A special anniversary deserves a special holiday, and I knew the perfect place and package for Mark and Anna. This included a choice of restaurants, spa treatments and sunset cruises, which I pre-booked for them, so all they had to do was relax and enjoy...
Amanda first presented the beautiful Maldivian island resort of VARU by Atmosphere to us in late 2021, when looking into options for our 10th wedding anniversary.
Covid, of course, interrupted the plans and we finally headed there at the beginning of 2023. It was certainly worth the wait.
It is a credit to Amanda’s great patience and global knowledge that our flights were diligently costed plus an itinerary developed and amended a few times in our quest to find our perfect holiday. And she certainly found it.
Arriving on BA’s direct flight from London Heathrow, we were met, as promised, by VARU’s resort staff and within 10 minutes of clearing customs, were sat in a luxurious speedboat for the 40-minute transfer.
Air conditioning and on-board Wi-Fi meant the team could help complete check-in formalities and download the very useful resort app.
As we pulled up at the dock, Philippe the French general manager and his heads of department were there to be introduced to the three arriving couples - a nice touch.
No waiting for afternoon room access times here - our beach villa with pool was ready with our luggage in it by the time we arrived via a short ‘club cart’ ride. We were ready to enjoy our holiday immediately.
If relaxation supported by a discreet but superb resort team is your thing, then this magical place is for you. We quickly fell into lazy days of buffet breakfast, swimming or snorkelling, trips to the bar (VARU Plan’s all-inclusive package includes superb premium drinks), the spa, boat out to the reef for more fish viewing and chilling ahead of dinner.
Three outstanding speciality restaurants – Charcoal, Kaage and Nü –all served perfectly prepared cuisine, from seafood to steaks and Maldivian cuisine presented as a degustation evening. The choice of food is excellent and there are special stations regularly set up freshly cooking whatever you fancy.
We were so well looked after. Our room was beautifully serviced twice daily, including replenishment of the alcohol stocked mini bar and wine fridge, and every day we returned to quirky towel art or a ready drawn bath.
Come departure, a very slick system meant we only had to pack and head to breakfast during which time our bags were whisked away to the boat, leaving mere formalities to check-out, before heading back to Male and home.
All we then had to do was to reflect on a magical holiday and start thinking of what challenges we can present to Amanda for next year!
Mark & Anna
