It’s another celebrity prepared to send a wave of excitement and glamour after an array of world-famous personalities featuring on the Dream Calendar since the past five years. Per AQUUM has mastered the art of keeping its guests happy through high-end events delivered frequently.

And she has a list of accolades shimmering around her credentials. She has been nominated for the prestigious GRAMMY awards twice, has bagged the BRIT award, and is a Q award winner. Her songs have been massive hits with her nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart. The musician and performer has shared space with U2 and also made an appearance on Moby’s Area One Tour.

Towards the end of the year, Maldives witnessed opulence, with Mr. Hudson, Kayne West’s protégé, and BT and Poet Name Life adding fervent colours to the Dream Calendar’s 5^th anniversary. The singer has been in tune with the big names from the international music industry, working with will.i.am, David Guetta, Boys Noize, Jean Baptiste, Benny Benassi, DJ Ammo and Diplo, and others. Her popularity has crossed fences and Calvin Harris, the Scottish recording artist collaborated with Kelis in June 2011, to bring out the massive hit ‘Bounce’ that shot up at number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Well, the year is passing by, and Per AQUUM intends to begin the year in style with first big appearance from Kelis. When the start is colossal, with an A-list celebrity to celebrate the New Year with you, the year would surely be a gift, isn’t it?

Its esteemed DJs, DJ Albi and DJ Anna, stealing the show as Resident DJs over the upcoming year end festive season. 15Below, the fabulous, heart-throbbing underground club at W Retreat & Spa, Maldives, will bring to you some deep house style music that will take you an entirely different, enchanting world. Dance, groove to the music, tap your feet and relish you favourite drinks and snacks while the fantastic DJs rock the club to their astounding rhythm.

15Below will reverberate to the new tunes from November 15, 2011.

DJ Albi, a Slovakian, has been rocking parties in clubs since 2007. He will now be whirling the W Happening events and sating W Maldives’ guests’ appetite for music and dance.

DH Anna, a female, Slovakian DJ, is eager to make the Maldivian nights beautiful and render flavor through exquisite music. She has been in love with music since her childhood and has been playing the piano since she was merely six years old.

Such is their undying penchant for music. 15Below is sure to present some fabulous winter nights, where it’s cold outside, but cozy and booming within, with music, dance and drinks raising the temperature.

The performance will be a treat for music lovers, with DJ Angus Wong’s immaculate sense of music sending out mammoth doses of electrifying music. He began his quest at a young age, inspired by mere 6 CDs of 80s and 90s music. He surely displays some real talent. DJ Angus began spinning music and almost mastered the art at the young age of 21, when most people just begin to develop a passion for it. If you are a party animal, you must be acquainted with the club series Gay Tea Dance at Tivo, created by the young talented resident DJ at the famous W Hotel at Hong Kong.

What DJ Lab is

DJ Lab is a unique musical concept taken by W Hotels and burn studios, from burn, a world famous energy drink from the Coca-Cola company, which patronizes and promotes talent in music, worldwide. It is a grand platform that has taken music to a new height.

W Hotels’ Global Music Director chose six budding talents from around the world, out of whom DJ Angus Wong is one, to give them a platform to let them display their mastery at mixing music.

Definitely, it is a feat not to be missed.

Alas! Chefs do not reveal the secret to their lip-smacking delicacies or the amorous cocktails you so want to take home the recipes of. But Chefs at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa differed in opinion. Why not spread what’s good and that everybody loves! In this quest to spread their taste far and wide, Sheraton Maldives’ chefs have pulled out the hidden recipes out of the hotel’s kitchen to let you master culinary skills, and become an expert with preparing and serving Sheraton Maldives’ signature dishes.

We have introduced you before to Sheraton Maldives’ Executive Chef Sven Cepon and the fervor he has come with. Here’s an immediate consequence of positive changes brought about at Sheraton Maldives. Come to Sheraton Maldives and witness Sven Cepon share the secrets and tips to preparing his fabulous, scrumptious dishes at ‘The Chef’s Table’. Learn to prepare the enticing and mellifluous combination of taste and aroma that shall cast a spell on your guests and on your soulmate, preparing him for a beautiful night therefrom.

