when the AC was maxed out. The actual treatment itself was very perfunctory and not particularly relaxing or therapeutic. Honestly, it just kind of felt like I was waiting to run the clock down and get out of there so I could go and enjoy the island.

Again, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons and think about how utterly breathtaking the spa at Joali Being is (or indeed the Spa Island at Cheval Blanc) and how far short the Soneva Jani spa falls.

Soneva Jani Kids Club: The Den

Somewhere that Soneva Jani utterly excels is in the delivery of its incredible Kids Club.

Not only is it materially better than the best Kids Club I’ve seen in the Maldives, at the Ritz Carlton, in my opinion it’s the best kids club of any hotel in the world.

Given that the accommodation here already looks like a series of fairytale castles, this is hardly surprising…

Even the entrance is super cute, with a series of different size doors, nested within one another to allow kids of all sizes to feel like the entrance is designed just for them.

There’s a dedicated kitchen where children can participate in group cooking classes.

There’s a room dedicated to storytelling and books.

Babies and toddlers have a dedicated nap room.

There’s a soundproof music room where children can learn to play all kinds of different instruments.

The list goes on and on honestly I started to lose track of just how many different themed rooms this kids club has: arts and craft, Lego, board games – you name it, every room had its own special theme.

Apparently, the fancy dress room is one of the most popular at the kids club. To be fair, the storm trooper outfit looks pretty awesome!

Outside, there’s an enormous lagoon pool…

… which not only features a slide but even a swim up smoothie bar!

There’s also a pirate ship and then some sun loungers where older children can hang out and relax.

There’s also a zip-line that runs between an outdoor tower and the upstairs floor inside of The Den.

Speaking of the upstairs floor, this is where the access to the pool slide is.

It’s also home to a dedicated area for older kids and teenagers, featuring pinball, foosball, table hockey…

… and a pool table with one hell of view.

In fact, the view is even better outdoors on the upstairs floor, where there’s a ping-pong table in the middle of an ankle deep lagoon. 

Honestly, I think if I’d have been brought here as a child, I would’ve been in floods of tears at the prospect of ever having to leave. The place is absolutely incredible.

 

So Wild and the Vegetable Garden

After taking a tour of the Kids Club, I explored the island centre a bit more and just started getting lost going down different pathways. Unlike the man-made resorts that have almost no shade, the jungle provides plenty of relief from the harsh Maldivian sun, so exploring wasn’t too taxing.

Screwpine is named for the indigenous Maldivian shrub which grows in abundance here; it tastes fantastic in a soda too!

At the end of the alley is a restaurant that opens a couple of days a week and highlights all of the ingredients that are grown in the surrounding gardens.

I’m used to hotels planting one or two things in a small herb garden and claiming to be sustainable. Soneva Jani is on a completely different level and the only property in the Maldives that I’ve seen with a comparable vegetable garden is Amilla.

The great thing about this type of sustainability is that it requires no sacrifice on the part of guests and isn’t just a thinly veiled excuse for cost-cutting. Growing produce locally on the island and serving the freshest and most nutritious food possible to your guests is a win-win situation!

Soneva Jani Mangrove

In addition to the open air water filtration area that we passed when we first arrived on the island, there are also a number of other freshwater lakes and as a result, there are areas of mangrove on the island. Seeing something like this in the Maldives was a real first for me.

Generally, the usage of land on Maldivian Island resorts is absolutely voracious, with hardly a centimetre of space left undeveloped. 

The fact that so much of this island is completely wild and that there are natural animal habitats which are protected is genuinely amazing.

These holes in the ground are a telltale sign…

… that fiddler crabs are around!

There’s even a dugout built next to one of the lakes with handy charts illustrating all of the kinds of wildlife that visit the area throughout the year.

I know some people have a cultural aversion to all types of lizards, but I think they’re super cute with their tiny little hands and funny little faces…

… however the funniest and cutest little faces of all definitely belong to the Flying Foxes. 

Not all of the animals here are completely natural though; this mechanical horse sculpture took me rather by surprise as I was turning the corner of a jungle path.

