Living the travel dream in Maldives – Cinnamon Dhonveli resort

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Everybody has a travel dream. A wishful image of a destination that one lives in their head and hopes that it materializes in the future. An image that pops in your head when you hear the word travel. I had a travel dream too. Here’s an account of living that travel dream in Maldives.

 

CHANGING THE TRAVEL STYLE

After doing trips to Spain, Georgia, Azerbaijan, New Zealand & Sri Lanka, I wanted to break my holiday pattern. Everybody has a definitive, characteristic style of travel.

My travel style included firstly exploring the offbeat unconventional places through day-trips in and around the main city & then doing the famous touristy places in the city.

Because I wouldn’t want to be a person who’s been to the Montserrat mountain monastery (around Barcelona) but hasn’t been to the Sagrada Familia (in Barcelona).

I’d cover as many places as possible and traverse the entire city on foot. Having done that on almost every vacation, I decided to take a vacation from this pattern of vacation – a Vacation-ception.

 

CHOOSING CINNAMON DHONVELI RESORT, MALDIVES

The occasion for the vacation was the birthday of my best friend Avafrin. So, I desired an escape where we’d just sit back, relax and enjoy the alluring surroundings of a place.

A vacation where I’d be sipping cocktails on a secluded island and enjoying paradisiacal beaches. Something on the lines of Koh Lipe. Thus, came the idea of travelling to Cinnamon Dhonveli resort in Maldives.

 

 

I’d only seen travel shows & magazine articles previously that showed stunning pictures of water-bungalows in heavenly beach destinations with the traveller host directly jumping into the ocean from their room & I wondered if I’d ever be able to achieve that.

Not sure it was a travel dream embedded somewhere in my subconscious but I knew just two things- I was earning a good enough income from acting in a musical in Dubai & wanted to live that “jumping into the ocean from my room” image in my head.

I checked holiday packages to the Maldives online and got an irresistible package from my usual holiday booking website www.holiday-factory.com. 

So I booked a 3-nights 4-days luxury Water Bungalow package at the stunning Cinnamon Dhonveli, Maldives through the website.

WHY Holiday Factory?

Because it’s more than just flight & hotel. It included transfers by speed-boats, travel insurance, half-boarding too which in totality can cost you a lot. Booking through the largest tour operator in Dubai has it’s perks as it saves a considerable amount of money compared to booking everything on your own.

 

FIRST LESSON LEARNT IN MALDIVES

Landing in Male, we learnt our first lesson – You are not allowed to bring liquor to the Maldives. Even if you have bought liquor, beer and related items containing alcohol from a duty-free shop while on route to the Maldives, these products must be bonded in the airport’s customs department upon arrival. The liquor will be returned before departure.

We deposited our tequila (with a heavy heart) with the hope to see it after 4 days. Received at the airport by our holiday-factory representative, we made our way to the speed boat boarding point in Male.

 

REACHING CINNAMON DHONVELI RESORT

The resort we’d booked had their own scheduled speed boats for transfers to & from the city. Boarding the speed boat, we had a 30-minute ride through the pristine blue waters to reach the resort.

 

 

The air felt heavy, humid and smelled of salt. An endless stretch of the blue ocean surrounded us. Sections of the ocean dressed in varying shades of blue merged beautifully with each other providing a visual treat.

 

 

The sound of waves was periodically interrupted by the motor sounds of the speed boat. The tussle between the waves & the speed boat created dense streaks of white foam that followed us until we reached our island resort – the Cinnamon Dhonveli resort.

 

 

Greeted by the sight of a yacht docked on the turquoise blue waters, we walked up to the reception.

