From personalised pillow profiles to hand-delivered artwork, Soneva Fushi's general manager Antony Paton explains how the barefoot luxury pioneer delivers service that is relaxed, professional and now officially the best in the world.
There's a dreamy quality to arriving at Soneva Fushi, or indeed any Maldivian resort, by air. The seaplane flies low over atolls scattered across the deep blues and dazzling turquoises of the Indian Ocean. By the time the plane skims the water and lands, guests are already lulled into holiday mode.
Waiting to greet them is often Paton himself, along with the resort manager and a personal butler – known as a barefoot guardian, a nod to the toes-in-the-sand luxury that defines the Soneva brand. "The welcome is the most important thing, and it must be quick," Paton explains. "I introduce myself, the resort manager, and the barefoot guardian who will look after them." Said guardian will then handle everything from restaurant and spa bookings to diving excursions and castaway picnics.
Guests arrive at Soneva Fushi by seaplane and surrender their shoes once ashore
On arrival, guests are invited to surrender their shoes until departure. Alongside cold towels and welcome drinks, a 15-minute massage and the option of a brief island orientation are offered. Meanwhile, Paton and his team quietly assess a guest's mood and body language – gauging how tired they are, and whether they prefer to chat or head straight to their villa.
If it's the latter, one of Soneva Fushi's 12 commandments comes into play, one of which is ensuring luggage arrives at the villa before the guests. Inside, they'll also find a selection of snacks from the resort's restaurants – a preview of what's to come.
These dozen 'non-negotiables', as Paton calls them, form the backbone of the resort's approach to a flawless stay. They include simple gestures like always smiling, escorting guests to their destination rather than pointing and making sure everything works at all times: "air conditioning, electricity, everything," says Paton.
Highly personalised service is a non-negotiable at Soneva Fushi
They are underpinned by a deeper philosophy: listen, anticipate, act. Paton recalls a guest mentioning to her husband that she hadn't slept well because of the pillows. Without waiting to be asked, her guardian offered alternatives. "It's amazing what you can pick up by listening, even when you're not directly with the guest," he notes.
Treasure island
If staff are the resort's greatest asset, the island itself comes a close second. Large by Maldivian standards, Soneva Fushi stretches 1.4km long and 400m wide – space that many other resorts would envy. Blanketed in lush jungle, it features 80 vast villas, either nestled along the shoreline or perched over the lagoon, the latter complete with Soneva's hallmark water slides.
There's ample room for world-class facilities. The Den, its children's club, sprawls across an area larger than six tennis courts. There's a full-sized tennis court, a padel court and Soneva Soul, a spa offering advanced treatments such as hyperbaric chamber therapy, cryotherapy, IV drips and more, alongside conventional, Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine delivered by resident doctors and visiting specialists.
Soneva's tree-top restaurant, Flying Sauces, regularly features chefs from The World's 50 Best Restaurants
Dining is another area the resort shines. In addition to beach and overwater venues, Shades of Green offers plant-based menus in an organic garden, while So Primitive serves food cooked over hot coals buried in the sand. Flying Sauces, reached via a 200-metre zipline along treetops, delivers adrenaline as well as fine dining, hosting culinary stars such as Julien Royer of Odette and Tim Raue of Restaurant Tim Raue, regulars on The World's 50 Best Restaurants lists.
And yet, luxury here is not without generosity. Guests can wander into dedicated cheese and charcuterie and chocolate and ice cream rooms day or night – stocked with enough food for a meal and all complimentary. It's a perk that delights families and reassures guests they're not being nickelled and dimed after paying a premium for their stay.
Surprise and delight
Sometimes, delivering the exceptional means going the extra mile – or several thousand. On one occasion, a regular guest commissioned a bespoke sculpture from the resort's recycled-glass workshop (the first of its kind in the Maldives). After checkout, he decided against shipping it, fearing it might break. The solution: Soneva paid for a staff member to fly to his home city and personally deliver it by hand.
Soneva's team regularly surprise guests with bespoke experiences
Guardians are also empowered to create smaller memorable moments. If a guest enjoys cocktails, a guardian might arrange a private mixology session, for instance. "The team are encouraged to find what guests like and surprise them, with our compliments," says Paton. "We go overboard with anniversaries and birthdays, listening to guests to come up with ideas that blow them away. Our guardians are masters of special touches."
Soneva also considers itself guardian of its 460 hosts – as staff are called – the wider community, and the environment. Employees are offered training and funded online courses. Meanwhile, the group's Soneva Namoona initiative includes installing reverse osmosis systems to produce fresh drinking water on local islands, building glass bottling plants, and supporting waste-management projects.
This holistic approach, Paton says, is what makes Soneva Fushi special. "Hospitality goes far beyond service. It's about creating meaningful experiences that touch the hearts of our guests, combining genuine warmth with thoughtful attention to detail, and fostering an atmosphere where both guests and hosts feel at home. Winning the SeiBellisimi Art of Hospitality Award 2025 is a testament to the efforts of all our hosts to go above and beyond the norm."
As part of the confidential voting process, 50 Best asked the 800-strong Academy of expert voters for The World's 50 Best Hotels to name the hotel that offered them the single-best hospitality experience in the voting period, with this year's award being bestowed upon Soneva Fushi.
The list of The World's 50 Best Hotels 2025 will be announced on Thursday 30 October live from Old Billingsgate, London. To stay up to date with the latest news, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube, and sign up to our newsletter.