 

Soneva Jani Eco Centro

This brings me neatly on to the resort’s highly sophisticated recycling centre : Eco Centro

We were actually brought here en-route to our villa when we first arrived at the island and to be perfectly honest, the way that the Eco Centro visit was proposed to us by Shimmi, made it sound like an offer we could not refuse.

Initially, this had the feel of going on one of those guided tours of North Korea where you’re obligated to leave flowers at Kim Il Sung’s statue and understand ‘the vision’.

Ultimately, though I was pretty impressed with the scale of the operation and the degree to which things are recycled and reused here. 

I still remain resolute in my belief that you can do all of this and still properly air-condition a villa.

However, I can’t deny that this goes far beyond the realm of greenwashing or mere propaganda. Ultimately, the Maldivian staff that work here learn valuable skills about how to operate the specialist machinery that is the core of the recycling operation and can then pass these skills along, furthering sustainability efforts throughout the rest of the nation.

Soneva Jani Padel and Tennis Courts

As I headed further along the island, I started to see more and more signs of development, beginning with this pristine-looking and floodlit tennis court. There is an increasing trend for hotels in the Maldives to put roofs on their tennis courts and I did find it strange that it hasn’t been done here, given that the sister property Soneva Fushi has.

Putting a roof on the tennis score not only permits people to play during the hottest hours of the day but it also adds an extra activity for people to enjoy during the rainy season.

The same goes for the Padel court. An arms race of sorts began around 2018 in the Maldives and since then, every top hotel has immediately invested in a Padel court, with some even doing away with tennis entirely if they don’t have enough space for both racket sports on their island.

 

Soneva Jani Jungle Gym

Exploring one particular jungle path led to a rather surprising discovery…

… a jungle gym featuring a variety of home-made equipment:

This reminds me a bit of those events that they have in dog shows.

I feel like a single small kettlebell isn’t really an adequate replacement for the missing barbell here.

Running along the zigzag path wasn’t super challenging.

Doing this quickly actually required a little bit of skill.

Overall, pretty useless but a bit of fun I guess and probably more useful for kids than as a place where serious training can be done by adults.

Soneva Jani Table Tennis

As I continued along the jungle bars, I came to this Table Tennis Champa. I couldn’t help feeling like adults got the raw deal here though, having seen the ping-pong table at the Kids Club with the absolutely epic view.

 

Soneva Jani Watersports Centre

A little further along on my island exploration, I found the water-sports centre. To be honest, this did feel a little bit abandoned and out of the way.

I almost felt like I was bothering the staff and interrupting their boys club, since there were no other hotel guests around.

Surprisingly for an eco-focused resort, motorised water sports are on offer. Although I don’t recall ever seeing any guests using jet skis and indeed any of the other jet packs etc. that are so popular in the Maldives.

There was also a pretty unkempt looking beach volleyball court right next to the Water-sports Centre, as well as a basketball hoop that had no solid ground anywhere near it on which you would be able to bounce a ball.

Soneva Jani Observatory

Back at the main hub of the North Jetty, I tried to get a look at the Observatory but it was completely shut and wasn’t scheduled to open at all during our stay. It’s always a bit of a lottery with the weather in the Maldives but on clear nights the sky is absolutely stunning since there’s no light pollution at all.

 

The Gathering Waterslide 

Previously, some of the villas here didn’t have slides, so this public slide was a way for those guests to still enjoy the experience of propelling themselves into the turquoise water at high speed. Since all the villas now have slides, this has lost its appeal somewhat.

However, I imagine that more than one set of parents has plopped themselves down on these daybeds to enjoy a cocktail, whilst keeping an eye on their kids as they play on the slide.

Soneva Jani Dive Centre

Although I’m an Advanced Open Water diver with 100 or so dives under my belt, I honestly just didn’t feel like I had time to schedule a dive here, much though I would’ve wanted to. The downside of travelling full-time for a job is that you’re never really anywhere for that long and diving requires a 24-hour refractory period before flying is permitted.

