This week we are highlighting one of the handful of Maldives resorts that promotes what they call a “No news, no shoes” policy. The Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu is a luxurious private-island resort where the emphasis is on being casual and comfortable rather than fancy and posh.
This style is perfect for those who might have to wear a suit every day during their normal life and the last thing they want to do on holiday is to dress up for dinner on a tropical island.
This week we are highlighting a luxury property that is really two resorts in one. With the recent merging of the Sofitel Marara Beach and Sofitel Private Island resorts guests can now choose the convenience of being on the main island of Bora Bora or the solitude of staying in an overwater bungalow a short boat ride away on the private island.
The Sofitel Bora Bora has a lot going for it even if it were one of the more expensive Bora Bora overwater bungalow resorts, but in fact it’s often the cheapest of them all due to some very appealing online special rates.
With each and every Maldives over water villa resort located on its own private island, it’s a rare case when guests can combine that kind of privacy with the conveniences of a second island a very short ride away. The Anantara Veli Resort & Spa is just such a place. It’s small and secluded with only 50 water villas and no island rooms, but it’s a very short boat ride to its sister resort where more restaurants and activities are waiting for all guests.
Of the twenty or so overwater bungalow resorts clustered around Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora, the most remote is one of the more affordable in the region, called the Manihi Pearl Beach Resort.
Some people may prefer to be on an island with another resort every few hundred yards, but for those looking to feel that they are in paradise at the edge of the world, this is one to consider.
One of the larger private-island resorts in the Maldives, the Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa only added its 30 Jacuzzi Water Villas in late 2010, so everything is still new and pristine. There are 154 rooms and villas on the island as well, and with that size there are great benefits for guests, not least of which is a very reasonable price compared to similar water bungalows in the Maldives.
Just east of Bora Bora lies the most intimate of all overwater bungalow resorts in the South Pacific. With only 9 total rooms, 6 of which are at the edge of a private 23-acre island and the other 3 of which are magnificent overwater bungalows just out over the lagoon, this is as mellow and low-key as things get at a resort hotel.
This week we are featuring this splendid resort because in addition to everything else it has going for it, it’s quite reasonably priced as well.
This week we are featuring a unique “couples resort” located on its own private island just off the coast of Belize. St. George’s Caye Resort has 6 over-the-water-cabanas, as they call them, which share a semi-circle pier out over the Caribbean sea. There are six other rooms located on the island itself and that’s it, and if you have a group of the right size you can rent the entire island out yourself.
week’s featured overwater bungalow is not among the largest or most glamorous in the South Pacific, but it’s an extremely popular resort for a few key reasons that many people will want to consider.
The InterContinental Tahiti Resort has 32 overwater bungalow in addition to over 200 other rooms, making it one of the largest resorts of any kind in French Polynesia. Perhaps its best selling points are that it’s quite reasonably priced, and it’s very close to the Tahiti Airport without being too close.
week we are highlighting what we think is the best-value over the water villa resort in the Maldives, at least in the lower price categories. The Hilton Maldives is actually a 5-star resort that tends to exceed the expectations of those prepared for a 4-star chain hotel.
As one of the larger resorts of its kind in the Maldives, the Hilton has a lot going for it for those who like a long list of activities and restaurant choices.
continuing series we are going to jump over to Asia, where they usually call these things “water villas” instead of overwater bungalows. The Maldives, which is just southwest of India, is actually home to about two-thirds of all the overwater bungalows in the world, and this week’s resort is one of many that offers fantastic value.
The Maldives is very popular with Europeans since it’s an easy overnight flight from anywhere in the region, but it’s a tougher sell for Americans since the flight even from Los Angeles will take an entire day.