It shouldn’t take a trip to the castaway-luxe Raffles Maldives Meradhoo to rediscover the wonder of each other.
But this writer posits that exceptional, awe-inspiring travel moments are best experienced in the company of someone special.
WE TRAVEL TO ESCAPE the familiar, to discover extraordinary people and places, to experience a sense of wonder and awe. Sometimes, it’s great to do that on your own. Plenty of travel writers prefer to travel solo. It keeps you nimble, they say. But it also prevents one of the great pleasures of going on a journey — sharing incredible, memorable experiences. Preferably, with someone you care deeply about.
When I met the woman who is now my wife, we’d both just returned to our hometown of Sydney after a ‘gap year’ spent living in London. Our horizons and minds substantially expanded, we were newly worldly 19-year-olds, ever so much more sophisticated (we were sure) than the average Aussie youngster.
We’d never met during our concurrent stay in the United Kingdom, but we’d danced all night at the same London clubs, visited many of the same European cities, had the same struggles in low-paid jobs — she working as an au pair, me pulling pints (and the occasional Irish lass) in a West End pub. Thanks to those parallel travel experiences, we formed an immediate bond — sweatily cemented by the type of torrid mutual attraction of which only adolescents are capable.
We’ve been exploring the world together ever since. One of our first joint journeys was to Bali. This was the mid-1990s, and if memory serves, the return Sydney-Denpasar flights and five nights’ accommodation cost A$1,500 — total, for the two of us. I can’t remember the name of the cheap’n’cheerful resort we stayed at in Ubud. I do vividly recall that its pool was surrounded by stone carvings of monkeys acting out the Kama Sutra in graphic detail.
These days, as parents of two daughters, we tend to choose more family-friendly establishments for our holidays. And fortunately, we’re occasionally in the position to patronise a slightly higher standard of lodgings than that economical spot in the hills of Ubud. Places like Raffles, for example.
While Mrs. Barker and I moved to Singapore in 2005, it wasn’t until 2021 that we got around to bedding down at this city’s most famous hotel. Normally you only stay at hotels outside your home city, don’t you? But during the pandemic, with Singapore’s borders impenetrable as Snake Plissken’s New York (“Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane”), staycations became a thing — the only thing, matter of fact.
So it was that we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in Raffles’ incomparable colonial-luxe surrounds, leaving the kids at home and reveling in a little private, adult time. Well, no, we did generously allow the girls to come visit us for a swim in the hotel’s rooftop pool, tastefully decorated with a Grecian mosaic — not a fornicating macaque in sight.
In appreciation of her remarkable tolerance and forbearance, I’ve taken my long-suffering significant other to some rather spectacular hotels over the years. Among the more memorable were the Aman Canal Grande in Venice, the squisito Renaissance-meets-modernist palazzo where George and Amal Clooney famously tied the knot; and the legitimately awesome, sprawling Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in the Tuscan hills, which currently (and most deservedly) tops Travel + Leisure’s list of the world’s best hotels.
Raffles Singapore ranks right up there with those two, in terms of devastating good looks, superb service, incredible cuisine and overall unforgettable experience. That’s why we chose another property in the brand’s expanding portfolio, Raffles Maldives Meradhoo, for our 20th anniversary this year.
As the auspicious date fell during the school break, our girls accompanied us on our anniversary trip. Stymied the chances for romance a tad. But like I said at the start, sharing outstanding travel experiences with loved ones is among life’s great joys. It was brilliant to see our daughters gazing across the azure ocean with ‘fresh eyes’ as we flew a small plane from Malé to Meradhoo, then hopped on a speedboat, before being thoroughly wowed by the beauty of the resort.
The last time we all visited the Maldives — well before the pandemic — our girls were little nippers, whereas this trip, they spent way more time exploring the reef than the kids’ club. At Raffles Meradhoo, the waters are fantastically clear, and the coral and other marine life are about the healthiest I’ve ever seen in the Maldives, making snorkeling here a magical experience to share as a family. The fish found on our plates were as spectacular as those seen undersea, and it was lovely to witness my sushi-loving eldest get her first taste of Japanese-Peruvian Nikkei cuisine at the resort’s Yuzu restaurant.
Nevertheless, much as we adore precious family Kodak moments to treasure, parents (especially parents marking a monumental anniversary) really do need a bit of alone time — a request Raffles Meradhoo fulfilled in magnificent style.
As the tide went out one afternoon, Mrs. Barker and I were ferried to a remote sandbank 20 minutes by speedboat from the resort. There, sun loungers, umbrellas and a table for two had previously been set up, with a bottle of chilled rosé and sophisticated picnic snacks laid out. After our attentive butler Adi had finished pouring the wine, he hopped back in the boat and took off, leaving us to enjoy two hours of blissful solitude on our own desert isle. (Equipped with a mobile wi-fi connection in case of emergency.)
Exceptional, unforgettable experiences like these — they’re what travel’s all about. And they’re exponentially better shared. Especially this particular experience. To be marooned alone on that sandbank with nothing but crabs for company? No thanks, Tom Hanks. But to be alone, truly alone, in a tropical paradise, with the love of your life? Authentically awesome. Anchors aweigh.
Raffles Maldives Meradhoo starting rate for Beach Villa US$1,420 per night for two adults, including breakfast; return domestic transfer flights US$600 per person. Note: rather than seaplanes, you take a small aircraft that flies out of the Male domestic terminal to a landing strip near the hotel, then hop on a speedboat (included in cost) about 20 minutes to the resort island.
Images Credit: Raffles Singapore and Raffles Maldives Meradhoo unless otherwise noted.
