Nay Palad Hideaway

Typhoon Odette tore through Nay Palad Hideaway in 2021, and Daniel Pouzet, who had designed it for Bobby Dekeyser in 2012, came back and built most of it again. Dekeyser played football for Bayern Munich before founding DEDON, which makes outdoor furniture, and the resort keeps as much of itself outdoors as it can. Ten villas stand among the coconut palms under steep thatch, a white Pacific beach in front and 104 hectares of century-old mangrove behind, its channels still enough to paddle standing up. On the lawn, woven pods like white eggs sit in the palm shadows, and offshore a pagoda of three thatched tiers keeps a swing on its islet for whoever comes out by boat.

Recommended for couples who would rather never see a bill, and for families who would like the same: it is all inclusive, down to the drinks and the transfer from Sayak Airport. The Coral Villa has its own pool and a cinema, with two children's beds on a mezzanine, though the Children's Village, with its trampolines and a treehouse with slides, gives the cinema some competition.

The surf lessons are up the coast at Cloud 9; the kayaks go into the mangroves, where more than 85 species of bird have been counted. There is no set menu: the chef cooks to whatever they want that day, with vegetables from the farm on the property, and serves it wherever they ask, the treehouse included. Each morning the chef meets the fishermen to choose the catch, and anyone staying can go along, so the fish at dinner was still in a boat at breakfast.