Your comfort and protection is our priority

Travelling to Soneva resorts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Updated: May 15, 2020

To our dear friends, guests and partners,

Please see below a list of Q&A that you might find useful when booking or planning a stay at a Soneva resort now or in the future. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you need more information.

  • Is it safe to travel to Soneva resorts now?

    Fortunately, all of our resorts are either private islands or completely isolated from the general public. As such, we have complete control over who we permit to enter our resorts. We have implemented some of the Maldives and Thailand’s strictest protocols in response to growing concerns from travellers regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus).

  • What are we doing to keep our resorts safe?

    Our prevention and protection plan includes a comprehensive sanitisation programme across the resort and enhanced sanitisation protocols, emergency quarantine and containment procedures, screening and awareness programme for our Hosts. Over the past few weeks, we have also taken a number of additional measures which include restricting non-critical movement for Hosts, pausing all day-visits to our resort by guests of other islands or resorts, cancelling unnecessary travel, and minimising the amount of physical contact between Hosts and guests, among other things. Guests and hosts are also no longer legally allowed to transfer between islands in the Maldives, including between Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani.

    All of our measures are being done discretely, and we aim to ensure that this is done without you noticing. While our warm handshakes have been temporarily replaced with a Thai “wai” greeting, we assure you that our hospitality is as warm as always.

  • What are your cancellation policies?

    We aim to stay as flexible as possible and until further notice we are offering a revised payment and cancellation policy for new bookings, for all resorts at all times (except over peak periods). This means that guests can book now for a later date, and only need to pay seven days before arrival. If you are unable to travel due to a restriction imposed by a Government, please contact our Reservations Team who can help you rearrange your stay. We are doing our best to support all guests and our loyal repeaters during this challenging time.

  • What happens if I start feeling unwell during my stay at Soneva?

    We ask that you please remain vigilant during your stay with us, and you immediately report any symptoms of the COVID-19 infection (runny nose, fever, dry cough and flu) to our General Manager, who can arrange for an immediate consultation with our resort nurse.

  • How do I get to the resort safely?

    Our reservations team will explain our transfers to you during or after your booking process. Please note that our transfers are on private aircraft and we sanitize the aircraft and boats after all transfers to and from our resorts.

  • Are there COVID-19 testing and quarantine facilities in Thailand and in the Maldives?

    There are COVID-19 testing and quarantine facilities in Male’ and Bangkok. Our resorts and Hosts are well equipped to deal with all emergency situations including an outbreak of COVID-19.

  • Who can I speak to in order to find out more information about your onsite prevention and management plans?

    Feel free to contact our resort managers for more information:

    Soneva Fushi

    Abhishek Sharma - General Manager
    E: [email protected] 

    Diletta Guarino - Executive Assistant Manager
    E: [email protected]

    Soneva Kiri

    Elias Pertoft - General Manager
    E: [email protected] 

    Mohamed Faseeh - Executive Assistant Manager - Rooms
    E: [email protected]

    Soneva Jani

    Antony Paton - General Manager
    E: [email protected]

    Fathmath Shaazleen (Shaaz) - Resort Manager
    E: [email protected]

    Soneva in Aqua

    Grant Ruffel - Manager, S/Y Soneva in Aqua
    E: [email protected] 

  • Are the resorts still open?

    Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives remain open.  Soneva Kiri is temporarily closed and will reopen on October 01, 2020. During this time we will be making enhancements to our resort and facilities, as well as implementing new protocols to offer enhanced hygiene and sanitation measures.

 

Despite everything going on around us, we are doing our very best to continue with our promise to inspire a lifetime of rare experiences. Our Hosts at Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani and Soneva Kiri have put together this video - ‘World, Hold On’ - to share love and positivity that we hope you will enjoy.

Now, as always, the safety and wellbeing of our Hosts and guests is our number one priority at Soneva. I would like to reassure you that we are vigilantly monitoring the ongoing global situation around the clock and have put in place a comprehensive prevention and protection plan at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Thailand.

I would like to share with you some recommendations from Dr Lakshman, our resident Ayurvedic specialist at Soneva Fushi, who is also my own personal physician. Dr Lakshman has offered the Ayurvedic supplement, an immune booster, Andrographis Paniculata, to all our Hosts. Studies have shown it to reduce the duration and severity of upper respiratory tract infections, and its compounds are currently being explored by the Thai government as a possible treatment for COVID-19 – you can read more about this here. In India, Andrographis was also used extensively during the SARS outbreak. You should be able to buy some online or via your local Ayurvedic store but if you have any trouble sourcing this, please let me know and we can assist.

There are a number of other anti-virals which have been used in Ayurveda for centuries, including ginger, garlic, apple cider vinegar and honey, as well as turmeric (also known as curcumin) which is activated when combined with pepper. Dr Lakshman recommends incorporating these immune-boosting foods into your daily diet.

At Soneva, we are very fortunate that the remoteness of our three resorts means they are completely isolated from the rest of the world. With many countries now recommending that families and individuals self-isolate to halt the spread of COVID-19, we appreciate that your travel plans are likely to change given the severity of the virus and lock-downs in various countries. Our Reservations Team is ready to assist with any of your current and future travel plans, including facilitating private jet arrivals or private transfers to our nearby airports via our own Soneva seaplanes or Cessna aircraft.

We offer the ultimate in privacy and seclusion across all of our properties: our spacious villas have extensive private gardens and outside areas, with the space, solitude and peace of mind to enjoy life’s simplest pleasures, from feeling the sand between your toes or making precious memories with your nearest and dearest.

If you have any questions about any of the above, or if there is anything else you would like to speak to us about, please do not hesitate to reach out. I remain at your disposal, as do our General Managers across Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani and Soneva Kiri.

As always, thank you for your ongoing trust and support as we navigate these difficult times together.

Sincerely,
Sonu and Eva