JA Resorts & Hotels has appointed Karen Merrick to take over the leadership of multi award-winning JA Manafaru, a private island resort in the Maldives.

The Scottish National is the second female general manager in the JA Resorts & Hotels portfolio of eight properties, and currently one of few female general manager in the Maldives.

She joins the JA Manafaru team to maintain the islands longstanding popularity with international guests and to communicate the unique soul of the island with her innate understanding of Maldivian culture and heritage.

Merrick’s career spans 30 years across a variety of boutique hotels in the Indian Ocean and Europe.

This will be her fifth leadership role in the Maldives, as she has a personal connection to the area with a home on Addu island with her Maldivian husband, Alim.

Prior to joining JA Resorts & Hotels, Merrick has spent the last three years running the Song Saa Private Island in Cambodia. with her previous tenures being the Taaras Resort & Spa in Malaysia, Kemang Icon by Alila in Indonesia, Soneva Fushi Resort & Residences, Diva/White Sands Resort & Spa and the Rania Experience – all based in the Maldives and Ackergill Tower, Scotland.

Merrick will be leading a team of 350 associates in the idyllic five-star luxury island resort.

Fringed with exquisite powder beaches in pristine, lagoon ringed Haa Alifu Atoll, at the northern tip of the Maldives, the chic tropical hideaway features 84 luxurious beachfront and over-water villas and bungalows, each with their own private plunge pool.

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JA Manafaru is considered the Indian Ocean’s Leading Honeymoon Resort by voters at the World Travel Awards.