Soneva hotels in the Maldives
STANZA is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a partner of Soneva.
The collection
2 hotels
Two Soneva hotels are in the Stanza collection; both hold five-star standing. Both are in a single destination: the Maldives, in the northern atolls. Soneva is the company of Sonu Shivdasani and Eva Malmström Shivdasani — the name joins theirs — and it began on Kunfunadhoo in Baa Atoll in 1995, when Soneva Fushi opened as the original of barefoot luxury in the Maldives; a third island, Soneva Kiri, followed on Koh Kood in Thailand. In Baa it keeps Soneva Fushi, thirty minutes by seaplane from Malé in the atoll's UNESCO biosphere reserve, with the largest villas in the Maldives, an open-air cinema and an observatory; in Noonu, an atoll to the north, Soneva Jani, opened in 2016 on a 5.6-kilometer lagoon, with overwater villas whose roofs slide back for the stars and whose slides drop into the sea, the Chapter Two villas on the island and an observatory over the water. Both hold five-star standing. Each page shows a reference rate per night, and the concierge confirms exact rates and availability before anything is booked.
Good to know
Where does Stanza list Soneva hotels?
In a single destination, the Maldives, and both in the northern atolls, reached by seaplane from Velana International: Soneva Fushi on Kunfunadhoo in Baa Atoll, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2011, about thirty minutes' flight from Malé, with Hanifaru Bay and its mantas in the same atoll; and Soneva Jani in Noonu Atoll, an atoll to the north, on a lagoon 5.6 kilometers long, with Cheval Blanc Randheli and Velaa Private Island as its neighbors in the collection. The Maldives page lists every hotel we keep in the country, five-star first.
What distinguishes the Soneva hotels in the collection?
Each was admitted on its own merits, one hotel at a time, never by brand. What the two share is the island Soneva invented in 1995 — no shoes, no news, a villa with its own stretch of beach or lagoon, and an observatory on each — and what sets them apart is the setting: Soneva Fushi has the largest villas in the Maldives on a jungle island in Baa Atoll, with a cinema under the stars; Soneva Jani stands over the water in Noonu, with roofs that retract above the bed, slides from the deck into the lagoon and the Chapter Two villas on the island. Both hold five-star standing.
When is the best time to stay at a Soneva hotel?
Both islands follow the seasons of the Maldives. November to April is the dry season under the north-east monsoon — calm seas, the clearest water, the longest days of sun — and Christmas, New Year and the Chinese New Year weeks are its peak, when the islands ask for minimum stays and fill months ahead. May to October is the south-west monsoon: warmer, wetter in passing showers, the sea less glassy on the exposed sides of the atolls, and the islands quieter — and, for Soneva Fushi, the months the plankton brings the mantas into Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll, roughly May to November. The water is warm in every month. The Maldives page carries its note on the months, and the concierge advises on dates for either island.
How do I reserve a Soneva hotel through Stanza?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm. Both islands are reached by seaplane from Velana International, by daylight; the hotel arranges the flight with your booking, and it is not part of the room.