This is probably as good a time as any to mention the fact that the snorkelling at this particular property is basically non-existent.

The natural wonders of the island itself are hard to deny – it’s beautiful and wild and a world away from the sterile and manicured islands that are so prolific in the waters around the airport.

However, there is no house reef of any kind anywhere in the vicinity of Soneva Jani. That’s not to say that you don’t see the odd ray, shark or even turtle making its way through the lagoon, but you’re talking three or four aquatic creatures per day rather than the thousands that you see in properties with the best house reefs, particularly in Baa, Gaafu Alifu and South Ari Atolls. 

 

Soneva Jani Beaches

One of the most appealing aspects of staying at Soneva Jani is the fact that you can go off exploring and find your own private beach far away from everybody else. The first beach that most guests will see is right where the North Jetty connects to land and unfortunately, it doesn’t give the best impression since it tends to accumulate a lot of seaweed and sea grass.

However, if you turn 180° from here, you’ll find the beautiful North Beach in front of you.

From what I can tell, the entire north coast of the island after this is referred to as Turtle Beach.

However, rather than being one single unbroken beach, it’s a series of different coves and nooks.

Frequently, you will come across trees or driftwood blocking your path and creating obvious boundaries for each subsection within the Turtle Beach coast.

The South Jetty beach is far more expansive and impressive than the one at the North Jetty.

Here, you find an unbroken stretch of white sand that runs all the way past the Island Retreats and then continues on to the North Jetty.

What’s great about the lounges and hammocks here is that they are close enough to So Primitive (the main South Jetty restaurant) that you can actually get food and drink delivered here.

 

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This brings me very neatly onto the next and final section of this gargantuan review: the food and drink at Soneva Jani, starting with breakfast at the aforementioned So Primitive.

Breakfast at So Primitive [South Jetty]

So Primitive is the archetypal Maldivian beach breakfast experience, the setting on a white sand beach facing into a turquoise lagoon is absolutely stunning.

The vibe here is definitely very rustic but I think it works perfectly given the setting.

There’s a main bar that serves drinks throughout the day to guests who are sitting and enjoying the beach and the views of the lagoon.

There’s also plenty of covered seating for those looking for shelter from the sun or potentially the rain.

This includes a pretty wild-looking suspended dining table for seven guests. I can imagine it’s a bit of a struggle to get out of those seats after a cocktail or two…

There is also a traditional Maldivian dhoni boat here, which gives guests a rare insight into the local culture.

Although the tables on the water’s edge are popular when the tide is high, the proposition is not quite as compelling during times when the tide is very low.

Although all of the seating areas are outdoors, there is a separate fully air-conditioned building which houses the breakfast buffet.

There are two main areas within the buffet building, one containing foods that are generally served at a regular room temperature and another much colder area dedicated to chocolate, cheese and ice cream.

There was an extensive selection of pastries baked freshly every morning.

Indeed, the selection was so extensive that it branched out onto various different glass islands dotted around the room.

Together with some regular breakfast cereals was an icebox containing a variety of yoghurt, parfaits and puddings.

Next to this was a selection of various different dried fruits and vegetables, as well as a selection of nuts and grains; these could be combined to make different breakfast concoctions.

 

After this, there were a few stations dedicated to what amounted to pretty bizarre culinary flexes, starting with 12 different kinds of salt placed upon slabs of… salt.

Then there were more kinds of olive than you would find in a Greek deli.

To top it all off, there were also twenty different types of honey.

An interesting feature of Soneva’s two Maldivian resorts is that they offer guests charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, and ice cream all day long!

So these Bell jars were kept fully stocked throughout the day:

 

South Jetty Chocolate, Cheese and Ice Cream room

This separate room deserves a heading all of its own, since it was also open all day long, giving guest the opportunity to grab complimentary treats throughout the day.

This wasn’t just a couple of wedges of basic Cheddar – the selection of cheeses here was enough to please even the most ardent lovers of fermented dairy products.

