Whether you’re chilling, discovering or enjoying a food and beverage experience, this Maldivian masterwork offers the picture-perfect place in which to indulge. Bolifushi is the second Ozen, the high-end, all-encompassing brand owned by Atmosphere Hotels and Resorts. It is utterly opulent.
Hotel
When you find yourself fantasising of fleeing to the Indian Ocean, odds are that a masterpiece from the Ozen Collection is exactly the type of place you’re yearning for. Graceful, sumptuous and designed to gratify to your every quirk, Ozen Reserve Bolifushi serves up a little piece of heaven.
While countless of the Maldives’ farthest hurled islands are best reached by seaplane; an exhilarating, although jerky, way of disembarking at one of the 130-plus island resorts – the Ozen Reserve Bolifushi is in the South Malé Atoll, a mere 30-minute speedboat ride from the capital city of Male.
Even the Ozen Collection Airport Lounge is aimed to make you feel distinctive: from here you board your reserved catamaran across the clear waters of the Indian Ocean to the palm-lined shores of Bolifushi Island. You’re welcomed with an old-style Maldivian welcome: regaled by conch and Boduberu drumming, festooned with handcrafted palm-leaf necklets and honoured with a spray of soft petals.
Exclusive to the resort is a unique ‘Reserve’ Plan, curated to comprise the incredibly finest of dining, first-rate beverages, and select experiences, merged impeccably with the vacation. Guests enjoy anything they desire, anywhere at Bolifushi island, and no one asks for your villa number.
Room
90 keys open to well-appointed stand-alone villas and reserves, each craftily designed to augment its location. Created with wood and marble, the buoyant interiors and gorgeously curated alfresco spaces bring you amid nature. Opt for a private ocean reserve and you even get your own slide, plunging you straight into the Indian Ocean. The Bolifushi Reserve experience goes yonder old-style luxury villas.
Special access to a private butler, a devoted buggy, and exceptional in-villa dining service ensure guests never have to step out of their reserved haven. Even the minibar in the villa, restocked twice, is included within the Reserve plan. The word ‘minibar’ is a misnomer here: it’s a sizeable armoire with a coffee machine, drawers overflowing with snacks, and a fridge supplied with champagne, a range of quality whites and reds, some beers, soft beverages and chocolates. They really know how to spoil their guests.
Food and drink
The chances to indulge yourself only magnify: there are two bars and four restaurants, allowing you to pick from home-grown cuisine at the all-day dining restaurant, or otherwise Moroccan, Levantine or Indian. But this being the Maldives you can also enjoy a romantic beach barbeque, or a floating breakfast. You are likely to spot one of the chefs picking herbs or other produce if you happen to visit the ‘Chef’s garden’ – prudently managed, this kitchen garden offers zero-mile ingredients for all the restaurants at the island.
At Ozar Bar, the afternoon tea is not to be missed, but stop here for a cocktail too to watch the sun go down in a fire across the water. Breakfast has to be seen to be believed, a buffet with everything you could probably want, and a lot you didn’t know you may want. Try the conventional local Maldivian breakfast with a tuna curry, smoked tuna salad, chapatis and fried egg balls (gulha).
To do
Below the waves, Bolifushi’s house reef is impeccable for snorkelling or diving. There are also manifold options for night dives nearby and you can take a sunset cruise or enjoy one of the many water sports available. And, while it’s not tough to envisage the chances for romance, Ozen Reserve Bolifushi is whimsical for kids too: Kuda Koli Kids’ Klub is one of the leading in the Maldives, with an array of activities set up for every day.
For landlubbers there are culinary classes, where you can absorb how to make the islander’s classic fare. And, of course, there’s a wonderful spa, where therapists board you on a voyage to revive your true self with encouraging energies of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, that are essential for idyllic living. For the fitness enthusiast there’s a state-of-the-art gym or you can simply enjoy yoga by the beach. Did I mention, there’s an ice skating rink and a cinema under the stars?
In a nutshell
The service is remarkably good. Your ‘Hiyani’ – Ozen Reserve Bolifushi’s word for butler – will run your time so flawlessly that you just need to go with the flow, the mark of a true holiday. The facilities are outstanding, from the dive team who offer underwater excursions taking you close to marine life, to the impressive kid’s club.
Factbox
Rates are from £1254 for an Earth Pool Sunrise Villa to a £ 9,500 for a 3-bedroom Royal Reserve, all-inclusive for two nights.
Address: Bolifushi Island Kaafu Atoll, 20222, Maldives
Phone: +960 664 2020
Website: theozencollection.com
