This Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge Review is part of our recent return trip to the Maldives. Visiting the Maldives and interested in the best possible stay? To date, we've stayed at 6 different Maldives luxury resorts–see our posts tagged Maldives.
For those wondering if Cheval Blanc is part of a larger luxury brand, yes–it's owned by luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton, whose Chairman, Bernard Arnault, bought Chateau Cheval Blanc–one of only four Saint Emilion wine houses with the Premier Grand Cru Classe (A) designation–in 1998. Cheval Blanc as Louis Vuitton's luxury hotel and resort brand was created in 2006.
For the prior posts, please see:
Review: Emirates Lounge, JFK Airport, NYC
Review: Emirates First Class A380 New York to Dubai
Review: Emirates Economy Class 777-300
Review: Moonimaa Lounge, Male and Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives
Park Hyatt Maldives Review 2016
Review: Park Hyatt Maldives Dining, Restaurants and Menus
Park Hyatt Maldives Things to Do: Manager's Cocktail Reception
Getting to the Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge
Upon arrival in Male, whether from an international flight or from another resort in the Maldives, you'll be met by Cheval Blanc Randheli representatives, who will escort you to the resort's comfortable private SUV, to take you to the Cheval Blanc Randheli lounge in the Male Seaplane Terminal. If you arrive from another resort by seaplane, it's just a short walk to the lounge.
Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge Male Amenities
The Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge is well-appointed, particularly given that the resort itself has fewer than 50 villas, so it sees many fewer guests than, for example, the Four Seasons lounge. Here's the entrance:
Step inside, and you'll see a sculpture in a similar shape to the one at the resort, as well as several seating areas and choices, from armchairs to a sofa and even canopied day beds.
The bathroom offers a shower with Cheval Blanc Randheli shampoo and conditioner if you want to refresh after a long flight, or before getting on a flight to go home. There are also handy amenities and a hairdryer in the bathroom:
After about 5 days away from home without his Legos and other building materials, our son was thrilled to discover the Kids' Play Room, with Legos and Kapla blocks. Can you tell he's excited?
He designed a model of a futuristic villa for us 🙂
There's also of course WiFi, although I did have to ask once for it to be rebooted. Additionally, there are iPad readers by the entrance for you to use.
Here's a quick video I took of the lounge:
Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge Menu, Food and Drink
I love that in contrast to the other Male lounges I've been in, which have either had mostly unappetizing buffet options or very simple snacks, the Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge has an actual menu, with snacks, yogurt, pastries in the morning, quiches in the afternoon, an astonishing array of fresh squeezed juices, a variety of tea and espresso drinks, and of course bottled water such as Evian, Acqua Panna and Perrier.
On our outbound travel to the resort we were there in the late morning, so we enjoyed fresh squeezed juices (watermelon of course for our son, and mixed passion fruit pineapple juices for us). On the return, I had straight passion fruit, also wonderfully fresh and delicious:
We also had some strawberry yogurt, which was from the French brand Elle & Vire (although even better Ferme des Peupliers yogurt was available at Cheval Blanc Randheli itself):
And my husband had some pain au chocolat, which he said was very good.
On our return, we were there in the late afternoon, so we had a chance to try both the chicken and cheese quiche and cheese and vegetable quiches, which were excellent:
We also tried the coconut cake, which had great flavor, although pales in comparison to Cheval Blanc Randheli's other confections, such as macarons and chocolates.
The Verdict
Even for Cheval Blanc Randheli, a super luxury resort, I wasn't necessarily expecting much for its seaplane lounge due to the small number of villas and guests and the relatively short time most of them will spend here. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised by its offerings, which were very tasteful. I particularly appreciated the amazing array of fresh squeezed juices, the tasty quiches during our late afternoon/early evening layover, and most of all, the fantastic kids' play room that fully occupied our son for over an hour on our outbound, and a good 2 hours on the return. Whoever appointed the Kids' Play Room with Kapla building blocks knew what they were doing. The only thing I wish is that there could either be La Ferme des Peupliers yogurt stocked at the lounge, or at least that some plain yogurt could also be stocked, since we found the Elle & Vire strawberry yogurt too sweet.
If you've recently visited the Cheval Blanc Randheli Lounge in Male, the Maldives, what was your experience?
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