Banyan Tree Maldives Madivaru

Less is more at the Banyan Tree’s new Maldivian outpost, a private island that is home to just six tented pool villas. Designed to complement the natural environment, a lush tangle of palm and pandanus ringed by talcum powder sand, canvas-roofed accommodations are fitted with limber floors, rattan and teak furniture, and vine-draped outdoor showers. The high price tag buys you ample space for soaking up the surrounds, each 246 square meter villa comprises separate tents for sleeping, lounging, and bathing alongside a beckoning blue tiled swimming pool.

If you manage to drag yourself away from these sumptuous quarters, all manner of water activities await. Private butlers can arrange windsurfing, canoeing, and wakeboarding as well as scuba diving and snorkeling at dozens of protected marine areas and pristine reefs. Come sunset, hop aboard the resort’s two-masted Turkish gulet, the Madi, for a sunset dinner cruise across the cerulean waters of the North Ari Atoll. Meals, included in the room rate, along with spa treatments can be taken on your private patio or at the clubhouse, for added romance, opt for a candlelit dinner on a secluded sandbank, where the only footprints will come from you and your personal chef.