Fairmont to make debut in the Maldives

Opening on April 1, the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi is in the Shaviyani atoll, and can be reached by seaplane from Male.

It will have 120 villas within what’s said to be one of the largest resort lagoons in the Maldives, making it the ideal setting for underwater sculptures, created by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor.

The sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer was born to an English father and Guyanese mother, and among the places he has already created underwater sculpture gardens in are fjords in Oslo, Lanzarote and Indonesia’s Gili islands.

Fairmont is part of AccorHotels, which is also planning to launch a Raffles resort in the country, following its takeover of the management of Dhevanafushi from Jumeirah last September.

The group has also opened the mid-scale Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort, while the Pullman Maldives Maamutaa will follow nearby later this year.