The selection of chocolates was also pretty spectacular:

Much the same can be said for the selection of home-made ice creams and sorbets:

In addition to all of these buffet dishes, there was also an a la carte menu, which included an absolutely incredible Maldivian omelette.

We were also able to order a wonderful dosa off-menu…

…as well as one of the best Sri-Lankan hoppers I’ve ever eaten.

The staff here were unfailingly excellent, always quick to fill up our water glasses and ask us if we wanted more coffee when our cups were full. They were also very proactive in suggesting to us that we should absolutely order off menu if we didn’t like any of the suggestions that we saw, since the chefs could make pretty much anything that we could imagine for breakfast.

Honestly, it’s pretty hard to beat this as a way to start the day: a quick cycle down the overwater jetty, a walk across the sand and sitting down to a relaxing breakfast with a view of the lagoon. It’s everything you could hope for in a relaxing beach holiday.

 

Lunch at So Primitive [South Jetty] 

On the day that we went for breakfast in the North Jetty, we mixed things up and came back to So Primitive to try the lunch menu.

The staff were as attentive and friendly as they had been at breakfast, albeit with an increased level of polish in terms of the service delivery and table dressing. Given how large the breakfasts are here, we kept things pretty simple for lunch.

To begin, we were offered a rather unique bread service which included two types of olive oil, together with vinegar, Tabasco, a whole tomato, and a whole lemon. To be honest, we never touched the bread but the whole set up was certainly unique!

We shared a fried seafood selection as a starter; this was almost entirely calamari with a single exploded deep-fried onion added for a variety. The batter was quite honestly not the best, since it would come off entirely every time you bit into a piece of calamari, however the flavour was great with just a hint of a spicy kick.

The main event was a colossal Sri Lankan pepper crab, which was super fresh and absolutely delicious. It’s a good thing we were close to the ocean as I honestly felt that nothing short of submerging my arms up to the elbow in water would suffice to fully clean myself after demolishing this amazing lunch.

 

Breakfast at The Gathering [North Jetty]

Given the immense size of Soneva Jani, I was very pleased to discover a fantastic shortcut for those wishing to travel between the North and South jetties. There is a speedboat service which runs all day long between the tip of the South Jetty and the North Jetty’s Arrival Pavilion, where we first set foot on the property.

The speedboat is extremely fast and takes around two minutes to complete the journey. Meanwhile, a buggy takes around 12 minutes and riding a bike all the way across will take 20 minutes or more.

Speeding along the lagoon on our way to breakfast in the palatial surroundings of The Gathering was eerily reminiscent of one of my all-time favourite hotels stays: Aman Sveti Stefan.

What I really loved about coming here for breakfast was the enormous contrast between this and sitting on the quiet beachfront at the South Jetty. The Gathering is an utterly astonishing and inspiring piece of monolithic architecture.

The cavernous ceiling in here must reach to around 15 metres, which is absolutely incredible for a wooden building in the middle of a tropical island.

There are so many different levels and sublevels to explore, each with different seating arrangements to cater to all types of guest. You have everything from enormous Game of Thrones style dining tables which can seat 10 guests…

…. right through to cozy interior booths.

My favourite place to sit here though was in the external booths, along the outer perimeter of the building, with views of the water.

In the centre of the main atrium running along the bar was a juice station, where we could order freshly made juices made to our specifications, using all manner of different fruit and vegetables.

There were also numerous glass decanters filled with the most popular juice choice, a smoothie of the day and both kombucha and cold brew.

Moving up to the next floor, there were a number of hot food stations, including one dedicated to pancakes, waffles and French toast.

The hot food section was particularly well-stocked, with a variety of different stews and curries, as well as Western breakfast staples like scrambled eggs and baked beans.

There was also a dedicated Maldivian food section, which I was very happy indeed to see, since I’m a huge fan of both Mas Riha and Mas Huni.

Away from this, there was another separate kitchen dedicated to noodles and dim sum. Guests are free to custom order noodle soups to their specifications, choosing from a variety of different noodle shapes, ingredients and textures.

A small ice-chilled counter was used to present yoghurt parfait and puddings.

