There are 100 of these round entities in total; and if being indoors in a setting so spectacular feels a shame, fear not, for within them you remain immersed in the outdoors. Dazzling turquoise waters draw your eye away from a neutral interior palette, while lines between the two are blurred by a retractable wall of glass. Decks in bare wood are equipped with a table, loungers and a daybed for two from which your feet can dangle in the swimming pool, perhaps to cool off in the heat of the day, or while indulging in some stargazing together in the evening. In addition to an indoor and an outdoor shower, there is a huge bath in which I returned one night to find an eagle ray floating in the bubbles (of which more later).
If you really want to make someone’s holiday, consider booking them a treatment at the round Bamford spa; perhaps the Maldivian Signature Rejuvenation, which exfoliates the body using sand before a massage and moisturising coconut milk bath over a decadent three hours. Each of the nine treatment rooms is named after its point on the compass, which brings with it a particular energy, while the largest suite includes its own relaxation room.
Sustainability has been a key theme in the development of the Fari Islands, so Bamford fits right in. The use of prefabricated buildings reduced the size of the workforce on-site, thereby minimising localised damage, while solar panels on the roofs of buildings run the air conditioning, which in turn heats the water.
The Ritz-Carlton has introduced Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment programme, which teaches conservation to even the smallest guests by explaining the reef to them in terms of an underwater city with certain fish and coral doing particular jobs.
The first Maldives resort I have been to where they don’t upset the eco-balance by feeding the fish is also the first where you can see marine life from a drone, as I did. Dr Sol Milne, who researches the entanglement dangers of “ghost nets” (lost or abandoned fishing gear which continues to ensnare), also offers a glimpse of what is out there on drone flights. We tracked a fever of mobula rays – a rare sight, judging by Sol’s excitement. Despite the terrible coral “bleaching” from El Niño a few years ago, the reef is showing strong signs of recovery and marine life was plentiful, from multicoloured butterfly fish and damselfish to a graceful eagle ray that flapped past me.
It was this that was recreated in my bath by the wonderful Mariyam Shaghaf, my Aris Meeha (an old Maldivian term for the monarch’s consort that the hotel has adopted as an alternative to “butler”), using thin bamboo reeds. Clearly, her artistic talents are as strong as her organisational skills, which kept me where I should be at the right time.
That was mostly in the restaurants, whether enjoying a lazy brunch at the Beach Shack, where the Miraval rosé flowed and I feasted on bluewater prawns; eating dim sum at the Summer Pavilion, which hangs over the water, candles reflecting in the inky darkness; or admiring the culinary wizardry of chef Jameel, whose wagyu beef with smoked truffle teriyaki was bliss in a bite at Japanese restaurant Iwau.
