Catherine's View
“With everyone heading to Europe for summer, consider bucking the trend and holidaying with the family in the Maldives. We discovered a luxe, tropical resort with plenty of space and a laid-back ambience where nothing was too much trouble. It’s ideal for parents who like ‘barefoot luxury’ and we left feeling surprisingly refreshed and relaxed. It was the perfect family holiday for us.”
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The Resort
Located on the Laamu Atoll, deep in the Indian Ocean, Six Senses Laamu feels beautifully natural and untouched, yet is only a short flight from Malé International Airport followed by quick speedboat ride giving you that castaway island experience. Fringed by palm trees with white sand beaches, coral reefs teeming with marine life and excellent service, it’s a beautiful setting that will immediately engage you into relaxation mode.
Coming here in the ‘off-season’ over our UK summer is also surprisingly good value. You may have some rain and cloud, but that usually gets burned off quickly, revealing blue skies and warm weather. The resort is certainly big enough to house everyone from honeymooners, couples to families and the Six Senses high quality of service is no exception here. If you have surfers in your family, the season runs right over summer holidays which makes the ideal excuse to holiday in the Maldives.
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Sleep & Dine
The nice thing about Six Senses Laamu is there’s a wide variety of choice when it comes to dining. Which means it can be very relaxed for families from the morning buffet breakfast, lunch delivered to your villa, kid’s menus in every restaurant and of course lots of fresh tropical fruit, juices, ice cream and snacks available at a moment’s notice. That said, there are also myriad options for an adults-only dinner where you can book a babysitter or drop the children at the supervised movie screening so you can enjoy dinner à deux candlelit on the beach, a lobster BBQ, Japanese feast or a five-course fine dining meal served in the wine cellar, matched with wine paired by the sommelier.
In terms of accommodation, again there’s quite a choice. First decide whether you want to be beachfront, clasped in greenery; or over-water, jutting out over the azure Indian Ocean. All the villas are crafted from local, sustainable wood and are designed to let the natural beauty of the Maldives shine through. We love the Family Beach Villa which has a lovely garden, treetop upper deck and pool that faces the ocean.
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Relax & Explore
There’s plenty to do to keep big and little kids busy. Younger children can get to grips with island living, collecting shells on the beach and paddling in the calm waters. Older children can cycle around the island, snorkel and swim, paddleboard or scuba dive or even head out to surf the nearby Yin Yang surf break. There is a kids club for children aged 3 – 11, which is very nurturing in particular for younger ones; and all kids get excited by all-day ice cream and movies under the stars with popcorn!
As a family, you can take boat trips together, go fishing and share a Robinson Crusoe style experience with a picnic on a deserted sandbank. There is also the ‘SHELL’, a marine conservation hub to enjoy with your kids where young scientists can join the dots with what they might have spotted in the ocean and the importance of conservation.