Just like in the South Jetty, breakfast in the North Jetty also includes an enormous selection of different freshly baked cakes, buns, breads and pastries.

 

North Jetty Chocolate and Ice cream room

Once again, guests are welcome to help themselves to the contents of the chocolate and ice cream room all through throughout the day here. Although, to be perfectly honest, this was one of the most popular rooms at breakfast time too!

There’s no question that there is a much wider selection on offer at The Gathering than there is at the South Jetty, though.

 

North Jetty Cheese and Charcuterie room

The same can be said for the all-day Cheese and Charcuterie room.

I didn’t think it was possible, but there was actually a greater selection of olives and nuts offered here than at the South Jetty too.

There were some truly niche items on offer too, such as Hawthorne Berry powder, white Willow bark and even Ashwagandha powder! Having seen what ‘activated’ almonds sell for in health food stores in London, I was also curious to give these a try! (spoiler alert: they taste exactly like almonds.)

Of course, the showboating cornucopia of honey also made an appearance here.

However, at breakfast time this was complimented by a dizzying array of locally grown vegetables, accompanied by one of the largest selections of olive oil and vinegar that I have ever seen. 

 

Service here was great, albeit not as warm and personalised as it was in the much smaller South Jetty breakfast venue. The à la carte menu was very sizeable indeed and included a whole section dedicated to what can best be described as breakfast mocktails.

I was also very impressed that our juice and coffee orders were remembered from one day to the next, given how busy the breakfast here gets.

My macchiatos were very good indeed, however, when Kamara ordered an iced cappuccino, what was delivered was a pint of cold milk with a single espresso shot dropped into it.

The flavour was quickly corrected by pouring another two shots of espresso into it but the lack of any foam was a bit of a disappointment.

Something which most definitely did not disappoint was the dosa, which was superior in every way to the one cooked for us on the South Jetty.

The Maldivian Mas Huni with freshly baked chapatis was excellent too!

 

Asian Kitchen[North Jetty]

In a rather unusual twist, The Gathering’s dining area breaks down into subsections after breakfast, each with its own name.

Our favourite seats on the water’s edge were renamed Asian Kitchen after 11am.

However, if you sit on the day beds or nets, then this is called Down to Earth. This all feels a bit silly to be perfectly honest, since you can of course order from both menus, regardless of which side of the divide you sit on. I feel like this definitely crosses into the territory of just being needlessly complex and confusing for both staff and guests.

Regardless, craving a fix of properly spicy Thai food one afternoon, we opted to have lunch here after having breakfast on the South Jetty. It seems a little bit odd to be offered focaccia and tapenade at an ostensibly Asian restaurant but that I think this is a case of guests being served the same bread regardless of which “restaurant” they are sitting in at The Gathering.

My honest verdict of the Thai food? I was absolutely blown away! The Laab and Somtum were both genuinely spicy and absolutely packed with flavour. Sweet, sour, savoury, salty and spicy – the interplay between the five key forces at play in all Thai dishes was absolutely incredible.

I didn’t actually think this was possible, but the Thai food here is even better than what is served at Anantara Veli’s Baan Huraa restaurant. This is no mean feat, given that Anantara is a Thai hotel chain and all of the staff working within that restaurant are Thai!

We also added an order of grilled prawns from the Down to Earth menu and these were excellent too!

 

Director’s Cut Dinner [South Jetty]

Having first spotted the hotels over water cinema/ dining venue from the elevated vantage point of the spa, I was very curious to see how the concept would actually play out. It felt like a bit of a strange idea, combining both the movie and dinner into one. Usually, I would expect a restaurant to be a restaurant and any kind of ‘movie under the stars’ to be offered somewhere completely different.

As we arrived for our 7:30 pm dinner reservation, we could see a kids movie playing on the screen at the end of the beautifully illuminated causeway, leading to the restaurant.

To be honest, there didn’t really seem to be many people watching the movie at all. It was just a bit of an odd distraction to have this kids movie playing next to the restaurant. One very positive note is that the movie was silent and subtitled, with wireless headphones offered to guests who wanted to hear the sound.

