First Look: Inside Maldives’ Velaa Private Island’s Brand-New Wellbeing Village
The successive grunts from my appointed osteopath, Dr. Sergey Boltunov, concerned me: for every proke, prod, and painful crack of my collarbone area, he emitted a different sound. Once he’s done, will he tell me I have six months to live? I wondered. The resulting prognosis was much less foreboding: “You have a muscle spasm in your left abdomen area,” he revealed, before going on to accurately detect my chronic stress levels. As I biked back to my sunset-facing overwater villa, I thought about how discomfort and hard truths aren’t the typical draws of a Maldives getaway—but if the challenging path to wellness means doing so on a lavish reef-fringed private island, then there are certainly worse ways to do it.
Enveloped by jungle within the $200 million, 47-villa island resort, the newly unveiled Velaa Wellbeing Village has a dedicated yoga and pilates pavilion, a center for multi-day ayurveda, osteopathy, and medical programs with two treatment villas, and Faiy, a wellness-themed restaurant with a menu that would delight nutritionists and diners alike. After a few months of stressful travels, I surrendered to the Village’s restorative guidance in hopes of a truly transformative retreat.
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Velaa owner and Czech entrepreneur Jiri Smejc has had a personal interest in wellness for years (my resort osteopath is Smejc’s personal doctor) and sensed visitors’ desire for the same. “It wasn’t until the pandemic that we noticed how many guests wanted to stay longer on the island and work on themselves and their wellbeing during their holiday,” said Lisa Jakobsson, Velaa’s marketing director, as we enjoyed an overwater meal at Aragu—the first Maldives restaurant with Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants recognition. Like its pandemic-era contemporaries Soneva Soul at Soneva Jani and Joali Being—the country’s first dedicated wellness resort—Velaa Wellbeing Village is part of a wave of luxury Maldives hideaways going beyond Swedish strokes to offer holistic, intensive wellness programs to guests.
My main practitioner for Evelyaa Wellbeing—the treatment portion of the Village—was Dr. Peeyush Kumar, an ayurvedic expert who’s practiced at some of the finest upscale resorts in India and the Middle East. I shared my issues with digestion and chronic stress and anxiety on a pre-arrival consultation via Zoom, so by the time I’d walked past Evelyaa’s dark wooden colonnade and low-rise fountains to meet Dr. Kumar in person, a personalized five-day wellness program awaited me. Disarmed by his warm aura, I discussed my past and present emotional issues, learned about the vagus nerve and a flurry of ayurveda breathing techniques to rein in my hyperactive mind, and, like with Dr. Boltunov, heard things I didn’t love to hear—like a recommendation of a three-week diet that would avoid all starchy, white-colored, gluten-based, spicy, or acidic foods upon my return home. I much preferred the twice-daily ayurvedic massages he prescribed in the beige-and-cream treatment villa, kitted with double massage beds and shirodhara stands, a minimalist Japanese-style relaxation area, and traditional steam boxes.
A stress-busting morning round of Hatha yoga was also what the doctor ordered, in a new thatched yoga and Pilates pavilion facing Velaa’s emerald-carperted golf course, followed by a brisk personal training session in the gym the next day. If, like me, the thought of healthy, detox-grade cuisine doesn’t stir joy, you’ll be blown away by the village’s breezy pavilion restaurant, Faiy. There are no fat- or calorie-counters on the general menu (split into raw, plant-based, and “spa” selections), making the likes of steamed spinach-stuffed Tasmanian ocean trout, carrot falafel, and garlic and honey-infused mushroom burgers seem secretly indulgent. Faiy’s also equipped to create bespoke, off-menu dishes for Eveylaa guests on a dedicated nutrition or weight management track.
On my final day and consultation with Dr. Kumar, I felt more equipped to take on life’s stressors with the advice, techniques, and natural remedies given throughout my stay. Dr. Boltunov unearthing that abdomen spasm helped my digestion immediately after, and I reminded myself more that “the body keeps the score.” Velaa Wellbeing Village offers more than the fly-and-flop tropical holiday for those who desire it, and one gets out what one puts in for lasting results. But will I have the willpower to take on that three-week digestive detox recommendation post-trip? The jury’s still out on that. Villas from $3,011 per night; velaaprivateisland.com
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