Soneva Jani

The quickest way from a water villa at Soneva Jani into the lagoon is to sit down. Each has a wide deck and a pool of its own, and most a slide that curves off the top deck and into the sea, which leaves the climb back up as the only effort involved. The villas stand on stilts over the reef under thatched domes, joined by a wooden walkway that winds across the turquoise water. Over the bed the roof retracts, so the ceiling at night can be the sky. On Medhufaru itself the island villas keep to the jungle under domes of grey shingle, slides and all.

Recommended for families with children of any age, and for couples content to share the lagoon with them. The Den takes children from 4 to 17 at no extra cost, with a pool and waterslide of its own and a shallow end for toddlers; under-fours get one-to-one babysitting. The reef runs close to the water villas, with turtles and rays on it for anyone snorkelling, and two sandbank islets in the lagoon can be reached on foot through the water. The Chocolate Room makes chocolate and ice cream every day, never closes, and puts no limit on the ice cream. At The Gathering, under the overwater Observatory, the dinner tables have screens linked to the telescope, and the Observatory has an astronomer in residence. Back at the villa, the roof over the bed does the same job, minus the astronomer.