Minimalist vs Maximalist: What a Staff Exchange to the Maldives Taught Me About Sustainable Hospitality
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Anyone who knows Andrew knows he is a big fan of staff exchanges, whether that’s with properties from The Long Run or not. Back in December 2025 when the opportunity came up to go on one myself, naturally I jumped at it and immediately started thinking about where in the world this might take me.
Casually discussing it with Leanna, our wonderful (now ex…very sad!) marketing manager, led to her saying “hey you should go to my old property! Six Senses Laamu (SSLM) in the Maldives.” Two weeks later, dates were set and flights were booked. The openness of the idea from the SSLM team, namely General Manager Martyne and Sodhig, the HR Director, especially as they had only ever done something similar within other Six Senses properties, was inspiring. They were on board with the idea from the start in a very ‘why not?’ fashion. I’ll always be grateful for this.
Where was this beautiful place?
Roll on 24th of March 2026 and there I was on a tiny sea plane (terrifying by the way but SO worth it) taking the 75-minute journey from Malé down to the Laamu Atoll. Nerves turned into excitement as we flew over turquoise waters and tiny islands as we hovered above the cloud line; complete magic. Then, Olhuveli island appeared, home to Six Senses Laamu. I couldn’t help the smile that instantly came onto my face as we approached this mesmerising island. Who would I be working with? Where would I be staying? What would I be learning?
Instantly, the warmth of the place radiated. I was greeted by HR Manager Brenda and given a tour of the back of house, presented with a custom-tailored uniform and my bike with personalised initials, and shown to my quarters. The days that followed were full of introductions and welcoming smiles, each individual intrigued about who I was and why I was there. I’ll admit, I had an instant ‘in’ by knowing Leanna! She was truly loved by all the long-term staff members - which is the majority - and stories of her time there were shared constantly. All the incredible GEMs
My team. The people are GEMs. Not just because they were lovely souls, but this literally translates to Guest Experience Makers. As the island is 97 villas as opposed to our 20 on each island, the guest relations team is naturally much larger. Each GEM is assigned to between 4-8 villas that they are responsible for 24/7…and it really was 24/7 with requests coming in at all times of day.
Ravah the immaculately well kept GRM clearly leads by example, providing incredibly personalised service to his repeat guests of 10+ years. It was formal, yet casual. Upscale, but not uptight. Professional, but familiar. Shah the supervisor, full of constant energy and always talking, was the same, going above and beyond with personal touches.
There’s a concept we follow on Nikoi and Cempedak, which is ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’, a great book by Will Guidara about going the extra step to create those truly unforgettable memories that last a lifetime, and this is truly what Shah embodied. One night at 9pm, I found him using an old printing technique with paint thinner to transfer an image onto a rustic piece of wood as a souvenir. Often on Nikoi we are designing custom laser-printed luggage tags for repeat guests, or plaques to commemorate sustainability warriors. The link was strong and it was a pleasure to discuss with, not just Ravah and Shah, but the whole team, what drives us in this line of work and where our passion comes from.
Sense of Ownership
What struck me the most was the incredible sense of ownership. The attention to detail across every department I was able to work with in my short time was incredibly impressive.
One of my favourite spots was the Earth Lab, famous within the Six Senses brand. This space is built around nurturing sustainability and further embedding it into practices, whilst providing fun and educational interactions for guests. It was here that I met Kokky, the newest member of the sustainability team who also quickly became a dear friend. Kokky has worked at Six Senses Laamu since 2011 in the dining team. A side hobby and passion making earrings from plastic and other rubbish picked up from the beaches, has led to the transfer to sustainability.
Kokky takes what has been discarded as trash, and crafts beautiful one-of-a-kind earrings for guests, even crafting custom creations to match a guest’s evening attire. Learning about how this passion was encouraged and fed to grow into something more tactile reminded me strongly of Reny back on Nikoi.
A similar story: Reny worked in the dining team on Nikoi for seven years before transferring to the sustainability and environment team to further grow his passion for sustainability. Since then, he has pioneered many projects such as upcycling waste wine bottles into tumblers and candle holders, experimenting with eco enzymes to replace harmful cleaning chemicals and leading the management of our mosquito hotels. What’s more, he is being sent on his own staff exchange this November to Cottar’s Safaris, the same property from The Long Run that Andrew recently did his CEO swap with.
