United kingdom Daily news: Maldives hotel reviews: Cast adrift at the new kids on this luxury block

Maldives hotel reviews: Cast adrift at the new kids on this luxury block

By Sue Ryan

PUBLISHED: 03:33 EST, 27 April 2012 | UPDATED: 03:33 EST, 27 April 2012

Solah, my villa host, delves into his rattan satchel and retrieves seven or eight items from which he makes a welcome drink of fresh lemon, lime, grenadine syrup and sugar cane.

While he completes the check-in process I look around. To my left, swinging in the breeze, is a day bed large enough to hold a family of four. On my right, a private infinity pool beckons.

A hideaway from the world: Sue was enchanted by Anantara's Kihavah Villas

Ahead, a pale turquoise lagoon is bright in the sunlight. And beyond that, in sudden definition, the deep electric blue of the Indian Ocean waits. In theory, here at Anantaraâ€™s Kihavah Villas in the Maldives, I have arrived at a popular tourist hotspot. But I can neither see nor hear another soul.

The villa is enormous and full of surprises: a glass-bottomed bath and a glass floor in the loo, (beneath which the occasional fish swims); a closet the size of a small London flat; books on the shelves that you might actually want to read; a many-varied choice of seating options.

The suggestion, I realise, is that most guests here â€" honeymooners â€" rarely leave their villa.

I did not need to come to the Maldives to know that I would love it. Forty years ago, as a student, I discovered the Indian Ocean when I wangled a four-month placement to study crime on Mauritius.

I spent a few days collecting improbable data and the rest skiving off to the deserted coast. This was before tourism had arrived, and I found it impossibly beautiful.

Stately dame: One of the original Maldives resorts, Kurumba feels more homely than grand

Ever since, I have returned whenever possible â€" to watch the sun set from other coasts in other countries. But until now, the Maldives, the smallest country in Asia, had eluded me.

Now I am here for six nights, staying at a different hotel every day. And it does not take long to understand why the Maldives has become one of the most desirable destinations in the world. Here, the perfect desert island fantasy meets the hotel industryâ€™s most imaginative minds.

The islands (or sandbanks â€" the highest ground is eight inches above sea level and you can walk around most of the isles in ten minutes) offer pale-powder beaches in the middle of nowhere, constant sunshine and temperatures that never dip below 27 degrees or go above 32.

Combine that with the effort and cost of building and running hotels in such remote locations, and it explains why hoteliers are constantly pushing the boundaries of luxury. A new resort opens every few months, and each vies to out-do the others in innovation. Hotels that were once considered to be five-star are now struggling to maintain their elevated status.

I spend my first night at Kurumba, the island on which the first hotel in the country was built forty years ago this autumn. It has been upgraded many times â€" but is now more appropriately described as homely rather than grand.

Turquoise delight: Angsana Velavaru has put a lot of thought into its water villas

Anantaraâ€™s Kihavah Villas, where I go next (and want to remain forever) has spent over one million US dollars on the building of each individual property. Usually, it takes two to three years for a hotel to make an operational profit. Kihavah Villas opened last February, and was in the black by October.

Definitions of luxury in the Maldives need to be considered in the context of the competition rather than against expectations of a remote desert island. Wi-fi, Bose iPod docking stations and the BBC on plasma screen television is routine stuff â€" as are private pools and sunshine butlers ready to wipe the suntan oil from your Gucci glasses.

And one great leap has been the concept of under-water dining. The swish resort that is the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island led the way here, building Ithaa, its flagship restaurant, 16 feet below sea level.

Now Anantara has done the same with its signature eatery â€" called, appropriately enough, Sea.

The view from here is spectacular. The fish are plentiful and have wonderful names like the Maldivian Black-Footed Anemone, Butterfly, Damsel and Blotcheye Soldierfish. Coral Rabbitfish swim in pairs and mate for life. Even turtles and sharks swim past as you feed on their less protected brethren.

More is to come; a young Maldivian marine specialist is currently working on a project to build a number of rooms underwater near to Bandos Island.

Sands of time: Park Hyatt's Hadahaa resort has access to lovely long stretches of coral reef

And where there is under-water, there is over-water. Specifically the over-water villa.

Local planning regulations specify that each island is allowed only one resort, with buildings no taller than the highest palm tree and covering no more than a fifth of the land.

