Calling out often were the irresistible ice-cream, chocolate, charcuterie and cheese cold rooms at all-day diner The Living Room. And that mushroom martini from its “medicinal mocktails” menu that tasted like a luscious espresso martini? Uncanny.
How do you choose from 14 different cuisines, ranging from Indonesian to Nordic, with a private chef preparing it in your villa? After much dithering, I had a hearty Indian lunch by chef Shalin, who presented a thali of small plates such as beansprout salad, dhal curry and lamb keema. I also enjoyed a Sri Lankan feast by chef Gayatri who used her mother’s recipes on dishes like tempered beetroot, dal fry, dry chicken curry and chili crab. You can also have special meals such as those on floating kitchen So Private and soon-to-launch So Primitive, where guests gather around a central fire pit in the sand and tuck into meat, seafood and plant-based dishes.
Amid these luxuries are serious sustainability initiatives. All the villa interiors are crafted from fast-growing and durable bamboo or plantation-grown wood, instead of rainforest hardwoods. Driftwood become furniture, statement lighting and sculptures while waste metal and glass are re-purposed into the likes of door hooks, drawer handles and restaurant dishes. Soneva’s CEO and Joint Creative Director Sonu Shivdasani shared that solar panels are being installed to achieve almost 100 per cent dependence on renewable energy for Secret’s electricity needs by 2025.
