LUXURY LIVING TRAVEL u
Celebrating 25 years of
Barefoot Luxury As Soneva Fushi celebrates 25 years as a sustainable pioneer, founder Sonu Shivdasani looks back at how it all started – and how Soneva’s innovative approach to barefoot luxury is still making waves
“I was completely blown away. I’d never seen anything like it.” This was Sonu’s first glimpse of the Maldives, flying in with his then-girlfriend, Eva, in 1987. They never looked back. In 1995 - 25 years ago - they opened Soneva Fushi, the very first luxury resort in the Maldives. Things were very different back then.
“There was little development. The handful of resorts were very basic, with plastic chairs, strip lighting, salt water showers - and all the food came out of tins”. But it was the landscape that captivated Sonu and Eva, who married soon after.
“The first time I put my head in the water I was staggered. The colour, the coral, the fish - it was like being in an aquarium.”