 

CINNAMON DHONVELI RESORT PACKAGE – SURPRISE INCLUSIONS

At the reception, we were served a refreshing welcome drink. One that kept tasting better with each sip as we received the good news of inclusions in our package. The inclusions in our package were –

• Unlimited “all you can drink” alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages “all day-all night” for the entire duration of our stay (Are you serious? Sold right there)
• Half-Board meal package- Breakfast & Dinner (served in Maaga restaurant), featuring an “all you can eat” buffet during our entire stay (Burrrrrrrrrp).
• Free selection of cocktails & mocktails available at The Bluu and Bar75 (ahem!)
• Complimentary dolphin cruise (sweet lord!!)
• Complimentary snorkelling gear (pinching myself again)
• Free access to kayaking, windsurfing, paddle-boating gear & equipment (Nope, not leaving this country)

I was performing salsa in my head with each inclusion reducing the money I’d have to spend on the trip.

—> Book your own stay at the fabulously idyllic Cinnamon Dhonveli resort by clicking here.

 

TRAVEL DREAM GETTING BETTER

Before we could soak in this list of inclusions, the hotel management informed us that the water bungalow would be unavailable for 1 night due to maintenance work.

And since it was peak season, with rest of the bungalows booked & occupied, the management gave us the option of a beach-side room on another island resort for one night.

This other island resort was the paradisiacal Malahini Kuda Bandos. For missing out on a night in the water bungalow, the hotel provided the following special amenities as compensation –

• Speed boat transfer (Dhonveli-Malahini-Airport)
• Meal plan upgrades from Half Board to Full Board (including lunch too, Yayy!)
• Free Wi-fi access for 2 people (they apparently charge for it)
• Free 60 minute Balinese Massage for 2 people (slight smile)
• Special candle-lit beachside 5-course gourmet dinner (smile widens)
• Lunch & beverages provided if late departure (shameless grin)

Basically, we could survive the entire holiday without putting our hands in our wallet. Because an uninvited birthday guest called compensation had come to the party. A fortunate stroke of serendipity meant that things I’d planned as gifts for Ava were provided by hotels in compensation. We were ecstatic.

That’s the thing about the human psyche.

Doesn’t matter if you’re a luxury traveller or a budget backpacker, receiving freebies is the best feeling in the world.

Ava & I looked at each other, put on our thinking face with a great deal of effort and after a couple of seconds, readily agreed to the offer. It was a dream start to the vacation.

 

 

We walked through the property & caught a glimpse of the beach on our way to the water bungalow. The ambitious kid in me was excited in anticipation of the visual I was about to see.

 

BUILD-UP TO THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL PRIZE

Passing through the area guarded by the shadows of the other rooms & canopy of trees, the tranquillity of the surroundings was broken by a splashing sound of waves- getting louder with each step we took.

Such was the magic of the crescendo built by the waves that my feet involuntarily began to synchronize their pacing with them. Heart began racing & there were butterflies in my stomach, with the build-up about to reach the climax. The first contact of my feet on a wooden plank surface and there it was!

 

 

A wooden pathway curving towards the left, branching into a line of water huts on either side, well arranged like pearls on a necklace. The barren brown of the huts settling in with the lively blue of the ocean.

Small waves thrilled with joy, kissing the foundation of the bungalows- sometimes gently; aggressively other times. Patches of clouds like pieces of cotton candy stuck on a blue curtain-like sky, in the backdrop.  It was phantasmagorical. Beautiful beyond imagination.

 

Whoever said – “Money can’t buy happiness” had obviously not been here.

 

LIVING THE TRAVEL DREAM

We walked into our water hut and it dawned on us as to what made the water hut a water bungalow – a plush room with colourful furniture, walls adorned with beautiful artwork, a king-size double bed, wooden flooring, modern amenities like television & the air conditioner, long windows giving you a sight of the ocean.

To the left, was the bathroom with a shower space and a jacuzzi. Adjacent to the bathroom door, another door led to the balcony with a resting bed placed on the right side and a ladder to the left, going into the ocean.

Without wasting another second, I changed into my swimming trunks. Stepped onto the balcony and Jeez! the water looked like a painting, trying to seduce me into submission. The moment to transform my dream into 3-dimensional reality had arrived. It was time to BE “that guy who jumps into the ocean from his room”.

 Got down the ladder and dunked myself into the ocean waters.

 

 

Hallelujah.

Lived the visual. These are the days your soul possessed by wanderlust craves for. I was part of the painting.  I’d finally realized my travel dream.

 

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