Win online game, head for luxury resort in Maldives (IANS Travel. With Images)

more images

more images

MALE - Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra’s brush with fame started here. Vocalist Keith Flint of The Prodigy fame and celebrity Australian footballer Harry Kewell loved every minute of it. Now it’s your turn to enjoy a private island fantasy in one of the most luxurious resorts in the Maldives - and for free.

All you have to do is to log on to the new website of Coco Palm resorts (www.cocopalm.com), and play an online game called “Pack Your Suitcase”.

Hidden suitcase icons appear on the website every Monday to Thursday which contains the name of a travel-related item such as sunglasses, passports and swimsuits. The participants are supposed to submit the items they found in an online form March 4. The winner will be announced through a lucky draw March 7.

The big prize: a two-week free holiday for the winner plus a guest at the exclusive Club Coco Palm at Coco Palm Bodu Hithi every year for the rest of their life.

If you pay for two weeks’ stay at the Coco Palm, a resort patronised by billionaires, celebrities and film stars, it costs a staggering $28,000!

The promotional lucky draw is the brainchild of four brothers, one of the Maldives’ wealthiest families, who started off as airport meet-and-greet boys in the mid-1980s and now own the luxury resort. It’s their way of giving ordinary tourists a taste of ultra luxury, said a Coco Palm manager.

It takes barely half an hour in a sea plane from Mal International Airport to reach Coco Palm resort, the winner of numerous travel industry accolades, including the 2009 World Luxury Hotel Award.

It offers guests a wide array of ultra luxury choices. One can soak in a tropical island fantasy at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu, a private island retreat overlooking a pristine blue lagoon in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The picturesque resort has beach and lagoon villas amid lush mangroves and coconut palms and is equipped with a diving school, a spa and a private butler on demand. It’s a godsend for water sports enthusiasts who can enjoy hours of snorkeling and beach volleyball here.

The stunning resort is not a stranger to Indian film stars and international celebrities. A decade ago, Priyanka Chopra walked in beachwear on the ivory white beaches of Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu for the swimwear contest of Miss World.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif pranced around on these beaches while shooting for “Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya”, a rip-roaring romantic comedy.

Celebrity footballers like Kewell and Francisco Totti just loved the place, said Nabeel Hilmy, marketing manager at Club Coco Palm. The resort is also a big draw with Russian billionaires.