Safely ensconced behind a face mask and face shield, and feeling like a second-rate Darth Vader, I navigate my way through Dubai International Airport for the first time in 11 months. What was once second nature now feels foreign – the shadow of Covid-19 falling across every surface I touch and every person I interact with.
But I am heading to the Maldives. And surely, if any place on Earth can offer respite from our current virus-ridden reality, it is the sun-drenched Indian Ocean archipelago where social distancing occurs by default and outdoor island living offers the ultimate antidote to global lockdowns and stay-home orders.
“When you have lockdown restrictions in big cities, you are dreaming about the Maldives – its tropical winds, scattered islands and villas that have a minimum seven or eight metres between them,” notes Raffaele Solferino, general manager of Grand Park Kodhipparu, my first port of call.
His claim is backed by the 75 per cent occupancy the resort is enjoying during my stay, with Indians and Russians forming the bulk of visitors. I am not alone, it seems, in perceiving the Maldives as a safe bet in a turbulent travel landscape.
The archipelago became one of the first destinations in the world to resume "normal" operations when it reopened its borders to tourists in July. All visitors must show proof of a negative PCR test, taken at least 96 hours prior to arrival, and fill in an online health declaration form. This yields an individualised bar code that must be presented upon arrival.
While the Maldives’ densely populated capital, Male, has had to contend with spikes in Covid-19 cases, movement between the capital and resort islands is severely restricted for locals and hotel staff, and international arrivals bypass it altogether – I am whisked out of the airport departure area, across a road and straight on to the Grand Park’s speed boat in a matter of minutes. Less than half an hour later, I am stepping on to the powdery sands of Kodhipparu.
The resort is small and intimate, with only 120 villas in total, and you could happily spend a whole day without engaging with another soul
There is something reassuring about being cocooned on an island during a pandemic. While Covid-19 is no respecter of geographical boundaries, there’s a sense of security that comes from being surrounded by water on all sides, with unobstructed views that roll out towards the horizon. This is particularly true at Grand Park Kodhipparu, which is set on a smidgen of land, barely 500 metres squared. The resort is small and intimate, with only 120 villas in total, and you could happily spend a whole day without engaging with another soul, should you so desire.
Oversized flamingo floats in the communal pool, a live DJ spinning house tracks in the evenings, and an Instagram-friendly swing suspended from a palm tree on a secluded stretch of beach all hint at the resort’s attempts to appeal to a younger, hipper crowd. It’s a vibe that’s built into the Grand Park’s design (conceptualised by industry stalwarts Hirsch Bedner Associates), from the jaunty tiles on the bathroom floor of my Reef Pool Water Villa, to the macrame wall hangings and neutral-toned Scandi-chic styling.
There’s a wellness slant, too, with daily yoga classes offered for free, a concerted focus on sourcing fresh, local produce where possible, and the use of 100 per cent organic Comfort Zone products in the spa.
That’s not to say you can’t indulge. At Firedoor, the resort’s fine dining restaurant, a show kitchen sits above an open stretch of water, where a visit from a pair of blacktip reef sharks adds further drama to an already stunning setting. One of the finest steaks I have ever eaten, cooked on a special Josper grill and served on a hot stone, is promptly followed by a decadent chocolate fondant.
Restaurants at the resort have all been reconfigured to ensure you never feel like you are too close to anyone else, although a sense of spaciousness is already inherent in the towering ceilings and open-to-the-elements design of each of the Grand Park's three dining outlets.
Staff all wear face masks, physical menus have been eliminated and disinfection drives are carried out on a regular basis. While guests are not obliged to wear masks when moving around the resort, they are mandatory when entering restaurants, the gift shop and other closed spaces.
Next on my itinerary is the Sheraton Full Moon Resort & Spa, which also has the advantage of being close to the airport. In this instance, the Male skyline is visible from parts of the island, although carefully disguised from certain vistas to ensure you still feel like you are far removed from the rest of civilisation.
Here, too, the Maldives’ success in convincing travellers that it is a safe haven is clear to see.
“We thought we would be lucky to have 30 per cent occupancy for December, January, February, with a decline in April and a pick-up towards the end of the year,” the resort’s general manager, Emilio Fortini, tells me. “Then all of a sudden, it just turned around. In mid December, we were full and have been ever since. So it has recovered unusually quickly, very unexpectedly, not just for the Sheraton, but for the Maldives as a destination.
“The allure of the Maldives is that you have all these open-air spaces, and everyone that comes here has to have a negative PCR test. So it feels like a safe destination relative to other places,” he adds.
Across the Maldives, PCR tests are conducted in the resorts for departing visitors, and anyone that tests positive is required to quarantine on the island for 14 days. Nonetheless, if there is a weak spot in this otherwise glowing success story, it is that the airport on our return journey is jam-packed, and more could be done to ensure social-distancing guidelines are enforced.
While hoteliers in the Maldives had braced themselves for a slow return to form, they have now been grappling with a new, unexpected set of challenges. Many resorts cut down on staff numbers at the height of the pandemic, so are operating with smaller teams, while fewer flights coming in to the Maldives means the supply of goods has been disrupted, sometimes making it difficult to source specific items.
“There was a period of two or three months where we could hardly get anything,” Fortini admits, although this is certainly not evident at the Sheraton's lavish breakfast buffet, where fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles and jars of muesli jostle for space with dosas, gluten-free muffins, servings of eggs Benedict and countless other morning treats.
The Sheraton is a resort hotel in the more typical sense – bigger, with more guests, so social distancing requires a more strategic approach. Recognising one particular bottleneck, the hotel has placed a document in rooms warning against the breakfast rush, encouraging people to go as early as possible to avoid the crowds.
The size of the resort means there is something for everyone, including five restaurants, dishing up Thai, Chinese, Caribbean, Mediterranean and international delicacies.
There are also customised dining experiences – a picnic on a secluded sand bank across from the resort’s main bay, reached by speed boat, feels gloriously decadent, while lunch in the bay, where tables are partly submerged in the sea, is the stuff Instagram dreams are made of.
There are quieter stretches of beach for those seeking privacy, and more social spaces for those who can still tolerate being anywhere near strangers. An expansive kids' club provides entertainment for the little ones, but there is also plenty to keep the adults occupied.
After a trip to the spa, I try my hand at traditional Maldivian palm frond weaving, unsuccessfully trying to create a simple braid while Hakim, our erstwhile guide, whips up an entire fedora in record time. A snorkelling trip to the nearby Kurumba reef brings me up close and personal with more blacktip reef sharks, and I take part in the resort’s coral preservation programme, attaching fragments to a customised frame in support of the resort’s efforts to preserve and propagate coral populations in the surrounding seas.
My beachfront villa looks out over a palm-tree-covered expanse leading down to the beach. On the final night of my stay in the Maldives, I sit on my patio, listening to the sound of lapping waves interspersed with the laughter of a group of guests in a nearby villa. Fittingly, given the name of the resort, a full moon hangs in the sky overhead.
And, just for a moment in time, it is possible to pretend that the world is normal again.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Neo%20Mobility%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20February%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abhishek%20Shah%20and%20Anish%20Garg%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Delta%20Corp%2C%20Pyse%20Sustainability%20Fund%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The five pillars of Islam
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Genesis G80 2020 5.0-litre Royal Specs
Engine: 5-litre V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 505Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L/100km
Price: Dh260,500
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