Regardless, when we first arrived, everybody seemed to be actively avoiding the outdoor seating closest to the screen…

… opting instead to sit within the confines of the restaurant’s main dining room:

Despite the mild distraction of the movie playing outside, the food here was anything but a gimmick. The quality and freshness of the ingredients being used was irrefutable and I particularly enjoyed the flavour combinations at play in the tiraditos and ceviche.

 

We also managed to find our own entertainment, in the form of a tiny friend who came to visit shortly after the first dishes were placed at the table.

The black cod was as good as any I’ve had at Nobu and the rolled wagyu beef was unbelievably tender and delicious too.

Overall, I really enjoyed the meal but I definitely feel that the overall experience could have been improved by just making this a normal overwater Japanese restaurant, in the vein of pretty much every other luxury hotel in the Maldives. 

I get that Soneva likes to be playful and different but here it just seemed a bit forced and unnecessary to pair an animatronic kids films with sophisticated Japanese cuisine.

 

Chef’s Table Dinner at The Gathering [North Jetty]

Each evening, as the sun begins to set, The Gathering undergoes a magical transformation as it is illuminated by hundreds of lanterns.

Spectacular though the building is during the day, there is something very special about the atmosphere here when the interior is illuminated like this.

I love the little details like the way in which the jellyfish hanging from the ceiling glow blue and how the individual tables have lamps which mirror the doorbells in the villas.

Since we were here to experience the private Chef’s tasting menu, we were sat at a private counter facing into the kitchen.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about these kind of experiences and the general concept of facing into the kitchen. When the rest of the building is as beautiful and atmospheric as this, it honestly feels like a bit of a downgrade just facing stacks of plates and stove tops!

Nevertheless, the chef was super friendly and attentive, carefully explaining each dish as she plated it, right in front of us.

Every dish that we sampled was beautifully cooked and presented, yet nothing stood out as being particularly memorable. Overall, it was a perfectly pleasant meal with above average service and a below average view.

Given the price point, I would personally be far more inclined to recommend dinner in venues which do more to highlight the beauty of the location, including just having room service dinner in the privacy of the sunken lounge, on our water villa deck.

Overseas by Mathias Dahlgren [North Jetty]

Another venue which I’d spotted during the daytime and was curious to experience at night was Overseas,  a restaurant headed up by Swedish celebrity chef Mathias Dahlgren.

The location of the restaurant is visually very striking, but obviously the complete lack of shade means it can’t be used during the day and unfortunately at night it can often get very windy.

As a result, we ended up actually eating this meal at a table inside The Gathering, with a view of the restaurant in front of us. As the evening progressed, more diners opted to follow suit.

The menu focuses largely on vegetables grown on the island together with sustainably caught seafood. In addition to this, there are one or two signature dishes which have made their way over from Stockholm.

As soon as we tried our first bite of the starters, it was clear that this was going to be the best meal of our time here. The flavour combinations were extremely clever and brilliantly executed without ever veering into the realm of stunt food.

An early favourite was the deep-fried corn with tarragon mayonnaise and paprika. These were superior in every way to the ever popular ‘corn ribs’ at Fallow in London.

We ordered a variety of sharing plates in lieu of a traditional main course and all of these were incredible. Particular standouts were the crab cakes, the truffle fries and the aged tuna sashimi.

To finish the meal, we sampled some absolutely delicious home-made sorbets, which were mercifully light and small, given the feast that we had just consumed!

Overall, this wasn’t just the best meal of our stay at Soneva Jani but truly one of the very best meals that I’ve ever had at any hotel in the Maldives. This was one of the rare occasions where the high price tags felt entirely justified, given the quality of the food presented to us. There’s no question that the same food could be presented at a restaurant in New York or London, with no further modifications, at relatively similar prices and be very well received!

 

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Conclusion

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Book Soneva Jani with Virtuoso Benefits

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Our clients are able to book all Soneva hotels with a selection of value added extras, thanks to our agency’s Virtuoso accreditation.