This stunning new arrival to Baa Atoll has instantly joined the ranks of the finest resorts in the country, having transported the glamour and style of Palm Beach to a gorgeous Indian Ocean island. Amilla Fushi boasts dreamily perfect white-sand beaches, deeply fabulous rooms, an array of superb restaurants, a beautiful infinity pool and a huge marina.
The modernist white water villas here look immediately different from the more typical thatch-timber creations you'll see at most resorts; their cuboid shape is just one thing that this brand new resort has reinvented from scratch. While it's earned more than a few snobbish reactions from more traditional resorts, Amilla Fushi's willingness to try something new has gone down very well with its glamorous clientele who are already returning in droves.
The rooms here are the thoughtful centrepiece to the island. All feature their own private lap pools and massive bathrooms with double rain showers; they offer total privacy while maintaining direct access to the beach and water. They're huge spaces in brushed concrete and tile with bright tropical accents and a stylishness seen in few other resorts. The most unusual rooms are the 12m-high treehouses, which somehow manage to have their own infinity pools. At the very top end, there are a number of vast residences aimed at families and big groups of friends. While they're absolutely luxurious, completely private and sleekly designed, they're perhaps not as charming as the other rooms.
The public areas are focused on the marina, where there's a stunning infinity pool, several restaurants and – at the end of a long jetty – the raised One of a Kind cocktail bar and the Feeling Koi Japanese restaurant, the island's very best. There's a top-of-the-range spa, dive centre, kids club, tennis courts and water sports facilities. Perhaps best of all, guests are welcome to use the free daily transfers to the resort's sister island Finolhu, allowing them to enjoy the fabulous sandbank and restaurant there once they've tired of the perfect beaches here. Other attractions include a huge and impressive wine cellar, a marine biology centre, a photography studio and a football pitch.
Amilla Fushi proves that there's scope for significant variation on a tried-and-tested resort concept, and is keeping the bar high in Baa Atoll.