Water villas and overwater bungalows continue to gain in popularity around the world so it’s no surprise that new resorts keep opening that feature the rooms on stilts. The Maldives alone now has 81 water villa resorts with more than 3,100 water villas combined, which is nearly two-thirds of the world’s total.
In the past few months we’ve seen three new resorts opening to the public, with one aimed at the mid-level market and the other two at the high end.
The year 2011 has been a big one for the overwater bungalow and water villa industry, with nearly a dozen new resorts having opened or having added brand new overwater rooms. Not surprisingly, the year 2012 looks to be shaping up at least as big with a wide variety of highly anticipated projects opening or reopening.
Among the more notable openings in 2011 have been the massive Golden Palm Tree Resort just south of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, with nearly 400 water villas.