With an opening date planned for sometime in 2019, the Viceroy Hotel Group is set to open up the Viceroy Bocas del Toro Panama, an overwater resort located off the Caribbean coast and set against a rainforest backdrop. In total, the resort plans to feature 186 different guestrooms and residences, 42 of which will be located over the water and alongside 457 acres of beach coastline.
Destined as an eco-friendly resort option, guests will also find that only electrical cars and sustainable technologies are allowed.
When searching for your next vacation destination, there are several things to consider. Once you’ve decided to visit the tropics and more specifically the Maldives, it’s then time to decide whether you’ll want to stay at an overwater resort or one that specializes in land based rooms. If an overwater room is what you desire, you’ll find lots of great 4 and 5-star resorts to choose from.
If you’re looking to take things up a notch and book a room with a private jacuzzi, you’ll still find some great selections.
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.
A choice location plus a beautiful resort equals a vacation destination like none other. The luxurious Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa is one of your best options in the South Pacific with gorgeous views, raving reviews and top-notch activities. However wonderful the resort has been in past years, it’s now getting a makeover and name change promising to make it even better than before. In fact, this makeover is a rather large one with a few million dollars of refurbishments and design alongside a brand new name.From here on out, the resort is now known as the Conrad Bora Bora Nui.
There are many different things to consider when searching for your dream resort. First you’ll want to take a look at the resort itself and find out what is offered with each stay. Does the resort have a public pool? Does it have spa? Are there numerous land or water activities to choose from? Are there dining options available throughout your stay that have good reviews from past guests? Then you’ll want to take a look at the room options available and depending on what you’re looking for, you’ll should find room choices that fit your dream.
The Maldives has close to 90 resorts that feature water villas, and about 15 of those offer full-board and/or all-inclusive plans. For years I’ve been comparing them all as I work on this online guide to overwater bungalows, and I frequently noticed that Meeru Island was among the cheapest water villa resorts in the Maldives, and also had some of the best guest reviews.
Stranger still, Meeru Island has all guests on a full-board plan, or they can upgrade to what they call the “All-Inclusive Plus” plan for a surprisingly modest fee.
Overwater resorts now exist around the world with each offering their guests a little something different and unique. Not only does each resort offer slightly different amenities and views, but also charmingly decorated rooms with their own key features. Though many feature large 4-poster beds or a fully stocked mini bar, there are other resorts that take their overwater rooms to the next level. Impressing guests time and time again, these resorts use glass floors to gain interest.
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.
In the overwater bungalow scene there is no more popular topic than when Caribbean resorts will build the “honeymoon style” units to compete with those in Bora Bora and the Maldives. Though there are several resorts that claim to be in the process of building overwater rooms, currently there are only a select few that have actually succeeded in building them.
When in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, guests will find two overwater resorts nearby with each offering a Caribbean experience with a South Pacific twist.
Many savvy travelers like to take advantage of the relatively low room rates in the South Pacific during March and April, as they are typically the cheapest months of the year. Fortunately, the weather is basically the same all year round, so these visitors can enjoy all the luxury at lower rates because most others come from June through August.
Instead of just presenting one deal at a time, we’ll now highlight the best deals we can find for each month in one place.