Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives takes the business of caring seriously

There is a fine line between profit and sustainability that is further exacerbated by the recent global pandemic, but Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives is leading the space on the island even before the health crisis.

In a tête-à-tête, Raffaele Solferino, general manager of Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives about the resort’s features and sustainability practices.

Travel Daily (TD): What is the USP of the resort? How has the hotel positioned itself in the Maldives?

Raffaele Solferino (RS): We maintain that no holiday wish of our guests is unheard at Grand Park Kodhipparu Maldives. Our concept of a boutique luxury resort is contingent on a meticulously created series of experiences from arrival to in-villa check-in until departure.

A dedicated personal lifestyle host will take care of every tiny detail and we are careful as to even that the lifestyle host brings a close-to-home experience as most of the time they will be from the same region or country as the guest is from.

With Velana International Airport just a close 20 minutes away, this proximity adds value to the guest experience. Despite the proximity, we are blessed to have a lush green island with some of the most active and vibrant house reefs of the North Male Atoll.

The resort was designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates and has brought to the resort elements from the best aesthetic marvels of the Maldives, Indonesia, and India. Marrying the best features and colours from the rich heritage of these nations, our villas are set in a way to guarantee ample privacy to our guests. Finer details like a glass window in the middle of the villa and the built-in hammocks are little joys we offer as pleasant surprises to our guests.

Lunch and dinner dine-around basis so that the guests have a sense of unscripted and unrestricted culinary experience. Our business model and commitment to authenticity are always in line with our Park Hotel Group’s triple-bottom-line business strategy focusing on the People, Planet and Profit, and our team is the true asset that adds a human touch to the guest journey, which is reported constantly on all the reviews. Our recruitment process significantly focuses on the needs and the happiness of the employee so that they naturally integrate with the team without friction.

TD: How important is sustainable hospitality in the post covid world? + 6) What trends have you been witnessing in the hospitality industry in terms of post-Covid travel?

RS: There comes a point when every industry must evolve. The time is already up for everyone to be held accountable for the ways they operate especially in hospitality. At a time when over-production, over-tourism and senseless dining habits, are encouraged we believe it is crucial to slow down, make more thoughtful processes and take decisive and meaningful action to preserve the eco-system and let it thrive. It is refreshing to see slow travel taking precedence over the more commercialized mass tourism aspects.

Luxury takes a new definition in the post-Covid-era where we see that travellers really want to detach from the crowd and immerse themselves in nature, and this of course makes the Maldives even more popular and successful as there are several natural attributes which allow the Maldives to be “the” place to be at. The tropical climate, the soothing breeze, the one island one resort concept which are unique to the Maldives, and the distance and privacy between the villas, are little pieces of this beautiful and mystical escape that add to its already in-demand allure.

We also see that social media plays a bigger role in the post-Covid era. Authentic, user-generated content has changed the way people are inspired to book a holiday. Our live virtual tours are very popular amongst our partners, and the carefully selected collaborations help us showcase bits and pieces of our “honest hospitality” to the discerning travellers the world over.

TD: Could you tell us about some new initiatives that the hotel has recently unveiled?

RS: Grand Park Kodhipparu Maldives focuses intensely on taking care of the well-being of our guests. The spa is extraordinarily recognized and is also the winner of the World Luxury Spa Awards for four consecutive years. From indulgent spa therapies to sound healing therapies, there is a range of holistic wellness journeys that we offer for our guests. The latest one-on-one consultation at the spa offers a detailed analysis of your skin, body as well as one’s aura.

With the fast-paced lifestyle, we lead today just exercising or hitting the gym every day doesn’t address all the underlying physical, and mental well-being requirements. Our latest iridology, skin and body analysis technologies will analyse in detail how one could approach holistic therapies and home remedies drawing on inspiration from our spa therapies.

Beyond the spa, guests can also focus on well-being and fitness with several initiatives at the resort. Our Marine Sports Centre now has some of the latest watersport equipment which would be the first of its kind in the Maldives. For instance, the Ceclo e-catamaran, an efficient electric boat which you can enjoy with your whole family and is very easy on the environment, and the Onean jet boards, as well as the advanced Pedalo cycles, are exciting news for everyone who loves a good aqua adventure.

TD: What are the sustainable practices that your property follows?

RS: We are very proud to be Green Globe certified for the third consecutive year. These are some of the toughest criteria in terms of sustainability to uphold and we ensure that we live up to a minimum of 80% of the regulatory obligations. Our solar powerhouse generates a generous amount of energy that we utilize for our operation and reduces our fuel consumption by a great margin. There are no single-use plastics on the island, and we have our own water management plan. All the water is bottled on the island itself.

We preserve our flora and fauna ecosystem with consistent rehabilitation measures, and it goes without saying that we look after our unique marine biosphere. Our dedicated green team and marine team receive professional training from the best in the industry about always taking a planet-first approach.

“The business of caring is taken extremely seriously at Grand Park Kodhipparu Maldives.”

Nature-based asset management is critical for the longevity of our natural habitat and waste management is part and parcel of this. We ensure that we convert wet solid waste into liquid waste, and our engineering team’s upcycling initiatives ensure a consistent cyclical operation that promotes regenerative tourism. On a group level, Park Hotel Group maintains the Room for Trees program where we plant one tree for every booking made on our website.

TD: What are the key challenges and key achievements in the last two years in the hotel?

RS: The Maldives tourism industry has seen an increase in the number of properties. Yet more seasoned brands are acknowledging the modern traveller’s desire for a personal boutique experience. From wellness and sustainability to a personalised experience, there are many things to be done to fulfil guests’ needs and we need to be conscious of our offerings so that they do not deviate far from our triple bottom line to positively impact the People and Planet while maintaining our business needs.

Our biggest achievements are always the warm and lovely smiles and remarks from our beloved guests. We have been nominated for and won over five awards this year, from World Travel Awards, World Luxury Hotel Awards, Travel Trade Maldives, Agoda, HolidayCheck, Travel+Leisure, etc. and we are excited to have been able to design brand new experiences, some of which are for the first time in the Maldives. We celebrated five years of opening this year and there’s a sense of achievement surrounding how our team grows with the continuous support from the Park Hotel Group corporate office based in Singapore. Bigger and brighter things are on the horizon as we continue to create ways to deliver loving hospitality at Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives.

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