After falling head over heels in love with the jungle paradise that is Soneva Fushi, it was time to head to one of the most exciting new resorts – in the entire world!
Soneva Jani is located in the Noonu Atoll – which is located about a 60 minute speedboat ride from Soneva Fushi.
Opened in October 2016, Soneva Jani may only be an hour away from Soneva Fushi, but these two resorts are absolute worlds apart. Where Soneva Fushi is all jungle-esque and shady, Soneva Jani is all about the water!
Now, in the next post I will take you on a guided tour of this unbelievable resort – prepare to be left green with envy – but right now I am going to focus on taking you through the most incredible villa I have ever seen in my life.
We went to Soneva Jani under the impression that we would be staying in a 1 bedroom villa, but on arrival we found that we had been truly spoiled and upgraded to a 2 bedroom one!
Not only was this 2 bedroom water retreat about as luxurious as imaginable, it was also freaking enormous – 555 square feet to be exact – so lets get started!
Immediately upon entering the villa you are met with a light and open lounge area, set up with fresh fruits and gourmet chocolates to welcome you in style. Not only that, the seating is sunken and features an incredible glass bottom – so you can spot fish, stingrays and sharks right from the comfort and privacy of your villa.
Unlike the rich wooden vibes of Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani is all about being light and bright – with very strategically placed pops of colour.
Water – in any capacity – is very obviously the star attraction of these villas, and glass bottom panels in almost every room mean that that Maldivian ocean vibe is never dulled…
….even when you need to take a, um, human break!
In addition to welcome chocolates, a welcome bottle of bubbly is also provided on arrival – not a bad way to kick-start your holiday!
The master bedroom is located in the middle of the villa, and features beautiful glass doors that slide open and provide access directly to the pool and outer decking.
The master bedroom also features an adjoining ensuite, and boy is it beautiful!
There is both an indoor and outdoor shower, but let’s be honest, why shower indoors when you can do it out in the open?!
There is also a beautiful sunken bathtub, and a small patch of kinda private ocean – in case you wanna jump into the ocean but also want to do so privately.
Also on the ground floor are a study, adjoining kids bedroom, several other bathrooms, a walk-in minibar and even a dressing room.
There is certainly no shortage of space!
This is already more than enough space, but heck, when you are going for an all-out, budget-blowing, bucket list kinda thing, why not add a second floor?
The stairs open up to yet another chill out area – the perfect place for a sunset drink – and then connects to a second bedroom.
The master bedroom may have been substantially bigger, but there are definitely positives to staying in the upstairs bedroom.
For starters, I personally preferred the décor, the ‘building block’ walls, the wooden fans and the tree trunk bedside tables were all pretty lovely touches.
Oh, and the view from the balcony isn’t half bad either!
Now, let us head outside and explore the pool and the outer decking, cause honestly, those are the most impressive features of this overwater hideaway.
Each of these villas has a few sections of netted hammocks to one side of the villa…
…an enormous circular outdoor seating area…
…and of course, direct access to the ocean below!
The area of the Noonu Atoll on which Soneva Jani is set is very shallow, and as a result, the water is both crystal clear and incredibly coloured. The ocean at Soneva Fushi in the Baa Atoll was much more of a deep blue, whereas at Soneva Jani, it was a much deeper aqua.
I mean honestly, is this not the most amazing overwater villa imaginable?
After I had snapped enough shots of the villa that I was happy with, it was time to crack open the complimentary bubbly and go for a relaxing dip in the pool.
My time at Soneva Jani had only just begun and I was already seriously in love.
Stay tuned to see it get even better!
THE LOWDOWN
Getting to Male: Flights arrive to Male from most major airport hubs – with most frequent flights arriving from Singapore and Colombo
Soneva Jani: Villas start at around $2950 USD/night – click here for more info
Threads: My green maxi dress and swimwear are all by Tigerlily Swimwear
Camera: Images captured with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 in conjunction with M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2/8 lens
Remember: Shade is scarce here, so pack oodles of sunscreen