You could live in a £30,000-a-night Maldives villa for a year for free
White sandy beaches and clear blue skies could be all yours for a year – but there is a catch
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A luxury island resort is offering an all-inclusive stay in a £30,000-a-night villa, completely free, for a whole year.
White sandy beaches and endless summers could be all yours without any costs — but there is a catch.
You have to run a luxury resort’s bookstore for a whole year.
The high-end Soneva Fushi resort, located on Kunfunadhoo island in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll, is offering the hard-to-resist package.
According to the job advert, the job will suit an adventurous and creative novel-lover who is free to start in October.
The year-long contract pays £620 a month, but the successful candidate could even earn more if they run literature classes for the island’s rich clientele, according to The Observer.
They will also be expected to run the bookstore alone, introduce themself to guests and make personalised recommendations, as well as running the accounts and stocktake.
The bookworm should be comfortable “on their own, so they’re pretty much running the whole thing themselves”, according to Alex McQueen, the spokesperson for Ultimate Library, which manages the bookshop at Soneva.
He adds: “The ethos of the island is: no shoes, no news. They encourage guests to reconnect with the ground.”
The individual would also ideally have previous experience in publishing or have worked in a bookshop.
Other perks include free food and accommodation at the retreat, which has its own lavish gym, spa, watersports and private beach for staff.
Soneva Fushi is described as “a natural treasure nestled in the Baa Atoll Unesco Biosphere Reserve, and one of the largest islands in the Maldives”.
Customers are encouraged to take a digital detox and stay off phones and not read newspapers.
Georgie Polhill, 27, from London, said she came back from the island a “very different person” after spending six months there as the previous bookseller.
She said the biggest challenge was getting used to the slow pace of life on the island.
“If you tried to fight it too much and hurry everyone on to get things done, you would absolutely burst a blood vessel,” she said.
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