Maldives / JOALI

True to the mantra ‘a place for the joy of living’, quite brilliant design details and a captivating take on art and service have the warmth and grace of a woman’s touch.

Don’t expect just pretty pieces adorning the walls at art-immersive island retreat JOALI. No, here we’re talking a wondrous Zaha Hadid-inspired, manta ray-shaped jetty unlike any other welcoming your arrival, and dining in cocoon-like structures suspended in the trees. There are pieces you can sit on, climb into, hide in, drink out of and even wear. A secret sculpture garden hides beneath the waves, while elsewhere a majestic pyramid roof is made up of timber blocks like origami. Sympathetically designed and constructed around every tree and coconut palm, all senses continue to be delighted in the irresistible villas. Below high cathedral ceilings, expect softer curved shapes, hand-carved wooden details and bottle-green marble, emanating gracious 1950s glamour.

Seeing to your every need is a personal butler (or, as they are also known, jadugar, meaning magician) – if you’ve left your bike at the bar the night before, just like magic it’ll be perched outside your villa the next morning. Local narrators will enchant and thrill young ones around the campfire with native storytelling, while a team of chefs reveal exquisite kitchen artistry; Japanese restaurant Saoke is as much a stroke of genius for its design by one of the world’s leading restaurant architects.

Travel notes:

• 73 beach and ocean villas with butler and infinity pool
• 4 restaurants, 2 bars, chocolate & ice cream store and a whisky & cigar lounge
• Sunrise yoga or private sunset dining among the treetops at Manta Ray tree house
• Personalised cooking lessons with local recipes from experienced chefs in Her Kitchen and an art studio and gallery with workshops and visiting artists
• Bespoke ESPA Spa treatments
• We recommend twinning a stay here with its wellness focused sister property JOALI BEING, where the entire island is a spa