Is This Resort The White Lotus Of The Maldives?

With its Astor-era rituals, overwater glamour and a setting worthy of the cult TV series, St Regis Vommuli fuses Gilded Age sophistication with barefoot island life. Lucy Cleland gives her verdict on this stunning Maldives retreat.

Review: St Regis Vommuli In The Maldives

Hold up, producers, call off the search. I’ve found the next location for The White Lotus. It’s perfect: a far-flung island, hard to get to, fringed by powder-white sand, lush vegetation, a thriving marine life – and the best Bloody Mary this (or any) side of New York City. To find such sophistication on a tiny spit of land, measuring just 450m in length, in the middle of the Indian Ocean takes some beating, but welcome to St Regis Vommuli in The Maldives. You’ll find me lounging by my pool in my Mara Hoffman bikini, in front of my huge (nearly 7,000 sqft) two-bedroom villa, christened Knickerbocker.

The History

In fact, there’s more than just an alcoholic – or indeed wishful televisual – link to the United States; the St Regis brand is as old-school America as it comes. Beginning life in New York in 1904, the original Big Apple St Regis was founded by socialite John Jacob Astor IV, one of America’s then richest men who would go on to perish in the Titanic disaster of 1912. It was the most glittering hotel of the moment that filled its gilded, marble and velvet upholstered rooms with the city’s beau monde. It is said he was inspired by his mother, Caroline Astor, creator of the New York Times-published ‘Four Hundred’ list, which included the most prominent and influential families in New York society as a way to draw a line between them and the presumably vulgar ‘new’ money men.

Fast forward 120 years and that same spirit is evident, although transposed to laidback island life – but with one helluva a lot of spit and polish – and without the social snobbery; this set is seriously international and – of course – loaded. Old money, new money… nowadays, it’s of little consequence.

The Service

Just as Astor was the first hotelier to introduce a butler with every guest room at the New York outpost, so too does our butler, Ishmail, tend to our every whim and answer our every question. We might bicycle to dinner along lit-up sandy paths groomed to perfection in our evening attire (complete with flipflops) but it’s the same feeling as cruising along Fifth Avenue in a limo and stilettos. It’s that sense of anticipation and occasion that the brand manages to capture so cleverly.

And don’t they know it. Every evening at the Whale Bar, surely one of the Maldives’ most glorious constructions – its open end which juts into the ocean like the mouth of a whale is the perfect spot for catching the sunset – a classic St Regis ritual takes place. Introduced by the Astor family as a way of marking the transition from day to evening, they continue to borrow the ritual of sabering champagne. This ceremony dates back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte and his cavalry, who would open champagne bottles with sabres to celebrate victories – or indeed, alledgedly, to commiserate defeats. ‘Champagne! In victory one deserves it, in defeat one needs it,’ is the line often attributed to him, and who would bother to disagree? Champagne cork duly sliced off with an impressive thrust of really quite a large blade, all guests are then served a complimentary coupe of fizz. Just the tonic to set you up for dinner.

The Food

Which takes me to Crust & Craft. Twice a week, on the broad beach outside Alba (the devastatingly elegant main restaurant where a buffet of dreams kicks off the morning and every taste is catered for, from steaks and curries to spiced kebabs and salads, is available till 10pm), another event is worth the Instagram post. Tables are set up on the beach, a saxophonist plays light jazz tracks – and a seafood or meat feast awaits. Go and choose your local reef fish, ginormous Maldivian shrimp, lobster, squid, octopus or tuna (or a mix of everything) – and your haul will be grilled and served with any number of sauces to douse them with, from chimichurri to garlic butter. Finger-licking is encouraged.

Then there’s Orientale, the island’s Asian restaurant which has three separate open kitchens – one Japanese, one Chinese and one – and is as classy as any metropolitan equivalent.

Is It Sustainable?

I asked our Maldivian waiter whether he was worried that his islands would sink – ever since I started travel writing over 25 years ago, it’s been the narrative I’ve stuck to, thanks to melting ice-caps and rising sea levels – and his dark eyes crinkled. ‘No,’ he laughed. ‘That is what everyone is always saying.’ I hated to argue with him, and it doesn’t seem to have put off a slew of top-end hotel brands – from Aman and Bulgari to Corinthia and Rosewood – coming to set up stall among this string of over a thousand islands, of which only 188 are inhabited and 170 are tourist islands. The pickings are obviously still rich; the clientele are rich; and if things take a turn for the worse, I know I’d rather be here listening to the strains of the saxophone as the sea takes me down – just as it did John Jacob Astor IV all those years ago,

How To Book

Lead-in rates for entry-level accommodations start at $1,500 per night. Find out more at marriott.com