Water villas of the week: Anantara Veli Resort & Spa – Maldives

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.

Water villas of the week: Anantara Veli Resort & Spa – Maldives
Getting to Tahiti

Although you’ll find that getting to Tahiti isn’t the cheapest, the adventure over tends to be both easy and straightforward. This is because there are only a few airlines that fly into Papeete’s Faa’a International Airport, which serves as a hub for the entire South Pacific. Regardless of which direction you are coming from, you’ll be arriving on a huge wide-body jet such as a 747, so even the coach seats tend to be roomy and comfortable, which is a nice thing to look forward to.

Getting to Tahiti
Overwater bungalow of the week: Manihi Pearl Beach Resort

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.

Overwater bungalow of the week: Manihi Pearl Beach Resort
World’s largest overwater resort, with 522 Pool Water Villas, is now open

Until about 2010, the resort with the most overwater bungalows in the world was the Four Seasons Bora Bora with 100 overwater rooms. Then the AVANI Sepang Gold Coast Resort opened just south of the Kuala Lumpur Airport and it looked unbeatable with its mind-blowing 392 Water Villas (some of which share a structure). Move over, AVANI Sepang, because the Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson Resort is open and it has an amazing 522 water villas, each complete with a private plunge pool.

World’s largest overwater resort, with 522 Pool Water Villas, is now open
Best videos showing what Bora Bora resorts are really like

As fond as we all are of drooling over photos of Bora Bora resorts, we are in the age where everyone is walking around with a video camera all the time. Needless to say, you can tell a lot about a resort hotel on video that you can’t get a good sense of in photos alone, so we’ve collected the best video tours of all the Bora Bora resorts below.

There are nine different luxury resorts on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora that have overwater villas.

Best videos showing what Bora Bora resorts are really like
Water villa of the week: Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa – Maldives

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.

Water villa of the week: Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa – Maldives
Overwater bungalows in Florida: Under construction at Disney Resort

When it comes to overwater bungalows anywhere near the Caribbean, the pattern lately has been to announce them long before they are ready to break ground. That wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that years seem to go by and ground is never broken. Getting funding AND government approval for construction at the same time has been a major challenge, but not for the project we recently learned about.

Evidently there had been rumors in 2013 that Disney would be adding up to 20 overwater bungalows to its Disney’s Polynesian Resort complex in Lake Buena Vista (near Orlando) as part of a major 2-year renovation.

Overwater bungalows in Florida: Under construction at Disney Resort
Overwater bungalow of the week: Premier Overwater One Bedroom Villa at the St. Regis Bora Bora Resort

this overwater bungalow of the week feature we like to mix in some good-value resorts with a few “fantasy” resorts that most of us couldn’t dream of ever affording. This week we are highlighting what most people consider to be the finest resort in the South Pacific – the St. Regis Bora Bora Resort.

This 5-star deluxe property has 77 overwater villas along with 14 island rooms, and none of them is likely to be available for under US$1,000 per night.

Overwater bungalow of the week: Premier Overwater One Bedroom Villa at the St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
Water villa of the week: Beach House Maldives – A Waldorf Astoria Resort

Featuring 48 water villas, the Beach House Maldives – A Waldorf Astoria Resort is unusual in several ways, and a perfect hotel for honeymoon couples seeking an upscale destination that is out of the way. Its location is part of the key to the solitude, as you actually have to fly to Malé International Airport, and then a 55-minute flight to Hanimadhoo Airport before you board the speed boat that takes you to the Beach House.

Water villa of the week: Beach House Maldives – A Waldorf Astoria Resort
One of the greatest overwater bungalow photos I’ve seen

many of us, a large photo of an overwater bungalow resort is as close as we are likely to ever get to them. We are adding photo galleries to each resort page, starting with Bora Bora and Moorea, so I’ve been spending many hours lately going through these magnificent and inspirational images.

I think most of us are easily hypnotized by the aerial photos of the resorts, but one particular photo I came across hit me in a different way so I thought I’d share it with everyone.

One of the greatest overwater bungalow photos I’ve seen