Chef Sven Cepon is excited and he said, “Many of our guests are very curious by our creations and have a lot of questions on how certain dishes are made and the ingredients used.  It’s for this reason that you’ll see the culinary team and I mingling and talking to the guests during their dining experience.  From these interactions, we thought that something like this would be great, so that we get to share our experience and create memorable connections with our guests”.

The Chef’s Table is scheduled every other Thursday from 12pm to 2pm while the Cooking Class is scheduled every other Thursday from 11am to 1:30pm.

When you earn, it’s also imperative to donate, help others- the un- and underprivileged- build a future. It’s the responsibility of every self-sufficient to contribute even a little, if not magnanimously, towards mankind. Starwood Hotels and Resorts have been doing so in the most gracious way possible. They help the underprivileged children dream and fulfill them without developing guilt for having dreamt of things which they could otherwise never fulfill.

Starwood, in close association with UNICEF, through the Check Out for Children Challenge, have raised US$7 million to help the children since the year 2003. In 2010, the Challenge raised US$ 132,000 from the Asia Pacific region. Must we say, Starwood Hotels and Resorts have gathered some strong support from the Asia Pacific region. Who says humanity has vanished!

W Maldives Retreat & Spa takes the initiative and takes a step ahead. It invites its guests, on December 20, 2011, to swim 1.4 kms to Gaathafushi. The participation amount raised by the activity will be donated to the charity that will help desolate children. The activity promises not just the satisfaction and honour of serving the mankind, but also a light BBQ, drinks and some fabulous music by the Resident DJ to make your feet work after the race. Aim at completing the race not merely to win, but also to gift the world with something valuable.

It isn’t the first time that W Maldives have done something for a global cause. Talents of W Maldives arranged US$ 5300 and US$ 2300 for the survivors of Haiti and for the Japan Tsunami relief fund, respectively.

If you wish to participate in race for humanity, contact Whatever/Whenever at WMaldives.Welcome@whotels.com.  After all, it’s not just about swimming; it is the sense of satisfaction you will derive for realizing a child’s dreams.

Sheraton Maldives’ immaculate hospitality has pulled out a unique chance for you to prepare just their assortment of signature cocktails’ eclectic flavors all by yourself.

Introducing Cocktail classes by Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa!

Their cocktails have been appreciated worldwide and they intend to spread it, further, to every house. Now, when you go back after splendid holidays at Sheraton Maldives, you have the privilege of resurrecting the exotic cocktails anytime and to anyone you want.

Speaking regarding the cocktail class, Executive Assistant Manager for Food & Beverage Mr. Moon Kang said that “A lot of our guests are enticed by the signature cocktails that have been conjured by our skilled bartenders. We wanted to go the extra step and connect with our guests by showing how to make their favorite drinks as well sharing the recipes.”

“After all, we at Sheraton always believe that life is better when shared and felt that sharing the recipes with our guests was a truly memorable experience which they get to take back home and impress their friends and family.”,  Moon added.

Visit the Anchorage Bar at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa to experience the learning. Cocktail classes are held every Sunday from 3pm to 5pm.

Sheraton Maldives shares the recipe for their signature cocktail Senorita Mojito;

Ingredients

1. Half Lime – Approx. 10g
2. 02 Table spoons of Brown Sugar
3. Hand full of Mint Leaves
4. 40ml of Bacardi Gold Rum
5. 10ml of Elderflower Cordial
6. 03pcs of Lychee
7. 30ml of Soda

Instructions

• Put all the ingredients in to an old fashioned glass and smash with muddler.
• Once done, fill the glass with crushed ice.

This time, it came from the South Asian Olympic Council (SAOC) which beneficed Maldives with its graceful announcement. With pride, Maldives will host the second South Asian Beach Games 2013. It is a matter of great pride for Maldives to win with unanimous consensus in the SAOC meeting that was held at the placid coastal city of Hambantota, in Sri Lanka; it’s here that the South Asian Beach Games are to happen. Hemasiri Fernando, president of Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee, was elated to reveal Maldives’ emergence as the sole choice for the SAOC 2013. The choice for the first South Asian Beach Game was, originally, Maldives. Hambantota, which might host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, was chosen later on the consent of Sri Lanka.

Maldives shall decide and take a decision on the date of the South Asian Beach Games 2013. There are more things that are yet to be decided, like the sports that will be included in South Asian Beach Games 2013, but bodybuilding and triathlon have been removed from the list due to lack of participation. However, there are lots of other exciting sports lined up.