Minimalist vs Maximalist Sustainability
On Nikoi & Cempedak, we have no in-room amenities. No telephones, no mini bars, no paper welcome letters, no air conditioning. Our dining concept is a set menu to limit food waste and we, for the large majority, only serve local ingredients. SSLM is completely different, because the Maldives is completely different. Yet they’re still sustainable.
Indonesia is 1,905,000 square kilometres, has 17,000 islands with about 6,000 inhabited, and a growing population of 288 million people. The Maldives is just 298 square kilometres, is made up of 1,192 islands with little over 300 inhabited, and a population of 532,000. Yet the Maldives has comparatively one of the largest tourism industries in the world. Pause and think about this. The scale is huge. It was something I was constantly musing over during my working day. How do they do it?
Over 90% of Maldivian goods are imported, because the economy simply can’t survive without them. They must fly in food, amenities and merchandise as it's impossible to keep up with demand.
As a result, SSLM does not only serve local food or have one dining option. They have the in-room amenities and a mini bar option. But, where physically possible, the sustainability impact remains of an incredibly high standard. Not only that, but their pioneering work with marine conservation is miles ahead of anywhere I have come across, partnering with three NGOs to form the Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI).
As a result, I came to this conclusion. Nikoi & Cempedak Islands are minimalist sustainability; SSLM is maximalist sustainability. The way they handle these hurdles, while still managing to embed sustainable practices and remain industry leaders driving meaningful change, deserves recognition.
Island Hopping
I can’t write this without mentioning the legendary Shania, who also happens to be Leanna’s best friend from her time there. Shania has worked at SSLM since day one - similar to Kokky - and her passion, authenticity and zest for life shine through in everything she does. She recently transferred from reservations to sales, and I can’t imagine a warmer character for this position.
A perfect example of this was one of my days off. She arranged for a private boat to take us island hopping across the Laamu Atoll. What’s incredible about the Laamu Atoll is that SSLM is the only resort here, and so the level of exclusivity is unmatched.
So early in the morning at 7am (I am not a morning person!) Shania and I, along with Myfau and Lam - members of Shania’s team and two people I’m overjoyed to be friends with - set off with cooler boxes and suncream in hand. What awaited me was pure magic and by far one of the best days of my life. We visited a series of different tiny islands, each ringed by white sands, BBQ’d fresh snapper fish and garlic bread, swam between islands and spotted eagle rays and turtles.
The genuine hospitality of the Maldivian people is inspiring, and these three friends truly embodied that. I felt like I had known them forever, not just for the short couple of weeks. Stories were shared and laughs were had and this is something that will live in my memory forever.
Back to my islands
So what now? I’ve had this incredible experience learning from some truly inspiring people. I’ve witnessed, learnt and noted down everything.
Change comes from sharing and through engaging in conversation, and that is exactly what I have been doing for the past few months since returning to Nikoi & Cempedak. I’ve learnt that in this job, you can’t force change. My approach is to instigate and nurture it through open collaboration rather than instruction.
I’ve sat down with our Front Office teams to share details about the way guest lists and personal requests were communicated, which has led to more details being provided to staff for repeat guests, so that we can better personalise service. With the carpenters, we’ve designed and created our own guest-facing interactive turtle hatchling counter inspired by the one at SSLM that tracks adult turtles. This has led to an increase in interest around our work in the Marine Protected Area (MPA), whilst inspiring little ones to learn.
I learnt from the community manager at SSLM about how they engage with the locals and economically support them, which has led to ideas that shall form a stronger relationship between us and The Island Foundation. The SSLM ‘Bar Experiences’ menu has led to the beginning of us creating our own one influenced by Indonesian culture, which will include jamu making.
I could go on, but I don’t want to brag… But in all seriousness, it’s been exciting to be able to bring ideas and influence change on Nikoi & Cempedak. One of the reasons I waited a while to write this piece was to be able to see the full picture of the exchange, which feels not only encouraging but meaningful too.
We’re excited to welcome a member of the SSLM team to our islands next year! Watch this space…
Want to chat about my experience or have thoughts on what I’ve written? Please feel free to email me on esme@nikoi.com.
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