So now, many islands have spidery legs stretching into the lagoons, housing the latest in luxury accommodation. Guests can step down from their bedroom to their personal area of sea, fulfilling the Maldivian proposition of privacy, location and style.

One of the resorts where I lay my head â€" Angsana Velavaru, in the South Nilhande Atoll â€" has even built a stand-alone cluster of water villas half a mile from the nearest island, and close to where the seabed drops dramatically (and suddenly). To my eyes, this is clunky and futuristic, but it fulfills the requirement of originality. Japanese visitors love it.

This yearâ€™s big splash has come from Per Aquum â€" the group responsible for the first underwater spa at Huvafen Fushi. NIYAMA is being billed as the hottest opening of 2012. Located in the south western Dhaalu atoll, a 40-minute seaplane flight from Male, this chic retreat straddles two islands (Embudhufushi and Olhuveli) â€" and it hopes to be viewed as iconic and visionary.

The signature restaurant sits 500 metres offshore. From a distance, it appears to float on the surface of the ocean. But the real talking point is that it will have the worldâ€™s first underwater music club, with live artists performing below the waves.

Meanwhile the hotels try to differentiate themselves from each other in smaller ways. At Kihavah Villas they have a salt sommelier, an olive oil sommelier and the plates are slabs of salt.

Romance in mind: Velassaru makes a special effort with guests looking to propose

At Hadahaa (recently taken over by Park Hyatt and undergoing an upgrade), Arabella Willing â€" a marine biologist from Sussex â€" appears as if in a Bond film, emerging from the sea in a wetsuit and carrying a bottle of chilled champagne. Later she takes me on a guided swim across some of the oldest coral in the world. To say this is spectacular is an understatement.

And at Velassaru, I am taken out to a tiny sandbank in the middle of the ocean.

This is where the resort drops young men (or women) who have a marriage proposal in mind. The boat chugs away, leaving the couple with only a bottle of champagne and two glasses for company, surrounded by nothing but acres and acres of sea.

The most recent big opening has been Ayada, on the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll in the south of the archipelago â€" a few clicks away from the equator.

I am among the first guests, and I love its more Asian feel. I drink Turkish coffee and peppermint tea in the Ottoman lounge (but eschew the chance to smoke shisha).

The swimming pool and surrounding terrace are designed so as to seem to stretch into the sea - you can eat and drink with your feet in the water without shattering the illusion. Ayada also claims to have the largest spa in the Maldives, complete with genuine Turkish hammam. The nursery area has a pool, surrounded by mini sun-loungers.

New arrival: The Ayada resort is one of this year's big new openings

The grand dame of the Maldives is the OneOnly, which has been taking guests since 2005 â€" and has maintained its position despite the competitive crop of new openings. For those who donâ€™t want bling, Six Sensesâ€™ Soneva Fushi hideaway (the originator of the catchphrase â€˜no news, no shoesâ€™) is a favourite for the Robinson Crusoe daydream.

But for me there is nowhere I would rather be than on the day bed at Anantaraâ€™s Kihavah Villas, watching the bright orange sun sink into the deep blue of the sea.

Travel Facts

Kurumba (00960 664 2324; www.kurumba.com) has double rooms from US$430 (Â£267) per night.

Angsana Velavaru (00960 676 0028; www.angsana.com) has double rooms from US$579 (Â£359) per night.

Park Hyatt (00960 682 1234; www.maldives.hadahaa.park.hyatt.com) has double rooms from US$891 (Â£552) per night.

Ayada (00960 684 4444; www.ayadamaldives.com) has double rooms from US$1218 (Â£755) per night.

Velassaru (00960 664 3042; www.velassaru.com) has double rooms from US$607 (Â£376) per night.

Anantara (00960 660 1020; www.kihavah-maldives.anantara.com) has double rooms from US$1590 (Â£985) per night.

Tour operators that offer some of these resorts in packages include: Scott Dunn (020 8682 5420; www.scottdunn.co.uk); Tropical Sky (0844 332 9369; www.tropicalsky.co.uk); Kuoni (0844 488 0265; www.kuoni.co.uk); Elegant Resorts (01244 897 516; www.elegantresorts.co.uk); Carrier (0161 491 7660; www.carrier.co.uk ); Turquoise Holidays (01494 678 400; www.turquoiseholidays.co.uk).