Well, you see it for yourself. The most complacent of entities turn adventurous sometimes.

Food, since time immemorial, has inspired souls and gratified them with tinkles in tongue that crave for an other visit each time. That’s the magic of taste that cuisines from around the world bring to you.

Bloggers behind Asia’s most popular food blogs ‘Cumi & Ciki’ and ‘A lil fat monkey’ found taste replete in Maldives. Taste flows in Maldivian restaurants; they had heard about it and wanted to experience. So, besides the usual fun activities in Maldives, they charged their feet to the best restaurants and bars on the islands. Of course, it was expected out of bloggers who nourish the best food blogs on the web!

They enquired about the various delicacies that the Chefs served, learnt the various cocktails and mock-tails the Bartenders prepared, and prepared themselves for a delectable feast. They tried W Hotels’ Fire restaurant and Sea Salt at Sheraton Maldives, and were spellbound by the taste and variety that Maldives delivered.

Ms. Mei Teh of the blog Cumi & Ciki, who is also a food photographer from Malaysia, said, “The service and food was sensational, especially the menu at Sea Salt in Sheraton Maldives and at Fire in W Maldives. We were completely impressed by the contemporary Maldivian cuisines prepared by Executive Chef Sven Cepon at the Sheraton and Chef Mauro Gomez at W.”

The bloggers did not make any less efforts to unravel the mystery of taste offered by the Maldives. They paid a visit to the fish market and vegetable market in Male’; it is at the ground level where the genesis of taste lies. They ended the prowl with a fabulously delicious authentic Maldivian dinner at Sea House, a renowned restaurant in Male’.

Mei of Cumi & Ciki was elated with her reception at Maldives and the adventures she had with cuisines. She said that she would highly recommend Maldives as the ideal holiday destination to anyone who asked her for suggestions.

Mei said it just a few days back; we have always said the same! You believe us now, don’t you?

Maldives has welcomed and served tourists from around the world. The beautiful island nation has received a thump of 18 percent this year, with 506,179 tourists visiting last year’s initial eight months, and a burgeoning increase of 91, 132 visitors in eight months leading to a mammoth figure of 597, 311 tourists who enjoyed memorable holidays in the Maldives.

China takes the lead among the nationals patronizing tourism in Maldives. The nation witnessed a staggering 63 percent increase in tourists from China; 22,827 tourists visiting last month and 126,561 tourists this year, up to August, is a proof of Maldives’ growing popularity there. Germany is another country from which Maldives has witnessed a tremendous increase of 16.7 percent; the number of tourists from Germany stands at 54,973. France follows with 40,833 arrival- an increase of 14%.

United Kingdom has contributed a lot to tourism in Maldives. Though with a seven percent decrease this year, with 69.875 tourists from January to August this year, its contribution cannot be neglected.

It’s merry times for resorts in Maldives as they attain 79.6 percent occupancy, which is a hike of around 7 percent as compared to last year.

With all these statistical skyscrapers mounting up for Maldives, blessed times are surely all the year round as a payoff to its unmatched beauty and efforts from the hospitality industry in Maldives.

The three stalwart restaurants are Anantara Veli’s Geckos, Anantara Dhigu’s Fuddan and sister property Naladhu’s The Living Room.

Anantara Veli

Naladhu

Anantara Dhigu

“Wine Spectator magazine is known worldwide as a guide to the world’s best wines and we are honoured to be part of the Wine Spectator awards which recognises restaurants that show passion and commitment when it comes to wine,” CEO Minor Hotel Group, owner of Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas, Dillip Rajakarier said.

“Our brand promise is to bring travellers closer to local cultures, food and experiences, and with our first class restaurants and wine cellars we believe our guests can walk away with an amazing culinary experience,” he added.

What’s so special about the Award of Excellence?

Wine Spectator has always had a keen eye on wine patrons, and it’s a highly classy affair to match their standards. Each year, the magazine picks restaurants that serve more than 100 different wine selections from eclectic geographical regions and varietals. Wine connoisseurs know it well that serving wine is an art and that it is important to serve the right one with the right cuisine. Also, choice of guests does matter.

Wine Spectator chooses the best restaurants on the basis of these important parameters. And where guests’ opinion matters, hospitality standards elevate. Anantara sure knows how to keep its guests happy and the rapacious scrutinizers more than pleased.