If you’ve been feeling stressed, having sleepless nights or are struggling with your weight, a holiday to the Maldives might be just what the doctor ordered.
A new five-star nature-centric wellness retreat promising to help travellers with exactly these issues and more has opened on a private island in the Indian Ocean holiday hotspot.
Wellness-centric luxury resort Joali Being is now welcoming guests to the secluded island of Bodufushi in the Raa Atoll, a short 40-minute seaplane flight from Velana International Airport in Male.
The all-villa resort, which opened on Monday, is part of the Joali Maldives hospitality brand, known for its eco-friendly luxury offerings. Joali Being offers travellers a choice of beach or water villas, each of which comes with a private pool and a dedicated butler or jadugar, which means "skilled magician" in Dhivehi language.
Inspired by the surrounding shorelines, sea waves and shells, the spacious villas feature lines and curves that are designed to enhance energy flow.
Billing itself as "the first dedicated well-being-immersive sanctuary" the resort offers guests an in-depth immersion programme tailored to their individual health or wellness goals, whether that’s to de-stress, re-energise or simply have a first-class holiday.
“Joali Being is a well-being retreat unlike any other in the world; it is a transformative destination aimed to inspire and ignite the very deepest of mindful connections to one’s self, one another, and one’s environment by enhancing our relationship with the surrounding natural world, our bodies and our minds,” says general manager Ozgur Cengiz.
There’s a minimum five-night stay required, with some programmes running for up to three weeks. Each stay starts with what the resort calls an Intelligent Movement Analysis and an Integrative Health Assessment.
After this, in-house experts curate a programme tailored for each guest and centred around one or more of the four Joali Being pillars: mind, skin, microbiome and energy.
Treatment plans are done alongside an on-site team of naturopaths, therapists and movement experts, taking place across 30 treatment rooms where you'll find experiential thermal circuits, private training rooms, alternative healing spaces and even an on-site herbology centre.
The island’s Learning Centre offers guests the chance to attend workshops and experiential classes with well-being experts, culinary maestros and herbalists in an effort to promote understanding to create and sustain well-being.
There are also more traditional leisure activities on offer, with everything from watersports and workout classes to local excursions by land or sea.
Earth-to-table dining and guaranteed sunsets
When it comes to dining, the resort's earth-to-table concept promises guests ingredient-traceability with fresh, locally harvested food that has been sustainably sourced.
Travellers can choose to eat at Flow, the resort’s open-plan interactive dining space which has three kitchens including Plantae, a fully vegetarian and vegan eatery, Su, which serves ocean-to-table fare, and B’Well, where the signature Joali Being menu is served.
For the perfect post-treatment sunset, the resort’s tropical beach sanctuary Mojo is the best place to take in the views.
Joali Being also has a strong focus on conservation and the resort is home to one of the three turtle sanctuaries in the Maldives, as well as a reef restoration project and a coral nursery. There are also several sustainability initiatives on site, including a desalinating water bottling plant, rainwater harvesting and a grey water recycling system, a glass crusher and recycler, and a plant waste shredder.
Rates at Joali Being are from $2,035, for a minimum five-night stay; joali.com
