Soneva Fushi

To get to Maldivian island resort Soneva Fushi, you need to take a short hop on a seaplane from Malé airport. But first, you head to the airport lounge to be plied with amuse bouches, foreshadowing the level of attention lavished on you when you land. We're served drinks and snacks, then asked – in a seemingly random fashion – to choose our favourite smell from two oil samples, one minty and one lemony. We pick lemon.

Landing on water is pretty cool for a five and seven year old; it’s also quite thrilling for us slightly older kids. Our eldest, Tom, pipes up: ‘it’s very jungly, isn’t it Mummy?’, which my wife and I think is a succinct summary of our first impressions. The island we were on before was more picture-postcard Maldives, whereas Soneva feels a bit more natural. If I'm totally honest, I’m not sure if I like it.

We’re greeted by beaming staff (in a genuine, not forced way), then our ‘man Friday’ Shamin takes us to our villa via a meandering, sandy path carved through the lush vegetation. Rather than our attendant or butler, Shamin is positioned more as a helpful friend, whom we all like. He explains that here we must relax, let him take care of everything and live by the hotel’s saying: ‘no news, no shoes’, which we do – we’re barefoot for almost the entire stay. When passing the Host Village; Shamin explains that staff are called hosts here, as they are hosting us, their guests, on the island. They live in the middle of the 1.5-kilometre-long and 0.5-kilometre-wide island – quite big by Maldives’ standards.

It’s definitely big enough to feel like an adventure for a couple of under-8s and there’s more than enough for this couple of 40-somethings, too. Our orientation tour passes by the Six Senses spa, the kitchen garden, the dive centre, the Barra Barra bar and the eco centre, which friends back home say we must visit.

We arrive at our private corner of the island and are shown around our indoor-outdoor living space. A lounge with giant orange-and-red day-beds works as the hub, with the master bedroom, kids’ room and a small kitchen just off it. Nothing from designer shops here; it’s more rustic, with an upcycled feel. It’s very comfortable and luxurious, just not in a shouty way. In fact, we learn that all furnishings are made on the island – impressive indeed. However, the real treats are at the front and back of our villa.

The rear of the property has an outdoor bathroom with stepping stones to my (current) favourite shower in the world. Open-air and easily toddled to at the bottom of our small garden, it makes you feel like a naturist. A giant bath tub and a chaise longue add a little more opulence to our retreat, and there are refillable bath products – all smelling of… ahh, lemon! With every minute spent here, Soneva makes more sense.

The kids are already in the small, shallow plunge pool at the front, where there tables and chairs sit in a sand-dusted garden, which leads onto our slice of beach with flour-soft sand. By this point, I don’t care about the other islands slightly spoiling our perfect view as the sun starts to set. Shamin rings to suggest we eat at the main island restaurant tonight where there’ll be street food-style stalls – a cool buffet, if you will. We’ve all had bikes delivered to our villa as that’s the only real mode of transport here. Mine is knackered and the chain keeps slipping, which annoys me at first, but as I start to get into the rhythm of the island, I learn to manage my bike. It’s slowing me down (which Mrs Smith says is a good thing), but this lets me take everything in rather than rush to the 'next event' – of which there are as many or as few as you wish. All the family cycling around the sometimes tricky sandy lanes, getting lost as we haven’t got our bearings yet: it’s wonderful, very liberating. I forgot to mention: pedals are covered in fabric so your feet are comfortable – it’s an incredibly thoughtful touch.

When we get to the restaurant, Shamin is there; we're seated, then the kids shoot off to explore. They arrive back to drag us both from our seats, yelling: ‘Mummy, Daddy, you have to come and see this.’ We’re forcibly pulled to a room full of chocolate. I'm not talking bars of Cadbury’s, I'm talking a room full of treats made by the on-island chocolatier – another unexpected surprise. There’s also an ice-cream and pastries room; a cheese-and-ham room; and a room full of freshly-grown salad. It’s mind-boggling, given that we’re on a tropical Island.

Shamin tells us that Soneva Fushi is owned by a couple, Sono and Eva (a businessman and a former model respectively); the resort has been their lives’ work for the past 20 years. They’re clearly a little bit crazy, but in oh-such-a-good way. Shamin explains the SLOW philosophy they live by: everything must be Sustainable, Local, Organic and Wellness-focused. Well, we've certainly been slowed down – we adopt their mantra during our stay.

The resident Waste-to-Wealth manager escorts us around the Eco Centro. The idea is to make recycling profitable so everyone in the Maldives will do it. They invite other island owners to learn from their pioneering work, in the hope they’ll preserve this very special piece of earth. Polystyrene from daily fish deliveries is kept and used as insulation for new-build villas. Plastic is banned (even the cocktail straws are made from paper) and glass bottles are put into a 'chipping machine’ to then be used in cement.

Another highlight is a day’s snorkelling over a reef, led by a resident marine biologist. The reefs are the most incredible colours and shapes, as are the fish, but the best part is seeing a sleeping turtle take a midday nap. We round the trip off with a three-hour, Robinson Crusoe-style lunch on a neighbouring island; we’re left alone with a picnic that could have come from Harrods Food Hall.

This review could go on and on: I could mention the treetop restaurant, outdoor cinema, life-changing spa treatments and the joy of sipping a cocktail while suspended over thousands of fish at the Barra Barra bar. Or the time spotted Jupiter in the night sky, and the 100-rabbits-running-around-on-the-island story for another time…

Soneva Fushi has been created with passion. We’ll come back as often as we can afford to. I leave with a slightly bigger smile than most of our holidays have left me with, and when I’m home, I'll loosen-up my bike chain.