Soneva Stars

Paweennuch Soisongsee, also known as Khun Noom, is a highly experienced healer who has dedicated over 20 years to practising different modalities across Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. Committed to “setting man free” through the transformative power of Reiki and sound healing, her classes are known for their powerful awakening and transformational effects and have been sought after by people from all over the world. Her ultimate goal is to help people heal from their physical, mental, and spiritual suffering, while also assisting them in achieving a state of awareness where they can tap into their inner truth.

France’s Jennifer Le Nechet was crowned the world’s best bartender at the World Class Bartender of the Year Global Final 2016 – becoming the first female bartender to claim the title. Following a four-day battle in Miami, she triumphed over the world’s greatest talents in cocktail making. The French bartender, who could usually be found crafting drinks and charming customers behind the bar at Café Moderne in Paris, wowed the judges by creating a spectacular range of vibrant drinks at her Steampunk-themed pop-up bar. In 2018, Jennifer opened Mino on Rue de Ménilmontant in Paris. The decor and menu took inspiration from the Mediterranean while the cocktails were sold in pitchers, perfect for drinking with groups of friends. Among her signature cocktails is the Bella Ciao, a negroni prepared sous vide with confit tomatoes and basil.

Hailed as one of the best football freestylers in the world, Marcel Gurk is the current German champion, holds ten Guinness World Records and is the author of the world’s first book on football freestyling. He made it to the semifinal of Germany’s Got Talent, Das Supertalent, and travels around the world sharing his unique skills. Having studied sport and media management in Dusseldorf, Marcel also specialises in working with children and has designed his own unique concept to help take his students’ skills to the next level. While in the Maldives, he will be hosting football freestyling workshops for Young Sonevians at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani.

Kiki Bertens is a Dutch former professional tennis player who picked up her first racket at the age of six. Throughout her decade-long professional career, she won ten WTA singles titles and ten WTA doubles titles and reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. In 2019, she achieved a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 4, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female player ever. She retired in 2021 following the Olympic Games in Tokyo and is now working as a coach for the Dutch tennis federation and training teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18.

Ricky Saward is a German chef, entrepreneur and cookbook author. He is the head chef and co-owner at Frankfurt’s Seven Swans restaurant, which was named the world’s first Michelin-starred vegan restaurant in 2020. Ricky’s recognition stems from his unique, sustainable philosophy of vegetarian cuisine with regional, seasonal sourcing of ingredients based on the concepts of “farm to table” and “root to leaf”. After joining Seven Swans in 2018, the restaurant was awarded one Michelin star for its vegetarian cuisine, making Ricky one of just five Michelin-starred vegetarian chefs in the world. In mid-2019, Ricky switched his focus to plant-based cuisine utilising only home-grown or regionally sourced ingredients. The same year, his sustainable philosophy was awarded the world’s first Michelin Guide Sustainability Award. In 2020, he was again awarded one Michelin star, in addition to a green star, and became the world’s first Michelin-starred vegan chef. Today, he remains Germany’s only Michelin-starred chef producing purely plant-based cuisine.

Igor Oleynik is ranked among the top 16 football freestylers in the world and is a four-time Russian national champion. He started playing football when he was six years old and switched to freestyling at 16. He went on to successfully participate in numerous international tournaments, including the prestigious Red Bull Street Style events. During his professional career, he has been a brand ambassador for Nike and Adidas and collaborated with Volkswagen and FC Lokomotiv. In 2018-2019 he played for Amkal, one of the most popular media football teams in Russia and also one of the biggest YouTube projects. In addition, he is the founder of iFreestyle, the largest freestyle and street football school in the world which united around 250 children. A talented coach, Igor never stops learning and polishing his skills. Passionate about inspiring others, he never sets limits for himself, constantly inventing new tricks.

Dr Ryuki Hyodo is a planetary scientist at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as an International Top Young Fellow and spends several months per year working at Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP). He specialises in planetary formation theory and planetary exploration, actively contributing to the development of next-generation planetary missions within JAXA. Previously having participated in planetary missions of the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, and JAXA, with the contribution of optimising mission design for the most significant scientific insights and discoveries. His research interests are focused on understanding the formation and evolution processes of various planetary systems, small celestial bodies, and rings, using computer simulations and theoretical methods. He is known for his notable work on the formation of Saturn’s rings, and his research on Phobos, one of Mars’ moons, has suggested the possibility of finding traces of past Martian life on its surface. Dr Hyodo’s research has been published in esteemed scientific journals, including Science and Nature Geoscience.

Jacob Holmström is the head chef and co-owner of two Michelin-starred Gastrologik, located in Stockholm, Sweden. His dedication to showcasing the richness of Swedish cuisine, combined with his passion for sustainability, has solidified his reputation as a leading figure in the culinary world. His work at Gastrologik continues to be celebrated by food enthusiasts and critics alike, making him a prominent chef in the contemporary gastronomic scene. Prior to opening Gastrologik, Chef Jacob honed his skills in various kitchens, including three-Michelin-starred Noma in Copenhagen. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards and accolades including a White Guide Global Gastronomy Award which celebrates their commitment to sustainable, locally sourced ingredients and innovative cooking, along with Gourmet Restaurant of the Year in Sweden in 2020.

