Need to know
Rooms
110 villas.
Check–Out
12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
Rates
Double rooms from $905.03, excluding tax at 23.2 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional government tax of $6.00 per person per night on check-out.
More details
The hotel’s generous all-inclusive Cristal Package means meals, drinks and some activities are covered. Return hotel transfers are from US$480 for adults; from US$240 for under-12s.
Also
Here's an incentive to tie the knot if we ever heard one: honeymooners get 50 per cent off one spa treatment during their stay. We'd book an Enchanting Wave massage – a knee-weakeningly dreamy 75-minute full-body ritual that combines reiki, tai chi, Hawaiian lomi lomi and esalen massage – immediately. During your treatment, ask to have the shutters of your room left open, so you can hear the waves purr and smell the sea breeze.
At the hotel
Big beach, beach volleyball, outdoor swimming pool, spa with eight treatment rooms and a yoga pavilion; gym, entertainment lounge with pool tables and cards, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, DVD player, minibar, bathrobes, slippers, Constance bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Torn between beach and overwater? Opt for Water Villas 30–35, which are at the beginning of the jetty, with easy access to the beach on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. Beach bums will go gaga for Beach Villas 17–25, which overlook the yawning white beach and put beach volleyball and Totem Bar on your doorstep. If it’s privacy you’re after, book Senior Water Villa 78 or 79, which are both secluded at the very end of the jetty; if sunset views are your thing, go for a Water Villa with an odd number between 101 and 137, or a Senior Water Villa with an even number between 50 and 78.
Poolside
Constance Moofushi's knee-weakeningly lovely pool is curved to mirror the shape of the beach, resulting in spectacular views from all sunbeds. Tucked away close to the spa, this peaceful spot has sunloungers scattered on the surrounding wooden deck and beach below. Try and bag one of the sunbeds on the platform accessed by the walkway over the pool for uninterrupted Indian Ocean views (you won't be complaining, wherever you end up). If 'swimming' (flopping around) brings on the munchies, Totem Bar next door serves lunchtime snacks and drinks.
Packing tips
Shoes you can dance in (on a wooden dance floor) for late nights at Manta Bar. Mr/Ms Smith might want to put a diamond ring in their pocket, so as to be prepared.
Also
Smokers, rejoice: free cigarettes are served individually from the humidor.
Children
Welcome. Babysitting can be arranged upon request (speak to staff when you check in); cots (free) and extra beds (free for under-7s; US$200 for ages 7-12s; US$400 for those 13-and-up) can be added to Beach Villas, Water Villas and Senior Water Villas.