Justin Bieber was our next-door neighbor in the Maldives for a week – though his 4-bedroom overwater bungalow was admittedly swankier than our measly 2-bedroom bungalow. This is the Soneva Jani resort in the Maldives. Justin, his wife Hayley, and probably a dozen of other people he flew over stayed in the newer, all-inclusive area of the Soneva Jani resort in the Maldives called the “Chapter 2” villas. If you’re looking at a map of the resort, the Chapter 2 villas are on one end of the island while the Chapter 1 villas (not all inclusive) are on the other end closer to the main restaurant (The Gathering).
This is not an inexpensive resort. Given what we paid for the 2-bedroom overwater villa (not cheap), I can only imagine what the per night price was for the 4-bedroom behemoth of an overwater villa. The patio on this villa is huge (I viewed it from a paddleboard in the lagoon – sadly, I was not invited to any Bieber pool parties during the stay). This sunset view of the front of the villa is probably one of my favorite photos taken while in the Maldives. It captures the pink glow of the sky contrasted with the blue of the lagoon. I think Justin had already left the resort when I snapped this photo.
And no – I didn’t take any photos of Bieber, his wife, or his entourage while there (no disrespect to the paparazzi, but nature/architectural photography is more my thing). Truth be told, Justin mostly kept to himself and, other than a passing nod here or there, we didn’t really interact (though my son talked to him for a few minutes on the pier/boardwalk). Seemed like a nice enough guy – hope he enjoyed his time in paradise at the Soneva Jani resort.
