In the know

Our favourite rooms: With its stunning views over two different sections of the bay, Signature Villa 221 is the one to ask for. The Ocean Panoramic Villas have wonderful 180-degree vistas of waves and wiggling palm fronds.
Packing tips: Bring a snorkel. There’s a reef, teeming with the sort of primary-coloured sealife that you would normally only see in an aquarium, right in front of the hotel. Maia can also arrange scuba-diving excursions for an extra cost.

Current offers

Smith card offer: Members will receive a complimentary 75-minute Gentle Soul Massage.

More photos

Maia Luxury Resort & Spa

Seychelles, Indian Ocean[view map]

Style: Wholly holistic happy hideaway
Setting: Thatched villas with bay views

Offering all the peace and privacy of a monastic cell, but thankfully none of its spartan nature, Maia Luxury Resort & Spa, overlooking Anse Louis beach on the southwest coast of Mahé in the Seychelles, is where thatched roofs sit like dots of corn-yellow in a palette of greens and blues. It’s the ideal place to drag your knotted back and furrowed brow for a spot of proper relaxation. All the Indian Ocean clichés – palms rippling in the warm breeze, white sand abutting turquoise waters – are made reality here, and all you have to do is roll out your rattan sun mat in the midst of them.

Need to know

Rooms: 30 villas.
Rates: Low season, €2,400–€3,050; high season, €2,475–€3,160, including all meals, most drinks, transfers, welcome champagne and massage, exercise classes and laundry.
Check-out: 10am, although this is flexible, subject to availability.
Facilities: Spa, fitness centre, free non-motorised watersports, excursions to neighbouring islands. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD player, iPod docking station, La Prairie beauty fridge. Villas all have private infinity pools and sunken outdoor double baths.
Poolside: Made from black Seychollois lava stone, the main communal infinity pool offers an ideal vantage point over the hotel’s long, white-sand beach.
Also: A seven-night minimum stay applies between 22 December and 6 January.

Food & drink

Hotel restaurant: Chef Oscar Torres knocks up exquisite Mediterranean cuisine with Asian and Creole influences – think stuffed baby squids with ratatouille and lobster, or porcini mushrooms with duck liver and black truffle terrine – in the open-sided Tec-Tec.
Dress code: Linen trousers for the men; floaty, Jade Jagger-esque dresses for the ladies.
Top table: Intimate tables are beneath a high ceiling dominated by an enormous hanging light. Or ask your private butler to set up a candlelit table for you on the beach, where you can feed each other foie gras by the light of the silvery moon.
Hotel bar: Enjoy cocktails on the bleached decking of the informal Sunset Pool Bar, while looking out over both the complex’s main pool and the Indian Ocean.

Also worth knowing

Children: Little ones are welcome in the Ocean Front Villas, where free 24-hour babysitting is available.

Smith Members offer

Members will receive a complimentary 75-minute Gentle Soul Massage.

If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).

Click here to become a Mr & Mrs Smith member

Smith travel team

If you'd prefer to talk to someone, or don't want to book online, call our travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.