Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi opened in 1995 on Kunfunadhoo Island in the Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that the resort helped to establish, and it is still the purest expression of Soneva's barefoot idea: shoes come off on arrival and stay off. Beach villas sit back in the jungle along the shore, each with outdoor living space and a private pool, and the overwater villas have retractable roofs, wide decks and slides into the lagoon; the largest residences have 11 bedrooms, for several generations travelling together. There are more than a dozen places to eat, from Out of the Blue over the water and Flying Sauces up in the trees to omakase at So Hands On and Fresh in the Garden beside the organic plots, with cheese and chocolate rooms open day and night, and a zipline that carries guests to lunch. A resident astronomer runs The Observatory, The Den gives children a world of their own, and The Glass Studio, the first in the Maldives, turns waste glass into art. The Eco Centro recycles 90 per cent of Soneva's solid waste, and AquaTerra runs a coral regeneration programme using more than 10 methods. There are 63 villas.