Diana Farah

As luxury tourism in the Maldives continues to expand, .Here, a new ultra-exclusive private resort in the UNESCO-protected Baa Atoll, is gearing up to attract visitors from Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region through personalized service and family-centered experiences.

Speaking to Arab News Japan, Steven Phillips, General Manager of .Here, said the resort’s strategy is based on understanding what travelers from the region look for beyond luxury.

“One of the main things with this region is not only about the wealth, it’s a very wealthy region, but we need to understand what guests from Saudi Arabia enjoy about a vacation,” Phillips said. “They like expansive villas, and the smallest one is 1,200 square meters, the biggest 3,300 or something. They enjoy that most of all.”

He added that many Saudi families prefer to spend time together rather than separately during their stays.

“When families do come, they all want to be together,” he said. “They don’t mind if they go off to the children’s areas, but I believe they want to be together as a family. So we need to create experiences for them which are more inclusive.”

The resort’s service model includes personal butlers for each villa, with the largest properties staffed by two, and a focus on discreet, tailored hospitality.

Pre-arrival customization is also a key part of the guest experience.

“We’re hoping that the butlers are able to talk to one of the secretaries or people looking after [the guests] a couple of weeks before they come,” Phillips explained. “We’ll be able to bespoke the refreshment areas, for example, do you want to have pomegranate juice everywhere? Do you want to have these things, what type of dates, do you want Patchi chocolate? All this kind of stuff, so we can bespoke it for them, because you don’t want them to have to think, especially on holiday.”

Phillips described the resort’s philosophy as one centered on “delighting and surprising” guests through small but meaningful gestures.

As a new resort entering a competitive market on Dec. 15, Phillips said .Here aims to stand out through its distinct identity.

“I want them to say, I’m going to .Here, which happens to be in the Maldives, not, I’m going to the Maldives,” he said.

He also highlighted the resort’s sustainability efforts, which include investments in solar energy and coral restoration.

“By the end of this year, [the owners] would have spent over $200 million,” Phillips said. “They bought it for $90 million, did refurbishment in 2021 during COVID for $25 million. As of mid-November, they’d have spent nearly a million dollars on solar to try and give back sustainability. We actually planted 1,200 new pieces of coral.”

Looking ahead, Phillips said the resort expects steady growth into 2026 as word-of-mouth spreads among early visitors.

“There’s always a gradual pick-up,” he said. “A lot of guests like to be the first people in , and that’s particularly so from this market. We do see that come the end of March it’s going to pick up, because people say, ‘I was there,’ and then it’s our job for them to go home and tell everybody.”

For Phillips, the resort’s success will come from a combination of attentive service, word-of-mouth and the Maldives’ enduring appeal.

“We just say to ourselves, we do our job. If people want to come, then they’ll come. And we want them to come to us,” he said.

Designed by Singaporean architect Christopher Chua and London designer Inge Moore of Muza Lab, .Here features just nine villas spread across two private islands.

Each villa stretches across the sandbank from sunrise to sunset, with infinity pools suspended high above the greenery. The property’s signature residences include Nowhere, a 2,399-square-meter five-bedroom presidential villa, and Somewhere, a series of two-story beach villas with 45-meter pools that appear to merge into the sea.

Built almost entirely from natural materials, the resort’s aesthetic blends soft neutral tones with the surrounding landscape. Its restaurant and bar are designed to make guests “feel connected to the cosmos,” while private chefs tailor menus to individual preferences.

Guests seeking variety can take a short yacht ride to neighboring Finolhu, home to award-winning restaurants such as Kanusan and Arabian Grill.