Bulgari Hotels is bringing its sustainable ethos to a private island luxury resort in the Maldives set to open by 2025.
The Bulgari Hotels Maldives Resort Ranfushi, which means “little gold island” in the native language of Dhivehi, will open by 2025, making it Bulgari’s 13th hotel property.
Ranfushi will be built on the Raa Atoll, about a 45-minute plane ride from the Maldives’ capital city, Malé. It’s being designed by architectural firm ACPV Architects, which has designed the other existing Bulgari properties, including the forthcoming locations in Miami and Los Angeles.
“We are particularly proud to have secured such an extraordinary location for the new Bulgari Resort Ranfushi, as the Maldives are a key dreamy destination for our clients from all over the world,” Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari’s CEO, said in a statement. “We are convinced that this new gem of hospitality addition will ensure once again the highest levels of quality and innovation to our international customers and we look forward to sharing with them the Bulgari values in hospitality at this new, very exclusive location.”
The Ranfushi location will span nearly 50 acres and host 54 rooms, 33 beach villas with their own swimming pools, 20 overwater villas, and the Bulgari Villa, which will be on its own exclusive island.
Amenities include a fitness center, yoga pavilion, on-site library, and Bulgari-themed bar and spa. The hotel’s four restaurants will feature menus by Michelin-star chef Niko Romito, as well as a Chinese fine-dining location, Bao Li Xuan, a Japanese concept Hōsek, also found at Bulgari Resort Dubai, and Italian beach food by La Spiaggia.
Bulgari has been at the forefront of sustainable hotel destinations around the world. Its sustainability strategy, “innovating the present for a sustainable future,” builds on its social good “giving back” strategy.
Bulgari Hotels sustainability
According to the Italian luxury brand, covid created opportunities for luxury houses to take the lead in fundraising and corporate sustainability. It integrated blockchain tracing to track its efforts in its jewelry and its hotel efforts. At Hotel Milano, its first property that launched in 2004 in Milan, the hotel features organic bedding, and biodegradable laundry detergent, among other measures on the property.
In Shanghai, the property was built with double-sided thermal insulated glass windows and a curtain wall system to decrease waste from solar heat consumption. It boasts energy and water recycling, and environmentally safe green chemicals, among other measures.
When it built the first new hotel in London in 40 years, sustainability was also top of mind, with “pioneering” building methods used for a “more sustainable interpretation of luxury.” That involved a sustainable BREEAM design, and was one of the first buildings in the U.K. to use Geothermal Ground Source Heat Pumps. The building also features a green roof that supports the city’s biodiversity action plan.
In Bali, it implemented, “Tri Hita Karana,” a Balinese philosophy based on the human relationship with God as the spiritual environment. Measures there have earned it awards for its community involvement, which includes tree planting, an on-site herb garden, support for local bee-saving operations, including hives at the resort, and participation in community cleanups and support for local orphanages.
The Beijing property boasts state-of-the-art insulation, rainwater harvesting, and a local-flora-inspired garden designed by landscape artist Enzo Enea. As in Bali, in Beijing, the resort supports a number of community efforts, including offering support and care to orphaned and vulnerable children through the Holt International Foundation of China.
Sustainability in the Maldives
Sustainability and social metrics for the Bulgari Maldives location have not yet been announced, but they’re likely to be significant. The archipelago is in the path of rising sea levels that threaten the region’s resort properties as well as the homes of the locals.
A floating city design released last month that would sit off the coast of Malé, is expected to be complete by 2027. It can support 20,000 people. Warming sea temperatures have contributed to coral bleaching around the islands; in 2016 the Maldives lost 60 percent of its reefs to a mass bleaching event. The loss of coral increases the risk of rising sea levels.
Hotel and resort operators in the Maldives have been leading efforts to protect the region from the impact of climate change and protect biodiversity loss.
The Fairmont has opened a Sustainability Lab and is positioning itself to become the largest recycling center in the region. The Soneva Fushi resort on the Baa Atoll hosts a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Gili Lankanfushi is home to the region’s first coral restoration project. Kudadoo Maldives and the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Maldives resort both have on-site marine biologists aimed at protecting the local sea turtle populations.
“Our islands are slowly being inundated by the sea, one by one,” Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the president of the Maldives, said during the COP26 climate summit last November. “If we do not reverse this trend, the Maldives will cease to exist by the end of this century.”
