What is the philosophy and vision of the Taj Exotica Resort?

This resort has been in operation from 1993 and Taj took it over in 1996. We then decided we wanted to upgrade it into our luxury brand called Exotica, which we did and then unfortunately the tsunami happened. The Maldives government was very kind and gave a lot of incentives for people to rebuild their resorts, so we decided to do that and position it in the super luxury segment, which at the time was limited. The philosophy we normally follow at Taj is to allow the resort or hotel to be unique to that place. We do not believe in the cookie cutter approach. So as a guest you are able to experience Taj's unique services but also the local ethos and culture. With this place, the brief we gave the designer was to give us a luxury 'Robinson Crusoe' feel and keep it as natural as possible. Maldives is all about the beauty of nature and we want people to get that. With the vegetation we wanted to use plants that grow in the Maldives and so try to bring as much of the Maldives into our space as possible. The whole of the hospitality sector talks about experiential things. At Taj we realised that a long time back, and we worked on it. For us it was always about creating experiences and making them happen for guests.


If people were to close their eyes and imagine that type of experience, what would they see?

Starting at the airport, you have a charming person who puts you on a speedboat – it takes just 15 minutes on a good day to reach here. When you arrive, you're met by our front office colleagues and we normally have the 'boduberu' local drums to welcome you. Then we take a photograph – we are blessed with about 200 acres of lagoon here, it's one of the largest in the Maldives. After that, about 80% of our guests get into their villa. We realise that people have travelled far and so – though the check-in time might be, say, 2pm – if the room is available, we would like to get you into your room to rest. Though it's the choice of the guest because some would prefer to take photographs or something else. Each of our villas has a butler attached to it who will take care of everything. If you're on honeymoon and you want to surprise your husband or wife, he'll do that. If you want to organise a diving trip or a spa, he'll help you with that. He'll be there for you as much as you like. They're also all locals, so they can tell you all about local culture.

What would make the Taj Exotica the ideal destination for people visiting from GCC countries?

First, everything is halal. All our meat is halal. So that takes care of the biggest thing. The villas have a lot of privacy, which is very popular. We have a mosque – something that's compulsory on all islands. We also offer women butlers so female guests are more comfortable. The whole idea is that we curate your experience around how you would like it.


You mentioned that this is a super-luxury resort. Could you define what that entails?

The Maldives is a unique destination. Here, luxury may come at a higher price than in any other ordinary destination but everything here is curated and top of the line. For example, all our amenities are Molton Brown, we only use Frette linen, Ploh towels and Sealy mattresses.


What might convince people to tip over into the super-luxury segment? What makes the experience different from that of a nice three- or four-star hotel in the Maldives?

Everybody wants that once-in-a-lifetime vacation and for that they're willing to overreach. Apart from having the products, they want to have the experience curated for them. For example, we're blessed with one of the largest lagoons, so the kind of water-sports activities we can offer is huge – from normal jet skis to parasailing, jetpacks, kayaks, and cave and wreck diving. For people who like to relax we have the Jiva Grande Spa, which is the Taj's own spa with our own treatments based on Ayurveda Indian treatments. We also do a morning yoga ritual, which is free of charge and takes place in beautiful surroundings, and if you would like to continue, we have licensed yoga teachers who can do a special personalised class for you. We also have Indian beauty treatments if somebody just wants to relax, as well as an overwater gym – it's an amazing thing when you see that. And then you have the restaurants. We're proud of the fact we don't do buffets. The concept behind this is very simple: we believe that you're on holiday and so you can give us five minutes extra to let us cook a meal with love for you. You look at our menus and you order whatever you like. There are no limitations – you can choose whatever you want and how much you want. Everything is made on the island. We get the best products, which we fly in three times a week minimum. Being an Indian chain, our Indian food is considered very good and our specialty restaurant, the Deep End, which is European, was one of the first restaurants in the Maldives to get hot-listed by Condé Nast.

How does the Taj empower the local community?

We do a lot of stuff on that. First, the government has a programme where local young people are encouraged to get into hospitality. We take those people in and take care of everything for them, so they get trained in various aspects of hostelry and can make an informed choice about where they would like to work. We have also taken some people from correction centres and trained them. We might not be able to give them employment, but we'll definitely get them ready. That's the Taj philosophy: we would like you to train yourself to be able to stand on your own two feet and not depend on somebody else. We believe in giving back to society. Every quarter we cook food and a team of people will go to an orphanage and serve the food there. December 31 is the busiest night of the year for any hotelier and then on January 1 we go and feed the underprivileged. We also do lagoon cleanings with the staff – everybody gets into the water and it's good fun.


What are the top five things that make the Taj Exotica special?

Like I said, one of our rituals is the sunrise ritual and we also have a unique sunset ritual, where we light a lamp. We have our female staff dressed in traditional dresses, we have the boduberu drums and we do a little ceremony that happens for about five minutes. Then there's also the spa, and the food. We can cater for vegans, kosher, allergies – anything a visitor might want. We normally send out a form and say: "Tell us what you would like and we'll curate it for you." If a family has a child with an allergy, there is a special menu for them that is kept inside the room and inside every outlet. Service is something we have got a lot of feedback on and people have found it to be great. The lagoon is another important part – we're blessed with one side where you can just walk for one kilometre. The sand is soft and you don't need to wear shoes.

You have a very wide experience in the hospitality sector. What makes the Maldives unique compared with other places you have worked in?

The unique thing about the Maldives has been the one-island, one-resort concept, which has set it apart. Mauritius has islands but one of those might have three resorts on it. The Seychelles has the same thing and Bali has the same thing. But having one-island, one-resort and having that Robinson Crusoe kind of experience – that is the best part about the Maldives. And the people are amazing. They're very friendly and there's a genuineness about them wanting to serve people and make them feel happy. Giving that luxurious experience can't come from manuals, it has to come from the heart. And that is what you are able to get here from the people themselves.