Fernando Torres is a former professional footballer famed for his quick pace and accuracy. In his prime, he was praised for his pace and accuracy, earning the nickname El Niño, or ‘The Kid’, with a successful career that saw him play for some of the world’s top football clubs. Goal after goal, he earned accolades for Spain (Atlético de Madrid), England (Liverpool F.C. and Chelsea F.C.), Italy (AC Milan) and Japan (Sagan Tosu). In 2001, his football career began with one of the great clubs in Spanish football. Starting at Atlético to the First Division and playing five seasons in the top category, he obtained notable scoring records and became captain. By 2007, he went to English football, breaking century-old records with Liverpool and winning the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League titles for Chelsea. At the same time, he was a key player of the golden generation of the Spanish National Team that chained the Euro World Cup and Euro Cup titles between 2008 and 2012, scoring a famous goal that marked the most successful period in the history of Spanish football. After a brief period in the Italian Serie A as a player for A.C. Milan, Torres returned in January 2015 to his birth club, Atlético de Madrid, where he expanded his legendary numbers and lifted the desired Europa League title in 2018, a golden culmination of his red and white career along with the memorable farewell tribute wrapped up by the Atlético de Madrid family at the Metropolitan stadium. After a season and a half at Japanese club Sagan Tosu, he retired in August 2019, putting an end to a sporting career that already appears on the Olympus of world football. Currently, Fernando is taking the first steps in his coaching career by leading Atlético de Madrid’s youth academy, the jewel in the crown of the red and white Academy, while leading various business projects focused on sports activity and fitness.

Harry Jameson is an elite performance coach, who has worked with some of the world’s most successful names and brands over a long 20-year career. Specialising in optimal daily performance, stress management, leadership and emotional well-being, Harry has worked with clients that include partners at McKinsey, CEOs of Chelsea Football Club and ITV, the UK Prime Minister, Apple, Nike, Twitter and Lululemon. Helping the busy executive stay mentally, physically and emotionally at the top of their game has been Harry’s life’s work. More recently, Harry founded Pillar Well-being, a global luxury well-being and hospitality concept, and Harry also writes a monthly column for The Times newspaper.

Entrepreneur and top chef Tim Raue is one of Germany’s best-known chefs. And with good reason, because the Berliner, born in 1974, has redefined German top gastronomy and made a name for himself internationally as one of the few German chefs. For example, Tim Raue’s restaurant has not only been awarded two Michelin stars and 19.5 Gault&Millau points, as well as the title of Restaurant of the Year 2019 by Feinschmecker, but it has also occupied a permanent place on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list since 2016 – currently ranked 31st in 2021. In addition, Tim Raue is the only German chef to date to whom the world-renowned series Chef’s Table on Netflix has dedicated its own episode, and you can also watch him on MagentaTV in his own series HERR RAUE REIST! SO SCHMECKT DIE WELT on his gastronomic discovery tour around the globe. Tim Raue has also established a firm place for himself on German television: He regularly appears in front of the camera on the hit VOX show Kitchen Impossible and is a jury member on the SAT1 programme The Taste. In the past 15 years, Raue has also published four books – including the autobiography “Ich weiß, was Hunger ist“ and the cookbook “My Way“. In addition to his work as a star chef, Tim Raue is also active as an entrepreneur. For this activity, he was named „Restaurateur of the Year 2014“ by the renowned gourmet guide Gault&Millau. Raue himself says: “With the TIM RAUE restaurant, I have fulfilled a lifelong dream – but my other projects mean culinary freedom for me and the opportunity to fully live out my many ideas with the help of my chefs.“ He already operated restaurants in Dubai and a Michelin starred Pop-up in Switzerland. In his role as culinary consultant, he, therefore, oversees now the Brasserie Colette Tim Raue in Munich, Constance and Berlin as well as Villa Kellermann in Potsdam. In 2016, he also created the Asian restaurant concept HANAMI by Tim Raue on TUI Mein Schiff 5, which has since opened on three other ships in the fleet.

Italian chef Alberto Faccani has been passionate about the restaurant industry since he was a small child. Named by prestigious Italian food and wine guide, Identità Golose, as one of the ‘100 chefs who have changed Italian cuisine in the last 10 years’, his dynamic style of cuisine is self-taught, blending styles, forms and traditions. After working at the Michelin-starred La Frasca and Enotecca Pinchiorri restaurants, aged just 27, he decided to open his own restaurant, Magnolia, in 2003. Within just 18 months, it had received its first Michelin star, and today has two Michelin stars to its name. In 2005, Faccani joined the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe group, before starring on the popular Italian TV show, La Prova del Cuoco, between 2008 and 2010. Passionate about preserving and enhancing regional culinary traditions, he is a member of the Chef to Chef Emilia Romagna Association, and also runs a cookery school in partnership with KitchenAid. Soneva Fushi: February 5 – 11, 2024 Soneva Jani: February 11 – 15, 2024